Fall Semester Prayer Requests

 Praises:

So many I can't list them all -- see our most recent newsletter!

Prayers:

• Fall Retreat (Oct. 11-13)
• Pray for favorable weather as some students will be in tents
• Pray for non-Christians who will be there and that they would be receptive to the Gospel
• Pray for our staff team (including Justin and Samantha) who will be teaching over the weekend
• Pray for safe travel for staff and students to and from camp
• Pray for our kids health and safety as we are away and they are with Nana
• Cultivate (mid November)
• Justin and Samantha will be attending a staff director conference.  Please pray that this conference is a source of encouragement and refreshing for us after what has been an incredibly challenging year.
• Pray for our kids as they are with Justin's parents.
• Fundraising
• Justin is trying to fundraise so that he can get paid for the actual number of hours he is working.  Pray that God provides the right people to partner with us.
• Stamina for trips to St. George
• Please pray for Justin as he continues to travel to St. George (UTU) every other week to be with students.  He loves these students and we are seeing amazing things happen, but it is also exhausting and hard for our family.  Pray that God would provide a new local staff for Utah Tech to love these students.
• New Staff for UVU - please continue to pray that God would send the right person or people to staff the UVU Orem campus
• Pray for Abbie's fundraising 
• Abbie works with international students at UVU and is currently fundraising to work full-time.  Keep praying with her as she is about 65% funded and excited to be back on campus with students.
• Samantha's health 
• Please continue to pray for healing for Samantha as she recovers from damage caused by Celiac disease and as she figures out how live a new lifestyle without gluten, dairy, eggs, and corn. Specifically more energy, less sickness, and less arthritis would be great.

July/August Prayers and Praises

 Praises:

• Praise God for the soft-hearted student leaders at Utah Tech
• Praise God for putting it on Justin's heart several years ago to get to know these leaders
• Praise God for the amazing celebration of life we had for Matt and for the glory God is receiving through this situation
• Praise God for all those who grew closer to Jesus because of Matt
• Praise God for the outpouring of prayer, service and generosity we have experienced personally, as an area, and towards the students at Utah Tech
• Praise God for the churches, families, and professors in St. George who want to see God continue to move the ministry at Utah Tech forward 
• Praise God that Ken and Kenzie Meyers moved to Cedar City on June 28th
• Praise God for all the ways that he used the Provo GP to reach students at BYU
• Praise God for our parents, who drove a total of 16 hours to be with our kids while we were with our team, attended the funeral, and met with student leaders
• Praise God for the way He has worked in Autumn's (our 6 year old) heart to use this experience to teach her and grow her closer to Him

Prayers:

• Please pray for the Utah Tech student leaders.  What they have been through is traumatic, especially those who were first responders.  InterVarsity has committed to getting them counseling and prayer ministry.  Please pray we can get them set up with Christian counselors as soon as possible, whether that be online or in person.  Also pray for them as they continue to host events and lead students into spaces where sorrow and joy are held hand in hand.  Pray that they would continue to be soft-hearted, to grow in trusting God and in trusting Justin as they work together closely this year.
• Please pray for our area team.  This is hitting all of us incredibly hard.  We will be at a conference together July 29th and it will just be so clear that Matt should have been there and isn't.  
• Pray for Justin.  Justin was close to Matt, met weekly with him, discipled him, and had incredible hopes for his future.  And while he is mourning, he is also in many pastoral roles with students and staff.  Pray for his wisdom and discernment.  He is also teaching at our regional conference July 29-August 1st.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through him.
• Pray for the Meyers as they settle in to Cedar City.  Literally their first experience in that place was Matt's death.  They don't yet have friends or a church.  Matt was going to be the closest InterVarsity staff to them.  Pray for community and friendship for them.  They are also still fundraising and that feels hard to get back into after all that has happened.  Pray for God's provision.
• Pray for Abbie.  She was very close with Matt.  She is also fundraising.  Pray that God provides 
• Continue to pray for our kids as they experience grief (at least our grief) and as they have more babysitters, grandparents watching, etc. as we take time to be with staff and students.
• Pray for me.  I have experienced health issues which we think are related to an autoimmune disorder (but we don't know which one).  I am having a hard time finding an appointment with a rheumatologist (pray for that).  I was doing better before Matt's death but have been worse after.  Pray that I would just trust in God until I can see a doctor and figure out what is going on.  I also started a diet July 1st (horrible timing) that may help symptoms.  Pray that it does help and that I can be faithful to it.  Pray that God would give me the energy and capacity to be with my kids, homeschool, and also to do my job well and love our staff and students.
• I really felt compelled to be present at our regional conference July 29-Aug. 1st.  This means having my mom here watching the kids.  It also means she will be away from my dad, who has advanced prostate cancer.  Please pray for strength for her as she watches all 3 kids (she's never watched them all for this long) and for my dad to have lots of good days while she's gone. 
• New student outreach is drawing near.  We would love to take our whole family to St. George to participate in their first week or two of outreach.  Pray God provides what we need to make that happen and for discernment as we decide how long to stay.
• Lastly, keep praying for revival.  As Matt would say, it's just around the corner.

Love you all! Thank you in advance for all your prayers!

Summer Prayers and Praises

 Praises

• Praise God for our wonderful staff retreat in May in Moab and for a good team dynamic
• Praise God for our new staff Ken and Kenzie Meyer who are moving to Cedar City
• Praise God for the 21 staff and students who gave up their summer to do the Provo summer program with InterVarsity and for the friendships that have already been made!
• Praise God that our area will end the year in the black and that God continues to provide for our area and our family!

Prayers

• Pray for Ken and Kenzie, Abbie, and Matt as they all raise money to be on campus in the fall
• Pray for the Provo GP: for trust to be built, for opportunities for spiritual conversations and to share the Gospel, and for students to learn how to live out the Gospel through incarnational living.  Pray for Brad as he directs the GP; we would love specific prayers for good sleep for him. 
• Pray for our family's health.  While we have all been sick this year, Samantha has been experiencing chronic health issues since September.  We are in the midst of trying to figure out a diagnosis for her.  Please pray for her healing but also for wisdom and peace.  We are currently waiting on a set of results that will tell us if she has an autoimmune disease.
• Pray that God would continue to use the Provo GP, the spring break trips, and any other means to send staff and volunteers to our area.  We would love to see a full-time staff worker at UVU, at USU Eastern, and at BYU. 
• Pray for Justin as he prepares to teach at a regional staff retreat at the end of July.  Pray for our staff team as they attend this retreat that God would use it to bless them and prepare them for the coming school year.
• Pray for continued unity and good team dynamics among our staff team

Thank you!

April Praises and Prayers!

 Praises:

- We're hiring 3 new campus ministers and 2 ministry interns this summer! God is truly "expanding the tent pegs" of our ministry in Southern Utah.

- We have a healthy family and health insurance! We were without coverage for a few months at the beginning of the year.

- The Colorado Christian University team gathered over 30 students for their Good Friday service last month!!

- The CCU team also raised almost $10,000 for our ministry in Southern Utah, praise God! Their donations have been crucial in flying out potential staff to the area and showing them the campuses we hope they will work at. We will also be using these funds to help new staff raise funds.

Prayers:

- Brad is gearing up to lead our summer Provo Program! He has 17 students participating. Pray for their preparation for the program.

- Ken and Kenzie, Abbie and Matt as they raise support to get on campus this fall. They each have to raise at least $30,000 to be on campus this fall. We are thankful for the incredible training and support they receive from National InterVarsity in this process.

- We are hosting our spring Area meeting next month, and it will be a crucial time of bonding and sharing values as a team, especially with several brand new staff joining us. Pray for us to build trust with them and share a compelling vision for our team. We will still have Ana with us, which will complicate things for us as we balance parenting and professional responsibilities.

Spring Semester Prayer Requests and Praises

 Praises:

• We had 23 students from across S. Utah at our spring leaders retreat and it went amazingly well.  
• We (finally) completely recovered from COVID
• We have several potential staff and interns in our pipeline and we are excited about what God is going to do in the future of our area.
• We were able to raise the funds we needed to step out of our financial deficit and feel more fiscally secure in the coming year.

Prayers:

• Justin is attending a Team Leader Training (he is attending as a member of the regional leadership team; he is not being trained but is there to encourage up-and-coming team leaders in our region) the first week of February (5-8th).  Please pray that he would be able to encourage the next generation of leaders in our Rocky Mountain Region.  Please also pray for Samantha and the girls as they are at home.  When he was gone in January everyone was sick and the week was especially difficult for Samantha.
• Camp is coming! We will be taking students from Utah Tech, UVU and hopefully USU Eastern to camp in March.  Pray for our staff as they recruit students to come to this life-changing week of studying the Gospel of Mark and as they prepare to teach on either the first or second half of Mark.
• Pray for our intern Abbie as she launches two small groups at UVU this semester geared toward International students.  She has had more interest this semester and a great start to the spring semester!
• Pray for more staff and interns for our area.  Specifically, we would love prayers for staff at UVU who would reach undergraduate students.  
• We would love continued prayers for the healing of our hands.  As some of you know, Justin has been dealing with an intense form of eczema that causes burning and itching on his hands.  Samantha has been dealing with symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis since September, including stiffness and weakness in her hands.  Pray for healing but also that we would trust God in the midst of this.  Thank you in advance!
• Pray for the students who attended SLED.  We would love to see these students go back to campus and see it as a mission field, launch new Bible studies, commit to discipling others, and anything else the LORD leads them to do as a result of what they heard at the retreat.