"Is anyone among you sick?"

 My core guys.

"Jesus answered them, 
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, 
but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, 
but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:31-32

I often ponder this question when I meet people for the first time: "how are you really doing"? Every Tuesday, I visit my campus doing contact evangelism, and I see a variety of students that have their Apple airpods on or scrolling through Facebook/Twitter on their phones. As I see students sitting alone with their phones, my first thought is, "they don't want to be bothered." But maybe they're waiting and hoping someone will start a conversation with them. I met one student who was sitting by himself in the atrium. I approached and introduced myself to him, and we began a conversation. I asked him how his day was going, and he responded "good." I followed up with another question, "how is it 'good'"? He said, "It's my first day in college, and it's just different; that's all." I noticed he didn't want to share details, so we kept talking and getting to know each other. As we were finishing up our conversation, his last words were, "Thank you for talking to me today. I'm very shy, and I don't know people here very well". I asked him if he wanted to join our campus ministry, but declined and wasn't interested. I respected his decision and wished him well. 

Sometimes, people saying their day is/was "good" is not always true. It's difficult as disciples to understand how people are doing when we engage in life with them, just like my friend earlier. But, I think about Jesus approaching the paralyzed man at the pool (John 5:1-9). 

"He asked him, 'Do you want to get well?'" See how bold and caring Jesus was and how he asked people for help. What I learned this past month is the church is like a hospital. When you go see a doctor, he/she is going to ask you questions about what's going on with you and why you're there. If you don't give full details of your symptoms, your doctor won't know the right medical treatment to provide you. As disciples of Christ, we should be asking people in our church community what's going on in their lives. Asking for prayer requests is how we can be looking out for God's people. Who do you know in your church or outside that needs prayers? Who's that one person God has put on your heart to reach out to?

FALL CAMP!!

We had a great time at Mt. Lebanon!! We asked our students to take a day from their weekend (Saturday 12pm - Sunday 12pm) to have fellowship with one another, and grasp the genuine love of Jesus during a session time. My biggest take away was experience that weekend with my core guys. We all came together as brothers, looking out for one another, sharing the best qualities of Jesus Christ. 

Our theme at Fall Camp was, "Why are you here in this community?" Our campus pastors shared their importance of community, and asked our students some questions to reflect on. In the end, our students understood the value of why community plays a significant key in our walk with God. Fellowships are growing, friendships becoming purposeful, and 

My core guys and I formed a human table. Just guys being dudes!

 Two of our staff members came up with an excellent game for our students. This game, in particular, came from the famous TV show 'Survivor.'

Worship session: We set up stations for everyone to have a personal time with God. 

At our first core night, we discussed what our purpose as a community should look like. We wrote down some promises about how we should be looking out for each other, and remind ourselves of these promises. 

Prayer Request:

• New relationships God will direct towards me and anyone in our ministry. Pray, we be faithful whoever we meet on campus and continue to sustain these relationships.

• About to give my first sermon on October 24th!! Please pray through the process and prepping, that God will speak his truth to me and share it with my fellow apprentices.

• Pray that God will reveal new or remind me characters about Himself as I continue to grow my relationship with Him.