Helping College Students Grow in their Relationships
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May 2018: New Opportunities for Ministry
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This academic year God has provided several exciting new opportunities to share my counseling knowledge and experience, together with my love for Him, to college students. I have always enjoyed working with this age group, so when our youth pastor Mariusz Chabasinski asked me this spring to participate in a four-part panel discussion addressed to the students at our church (and their unchurched friends), I enthusiastically said YES. Besides myself, the other panel members include our senior pastor, a Christian psychology student, and Mariusz as the moderator.
Every session begins with each panel member sharing their personal and professional perspective on one of the four most important relationships in students’ lives, i.e. our relationship (1) with our parents, (2) with our friends, (3) with our partners, and (4) with ourselves. A discussion follows, where the panel members answer any questions the students have.
During the first three 3 sessions, the discussion time with students was very engaging and interactive. They asked many open, honest questions, such as: Why is the relationship with our parents important even after we leave home for college and are financially independent? How is our view of God influenced by our relationship with our fathers (including the difficult ones)? Can true friendship endure the test of time? How can we prepare ourselves to become the best partner and find the right mate?
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On June 8th we will complete the series by discussing “Our Relationship with Ourselves”. I want to especially emphasize how our past influences the choices we make today as well as those we will make in the future, and how we can learn to become truly responsible and fulfilled adults by controlling our emotions, thoughts and actions in dependence on God. Please pray that many students from our church (and their unchurched friends) will come and will be changed by what they learn from the speakers and the panel discussion.
Renata, for the Burnells
Lifting our eyes to Jesus:
1. Praise for the renewal conference in Wroclaw this past weekend. Josh McDowell was the special guest speaker. His powerful testimony touched hundreds of those present, who all received a copy of the Polish edition of his book More Than a Carpenter.
2. Praise God for Renata’s growing counseling practice and for the many opportunities to share her faith with clients.
3. Amelia is finishing her second year in junior high school with excellent grades!
4. Pray for Daniel and Erik in June as they take final exams at the end of their first year of Master’s studies.
5. Please continue praying for Renata’s health. She is now seeing a dietitian in Wroclaw, with the goal to help her to increase her energy level.
6. Pray for the students at EWST as they finish term papers and take final exams.
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Student seminar on Relationships
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Students interacting after the seminar
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Family News
Daniel and Erik are studying for final exams in June. Haley is enjoying teaching English at the Wroclaw Language School.Together with Erik they are involved in the children' ministry at First Baptist Church.
Amelia's class had a nice trip to Warsaw, where she saw the Jewish Museum and the Wroclaw Uprising Museum.
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