ONS Snapshot #5

Thank you for your prayers. The extended worship session last night was a very powerful experience for many here at ONS. One staff was even delivered from some very painful experiences in his past that had begun to take control of his spirit and weigh him down daily in his walk.

Also yesterday was the evangelism experience that all 127 new staff here at ONS participated in. As a group saw three people make decisions for Christ and had hundreds of great conversations with people though most importantly many of the staff gained a value for evangelism and good spiritual conversations in general.

Today is the last full day of ONS and we have it rather light in terms of worship. Tomorrow we'll be playing one final set in the morning and then we will all be traveling home. Please continue to pray for our safety on the road back!

ONS Snapshot #4

Today is the start of a new week and is going to be a very challenging day for many of the staff here at ONS. York Moore will be leading the staff in learning about "conversational evangelism" which although very different than "contact evangelism" has some negative connotations to a lot of people. "Conversational Evangelism" is much more engaging, conversational and pastoral than "Contact Evangelism" which is more one-on-one preaching. This afternoon many of the staff will be going out on U. Washington's Madison campus to do some conversational evangelism in pairs. Please be praying for them as although this is often a great experience for all and changes the hearts of many involved - it is often a difficult journey for many.

For a non-believer's perspective on Conversational Evangelism check out this blog entry I wrote last year when I took one of my non-believer friends along with me

Please also be praying for extended worship this evening and that myself and the worship team can discern what the Holy Spirit wants us to do.

ONS Snapshot #3

It's finally the Sabbath period for ONS which means we get a bit of a break from the intense program. However, break in the program means more work for the worship leader as I try to continually improve the team's ability to minister to the diverse crowd that is InterVarsity. This coming Monday we are going to be inviting some of the people in ONS who are music ministers onto the worship team as guests to better connect with some of the different worship cultures that exist here. I normally never do something like this because I believe in trying to minimize the craziness that can be a 'worship team' by having people who are on a worship team with me be involved for longer terms than one day. This time I made an exception because we are working with mostly staff who tend to be fairly mature. Please pray for me as I try to get a lot done with a lot of people in just a little bit of time. Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

On a side note, there has been a lot of interested in the United College ministry here at ONS and I've also received numerous emails from those worship leaders I am coaching asking various questions about worship and their teams while I'm away. I've a meeting today with another staff in the East Coast area that was wanting to do something just like United - hopefully I can feed him some ideas or help him out in some way; please pray for this meeting also.

ONS Snapshot #2

Today, we had a lot more time to practice and work ahead as this first week is a little light on worship once we're past the first day. God has shed a little light on my strengths and weaknesses as a leader in the challenging task to teach my team a number of different worship and musical styles that are outside the box of what they normally do. I seem to excel at earning trust and setting up a good team environment but sometimes I struggle to find words / ways to explain some of the things I want to communicate when it comes to specifics.

We had some very rough spots in our practice today which I am uncertain of rather to push for excellence or just settle for where we are at. Please continue to pray for me as God continues to refine me in my ministry.

Students Feedback From Catalyst

Since Catalyst (our regional leadership conference) staff have been reading written feedback from students that attended and God met them in some amazing ways. Here are a few of the things they wrote:

"[God] took away my doubts about being a leader"

"[God] Delivered me from lies I had been believing about myself."

"Jesus gave me peace with the changes on the leadership team and gave me a vision of huge growth for next year and after I leave."

"HE reassured me that he can use me despite my weaknesses and reminded me that he rejoices over me."

"[God]Showed me my strengths in leadership and also my weaknesses in my relationship with Him and in my responsibilities as a Christian (such as evangelism)"

"Being affirmed that it is normal to feel inadequate and have doubts. This was my first time being in a place where so many people were on fire for God. Usually I feel alone."

"He reopened my heart. He showed me how apathetic I was being and I’m excited to see the changes He’s going to make in me over the next year."

"He showed me the image of resting with Him instead of being a busybody."

"He made me realize I don’t need to be shy or afraid."

"I learned so much about myself and my perception of God and how that perception was hindering me that now I’m experiencing a renewed sense of freedom and peace that is immeasurable."

"I was initially hesitant about taking up this position of leadership that I’ve been put in. However, Catalyst helped me realize that although I’m weak in my own strength, I am strong because God is with me."

Snapshot of ONS

DAY I
It's been one exhausting day. The morning was busy with meetings, setup and getting oriented and the afternoon was non-stop practice and sound checks. Today I spent a lot of time with the worship team - teaching people new styles of music & new ways of leading worship as many on the team are feeling stretched. It's a tough job trying to connect with such a diverse group of leaders that are in InterVarsity. I was telling Daryl the other day that I hadn't noticed how much I learned from our experience at Urbana until now when I'm trying to teach it.

I'm beat - just got out of 4 meetings since we finished and am ready for bed. Thanks for your prayers despite all the things that went wrong tonight God still came through and I believe it is because of prayers. Here are some ways God answered prayer today: i. even though the ppt wasn't working people were still worshiping as evident by their postures and general response; ii. the worship team itself is quickly bonding into a fun little community.

Please keep praying for us! Goodnight everybody!

New Staff Orientation in Madison

Thanks for your prayers for us at the Byron Cage concert. It went very well even though we didn't get a sound check (the entire sound system was different) and had a few technical issues, people still responded fairly well. Currently, I'm in Madison, WI, getting ready to lead a worship team for InterVarsity's national new staff orientation over the next 10 days. Tonight is the first evening and I am a little nervous as the stage isn't even put together yet so we haven't had a chance to practice anything together. We will probably not have much time today and one of our team mates doesn't arrive till 5:30. Please keep us in your prayers.

Last night I took the team out for dinner and to walk around the city. We all come from very diverse backgrounds: non-denominational churches, a Lutheran seminary, a young woman who desires to be a nun, to name a few. Hopefully, as we learn to work and worship together we'll be a great team to reach the diverse community that is InterVarsity staff. I'll keep you updated over the course of the next couple weeks.

Byron Cage Concert

Daryl Black, myself and others will be opening for Byron Cage's concert this coming Thursday, June 14 @ Abudant Life Church. You are welcome to join us there for an evening of worship and praise!

Purchase tickets through MetroTix

New Website - New Mission

Hope you are enjoying the new website! My ministry with InterVarsity has changed since last year. I will be assisting with a new chapter plant @ Mizzou and mentoring a number of worship leaders at various colleges around the region in partnership with UNITED WORSHIP MINISTRIES. I hope to tap the resources of UNITED to better disciple and train worship leaders in InterVarsity who often feel isolated and under great pressure in their respective chapters. Feel free to download my most recent prayer letter or read my new case for more information about these new ventures.



Global Day of Prayer
The global day of prayer was excellent! Over 2000 people showed up in St. Louis to join the millions around the globe in prayer this past Sunday, May 27. Daryl, myself and a few friends were honored to be able to lead them in worship and were blessed later that day as God healed 4 people in the crowd of everything from paralysis to chronic hearing loss! Praise God!