by Angela Knedgen | Mar 14, 2017 | Prayer Letters
Welcoming New Brothers and Sisters to the Family: “Hey I just wanted to say thanks again. The two of you couldn’t have came into my life at a better time. Not that I feel that I have endured worse than others but the past year or so has been a really difficult time in my life for multiple reasons. As soon as I talked I had to go take a second just to sit with myself and cry. Not because of sadness but because of the new found comfort that has been restored in my life thanks to the two of you. Thanks again. I hope to see the two of you again.”It’s a blessing to experience the Lord using us to intersect the life of a student studying what she was holding as most important with what is of ultimate importance. Like this interaction, our conversations often lead to the opportunity to transition to the gospel and brings students to a point of decision. To the praise of God’s glorious grace, we’ve seen 15 people come to Christ and connect with our ministry in some capacity since last August. We’ve received overwhelming feedback from students that they lack a way to intentionally develop their spiritual lives during their college experience. To meet this need and be faithful to our calling to connect students to Jesus Christ at U-M, we’ve written surveys designed to engage in this type of conversation and transition to the gospel when students desire that.When Josie and I got to the last question on the survey this student expressed that her desire to know God...
by Angela Knedgen | Feb 14, 2017 | Book Reviews
Beyond Racial Gridlock: Embracing Mutual Responsibility is a product of several years in specializing in race, ethnicity and biracial families at the University of Texas by George Yancey Ph.D. He is currently a professor of sociology that now focuses on academic bias and anti-Christian attitudes in the United States. This book is an in-depth and holistic discussion of the need for a Christian approach to resolving the tensions, healing the pain, and reducing the effects of racism. Dr. Yancey contends that the Christian faith provides a unique answer to the problem of racism that the four most prominent secular approaches to resolving racism lack. The first half of Beyond Racial Gridlock is a clear and robust exploration of four current approaches to resolving racism: Colorblindness, Anglo-Conformity, Multiculturalism, and White Responsibility. This section covers the strength and weaknesses of each and a critique of the ways the church has adopted these approaches for better and worse. The second part of the book focuses on moving the church toward constructing a Christian solution to racism through examining the unique effects of sin on majority and minority groups, Jesus as the ultimate reconciler of humanity, the hindering effects of fear on majority and minority groups and the practical application and the outworking of a Christian solution. Part one starts with the individual and internal focused approaches to racism and ends with the structural and external focused approaches. The first two models have internal and individualized components. In the Colorblindness model, if we emphasize racial issues, we will continue to have racial problems. (29)” As a result, diminishing the focus on race diminishes racism....
by Angela Knedgen | Nov 29, 2016 | Prayer Letters
“I’ve never told anyone stuff like this before.” -Abbie, a sophomore U-M student said as we sat across from one another talking after one of the Fall Getaway main sessions. These words were the resounding sentiment amongst our students throughout our weekend. Intimacy with God and with one another is a difficult thing to cultivate in our culture, especially the college campus. Students desire to be accepted but struggle to connect in deep and meaningful ways. Into this darkness, Kevin Butcher, Pastor of Hope Community Church in Detroit, shinned the light of the gospel of grace. Throughout the weekend he led our students into a place of vulnerability with one another and with God that many of them never visit. In a world saturated with social media, students feel the pressure to constantly put forth an image that shows they have it all together. Hours of effort and energy are invested in crafting the right kind of profile that displays a likeable, successful and fun person that anyone and everyone would want to befriend. Reinforcing this pressure is the pressure to build their resumes in a way that presents a version of themselves that is appealing to potential employers. On both academic and social fronts our students are sandwiched between an overwhelming expectation to perform. This approach to life bleeds into their faith and undercuts the gospel of grace. An overwhelming urge to perform to receive God’s acceptance plagues far too many hearts. Standards of what it looks like to love God are set so high that many live in perpetual guilt and shame. This leaves most feeling disconnected...
by Angela Knedgen | Oct 14, 2016 | Prayer Letters
At the heart of our ministry is a desire to connect students to Jesus Christ at the University of Michigan. Much of our efforts in ministry during the first few weeks of the school year are focused around that and we’ve found that most students fall into three categories regarding spirituality: skeptical, exploring and committed. We are dedicating our ministry to helping students in each situation take their next steps with God. We hope to share stories with you throughout the year that give you a glimpse into God’s work in the lives of students at the University of Michigan. The Skeptic: about 25% of emerging adults fall into this category. With the intellectual rigor and focus of the University of Michigan, we’ve found that to be a bit higher than the general population of emerging adults. While most are sincere and thoughtful in their skepticism, some can be hostile to the gospel. All of our students know someone that would identify him or herself as skeptical of religious and spiritual things and we look forward to helping our mentees learn how to engage in thoughtful and constructive conversation that can build bridges from their friend’s skeptical viewpoint to an aspect of the gospel that is compelling and transformative. The Explorer: about 40% of students at U-M are exploring spiritual things. While some may be agnostic, or apathetic and consequently not making the spiritual dimension of their life a priority, others are actively seeking out ways to connect with students who are more committed to a religious tradition and find out more about it. Students like these are joining our Community...
by Angela Knedgen | Jul 29, 2016 | Prayer Letters
We’re done and ready for campus! After two years of building a team of ministry partners, we have been cleared to work on campus. Our first ministry assignment was inviting concerned individuals and churches like you to partner with us to connect people to Jesus Christ. While students will be our primary focus in just a few weeks, we do see the work we’ve done for the past 24 months as a ministry. It’s been a joy to be a blessing to our potential and current partners by inviting all of you to participate in building God’s kingdom, reminding you of the need for our world to be reconciled to Christ and empowering you with an opportunity to reach the world with the gospel through prayer and the work we will do on the college campus. We are so grateful that the scope of what we do goes beyond the University of Michigan and has brought us into each of your lives. Its been a long and challenging season of personal health difficulties, Army Reserve assignments and unexpected interruptions by our rambunctious and joyful 4 year old, but we made it! Can you believe Martel was 2 when we started!?! We’re exhausted but excited and grateful to be done with this full-time season of inviting people to partner with us prayerfully, financially and relationally. We are appreciative of your commitment to us and the ministry the Lord has called us to. We would not have made it this far without the care, fellowship, prayer and generous giving of ministry partners like you! Our hope is that you stay with us as...
