Jayson & Carrie Whelpley

Today was a lot of fun, it was a lot of newness, too.

Bowie was a good time. Jacqueline and I got a chance to get to know some more students on campus. We hung out in the Game Room where they have pool tables, television with constant movies playing (the flick of the day was Jurassic Park 3), more than one Monopoly game going on at all times as well as a game or two of Connect Four. I met a student that Carrie had talked to last week while she was doing a visual survey with him. He was fun to meet, but it will definitely take some time and some built-up trust before he will be willing to hear the Gospel from me and respond to is positively. During our time there we had a chance to meet other students that came through and develop some new friendships including two girls that Jacqueline talked to for about an hour and a half.

Afterwards we went to Georgetown to visit with the group of Chinese students studying in the US. I loved this part of the night, some students who are believers and some who are not who are willing to learn about idioms (like, “That’s a horse of a different color.”) from us as well as take part in an English-language Bible study. Tonight we talked about Cain and Abel and the importance of bringing our best to God as well as the consequences of sin – that it always leads towards death. Also, it was amazing to see someone who was surprised and upset at the fact the God didn’t kill Cain outright because of His great mercy. It’s such a privilege to serve a God whose grace and mercy surprises and startles people!

Part of our night was also a $50 parking ticket, which I’m pretty sure I did not deserve, I’ll have to check out the signage there and either pay it or fight it… we’ll see.

Thank you all for your prayers, they were heard and answered today!

Today has us headed to 3 different campuses, two for each of us.

Carrie is headed to Prince George Community College to meet with the “Campus Crusaders for Christ” group that was student initiated there, we’re trying to help and resource them to reach their campus.

I am headed, with Jacqueline, to Bowie State University in Maryland. We’ll be meeting with some contacts that were gathered last time we were there, some of the student leaders from Bethel Campus Fellowship (the group we are partnering with) and doing some outreach and evangelism.

After all of that we’ll head to the Georgetown area to work with a group of Chinese students who need help in learning conversational English, some of whom are already believers. I’m excited to see some actual work at Georgetown!

My hosting service, Dreamhost, turned 10 years old this month, and they’ve upped the ante for hosting, here is what they’re now offering – keep in mind this is the only plan they are offering right now, the Happy Hosting plan:

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RUBY
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If you’d like to sign up, I’d suggest checking it out here.

The September prayer letter is finally here!

This month has been a lot of “new”. As you’ll read in the letter, new city, new campuses, new expectations and new hurdles. We’ve also found a new church, new friends, new fun and a new perspective for how God works in the lives of His people! We’ve had a lot of “divine appointments” which many people would just call a coincidence… take some time to read about what has been happening here, both inside and outside of the “beltway” (the I-495 loop).

Check it out right here.