October Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• We had around 60 students attend fall retreat and around half of them were international students!
• Fall Retreat went smoothly and many of the non-believers who came had really good experiences that led them to continue asking questions, commit to reading the Bible, and in general made them feel welcome in their InterVarsity communities.
• Our coaching class has been a real blessing to us despite the extra hours.  The time spent with other new area directors learning how to have good coaching conversations has been a highlight of our week.
• We feel completely at peace with taking our house of the market and we're thankful for what God has for us in this next season.
• One of our UVU students has expressed interest in helping Shadrick lead a second Bible study!

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for the 6 non-Christians who attended fall retreat.  Most of them are open to what God is doing in their lives.  
• Pray for our staff team to experience a time of rest after a busy new student outreach and fall retreat.  Many of us have put in more hours than usual and are feeling tired and/or sick. 
• We have a staff meeting October 28th where we will debrief fall retreat and begin looking toward the end of the fall semester.  Pray for unity among our team.
• Pray for Shadrick and Mirko as they start a second UVU Bible study.
• We had around 20 students express interest in attending a summer global program (Provo, Bosnia or Kenya) while at fall retreat.  Please pray that these students remain excited and commit to the application process.
• Continue to pray for more staff for our area - particularly at SUU and UVU.
• Colorado Christian University is partnering with us to send a group of students to Orem over their spring break.  Please pray for wisdom for us as we plan this trip and that God would use this trip to call some of the students to apply for our internship or for our longer summer program in Provo.
• We will be attending a coaching training followed by a conference for InterVarsity staff directors Nov. 6-10th in Denver.  Please pray for us and for the girls as we are apart for the week (and for our parents who will be graciously caring for them).  We tend to get sick around conference times so please pray for good health for us and for safe drives to Denver.
• Due to busyness and unforeseen circumstances, we have not been able to take any days off since before August.  We're feeling fairly worn-out but we are optimistic that November and December will have more margin.  Please pray for rest for our family and that we would indeed have margin in the next two months.

September Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• We had a great turn-out for our BBQ at The Green (even though it looked like it would rain)! 
• BYU had a great opening event/BBQ with over 20 students showing up!
• We have had some amazing volunteers help us out with making care packages for students, roasting hot dogs at the BBQ, and helping get small groups started.
• We met our summer fundraising goals, including fundraising money for recruitment trips to Christian universities.
• Our whole family stayed healthy and slept well during our Regional staff conference - first time since the girls were born!
• We've met some outstanding students so far and we're excited to see how they take risks for Jesus this year.

Prayers:

• Our Tuesday night small group Bible study at The Green begins TONIGHT (8/30).  Please pray that lots of residents come and that the group would be able to love and serve students living in The Green. We will be studying the Gospel of Luke and looking at the witnesses in the narrative.  
• The Wednesday international student small group begins TOMORROW (8/31).  Please pray that they find a location to meet that is good for everyone (unfortunately the multi-cultural office said no to us hosting it there).  Pray for Shadrick to be bold as he invites his friends to study the Bible with him.  
• We begin our coaching training THIS WEEKEND at a kick-off conference.  Please pray for us as we take on the extra hours required to complete this certification and pray for the girls as they stay with my mom over the weekend.
• All of our campuses have officially started school.  Please pray for our staff team (Brad, Cece, Justin, Marcus, Julia and Samantha) as we love students, stay up later than usual, share the Gospel many times, invite students to small groups, play volleyball/spike-ball with people half our age and work more hours than we are probably getting paid for.  This is the hardest AND most exciting time of year for us.  
• Pray for our staff recruitment.  Specifically, our areas of greatest need are at SUU (Cedar City) and UVU (Orem).  

Why the Tappans Need to Raise Money This Summer

 Hey friends -- 

Thanks for your interest in our need to fundraise.  Here are some of the reasons why we need to raise $14,000 this summer.

• InterVarsity has raised our wages to compensate for inflation (they have not done this in the entire time we've worked for InterVarsity so it was time).  
• Every year we have people stop giving or decrease their support due to personal circumstances. 
• We are also fundraising for our area expenses (like staff training). 
• We have a goal to be paid at least 75% of what InterVarsity says we should be getting paid according to our job title (Area Directors) and our hours.  We are currently getting paid less than 75% of what we should be making.

Because this is money we will continue to need every year, our goal is to increase our number of monthly and yearly donors so that we will not continue to need to raise this money every summer.  If you'd like to hear more or have questions, feel free to reach out. 

Summer Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises/Thanksgiving

• We are so thankful we had the opportunity to go on vacation and thankful for a successful year of Airbnb business that enabled us to go. We are thankful for the friendship that Zoe and Autumn developed while we were on vacation.  
• Praise God for the success and fruit from the Provo Summer Program and for the 16 students and staff who chose to spend their summer on mission in Provo. 
• Our anniversary was June 12th and we praise God for 11 years of marriage and 11 years on staff with InterVarsity.

Prayers

• Please pray for those on the Provo Summer Program as they finish their time in Provo this week. Pray that relationships built would continue and that students they have met would get involved with InterVarsity at BYU in the fall. 
• Pray for the students and staff who are on the Bosnia Global Program.  They will be finishing up in the next two weeks.  Pray that God would use what they learn in Bosnia to bless their campuses next year and that the relationships they developed in Bosnia would grow the InterVarsity sister movement in Bosnia. 
• Pray for us as we fundraise this summer.  Please pray that God would provide new partnerships, that we would be motivated to do the work needed to raise the money, and that ultimately this money would build God's Kingdom in Southern Utah.
• Pray that we would be able to recruit more volunteers to help out at UVU in the fall.
• Pray that students would feel excited about missions and specifically about attending InterVarsity's mission conference (Urbana) this winter.  June 30th is the last day for students to register and get a significant discount. We think this is a great opportunity for students to grow in their awareness and involvement in world mission and it is also a great training ground for student leaders to be developed. 
• Pray that our family would continue to be filled by the Holy Spirit and that we would be ready and eager to do the work He has for us when the next school year starts. 

April Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• Praise God for a great spring break Mark Camp! Students were safe, healthy (until the journey home at least), and experienced Jesus through Scripture.  
• Praise God for the students who were baptized at camp (21 of them!), including one of our UVU students (Joey)!
• Praise God for students' renewed excitement about God's mission on campus after camp.
• Praise God for a great week home with the girls for Samantha.  Probably the best week at home alone with the girls that she's had.
• Praise God for a great turnout for the interfaith dialogue and good discussions between students.

Prayer Requests:

• April is the month where we select and interview next year's student leaders at each of our campuses.  Pray that God would raise up new leaders and that they would say yes to leading on campus.
• April is an incredibly busy month for us.  Administratively there are a large number of tasks that need done (performance reviews, budgets, etc.).  We also have a four day staff meeting, family commitments, and our usual work.  Please pray for us to discern wisely how to use our time well and pray for spaces of rest in between the busyness.  
• UVU and Chi Alpha students are planning a Good Friday Worship experience on April 15th! Pray for Sarenity and Lana as they plan and prepare the worship music and schedule of readings, testimonies and call to faith.
• Pray for our area staff retreat! It is April 28-May 1st.  We will be debriefing the school year, celebrating what God has done, having some space for silent retreat, and thinking about new student outreach in the fall.  Please pray for unity for us as a team, for safety as everyone travels to the retreat, and for us to encounter the Holy Spirit in our planning, celebrating, and debriefing.
• Pray for our graduating seniors as they seek God's guidance in their next steps and as they finish this season of their lives. 
• Continue praying for students going on summer programs to Bosnia and Provo.  You can pray for their fundraising as well as their time doing hands-on ministry this summer. 

March Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• Praise God for Shadrick who was motivated to plant an international student Bible study after attending small group leader training
• Praise God for the students coming to camp, for providing the funding for students to go to camp, and for what He is going to do there!
• Praise God for better health for the Tappan in the past month
• Praise God for continuing to provide financially for the Tappan and for the ministry in the Arches Area
• Praise God for the students from our area going to Bosnia and going to Provo this summer

Prayers:

• Prayers for camp (March 6-12): 
• Pray for our non-Christian students to experience Jesus
• Pray for safety for our students while driving
• Pray for health for students while at camp
• Pray for Justin, Marcus and Brad as they teach
• Pray for the students to hear from God and learn to study His Word diligently
• Pray for Samantha and the girls as they are home alone this week
• Pray for Shadrick to be bold and invitational as he invites students to his small group.  Pray for them to find a good time and place to meet.
• Pray for God to send more staff to our area - specifically to USUE, SUU, and UVU.
• Pray for continued health for Zoe.

January Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises: 

• We had around 21 students from each of our 6 campuses at small group leader training. We had amazing host families in Orem and everything went well despite my parent’s inability to come watch the girls (due to sickness) and my having to do my part and fill in for Justin because his cough worsened.
• God came through with some much needed year end financial gifts for us. 
• We have two students from UVU going on the Bosnia summer global program and several from DSU. This is a great way to train students and potentially recruit them for staff or internships.
• Brad has 15+ students registered for his summer Provo GP.
• We have a couple new leaders this semester at UVU!

Prayer Requests:

• Our family’s health and feelings of isolation due to the frequency of our sickness. Zoe has particularly struggled to strengthen her immune system.
• Please continue to pray for additional staff for UVU and for staff for USUE and SUU.
• Pray for the fundraising efforts of the students in our area who are going to Bosnia and for those going to the Provo GP.
• Pray for Brad as he preps the Provo GP and for God to move students hearts as they participate this summer.
• Never too early to pray for camp! We will begin recruiting students as soon as small groups start.
• UVU small group Bible study started this week. Students at most of our campuses will continue to study John this semester. Please pray for all of our small groups that they would have a welcoming atmosphere, continue to grow and continue to reach non-Christians. 
• Please pray for the health of staff and students and that all of us would continue to trust God as events get canceled, people are isolated or quarantined, and in general the start to the semester is slower than usual.  Justin has had to miss several events on campus and has had to postpone his monthly trip to Dixie.  All of our staff currently are or have been sick at some point in the past month as well as many of our students. 

Thank you dearly. 

A Scripture that has spoken to me lately is Hosea 6:3 — “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." 

May He come as we press on to know Him and may His coming feel as beautiful and sure as the dawn and as refreshing and nourishing as the spring rain.