A Baptism and an Ordination

Last Friday, we celebrated our second ever baptismal service at Tulane's outdoor pool. This time around, there was only one to be baptized, but it was great!

Liz Bowers made her public proclamation of faith in the presence of the Tulane Chi Alpha community, and a lifeguard. 

I don't have any pictures, currently, as Jen and I couldn't find the camera that evening, but hope to have some soon. In the meantime check out Liz's testimony.

Then, on Monday, I was ordained by the Assemblies of God. I'm not too big on formal occasions or for titles, but the service was still quite meaningful. Superintendent Doug Fulenwider preached a deeply challenging address on keeping the Kingdom of God first.

The night was even more meaningful as my dad, and his brother, John, were in attendance. I didn't even know they were coming to town until I discovered them in my dining room Sunday after church! Thank God for family.

Speaking of family, I'm looking forward to a non-surprise visit from my mom, tomorrow. This will be here first time to Louisiana.

Upcoming Developments

Welcome back, friends. Many of you got your first look at www.nolaxa.com last week, as I accidentally pointed you there with my newsletter email. Feel free to check that site on a regular basis if you like, or just check the headlines listed to the right. That'll help all you praying types to know how you might pray more specifically - thanks!

Some of you, then, already know that Chi Alpha in New Orleans has been chosen as the US Missions focus for The World Missions Summit next winter. This means there will be a targeted call for finances on a large scale, but more than that, a call for laborers - students to "give a year and pray about a lifetime" of service in the Great Commission with us here! Wow!

I'll keep you updated as that develops.

Also, we have a Campus Missionary in Training (CMiT) coming our way for next school year! We are excited to be a part of the Diversity Project internship, training the next generation of campus missionaries.

by the way, I'm getting ordained on Monday in Houma, LA at the Louisiana District Council. Some folks think that's a big deal, so I thought I'd let y'all know.

March/April 08 Newsletter

Click on the image to zoom in. Click here to download a printer friendly version.

Tulane Likes to Talk about Sex

Last week, one of my favorite speakers on the planet, and a really nice guy, Curt Harlow, paid a visit to New Orleans. Curt is the West Coast Regional Director for Chi Alpha. He's a blast: full of funny stories and profound insight and the love of Jesus.

While here, for just a quick stay, he shared a talk entitled Sex: Selection and Survival. We did some creative advertising at the lunch break, as Curt shared a few 3-5min comedic vignettes to the students chowing down and studying in an area of Tulane's center for university life, and then one of our students would invite them to come to the talk.

Well, I think the creative advertising helped, but more than that, XA students invited their friends. Nearly 50 people showed up and scarfed 14 pizzas! Close to 20 of them were folks who had never met XA before.

Curt shared more funny stories, illustrating the power of sex and relationships, and giving some brilliant guidance in building a relationship that works. He ended with a personal confession of his faith in Jesus - the power that has enabled him to enjoy more than 20 years of loving marriage. After this, there was some Q & A.

Tulane students love to talk about sex, and we'll keep dialoguing with them. There is a shift going on in our community, as we step into greater boldness, and begin to have faith that God really can impact this university with the Good News! After this wonderful turn-out and discussion, our students are encouraged and expectant for the future in a new way.

DC Updates from the Other Side

Mike and Jen Godzwa are the lead missionaries for Chi Alpha at American University. Here are links to their thoughts on our recent spring break trip their way:

Mike -from www.thegodzwas.com

Jen -from godzwafam.blogspot.com

DC Trip Media

Photos!
























Audio! - Message from Thursday Night Worship. Matt spoke with the help of UNO Sr. Nikki Gordy


Video !

DC Reflections.

Our trip to Washington D.C. was a blur, in a lot of ways, but a good blur.

I can't recount all of it, but plan to have a student story or two from the trip in our Mar/April newsletter that should show up within 2 weeks (that's called a teaser).

One of the most impactful experiences for me was the Seven Last Words of Christ service we visited at Georgetown University on Tuesday evening, the day we arrived.

Chi Alpha at Georgetown is one of several Protestant ministries affiliated with Georgetown's University Ministry. Like Loyola, Georgetown is a Jesuit Catholic university, however, their structure for Protestant student ministry is much more developed. As part of that affiliation, each of the Protestant groups are required to be a part of occasional meetings and special services. This Seven Words service was one of those required meetings.

My expectations were low: required cooperation in religious services tends to not go so well many times. However, I was moved and challenged, and really encountered God's presence in the remembrance of Jesus crucified.

The Gospel Choir led us in some hymns and spirituals, and each ministry had a representative share for 5-7 min on one of Christ's final words. Each representative had something truly powerful to share. I was especially blessed by and proud of Randy Demary. Randy was a student at UL-Lafayette when Jen and I were interns there, and is now a Chi Alpha missionary to Georgetown. He had to share on "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" not an easy assignment, but he did it well, and challenged all of us to see the hope tied up in that statement, as it connects to the whole of Psalm 22.

The trip got better from there.

Wed & Thursday: Daytime advertising for Holy Week activities and engaging American University students in conversations about Easter, spirituality, etc... good times!
Wed Evening: hosted a program on the origins of Easter
Thurs Evening: participated in and spoke at AU XA's Thursday Night Worship
Fri: touring and sight seeing - we weren't very good at this.
Sat: helped Godzwa's clean around their house and headed home.