Recently, at the U of I, students participated in the 21st annual Unofficial St. Patrick's Day. Unofficial (for short) was started by bar owners who were missing out on revenue as St Patrick's Day (a big drinking day on a campus) fell over Spring Break. So they started a new "celebration."
The past few years, we've taken to inviting students in our ministry to go and pass out water to participants in Unofficial. We think it's a great way to show that we are a church for our campus. We could easily separate, be against, or even acquiesce to the culture. Instead, we desire to create something better. This is the heart behind so much of what we do.
We love that nearly 20 students jumped in to meet a tangible need for their intoxicated fellow students.
Tragically, though, this year, Unofficial took a turn for the worse, as a student died after falling off of a balcony just before midnight. At that time, we were posted up at 3 locations handing out water.
This is why we're here. Our campus needs Jesus and we are so humbled that we have the opportunity to be people who preach his name and help disciple students to follow Him.
Please pray for the family of our deceased Illini and please continue to pray for us and our influence on campus to help people to know about the hope and better way that is in Jesus.
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Last semester, we launched a new membership class we call Foundations. It's a starting point in Illini Life and helps students to discern whether membership is a good next step for them in Illini Life.
In February, we ran the course again and had 7 graduates.
It's been exciting to see this part of our ministry gain traction. We're particularly glad that we have a chance to communicate what Illini Life is about to a new student and help them to jump into community and serve. We're still working out the details for the class for next year, but we're still pushing and hoping for an April run and to see over 30 people go through Foundations.
Would you pray for clear and solid followup for the graduates of Foundations we already have and for enough students to take it again in April.
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