God at Work

Clearly it is evident that I am NOT good at this blogging thing unless I have LOTS of free time, which is definitely not the case these days! But some really fun things are happening and I want to share!

When I came back to Lubbock for the Spring semester, I knew that my job would look different than it had the 2 years before. I knew it would. But being someone who is resistant to change, I didn't like the thought of that. I pushed back pretty hard. Internally, I didn't want to do things differently that I had before. I liked what my schedule was like. I enjoyed the students I regularly met with. Outwardly, though, I said OK to whatever changes had to come, because I knew I didn't have a choice. And ultimately, if I'm saying no to change, I'm saying I desire my comfort over serving God wherever He calls me.

So, the beginning of this semester was interesting, to say the least. I didn't know how to fill my schedule. I didn't know what students to meet with. I didn't know what in the world my ministry would look like at all this semester, and I wasn't hopeful. But goodness, how the Lord had something planned.

One part of my job this semester is helping out with a Bible Study in one of the all girl dorms on campus. This particular dorm has been difficult to really reach out to and maintain a Bible Study in the past because they were the only dorm on campus that didn't allow us to host our Bible Study in their dorm. But this year, the Lord granted us favor and we are finally allowed to meet for Bible Study in their study lounge! I know that may not seem like a big deal, but let me just tell you the impact it has had just this semester!

This semester, we have had around 25 girls attend the Bible Study. And each week we have an average of 10-15 girls show up. And whats even more fun is that 7 of these girls attended our annual Women's Retreat this weekend!

You may be wondering how we get the word out about the Bible Study. On the first day of this semester, in all the dorms, we gave out drawstring bags with a Bible & book in them. All we asked the students to do was fill out a short survey to give us their contact info and help us gauge where they are spiritually. 2 of the questions asked if they were interested in getting info about growing spiritually this semester & whether or not they wanted info about getting involved in a Bible Study.

Once we see who said "yes" to either of the last questions, we begin contacting them either by e-mailing them, calling/texting them, or even stopping by their dorm room. As I began contacting some of these girls, I have had the chance to meet some really fun girls who truly desire to grow in their walk with God and/or want to know God for the first time in their lives. I am so grateful to say that the Lord has given me the opportunity to share the gospel with 2 girls over the past 2 weeks who have never known Christ, and both indicated that they wanted to accept Jesus as their Lord & Savior! How cool is that?! 2 other girls that I met indicated that they are believers but weren't sure how to begin walking with God for a lifetime. So over this past month, I have had the chance to start Follow-Up with the 2 girls who just accepted Christ & the 2 girls who desire to grow in their faith!

What Follow-Up is, is 5 Bible Studies that go through the basics of our faith. It teaches them how to be confident in the salvation Jesus offers, how to accept the forgiveness that Jesus offers even though we still struggle with sin as Christians, how to begin walking in the Holy Spirit, how to be obedient to the Holy Spirit as we battle our flesh, and how to become mature in our faith.

It is so fun for me to see these girls start to "get it". I see God giving them understanding of the Scriptures and revealing Himself to them each time we open His Word. So even though I was resistant to change at the beginning of this semester, I am MORE than grateful for it now. Now I can see that God wanted to use me in a way that was going to MAKE me rely on Him instead of doing something I could have in my own strength.

I love seeing Him at work. I love that He is truly moving in this particular dorm on campus. I love that He chooses to use such an imperfect person like me so that He will get the glory. There are so many more stories that I could share about how God is using our ministry, but I would literally be writing for days. But just know that God is changing lives at Texas Tech! We have seen someone accept Christ EVERY week since we have been back on campus this semester! We have seen an Atheist come to our Women's Retreat who left saying, "This just seems right". 28 of the 40 girls who came to our Women's Retreat had NEVER been before. 3 of those 28 had just accepted Christ within this semester!

God is moving! And I LOVE it! :)

Be encouraged.
-mrs.jones