by Angela Knedgen | Jul 14, 2017 | Prayer Letters
Detroit Summer Mission Detroit, home of the Detroit Tigers, Pistons and Redwings. “The Motor City”, “The Comeback City,” and most recently according to it’s current leadership, “The City for Everyone”. A city of robust history, art, and influence over the state of Michigan, yet a city with an unemployment rate double the national average, and a graduation rate of 16% lower than the state average. This is the city whose streets we walked each day during Detroit Summer Mission. This past June and July, 25 students and staff came together for 5 weeks, doing campus evangelism at Wayne State University and compassion ministry through our Cru Inner City partnerships. During our time, we trusted the Lord together to cultivate culturally competent disciple-makers that balance proclamation and demonstration of the gospel, as they connect people to Jesus Christ in the city of Detroit, on campus, and beyond. In the midst of the daily grind, sorrow, and pain, the Lord is faithfully working through ministries and churches long committed to the city. We had the blessing to come alongside them this summer to reinvigorate their efforts to reconcile people to Jesus Christ and instill dignity, worth and value in the hearts of people on the margins of our society. It was a joy and privilege and a challenge and heartbreak to enter into the reality of Detroiters everyday lives. Highlights from Detroit Summer Mission We pursued our DSM mission and vision through two means during the summer: engaging in evangelism and discipleship at Wayne State University and partnering with Christ-centered ministries and churches. In addition to living on campus at Wayne...
by Angela Knedgen | May 10, 2017 | Prayer Letters
We’ve wrapped up our time on campus for this year. It has been a blessing to engage in ministry at the University of Michigan. We are encouraged by the many ways God is working through our ministry and in our students lives. Thank you for helping to put the gospel in arms reach of the future leaders of our churches, schools, business and the world. We are privileged to have your partnership and grateful for your generosity, care and commitment to us. Our West Quad Community gathered at the Michigan Cru Spring Banquet Our Pluralist and Biased Society: Concern and frustration regarding the ability to communicate across faith and political lines with those of different positions is an ebbing current at the campus of the University of Michigan. This was an overwhelming sentiment during a recent event hosted by the Association of Religious counselors at U-M. As a member of ARC, we had the honor of sending one student leader to represent the Christian Evangelical perspective on a panel of students sharing about their experience as people of faith at a secular University. The remaining five students were Ecumenical Catholic, Episcopalian, Muslim and Jewish. For the next hour, these six students shared about their experiences as people of faith here at the University of Michigan via questions moderated by an ARC representative.In a response to a question about the openness of others in hearing from you about your religious perspective in the classroom, a student shared, “a lot of people have strong opinions and I tend not to share there.” Another expressed similar apprehension, “I gauge the room first because...
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 | 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...
