November & December Praises/Prayer Requests

Praises:

• We had our first InterVarsity meeting at Dixie State and 6 students attended!
• Danny decided to accept Jesus!
• We had a worship night at UVU which over 30 students attended!
• Our leadership team decided (without any encouragement from us) to study Joel and fast against the sin of lust in our community.  This time of fasting was an encouragement to our whole group.
• Praise the LORD for a simple, easy Gospel! His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

Prayers:

• Please pray for Danny, as he unexpectedly lost his sister this past week.
• Please pray for Rilla, who lost her grandfather this past week.
• Pray for our Dixie State core group as they facilitate their first Bible Study on Monday, Dec. 8th.  
• Continue to pray that we would have enough funding by January 1st to stay on staff full-time and to have some kind of health insurance for Justin.
• Pray that all of us would finish this semester well.
• Continue to pray for the LDS students who have been attending our Bible Studies and large group meetings. 
• Pray for the community at UVU as they continue to fight against lust and rid their community of it. 

October Prayers and Praises

Praises:

• 30 students have been attending EPIC (our weekly prayer and worship meeting) regularly!  This includes several non-Christian students.  The Holy Spirit has been present during these times and we are seeing growth in the way our students pray and worship.
• About 35 students have been attending a weekly Bible Study regularly!  These Bible studies have started to become thriving, active communities and have done activities like feeding the homeless, hosting a dinner for the LGBT club on campus, and prayer walking together.
• Dixie State has an official InterVarsity chapter!
• USUE has an official InterVarsity chapter!
• We are taking at least 24 students to Trilogy (our fall conference)!

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that the number of non-Christian students coming to our Bible Studies would grow!
• Pray that the proxe table and kick-off Bible Study at Dixie State (Oct. 24th at 5pm) would go well! And that Kainen would be bold in inviting his friends.
• Continue to pray for Emily as she leads the small group study at USUE.
• Pray for Trilogy. Pray that non-Christian students would be intrigued as they learn what it means to follow Jesus. Pray that students would experience true repentance (transformation) in their lives as they seek to make Jesus LORD.  Pray for Samantha as she directs the conference and handles all of the logistics.
• Pray for our fund development! Pray that we would be able to find enough new partners to stay on campus!
• Pray for our student leaders: Nick, Jessica, Rilla, Shanan, Zach, Matt, Vianney, Torri, Heather, and Alyssa.  They have been learning the five steps that a person goes through when deciding to follow Jesus (Trust, curiosity, open to change, seeker, and follower).  They have been learning how to walk with someone through each of these stages and have been challenged to apply what they are learning to their friendships.  Pray that they would be courageous in building trust/becoming friends with non-Christians, asking them good questions, confronting them in love, and helping them seek after Jesus.

September Prayers and Praises

Prayers:

• Club Rush (Sept. 17-18th) - we will be doing the awesome proxe again at this year's club fair. Please pray we would have good, spiritual conversations with students and that we would find students who are interested in what it means to follow Jesus.
• Trilogy (Oct. 31-Nov. 2nd) - we are already recruiting for our fall conference.  Please pray that students would be invitational and bold.  Pray that nothing would hinder students from coming.  We would love to see at least 21 students attend this conference! And we would love to see students from other Southern Utah schools come (Dixie, USUE, SUU, and Snow).
• Leadership (Vision Team) - please pray for the health of our leadership team. Several leaders who committed to the group have been much less committed in actuality.  Please pray for restored health and community for this team. Pray for wisdom for Justin and Samantha as they direct and train the team.
• Small Groups - continue to pray for the health of our weekly small group Bible studies (on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) and for the 30+ students who attend.  Also, we are trying to start two new small groups, one for Native students and one for International students. Please pray that we would meet people who are interested.
• Dixie State Trip (Sept. 19th) - we will be driving out to Dixie State in St. George to meet with several pastors, pray on campus, and try to meet some students who are interested in a Bible study.  Pray for God's favor and that He would have people prepared for us to meet!
• USU Eastern - please pray for the new InterVarsity chapter in Price, UT. There are about 8 interested students, as well as one USUE faculty member (the Director of Student Life).  Pray that they would have lots of momentum and that they would be bold and courageous in reaching their campus. 

Praises (straight from the newsletter):

Around 30 UVU students have been attending a weekly small group regularly! 

25 UVU students attended our first weekly prayer and worship event called EPIC

Over 150 students had spiritual conversations with InterVarsity @UVU through the Awesome Proxe

God is creating momentum for an International Student small group to start at UVU

Finding several students and churches in St. George who are interested in meeting with us to talk about doing ministry at Dixie State University! Our first trip is September 19th.

USU Eastern in Price, UT has, through a series of events, decided to start an InterVarsity on campus! We will be visiting the campus within the next month!

August Prayer Requests

*Praise God that He has given many of our leaders a vision for who God wants them to reach out to this fall!*Praise God for the work He did on campus last year and for the 6 students who are now following Him for the first time!

Please be praying for:

• Fall Retreat (Aug. 22-24th):  We will be casting vision for the school year, praying, meeting new students on campus, and helping students get excited about what God might do this year. Please be in special prayer for our 11 student leaders as they gear up for the semester.
• Proxe (Aug. 26-28):  We will be doing an outreach on campus and getting into spiritual conversations with students.  This is usually one of our biggest outreaches of the year.  Pray that students would be bold and that God would help us find the students who are curious about Him!
• Dixie State: Please pray that God would open doors for us at Dixie State in St. George (we will be down there 2 days/month).  We would love to see something started down there, since there are currently no on-campus Christian ministries for a campus of 12,000 students.  Pray also that we would forge good relationships with the local churches and that we God would provide financially for our gas costs.
• EPIC (every Thursday starting Aug. 28th):  Please pray for our weekly prayer and worship meeting. Pray that Christian students would be encouraged by the Spirit and that non-Christian students, particularly Mormons, would be intrigued and would experience the Holy Spirit for the first time. Practically, please pray for our worship leader, Matt, as he leads the group in worship and for our prayer leader, Jessica, as she leads the group in prayer.
• Groups we would really love to reach this year: Mormons, Native students, outcasts, and international students.  Please pray that we would make friends with students in these groups!
• Pray against the work of the enemy.  Pray against lies, depression, false witnesses, and a spirit of opposition.

Summer Prayer Requests

• Pray for SummerVarsity - that students would apply what they are learning to their lives and that they would be encouraged by the power of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts.
• Pray for Nick (a student who will be interning with InterVarsity starting in December) as he leads the summer Bible Studies.
• Pray for new students who come this summer to feel welcome and to be curious about the Gospel.
• Pray for our students who accepted Christ recently (Kim, Nick, Vianney specifically) that they would grow in knowledge and love of the LORD.
• Pray for Justin and Samantha as they fundraise this summer.  Our specific goals are to raise enough to cover health insurance for Justin and to make it to 100% of our budget.
• Justin and Samantha will be staffing the InterVarsity Intern Trek (training program) this July.  Please pray for us and for these new interns that God would be present during the trek and pray that He would speak into the lives of these interns as they make the transition from student to staff.  

April Prayer Requests

PRAISES

• Praise that our "What Do Christians Believe?" Panel went so well, that all of the details came together, and that over 50 students got to hear more about the Gospel!
• Praise that we had safe travels to and from camp, that God provided all of the funds for camp, and that He showed up, spoke to our students, and worked in miraculous ways!
• Praise that Anna (we have been praying for her since her mom recently passed away) came to our prayer and testimony time last night and that God is working in her life.

PRAYER NEEDS

• Pray for Scott, the non-Christian who went to camp with us.  He opened up to a lot of people at camp and participated well in all of the Bible studies.  He is still struggling in many ways and is not sure what he believes about God.  Please pray that he would continue to be curious and to feel welcome in our group.
• Pray for Danny, the atheist who is meeting with Justin to talk about the Bible.  He is still very skeptical, but we continue to pray that God would use their conversations to bring him closer to salvation. 
• Pray for all of the students who we will follow up with that came to the "What Do Christian's Believe?" Panel discussion. 
• Pray for Justin and I as we interview potential student leaders next week for next year's leadership team.  And pray for our students as they decide whether or not God is calling them into leadership with InterVarsity.
• Pray for our students as they finish this semester (finals are the last week of April) that they finish well in school, Bible studies, and other commitments.
• Please pray for us as we continue making summer plans for fundraising.  We need to fundraise for our health insurance this year so please be praying in advance that God would provide.

March Prayer Requests

CAMP PRAYER REQUESTS (MARCH 8-15)

• Pray for all 22 of us as we travel out to Catalina Island tomorrow!  We will be driving five cars, stopping at a church mid-way.
• Pray that God would prepare students hearts - that they would have soft, teachable hearts and be ready for what He wants to teach them.
• Pray against any attacks of satan that keep students from hearing God, getting to camp, or being fully present at camp (including sickness, family problems, job problems, etc.)
• Pray for Justin as he teaches 13 students in Mark 1 by himself this year.  (Last year we co-taught Mark 1)  
• Pray for Samantha as she co-teaches Mark 2 for the first time ever in a class of 25 students.
• Pray that the students would be able to focus! We will be studying Scripture for long periods each day.
• Pray that our community would grow stronger and develop values of authenticity.
• In general, pray that God would move, that He would do amazing unexpected things, and that this camp would be a catalyst for moving InterVarsity at UVU forward on campus.

OTHER REQUESTS

• Pray for Nick and Kim as they begin their walk with Christ.  Pray that they are strengthened and encouraged as they follow Him.
• Pray for our leadership team!  This semester has been full of bumps and blessings as we start this new leadership team.  Pray that we would all have grace for one another and that God would guide us in how to appropriately structure this group.
• Pray for Justin and I as we start making our summer plans for fundraising, traveling, and being on campus.

January/February Prayer Requests

• Please pray for our new student leaders as they have committed a lot of their time this semester to bringing God's kingdom to the campus.  Pray that they would be able to find rest and to manage their time wisely.
• Pray that God would ordain and make clear which 20 students we should bring to Catalina and pray that these 20 students would find the money to come.
• Pray for the students currently in GIGs (one-on-one meetings about investigating God) - N. & D. - who we would love to see follow Jesus this semester.
• One of our leaders, Alyssa, has started a study with some girls in her choir on the music that they are singing this semester - all the music is about Elijah.  So far, 5 girls are involved - none of them are Christians.
• Pray that God would honor the goals we have set for this semester:
• 1.  2 new regular people attending each Bible study by the end of the semester
• 2.  By the end of each event, everyone on Vision Team (the leaders) will have introduced themselves and had a conversation with each new person 
• 3.  Hold a monthly worship event with average attendance of 30 by end of semester, and invite other campus Christian groups at least once  
• 4.  Each Vision Team member will pick 2 peers to meet with and spiritually invest in and pray for throughout semester 
• 5.  Hold one proxe (evangelism) event this semester, and include pocket proxes 
• 6.  Have 5 people attending each daily prayer meeting by end of semester