September 20-24 was our leadership retreat for students leading Bible studies this school year. We rented a house near Tillamook and only a stroll away from the coast. For Danny and me, it was our first experience with the fellowship.

We spent a lot of time in Scripture. Jon Kubu led us through Paul's second letter to Timothy, and how it applies to our call as leaders. We looked at the call to preach the Gospel without watering it down, the forewarning of persecution and yet the call to persevere. We also recognized the need to raise up leaders to replace us, one of the main tasks of an InterVarsity Bible study leader.

We also worshipped each morning (led by Danny and Ben) and meditated on the life of Joseph and how he was faithful in the turbulent circumstances he found himself in. How can Christian college students honor God during this time in their lives?

Afternoons were spent relaxing and for the students, re-connecting after having a summer apart. We also did some training on topics such as how to lead a Bible study, how to raise up disciples, and what our goals for new student outreach (NSO) should be this year. We came up with a mission statement:

"We the student leaders of IV at the U of O, for the purpose of offering students of all backgrounds the opportunity to know Jesus, will form meaningful relationships, serve practical needs, provide a welcoming environment and invite them into a fun and spiritually challenging community."

We also brainstormed ways to accomplish this, such as going to every room and making an invitation to Bible study or The Point (our large-group worship time), helping freshmen move into their dorm room, hosting large events to develop community, etc. One of the evenings was spent with our co-leaders, deciding how we would partner together to do that in our specific dorm or apartment complex.

The Thursday after we returned was the beginning of NSO. It was the first day students could move into the dorms, and an important time of building new relationships. Ben and Dan, my co-leaders, moved into DeBusk Hall, and as soon as I was off work that afternoon I was in their hall, meeting new students.

We quickly realized that it would be hard to build friendships with the freshmen in DeBusk. Many of them are rooming with their best friend from high school, and several of the rooms quickly formed a partying clique. They would go out in droves to the parties near campus until early morning, and then come home drunk. Ben and Dan were quickly known as the Christians who don't drink. They are part of the minority in that dorm.

I have the luxury of a quiet house to sleep in, but living off-campus creates its own problems. Not only do I not live in the dorms, but I am not a student, and not even a U of O graduate. I am not very relateable to freshmen, I discovered. So the three of us have had a difficult time building relationships. No one we invited from our dorm came to The Point the first week (though we meet a couple girls there who came from our dorm or at least our dorm complex), and only four students (not including Ben and Dan) came to Bible study.

Aside from our early difficulties in DeBusk, NSO overall has gone quite well. On October 4 we put together as a fellowship a video scavenger hunt, and a good number of new people came. Many of the other Bible studies are flourishing, and The Point went smoothly and was a very welcoming place.

Continue to pray for the early stages of this ministry! See my "prayer requests" page for more specific ways you can intercede for us.