Home!

Carrie and I love life inside the “beltway.” We’ve grown fond of our neighborhood (Waverly Hills) — employees at local shops know us

Student leaders at our place for a city-wide planning meeting before Spring Break.

by name, and neighbors invite us to dinner and visit regularly. We have served on our church’s hospitality team and have hosted a small group for Northern VA couples. We’ve even found a couple to mentor us and a marriage pastor willing to meet regularly. We really feel at home here.

We love the students and schools here too. Carrie adores mentoring several women around the city. I’ve enjoyed giving direction to the campus that is slowly evolving into an “anchor school” for the rest of our work in DC. Three students (and one of their sisters) are applying for summer project this year, alumni are sticking around to give lift to the movement, and one of our leaders is talking about interning with CCC here when she graduates. Even a student who has serious emotional and intellectual objections to the God of the Bible is continuing to come out to everything – including two identical Bible studies every week. God seems to be moving, and this is still where we hope to be.

Away!

But life and ministry have also been difficult. In keeping with what Washington’s reputation, God has used this time to dredge up lots of stuff in us – even more intensely since December. I have struggled in my job, and (since they’re so intertwined) my personal life and walk with the Lord. I say that I’ve struggled, not stumbled, because every turn feels like new growth. God has been speaking as clearly as I have ever experienced, calling me to do and not do things that have been uncomfortable, but undeniably sanctifying.

Meanwhile, as we approach our 7^th anniversary on staff (a time when many take a sabbatical from active ministry), We’ve wrestled through the where and what of God’s calling, with both short-term and long-term implications. Conversations with our leaders about both the health of the team and our own personal development have proved helpful (albeit nerve-wracking at times) as the best options were discussed.

In praying through them, it seemed that the best one for both our personal health and that of the DC Metro team long-term would be to follow our directors’ recommendations to move to Campus Crusade for Christ’s headquarters in Orlando for a year as part of a program called the “Lake Heart STINT.”

Lake Hart

The Lake Hart STINT is an 11-month commitment that lasts from this August through June 2011. In addition to serving in a position at headquarters, participants receive personal development through weekly time in large groups, small groups, one-on-one life coaching, and hearing from Campus Crusade’s top leaders. It’s a great time to step away from field ministry for a minute and have a hand in the essential behind-the-scenes work that makes the work on campuses possible. And as neither of us have had real experience in a 9 to 5 job, we’re looking forward to a more “normal” work environment for a time!

Lake Hart is the global headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ, over 900 staff work here to support local and area ministries.

Several friends have taken advantage of this opportunity and have benefited greatly both personally and professionally from a year “off the field” to be developed from angles that the pace of the campus ministry rarely allows for. It’s almost like a year-long summer project for staff, a time to “sharpen our axe” in community.

During the last couple of decades years Campus Crusade has seen significant growth worldwide.  There are now over sixty ministries within Campus Crusade for Christ.  These ministries share a common goal – to engage with a certain part of society in order to reach the world for Christ.  From students on college campuses, prisoners in cell blocks; refugees in Albania; businessmen and women in the corporate office; the homeless in the inner city to small far off villages known almost to no one, our staff members are there sharing the hope that can only be found in Jesus.

The growth of this ministry is made possible due to the talented staff serving behind the scenes. Whether it is in human resources, reimbursements, film production, graphic design, etc., there are needs to be met so the gospel can be advanced throughout the world. In order to sustain these advances and trust God for even more, we have a tremendous need to strengthen and enlarge the support structure that exists for our ministry at our World Headquarters. We are honored to help meet this need. The men and women who serve our ministry from Orlando not only enable us to be on the campus, but also reach just about every segment of society worldwide.

This is a chance for staff members like myself who have been on the campus long enough to learn core principles of ministry to take the next step in leadership and learn how to launch and sustain new ministries. Upon completion of the year, our hope is to return to the team in Washington, DC. Of course, we are learning as followers of a Holy Spirit who like the wind “blows where He will,” His people also hold their plans loosely.

Throughout this whole process, I am struck by the graciousness of our God to put us on the same page with our leaders – we’re expectant of how this will prepare us even more for a lifetime of loving our God and serving people! Thanks for your prayers and continued support that will allow us to stay focused on the mission – more details to come!

Grace & Peace,

Jayson (& Carrie)

Prayer Requests:

• That the transition would go well for us, students, and incoming staff.
• For student leaders who are taking new responsibilities seriously, that they would see much fruit in their own ministries and hearts. As we’ve passed off more to them, they’ve had great ideas and enthusiasm for prayer and evangelism.

• That we would be expectant and hopeful as we look to this season as a chance to see God’s provision. We really love DC and we’re going to miss our friends and church a whole lot.
• That we’d make the most of the 5 months until we move.

Back!

“Where are you from? What’s your major? Where are you from…” This time of year, this is the sound that rings back when your head hits the pillow.  Classes in the District have officially started, along with all that goes with it — tables at club fairs, brightly colored fliers, free stuff, new faces and the ever-present aroma of cheap burgers from orientation events.  Today at Georgetown, the music on the quad from a huge beginning-of-the-year church service for freshman and a few lingering parents reminds last spring’s party ground that it is time to get serious again.

Georgetown, along with American University, will probably be one of our strongest movements this fall, as we have become part of the Campus Ministry communities there and have freedom to meet more students and hold events.  Please pray that these relationships with other groups will only grow and that God would show us how to contribute as team players to the good reputation of Jesus.  It is the body of Christ (not just Cru) that is able to reach the whole city.

Connecting the Dots

September is always stirring with transition, but this year even more.  Between the reality of a much smaller staff team and so many of last year’s students leaving town for various reasons, it is a perfect time to zoom out to focus on who is here.  Due partly to a national push within Campus Crusade to mobilize Cru alumni and partly to an accidental bunch of potential volunteers, we’ve been spending our time in between the club fairs trying to connect some of the dots here.

What could it look like if a city full of Type-A twenty-somethings caught a vision for reaching out to the students around them? If the graduating seniors from thriving Cru movements like Virginia Tech and James Madison University had a clear place to invest themselves when they moved back home to our doorstep? We’re praying to find out. By Fall Retreat (October 9-11), we hope to have a small army of 20 volunteers, trained and moving toward a clear vision.

In the Wings

One of the advantages of living in a high-profile city is that you can get more press — Washington, DC has been on a list of the Top 10 priority cities within our organization for several years now.  As a result, two other metro staff teams, one from Chicago and the other from St. Louis, have volunteered to come here for a few days this October just to give lift to what we’re doing.  You may remember our incoming spring breakers two years ago — this is a big deal! Pray for wisdom as we think through the best way to put them to use, and we’ll keep you posted!

Grace & Peace,
Jayson & Carrie

Pray for:

Praise God for a summer of excellent training and sufficient funding for it! Thanks everyone!

Pray that the several non-Christians who’ve been investigating our groups would stick around.

Pray that our team and students will stay in good health through the fall flu season & that the presence of the H1N1 virus here would not keep people from our Fall Retreat.

Pray that our two new staff would be able to return from fundraising quickly to turn our 3-person team into 5!

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – B. Franklin

The sign that said that caught students’ attention too. On April 24, we spent about 10 hours at Georgetown University for Georgetown Day, the campus’ annual excuse for an all-day block party on the quad complete with bands, free food and about 10,000 people. Georgetown Day sees a lot of alcohol consumed by students (as we got to campus at 10:30 a.m., the liquor store’s line was out the door).  Beer is on many minds already; God, maybe not.

Needless to say, our table about beer, God and happiness provoked some interesting conversations. With a survey about the Ben Franklin quote, we requested thoughts on God, the nature of love and happiness, and even the meaning of Jesus’ death. Below is a quote from a corresponding website, BeerIsProof.org:

“To Ben the issue was simple. Simple enough that a cold beer from the local pub was proof that God loved him. What about you? Consider laughter, music, sunsets at the beach and the miraculous combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Do these things suggest that the genius behind it all wants us to be happy?”

Without endorsing drinking, we managed to have over 100 conversations and at least one person who said that he wanted to invite Christ into his life.  Apparently anything can start a conversation about Jesus.

Go big or go home – and bring someone with you.

The semester is over. Students have moved home, gone to their summer projects or graduated and started “real life.” Last week at an end-of-the year retreat to help us look back before we look forward, we named as our greatest “wins” things that happened in our homes and extended “off hours” hangout times – out on the quad until midnight, at our place drinking tea over movies and life discussions, at campfires at the staff guys’ house, or at gatherings sharing home-cooked meals on couches rather than in fluorescent-lit meeting rooms facing front.

Year Two has seen God answer our prayer for genuine community marked by transformation.  Internationals, skeptics of all varieties and even a few Jewish students have hung around to consider the claims of Jesus. Things have come into the open that normally don’t.  We haven’t seen the masses come to meetings, but lives are changing. Praise God!

Lean, mean and on the scene!

This year we had a ready-made community of 9 staff and interns and three apartments to invite students into.  With the close of the year comes (hopefully temporary) end of this fun chapter. This fall, it will be just 3 of us. Some of the interns will be fundraising and going elsewhere, one is moving on to pursue a masters and the other couple will be moving to an established ministry where their gifts will be a better fit.  Every change comes with pros and cons, but we’re excited to see what the year will bring! Pray that God would fight our battles for us, and provide a way to move closer into the city.

Pray for:

• As we hope to move from Arlington into DC at some point, pray that we’d find affordable housing that can fit lots of students.
• This summer we’ll be taking classes again – this time to help us learn how to lead a team and structure a movement. We’re pining for summer project but recognize our need for training.
• We’ll be working on developing a larger support base in DC this summer before and after our assignment, pray for contacts and perseverance in that work.

Note: First off, it’s a miracle! We’re actually putting out our March Prayer Letter in March! Secondly, we’ll be posting some pictures of our trip to North Africa soon, we have to edit out ones that would identify too specifically where it was that we went, even though we were very very safe, there are still security issues involved.

To the Ends of the Earth

What would college ministry be without a few ridiculous “pick-up-and-go” weeks every so often? Last year, spring break came to our team.  This year with no incoming students, we decided it would be the perfect year to divide, conquer, and see the world: two bussed it to a conference in Panama City, FL for Cru’s annual outreach to the American beach partiers, a few went to Venezuela, and a handful of us headed to North Africa to experience the culture and see what ministry looks like there.

As we regrouped, the contrast was incredible.  The Florida group found about what you would expect from Americans – a fair amount of spiritual interest dulled by an assumption that they’ve heard it all before. Meanwhile the Venezuela group marveled at the openness, watching 30 students express the desire to start a relationship with Jesus.  As for our N. Africa trip, Jayson may have been the only one to even talk about the gospel, and only once, to correct an error in a Religion text book.

This isn’t surprising, considering the high cost of discipleship for those who profess Christ in North Africa. While foreigners have a certain degree of religious freedom, nationals only worship Jesus in the safety of homes for fear of being cut off from society by families and often left with no livelihood.

Thoughts on Reentry

It’s hard to not be shaken by the contrast in Jesus’ approach to sharing the message and that of the 21st Century American church.  He remains honest and unapologetic about the difficult aspects of the faith, comfortable saying, “take it or leave it.”  We hurry to assuage all objections with comfort and user-friendliness to assure even the most demanding spiritual consumers. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with eliminating barriers that would deter a seeker. But the message of Jesus is neither a product, idea or personality accessory to add to our repertoire, nor an experience to make us more well-rounded, self-actualized or nice.  It is a call to respond in either marriage or rejection to the God who is romancing us, a decision about what we will leave and to whom we will cleave.

Oddly enough, this thought gives me great hope for our movement and the city of Washington, DC.  Over the past months, our team has groaned and pleaded with the Lord over many students who linger unfulfilled in indecision about Jesus. But as they ask the right questions week after week, I can’t help but look forward to the energetic certainty that will follow when they take their vows, having fully counted the cost.  Given the masses whose complain (rightfully) of Christian hypocrisy, I will take three slow-cooked, thorough believers who knew what they were getting into over 50 fast floaters into a comfortable faith, not expecting spiritual resurrection to require death or sacrifice of any kind.

Rubber Meets Road

Last month, we mentioned our February conference (called “neXt”). Here “M,” a new Chinese believer decided to tell her parents about her faith, thus instigating her parents to cut off all financial and emotional support.  Now, a month before graduation, she finds herself sleeping on friends’ floors, trying to get a work visa in order to stay here and minister to other internationals, while I am challenged by her sturdy confidence in a God she has just met.  Please pray for M and for her parents, (prominent figures in the Chinese government) to come to faith.  We serve a God who specializes in the unlikely!

Pray For

• Health & National leadership for movements in North Africa and Venezuela.
• Freedom of staff there (and here) from judging their worth by performance or people’s response.
• Courage for students who have much at stake in livelihood & reputation if they profess following Jesus.

After talking to some friends the other day, I realized that I hadn’t posted our January Prayer Letter here at all! Yeah, I know, it’s March. Here it is. I’ll have the February one up a.s.a.p. as well!

Transformers

Ready or not, the new year is upon us, and the DC Cru team is squarely into Semester #4! As usual, with the change come signs of growth and just as many new questions, now with more eyes looking to us to have a plan.

If there is one thing that God is convincing me of these days, it’s that as the Author of all good stories, He is quite fond of suspense, and will reveal what I need to know no more than a chapter at a time. And if every chapter has a heading, this semester’s seems be “Transformational Community.” This concept  will sound  glorious concept  on paper  - the  power  of the  Risen Christ reworking distant, suspicious, selfish individuals in a city of isolation and racial tension into a gracious, truthful, humble community celebrating the God Who Came Near. It’s beautiful.

In real life, everything we do here starts in the hearts of our greatest asset, a staff team of nine people in absurdly close proximity, all of whom are different, most of whom are roommates, half of whom are spouses… let’s just say it is a workout!  But as we work it out together  with a faithful God, bleeding Romans chapter  12, we are seeing women who say “I don’t bond with females” plan women’s lunches with students from across the city. We’re seeing our (white) staff guys so welcomed in unusual places that they’re being mistaken for members  of historically black fraternities. We’re seeing students  at schools were everyone is too busy and important to give the time of day give up their afternoons  to meet  with friends across the city to talk with strangers about God. We’re seeing non-believers volunteering to plan prayer meetings and giving Christian books to friends. We’re seeing momentum build as people who say “I’m normally not that into God” keep surfacing to see if this community is for real.

Over and out

One of the key marks of a community genuinely transforming in the power of the Spirit is a contagious outward focus, and we (with the help of four visiting Australian summer project students) have been pitching the thought of living on mission wherever the Lord takes us. I wish  I could say I am not surprised to see what I pray for.

Of the 20 students who came out to our last citywide event, at least 6 are seriously considering doing a summer project with Campus Crusade, and 3 have already been accepted to go internationally! Summer project is the best thing Campus Crusade for Christ has to offer, but it is not for the faint of heart. Considering that summer project involves fundraising and spiritual conversations with relative strangers, this is a big deal! As it now stands, DC Cru students will be serving and sharing the story of Jesus on four continents this summer!

Guess it’s that time!

The irony in this story is that the Whelpleys have yet to travel abroad. With the exception of day/weekend trips to Canada, neither of us (or our team leader) have ever been out of these fine United States. The opportunity has come up for several members of our staff team (and extended community) to take a week-long vision trip to North Africa over spring break! More details to come as the time gets closer. Thanks again for your prayers and generosity!

Pray For:

• Vision for structure – pray that in the midst of a ministry that’s changing every semester, we would follow God’s lead, see the big picture, remain flexible and give the structure needed.
• Renewed hunger for God, desire to understand His word, and confidence in His promises in our Cru community.
• The upcoming “neXt” conference for juniors and seniors about how to walk with God and make good decisions after college. February 13-15. Over 200 students registered, 4 from the DC ranks.

P.S. Make sure you’re visiting our website pretty regularly, you can read (slightly) more frequently and see pictures that don’t end up fitting into our monthly prayer letters. You can even sign up to get those updates by email! It’s at Whelpley.org! (Good job, you already know all of this!)