This year InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries (GFM) will not only celebrate 25 years of serving God on campus, but also step into another year of serving the Lord with head, heart, and hands. I asked Carrie Bare, GFM South Central Region Assoc Regional Dir., who is serving as the Meeting Prayer Coord. for our national staff gatherings (March 18 – 20), to share a few prayer requests with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). Below is what I received from Carrie.
The focus of this year’s gathering in Mundelein is mission, prompted by our study of Acts, particularly the story of Antioch. Please pray for excellent times in Scripture study and for God to move mightily as we hear preaching out of Acts 15 and then spend extended time in small group settings talking about our own stories of mission on campus and our hopes and dreams for how we want to see God work in campus ministry with graduate and professional students and faculty.
Pray that as GFM staff meet together, good connections will be made and times of encouragement and refreshment will happen. Many staff work in relative isolation quite some distance from colleagues. These meetings are the once-in-the-year time to see one another face-to-face and can be very significant for staff.
This is also a time when the directors of GFM have a chance to re-cast the vision for what we are up to and this year we will be seeing the finished strategic plan for the first time and beginning to get our minds around hopes and goals which are set forth in the plan.
Finally, we will be having an offering for our IFES sister movement in the Caribbean, where grad ministry is just starting. It is our prayer that this offering will be the first step in a meaningful partnership with these fellow believers.
Thank-you Carrie! I encourage members of ESN to watch the ESN FB Wall for updates. As with the Faculty Ministry Leadership Team Meetings, I will post a follow-up “report” on the blog.
Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!
Leave a Reply