Dear Friends,

          God continues to work and amaze us on the MSC campus as this Spring semester winds down!  Mike started hanging out with everyone about a month ago and he saw a big difference in his new friends.  A few weeks ago, Jesse was able to share the Gospel with him.  Mike trusted Christ as his Savior right in the Bookcliffe Café on campus.  Praise God!  Please be praying for Mike as God begins to radically transform his life.
          We met Derek last Tuesday night.  He seems to have a Christian background, but at this point we do not know if he has a relationship with Jesus.  Please be praying that God will make the truth clear to Derek, as he seems very skeptical.
          Praise God for Brenna!  Brenna started coming to women’s Bible study this year but has never really connected with us.  One week, Rhonda found out that it was Brenna’s birthday.  The girls baked a cake for Brenna as a surprise during Bible study.  This brought Brenna to tears, as she wasn’t expecting to have anyone remember her birthday.  Rhonda has begun meeting with Brenna one-on-one and we’re excited to see her grow in her walk with Christ.  Brenna is beginning to interact much more with everyone and came on our most recent retreat.
         We met Ike through our Friday night outreach, Rumble in the Rec!  Ike is a Christian who recently graduated from Mesa State but had never gotten involved with Master Plan Ministries as a student.  We are excited to get to know Ike and encourage him however we can.  Please be praying also for Ian, another guy we met at Rumble.  We have consistently seen him on Friday nights.  Pray that we will have a chance to talk with him about Jesus Christ.
          Please be praying for several other students we’ve met over the last month:  Nick, who had already taken the initiative to start a Bible study in his dorm before we ever met him; Michael and Turner who have been coming to guys Bible study; Joe, Scott and Rob who we’ve met at TNL (Tuesday Night Live); and Sylvia, who we met at the Foosball Tournament and has also come to TNL.  Please pray that we will have wisdom and discernment on how to help these students grow! 

 

Retreats and More

          Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”  Character was the theme of our most recent weekend retreat.  Normally, the last retreat of the school year is considerably smaller than the previous retreats.  This time of year is “crunch time” for students as finals draw near.  However, God continues to blow us away with how he is working.  We brought 25 students with us on this getaway!  (Last year nine students went on this retreat)
          Not only did the number of students encourage us, but also the content of each talk and the discussion following each talk.  David gave the first talk on character.  Zach gave a talk on battling temptation, and Michelle gave a talk on stewardship.  One of the most significant times on the retreat was the discussion after Zach’s talk on battling temptation.  We split the men and women up and talked about specific issues that they must battle, and how to do so.
          Goblin Valley State Park in Utah is an amazing part of God’s creation.  At the beginning of April, we took nine of our guys there for a weekend camping trip.  We went on a stunning hike through Little Wild Horse Canyon.  In our discussion times, we talked about treating our sisters in Christ with purity and courage as men.  The guys saw the vital need for fellowship with each other.  Mike commented, “I want to stay here all week!”
          While the guys were camping in Utah, Rhonda hosted a girl’s slumber party.  Rhonda invited Sarah and Leah (who are alumni of Mesa State and Master Plan Ministries) to come and talk to the women about contentment with singleness, and boundaries in guy-girl relationships.  All the women really appreciated the content of the weekend and it prompted several women to take some kind of action in their lives as a result of the weekend. 
          The Car Rally we held was one of the craziest and most exciting events of the semester.  We broke up into teams and had to follow clues across town.  This was a great time of team building.  After the rally, we watched The Chronicles of Narnia on campus in one of the dorms.
          David, one of our students leaders, recently organized a campus wide Foosball tournament.  We were able to meet people through this event that we would never otherwise have met.  David has a heart to reach athletes on campus and has started an athletic Bible study on Monday nights.
          Thank you all for continuing to partner with us to reach Mesa State!  We are so excited to share these stories with you.  We have about three weeks left in this semester.  Please pray that this momentum will continue strong and carry into the summer months.

 

Trusting in Him,

Jesse and Rhonda


   Please pray….

·        For perseverance for students to finish the semester strong (both in ministry and classes)

·        That students would develop a summer plan that will help them continue to grow
      (Summer can be a time of incredible growth or a time of sliding back into old habits)

·        For Sean, as he is going on a summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ.  Pray for his finances  
     to come in and that it will be an incredible time of growth!

·        For Hope, as she will be a camp counselor for 10 weeks this summer!