Getting into the swing of things...

Hi friends,

It is so great to be here -- I am loving every second of life back in Oxford! Thank you so much for getting me here and praying me here.

Things have already begin with a BANG here. As you probably know from my e-mail updates, we have had an incredible volunteer interest -- this is unprecedented, as we've typically only had a core of 4 at the most. In the past two weeks, I've met with about 6 college girls who are interested in volunteering to talk more about the ministry and figure out a time for them to come to campus with me. It's so exciting, and I really enjoy still being connected to Miami students in this way.

Our SV Kickoff was a great way to remind students that we haven't fallen off the face of the planet since they haven't heard much from us since last May. ;) We had 7 students and 11 volunteers show up, and all are excited to get connected to SV! We're working on two big events for November (more details to come...), but in the meantime, I just get to spend time meeting with high school students. In my mail prayer letter, I'll tell you more about the incredible high school and college students I get to spend my days with. I LOVE MY JOB! :)


I'll leave you with a couple of pictures -- some ministry-related and some personal!

Here is my Student Venture team:

Roxanne -- she has interned for two years with SV in Loveland, OH, and she just joined full-time staff here in Oxford!

Chris -- he has been our one-and-only SV staff member in Oxford for the last two years, and now he's on staff too!

and of course, me :)

Here are some of the awesome Miami students who are interested in volunteering with SV this year. We got ice cream and hung out uptown in the park on a beautiful fall day :)



And HERE are pictures from my camping adventure last weekend! We had a long weekend because of Columbus Day, so I went with some staff members from the Miami campus team to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We hiked and camped Friday night; then Matt, our fearless leader, took us rappelling on Saturday -- off of a 150-ft. cliff! It was a weekend of firsts for me!





It took me about a half an hour, but I finally got off the ledge and descended down the cliff. It was amazing!

Thank you again for the special part you play in my life and in the lives of so many people here. I can't wait to give you the next update!


Emily

I'm finally here!!

Well, I did it -- I made the move! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it is to be back here in Oxford. I arrived on Thursday night, about 15 minutes before Miami's Campus Crusade weekly meeting began. I actually needed to be there for work -- some of the SV college volunteers were handing out flyers to recruit more volunteers. We had a short informational meeting in the back afterwards, and to my surprise, 21 students showed up! (This is huge because in the past three years, we've had between 5 and 15 come.) I talked to quite a few who are very eager to get involved and be committed, so that is a huge answer to prayer. Next weekend (6-8 Oct) is Campus Crusade's Fall Retreat for college students, and I'll be going to work on recruiting more volunteers (getting to attend the conference is just one of the perks of my job!) Please pray that even more students would show up, and after prayerful consideration, decide to volunteer with us.

I spent the weekend attending a friend's wedding as well as moving into my new house. I live with the Associate Director of Crusade at Miami, Jane Armstrong. I also live with one of my past housemates and best friends, Lauren Nagel, who is interning with the Bridges International Ministry here at Miami. Our fourth housemate is Mallory, a grad student at Miami who is connected to Crusade through Butler University. It's an incredible place to live -- I'll put up pictures of my room once it's a little more in order ;)

I've gotten to spend wonderful time with Miami's staff team this weekend. I know I am going to learn a ton from the leadership that surrounds me here this year. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Miami and Campus Crusade, let me break it down for you a bit.

Miami -- MU has a campus staff of about 30 (including interns), some who have been here for over a decade. Campus Crusade here has one of the strongest ministries in the nation; the team is typically made up of staff that work with the general campus of Miami. This year, though, our team has interns with Athletes in Action (athletic ministry), Bridges (International ministry), and two staff and one intern (ME!) with Student Venture high school ministry. Miami is a forerunner in the idea of integrating these branches of CCC into one whole. That's why I get to be part of the wonderful Miami Crusade staff team!

Student Venture -- This "team within a team" consists of Chris McClelland and Roxanne Weaver, who both just joined staff this year, and me, the intern. We work together, obviously, but we get to be part of the campus planning, prayer, and training times. The idea behind this all is that we want to be training our high school students to be effective in college as Christ-centered laborers, and we also want to include more college students in reaching high schoolers with the gospel message. It is great to partner with this campus ministry.

Hopefully, you can start to see how I fit into all this back here in Oxford. I'll spend the next few days preparing for Fall Retreat, which starts on Friday. On Monday (9 Oct), Chris, Rox, and I are meeting for an SV Mini Retreat to cast vision for the beginning of our ministry this year.

Wow, you're still reading? You're probably related to me. ;) I hope this helps you understand a little bit of what it looks like now that I'm back here.

Check back for frequent (shorter, I promise!!) updates on the SV life!

Thank you for your prayers and your support in my ministry.

His,

Emily