Fall Retreat 2021 Photos

 

November Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• 3 students make commitments to follow Jesus at Fall Retreat
• Praise that one of our UVU students Kal led his roommate Josh to Christ and brought him to the retreat! 
• 69 staff and students at fall retreat, coming from each of our 6 campusesStudents leaning into prayer
• Seekers attending small groups regularly
• Apprentice teams being started at UVU and  Dixie State
• Justin had a safe and good trip to Dixie State this week; the students and staff led an evangelism outreach on campus that went well and engaged around 30 students. 

Prayers:

Pray that UVU students say yes to becoming apprentices and future leaders.  On Monday, November 1st  we are meeting with our potential leaders at our home for dinner and vision casting.  Those who commit will start meeting weekly in our home before our leadership team meeting. Specifically, please pray for Elijah, who has agreed to step up and be a future leader for the Tuesday small group. 

DSU is also starting their apprentice team this week. Pray for them as well. 

Kal is very close to leading a second roommate (Jack) to Christ as well.  Please pray for Josh as he seeks to follow Jesus. 

Pray for UVU non-Christians like Briana who are still coming and curious about Jesus.  You can also pray for Gracie, Nolan, Kate and Lindsey (other seekers attending small group regularly). 

Pray for Justin and I as we leave the girls Nov. 8-11 for a staff leader conference in AZ.  It will be difficult leaving the girls but I also think it will be a needed time for us to be with Jesus and with one another. (I’ve never left Zoe for such a long time!) 

We would love to see an international student small group started at UVU. We currently have 5 international Christian students attending InterVarsity and more on the fringes of our community. Please pray toward this. 

Pray for our family to have a restful Thanksgiving.   

Pray for us to find rich community and friendships in this season of our lives.

 

September Prayer Requests and Praises!

 Praise God for:

• An amazing start to the year for all of our campuses (except SUU which starts Sept. 8th)
• Great student leaders at all of our campuses
• An amazing donation we received for $1200 of scholarships for our fall retreat
• Safe travels and a good trip for Justin to St. George
• Interested non-Christian students attending events

Prayer Requests:

• That prayer meetings would be established on all of our campuses
• God's favor on the first Bible study small group meetings.  Pray for Kal, Beulah, Joey and Sarenity as they lead these groups at UVU.
• We have 23 contacts from Instagram who are interested in coming to InterVarsity.  Please pray that we would be able to meet these students one-on-one and tell them more about InterVarsity OR that they would come to an event.
• Pray that we would meet even more students online
• Pray for our staff team at campuses across southern UT during this incredibly busy season (Brad, Cecilia, Marcus)
• Students would be curious about our fall retreat and begin signing up 

Here are some Scriptures that have been put on our hearts as we pray for UVU and all of our southern UT campuses:

• John 1:9-14 -- Pray that we would be incarnational on campus as Jesus was when He came to earth
• Jeremiah 29:5-7 -- Pray that Christian students would feel ownership for their campus and settle in 
• Matt. 25:20 -- Pray that we would be good stewards of the gifts that God has given us and the students that He has put in our chapters
• Matt. 5:3 -- Pray that students and staff would be poor in Spirit - recognizing our desperate need for Jesus
• 1 Cor. 3:6-9 -- Pray that God would provide growth and that we would be humble, obedient partners in the work He is doing
• Ps. 127:1 -- Pray that we wouldn't build anything apart from the LORD! We want to be a part of what He is doing.
• Romans 15:13 -- Pray that the Holy Spirit would give us hope for our campuses.

August Prayer Requests

 Please pray with us:

• That prayer meetings would be established on all of our campuses
• For Christian students to be drawn to our info tables and that we are highly visible on campus during the first week of school
• That we meet Freshman students, international students, and Christian students who are interested in InterVarsity's community
• God's favor on the first Bible study small group meetings.  Pray for Kal, Beulah, Joey and Sarenity as they lead these groups.
• Our kick-off events: Taco Party (8/20, Back to School Bash 8/24 and BBQ 8/28)
• We have 23 contacts from Instagram who are interested in coming to InterVarsity.  Please pray that we would be able to meet these students one-on-one and tell them more about InterVarsity OR that they would come to an event.
• Pray that we would meet even more students online
• Pray for our staff team at campuses across southern UT during this incredibly busy season (Brad, Cecilia, Marcus)
• Pray for safe travels for Justin as he goes to Dixie State during the second week of school and for Brad as he itinerates to USU Eastern and Southern Utah University. 
• Students would be curious about our fall retreat and begin signing up 

Here are some Scriptures that have been put on our hearts as we pray for UVU and all of our southern UT campuses:

• John 1:9-14 -- Pray that we would be incarnational on campus as Jesus was when He came to earth
• Jeremiah 29:5-7 -- Pray that Christian students would feel ownership for their campus and settle in 
• Matt. 25:20 -- Pray that we would be good stewards of the gifts that God has given us and the students that He has put in our chapters
• Matt. 5:3 -- Pray that students and staff would be poor in Spirit - recognizing our desperate need for Jesus
• 1 Cor. 3:6-9 -- Pray that God would provide growth and that we would be humble, obedient partners in the work He is doing
• Ps. 127:1 -- Pray that we wouldn't build anything apart from the LORD! We want to be a part of what He is doing.
• Romans 15:13 -- Pray that the Holy Spirit would give us hope for our campuses.

Summer Prayer Requests and Praises

Praises:

• Praise God for 15 decisions this year to follow Him!
• Praise God for continued momentum during this past year of COVID restrictions!
• Praise God for 4 student leaders who will be leading small groups at UVU in the fall!
• Praise God for sustaining us for 10 years of ministry and 10 years of marriage!
• Praise God that our area ended the fiscal year in the black! 
• Praise God that we found a location to host fall retreat!

Prayers:

• Please pray that God would send staff and/or volunteers to InterVarsity chapters at SUU (Cedar City), USU Eastern (Price), and UVU. 
• Please pray for strong and missional student leaders at the chapters that do not have a full-time, local staff (SUU, USU Eastern). 
• Please pray for our summer fundraising. We have a goal to raise $1150/month to cover both personal salary and area costs before August. We are 75% of the way there!
• Please pray for God to give us vision for the Arches Area.  Pray that we are able to humbly learn this new role as Area Directors. 
• Pray for our family as we attend the July regional conference.  This week will require help from family and extra childcare for the girls.  We want to be fully present to the content but also make sure our girls feel cared for (although I'm sure they will have a blast with grandparents!). 
• Please pray that we would get some much needed rest.  We have had more work this summer than we are used to.  Our family has had many illnesses in the past couple of months and we are all feeling tired. 
• Pray for us as we adjust to Samantha working more hours and Justin watching the girls more.  It has been a bigger adjustment than we had foreseen but we hope we will learn and be better adjusted by the time school starts. 
• Pray for us and our staff (Brad, Marcus, and Ceci) as we gear up for new student outreach and our busiest season of ministry in August/September. 

March Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• Praise God for a new sister in Christ!
• Praise God that we have students to invite to become leaders next year!

Prayers:

• Please pray for God to send staff and/or volunteers to UVU as we transition to the role of Area Directors. (We will continue to do campus work at UVU until there are enough staff and volunteers to care for the campus)
• Pray for students as they approach finals.  Many are feeling stressed and worn out at this time of year.
• Please be praying for wisdom for us and for students as we invite students onto next year's leadership team.
• We have less than one month of school left! We have several upcoming events - a service project, a prayer/paint night, and an end of the year celebration.  Please pray that these events would continue to build community and momentum.
• Chapter Camp is May 10-15th.  Please pray that many of our students would come to this catalytic event.  We also hope to see non-Christian students attend and learn more about who Jesus is as they study the book of Mark. Pray for Justin as he prepares to teach the first half of Mark.
• Continue to pray for us as we transition into our new role as area directors.  We are in the process of deciding how many hours to work and how to divide up the job between us.  Please pray for wisdom for us as we continue to make decisions and dream about our vision for the Arches Area. 

January Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• We are able to meet on campus with students again!
• Our first Tuesday night small group had 13 students and many of them stuck around afterwards to hang out together!
• For all of our partners who supported us through prayer and finances in 2021
• A great start to our semester through InterVarsity's national Ambition conference

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for our students to grow in evangelism this semester! Pray that they would take risks in inviting their friends to events, starting spiritual conversations, and sharing their stories with their peers.
• Pray for our apprentices to take what they learned at the Ambition conference and apply it to their lives this semester. 
• Pray for our apprentices to grow in their leadership skills and for some of them to be ready to plant new small groups in the fall.
• Pray for InterVarsity to be able to reach new students online and in person. 
• Pray for God to cultivate a heart of prayer in our community.