April Adventures with students

Sadly, it has been a while since I posted much of anything about my work with InterVarsity at Baylor University. The spring is an especially busy time for us - we have two regional conferences to prepare for, evangelism & outreach activities, and leadership selection on top of all the usual things we do. So I just didn't get to it like I had planned.

I have been going through my old photos and thought you might enjoy seeing some of the fun we had together back in April. Every year Baylor students get one day off from classes called Diadeloso or "Day of the Bear" for those of you non-Spanish speakers. It "started in 1934 as a way to 'bring smiles to the faces of students' by giving them a break from classes." 


We decided to take advantage of the nice weather and chance to hang out with the whole Baylor community as a fellowship. We met up and had lunch together and then walked around to see the sights. Here are a few pics:

The favorite activity of the day seemed to be the rock wall at the Army tent. :) 

Regional Staff Conference

I love working for InterVarsity. I love the work I do, I love my students, I love my co-workers, and I love my boss (who wouldn't want to work for Jesus?). I do have staff partners here in College Station with me  (below is a pic of me with Carolyn my staff partner at A&M) and for them I am very grateful, but I also have over 30 other co-workers that are scattered across Texas and Oklahoma. I do not get to see all of them very often, but once a year we all gather together to celebrate, reconnect, rest, receive training, and updates on the ministry in the region. This gathering is called our Regional Staff Conference and it was just last week. We focused on Spiritual Develop this year. It was refreshing and challenging. I am hoping to bring back some good habits to home and campus...its so easy to neglect ourselves as we pour out into students. I am so grateful for the guidance and time with Jesus I received at the conference.

We held it at Camp Tejas this year and last. Checkout their website! If you are interested in holding a retreat, conference, or just vacation in Texas you should check it out its awesome! We stayed in the building called the Four Seasons; every room is named and decorated based on a month of the year. I am including pics of our room this year, we stayed May. :) It had a nautical/lake house theme. Please excuse the messiness, we were in the midst of packing up when I took these.

These are my roomates, Sara and Sarah; they are on staff at Texas Tech and UT Austin (respectively). We usually room together at camps and conferences. I just love these women. They have awesome insight, godly wisdom, ask good questions, and are great listeners. Its always so fun to room together, its a little like a sleepover, or being back in college with roommates.So fun!

Halloween with IVCF students

This past Friday, the night before Halloween we had our usual Asian American InterVarsity gathering called Large Group. Some of the students prepared a some fun activities to emjoy hanging out with each other and specifically make the freshman and other new students feel more welcomed into the community.

One of the students from our sister fellowship, Aggie InterVarsity (mutli-ethnic group) came and shared about his experience on an InterVarsity Global Project in China this summer. He shared about living in community, and how letting others love us (though uncomfortable and requiring vulnerability) is often the first step to a deeper level of trust, love, friendship, and community in our own lives. He also shared some of the culture of China (the region he was in) and some amazing stories of God's provision (this student was provided with over $4000 to go!) and transforming power.

Admittedly, it was a little distracting for him to speak in front of the whole group of about 40 students, his peers, most of whom were dressed up in costumes. Take a look at some of their get ups:

I decided to dress up too, even though I was really tired from just driving in from a visit at Austin College. I drove home, kissed Drew, took a nap, woke up, got dressed, and flew out the door. I almost didn't take the time to dress up, but it was fun, and a great way to build trust with my students. :) Here is my costume:

I couldn't really decide what I was: a winter priness or the White Witch from Narnia. What do you think?
One of my students said I am not mean enough to pull off being the white witch. :) That was sweet of her.

New Student Outreach

Life is busy and stressful around the Kelly house these days. I just returned from a retreat with my student leaders (execs) and am trying to gear up for two days of evangelism and outreach training. I am so excited that the students have returned. My life for the next 3 weeks will consist mostly of New Student Outreach (NSO) - InterVarsity students and staff engage in outreach on campus all across the nation at the beginning of the school year. I love this time of year, but it is also exhausting and I feel like I am barely keeping track of everything I need to do. It is good for me to remember that ultimately the success of NSO does not depend on me being perfect or accomplishing everything without flaw. Thank you Lord!

I could definitely use some prayers though as we walk through a busy and critical time. Please pray for me to lead with grace, patience, and love. Pray for me and the students to be open to and looking for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with the campus. Pray that the Gospel would be heard clearly and received well, and that students would be interested in learning more. I pray that the Gospel will go forth on the campus and bring healing, reconciliation, and hope to a broken world.

Also, please pray for Drew. He is in the midst of a particularly difficult portion of med school. He did well on his first test. However, he is starting to feel behind in his studies. He could also use prayer for motivation and excitement in his studies (there are some very boring things he needs to memorize). Drew is the most disciplined and driven person I know and even he is having trouble getting through this season with joy for the work before him. His next test days are Sept. 4th and Sept.28th.

So please pray for us! We are making time for each other even in the midst of hard work and we are so thankful for each other and the blessing of marriage. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Outstanding Award to Asian American InterVarsity student

I really love all of my students, and I will talk to you about all of them if you invite me to. However, I'd like to brag on one in particular today. I was so happy to hear of the recognition she received a few months ago now at graduation...

Juhee was one of our executive leaders this year; she coordinated and trained all of the small groups and helped influence many for the Kingdom of God. At her graduation this May, she was awarded the Brown Foundation-Earl Rudder Memorial Outstanding Student Award (one of three top awards)! Texas A&M President Elsa Murano presented the award to her saying, "Juhee is known as a leader who has tremendous potential to succeed in her chosen field of medicine. Her experiences living in Korea, Japan, and the United States have given her a perspective of the world that motivates her to want to serve all cultures, and her own miraculous recovery from late-stage cancer at 18 months has inspired her to help others through the practice of medicine. She hopes to serve as a medical missionary with the international medical group Doctors Without Borders."

Juhee has a gift to connect with people, and she and I often spoke on the importance of crossing cultures with respect for the sake of the Gospel. Within the last year, I saw Juhee take dramatic steps to improve her ability to ask good questions and build trust with those around her. She has clearly made quite an impression on the A&M campus, and I fully believe, by God's grace, she will go on to be a world changer.