“How’d it go?”

After a busy first 8 weeks, Fall Retreat, and 25 visiting staff ”blitzing” four DC campuses for 3 days, there’s never been a more reasonable question to ask.  And I’ve never felt less sure how to answer.  Can I let you eavesdrop a little while I think on it?

Carrie, do you love me?

Yes, Lord… Why do you ask?

More than your success?  More than a “well done”?  More than the Mission itself?  (It is not the end, I AM.)

Carrie, do you love me?

Uh…

Will you feed my lambs?  Even when you are wearied by their indecision?  Grieved by their idolatry?  Sickened by their sexual deviance? Annoyed by their immaturity?  Embarrassed by the family resemblance?  Feed my sheep. MY sheep. (They are not your trophy or widget.)

Carrie, do you love me?

Lord, you know…  But what about these other ministries? They have so many freshmen — students are leading, stuff is happening! They must get something we don’t…”

If it is my will that they remain fruitful, what is that to you? You follow me! In a city of competence and résumés, will you resolve to know nothing but Christ crucified? Will you pour out your precious time with the runaways, internationals, and non-traditionals who will interrupt, drop out, move away and never give back to the “success” of “your movement”?

So, how did it go?

All of us at Fall Retreat

Well, we went (with less students than last year) to Fall Retreat, where one of our sophomore leaders realized for the first time that “God wants all of me,” and has been repenting of hidden sin and trusting God to give up substance abuse.

Our small group Bible study at Georgetown (which has been averaging about 3 actual GU students) has collected an 18-year-old gay runaway we met during “Blitz Week” who wants nothing more than to love Jesus wholeheartedly and start learning the Bible.

And in the past week, God gave opportunities for me to discuss the good news of grace clearly with three people: a bright young man studying audio technology at the University of MD (not our school), a Georgetown non-traditional student who lives across the city and whose only class is during our only group time, and an exchange student (also a Blitz Week contact) who will move back to China in just over a month.  None of these dear folks are likely to be involved with the movement.

The Lord brings hurting people out of the woodwork to consider message of Jesus. These people need more one-on-one dialogue time than ever (years, it seems), and yet this city is such a transient place! Movements do not happen without qualified leaders, and qualified leaders do not happen apart from laboring in prayer and waiting on the Holy Spirit. So please continue to pray with us for patience, wisdom, and perseverance, as we follow a God who does not disappoint! Thanks again for being in this with us!

Pray for:

• Praise God for good health so far this year!
• Pray for the students mentioned above, and several other potential leaders.
• Pray for our slowly-forming volunteer army – their spiritual health & our practical wisdom in how to best fit them in.
• Pray for our staff team’s upcoming visit to the VA Beach area to give lift to friends and help with a cross-cultural movement launch.

“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.

Hey friends, family & partners in the Gospel.

I wanted to clear up what’s going down next week as we head out for Spring Break.

We’re headed to North Africa to a country that we can’t share the name of for security reasons. To assure you, we are going to be safe and we’re actually not going to be doing anything illegal in that country. The country that we’ll be spending time in does have religious freedom legally, but the way that the culture operates can be very different. Of the countries in that region of the world it is definitely one of the most safe for Americans, the security issues that limit us are for the brothers and sisters who are naitives of the country who could be in danger if we weren’t closed about it.

We’ll fly out of the Washington-Dulles Airport on Friday at around 8:00 PM and will return almost exactly a week later (it’s less than a half-hour off). I am dissappointed that we’ll miss seeing what Friday is like in a Muslim country, but it will be an awesome experience for us and the 5 other people that we’ll be travelling with.

Please be praying for us that God would speak in and through this trip to us about where He is calling us to serve Him. We don’t expect that God is calling us overseas, but we’re willing to follow if He does. Also, pray that we’ll encourage our friends on the staff team that is over there long-term and that we’d represent Christ well in whatever way we’re able.

Also, you can be praying for our families as there is still some anxiety about us being there; especially for my (Jayson’s) parents as my brother, Ryan, will be in Iraq at the same time to run sound for a USO show for soldiers in the field there.

Thanks, we’ll share whatever pictures and stories that we can when we get back!

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!)

Classes in have barely started in DC, but our team has hit the ground running this week with lots of time in planning and prep for the semester! This weekend, we have visitors — four Aussie students who are in the states for a summer project!  Pray for their health, rest and favor this week as they visit some of our campuses to meet students and share their faith, and for a citywide dinner/prayer time we’ll be hosting for them and our students on Sunday night.

Also, check out this interesting video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM. Even atheists think we should be sharing our faith!