TCX update #2....outreach day

Hilton spa!

Maggie had a special 'Hilton spa' last night before bed.  Not sure if you can tell from the pic, but the bathroom sink made the PERFECT bathtub for her!

To challenge students (and staff!) out of our comfort zones, we have a day of outreach every year at TCX.  This has several different facets.  Some students do internet outreach and respond live to questions posted on our evangelistic websites.  Students with spanish language abilities can opt to share in hispanic neighborhoods while others engage with people in English. We do all of this through partnerships with local churches and with Here's Life Inner City, the inner city ministry of Cru.  Students also hand out 'boxes of love' filled with food, a New Testament, and info about the partnering church in their neighborhood.

Yesterday, through these different avenues, students were able to share the gospel 635 times and saw 91 people make a decision to give their lives to Christ!!!  Last night we had a sharing time and Maggie and I listened from the back as student after student shared how God had used them to engage people from all ages and walks of life with the Good News of Christ.  What an incredible thing to welcome 91 new souls into the Kingdom! Praise God for His work in the hearts of many!

This morning, our speaker, Tom Henderson, challenged students to examine themselves and think about what is keeping them from walking more closely with Jesus.  He specifically emphasized a need to look at your past and what 'secret sins' you may be harboring that create distant between yourself and God. A few students and staff shared up front about how they've struggled and found freedom by confessing sin to trusted friends.  Then a time was provided for students to confess to each other or to staff if there were secret sins they've been struggling with. I had the privilege of talking and praying with one girl and love knowing that she's going into the new year with a new found freedom that walking in the light can bring.... as Paul wrote in Galatians 5, "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free...." 

Please be praying for these students to continue to walk in the light in these areas. Pray that the enemy wouldn't pull them back into the darkness in these areas.  Thanks so much for joining us in prayer - your prayers MATTER and we've gotten to see the fruit!

Tonight we head out to dinner with the Mankato students who are here.  Later, we'll  have our final session of TCX and then bring in the New Year with worship and a dance party.  Blessings to you as we ring in 2012!