Spring 2019 Ministry Update

Life-Changing Conversations

Every other Thursday night RUF International hosts Dinner & Discovery on campus - that means feeding 100 people and then exploring Christianity with all who stay for small group discussion. For the overwhelming majority of our friends from the 20-25 countries who come each time D&D is their one and only opportunity to talk through their beliefs, ask their questions, express their skepticism, and yet see and hear of God's grace for the world in Jesus Christ. This semester our theme is "Life-Changing Conversations" Jesus had with various people in the Gospels, and our hope is that God will use these stories today to bring about dramatic life change for many of our international friends.

Conversations that are Changing Lives

"I love RUF International!" As soon as I sat down in the library with Eleni (undergrad student from Albania) earlier this week, she was beaming when she turned the whiteboard around for me to see what she'd drawn. I didn't quite know how to respond, so I asked her what made her think to draw the cross and our RUF-I logo. That's when she told me how, despite feeling overwhelmed by invitations from different ministry groups last August, she has come to see RUF-I as her "family". On her own initiative she's going to church for the fist time since attending with her grandmother as a child. And it's hard to get her to stop talking about how much she's learning and growing in her faith because of RUF International.

Prayer & Praise

- Praise for sustained Dinner & Discovery growth with 85-100 people from 20+ countries each time
- Praise for our lunchtime Latino Bible study on Wednesdays as we feed & lead 10 students from 6 different countries through a Galatians study of “Amazing Grace”
- Pray for new funding sources for 2019, as our budget has grown but giving is $6000 behind where we were this time last year
- Praise that RUF-I intern, Jenny Ott, was recently approved by RUF’s national assessment team to stay on as permanent "staff" beginning in June
- Praise for a new female intern (Molly Ferrell) who was recently approved to join our UT team later this fall
- Pray for ongoing favor with UT, and especially UT’s International House, in the wake of a false accusation related to our ministry late last fall
- Pray for our 4 kids (Daniel - 20, Phillip - 17, Annie - 12, and Neissa - 10) to be drawn to a robust confidence in and love for Jesus