Stories of Thankfulness
Victoria Perez - December 2015 Fall Semester 2015, Looking Back and Moving Forward Athletes InterVarsity at Boston University
Stories of Thankfulness First and foremost, I am incredibly thankful for all of my ministry partners. Thank you for supporting me and for trusting God to use me to impact the student-athletes at my alma mater, Boston University.
This has been an exciting first semester on staff and I am so thankful for the ways that God has been molding me. There have been both ups and downs, personally and with my ministry, but after a semester of rebuilding and rethinking how to keep Athletes InterVarsity moving forward, I am very excited to share some of my stories with you:
1. In my very first outreach opportunity as staff (a raffle at the annual athlete BBQ), I ended up being late due to technical (printing and transportation) difficulties, but God still came through. I was crazy stressed and significantly less prepared than I thought I would be, but God answered my one and only prayer, that I would have at least one new student say yes. And that one student said yes to all three contact card questions. Yes to community service. Yes to prayer. And yes to bible study. It was a reminder that God is good and that things will never go perfectly (no matter how much we want them to), but that God will still do amazing things.
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2. After a few weeks of low attendance, I decided to take a prayer walk around the BU athletic facilities. One of the new freshmen from the track team joined me during the first hour of the walk, then I met up with one of my athletes at her team's softball game (she was injured and in the stands), and by the end I had prayed for all 500 student-athletes (by name). The very next day another new freshman, a girl on the soccer team, messaged me and said that even though she had never done anything like AIV before, she was really interested in trying it out (proof that God was opening athletes' hearts). She came to our next meeting and has been coming every single week since then!
3. All semester our attendance had been pretty low due to game schedules and students stressing about their school work and other responsibilities, but I did not necessarily expect it to get as low as just one person making it to a bible study. That being said, the one person who came was the new student I mentioned above. The passage we read was about a man who had prepared a great banquet and invited many people, but all of his guests made excuses at the last minute (Luke 14:15-35). We obviously resonated with this passage, considering no one else had made it. We decided we would study the exact same passage next week, but this time we would pray for and invite more students to come.
The next week, one more student came, a 100% increase! Of course, we were a little discouraged, but the other student was a regular member the year before and I was excited to use this opportunity as a catalyst for something bigger. We read the same passage, but this time we used the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) model to analyze it and apply it to our ministry. The man's goal was to have a great banquet with many guests, so we decided to make our own goal: to increase our numbers with consistent members. The reality was, like the guests in the story, many athletes will make excuses for not coming or not trying it out. We decided to look at our options and focus on the best ones. We would first invite Christians we already know who for whatever reason have not been coming, then we would make flyers so that all the athletes would know our group existed, and we also planned a potential outreach opportunity. Finally, we prayed. New Section 1 Page 2
prayed.
4. The next week we had our biggest bible study yet, including two of my former leaders from the golf team (who had been in season and very busy all semester) and three completely new students! One of the new students, a freshman girl on the field hockey team, had been messaging me all semester, often apologizing for not being able to make it. Not only did she finally make it to a bible study, she even invited someone on her floor to join her. Everyone was engaged in the conversation (about what it means to put God first in our lives) and my former leaders said it was the best bible study they had been to in a while. I am excited to continue building these connections and to continue growing as a group next semester! 5. As a former member of the BU Track & Field team, I am especially excited to tell you about how God has been moving on my old team. My co-worker Lauren leads Umoja bible study, a black student ministry. All three of her student leaders are on the track team and regularly invite their teammates to join, nearly 12 teammates are coming semi-regularly! I have attended many of their studies, which are always engaging and filled with the Holy Spirit. The bible study transcends race as white, Asian, black, and Latino students from not only the track team, but from all across campus are joining together to explore God. One of the track team captains, someone who I had never expected to be interested in pursuing God, has been coming every single week. I have been praying for this kind of revival on my team for years and I praise God that these prayers have been answered, far beyond what I had even dreamed. And though I am now realizing I was not so great at remembering to take photos at my own events or with my students, I am so glad that I am able to partner with and be encouraged by my sister chapters on campus: Umoja bible study (the three track team leaders are included in the photo below), Asian American Christian Fellowship, and InterVarsity Multi-Ethnic!
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Prayer for Upcoming Events 1. COFFEE AND COOKIES (Sunday 12/13 to Friday 12/18) For the second year in a row, Athletes InterVarsity will be giving out free coffee (and tea, hot chocolate, cider, etc.) and cookies (and other desserts and candy, etc.) and encouragement outside of the athletes' study hall during study period and finals week! Athletes responded very well last year, so we are hoping to use this as an outreach opportunity. Please pray for all of the students taking finals and writing papers, and also pray that this would be a way for us to reach out to student-athletes, so that in experiencing God's peace and love they would be eager to pursue a relationship with him next semester. The more food the merrier, so if you are interested in baking or providing food and materials for the event this week, please indicate as such in the survey at the end of this email! (If you are based in Reading, not Boston, you could drop off the donations at my local address by calling my mom at 781-944-2400, otherwise you can call me at 781-439-0439). New Section 1 Page 4
781-439-0439). 2. ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK (3/5 to 3/13) Every year since Hurricane Katrina, InterVarsity New England has brought a team of students to volunteer in New Orleans over their spring break. Students will serve in New Orleans to aid the city as it continues to rebuild its communities after the disastrous and lasting effects of the hurricane, while also engaging in discussions about social justice, hope, purpose, and faith. (https://vimeo.com/141440442#at=49) In the past, few BU athletes have been able to go, due to competition or training schedules, but I am working to make the trip more accessible by going directly to their coaches to ask if their athletes will be able to attend and having by flying them down, rather than bringing them on the usual bus. Please pray for at least 5 athletes to attend this trip and that this can be the start of a new revival. Athletes InterVarsity at BU was co-founded by two soccer players whose lives were forever changed after they attended ServeUP. Pray that the athletes who go on this trip will come back with a desire to not only have a deeper relationship with God, but also to share this experience with their teammates.
Funding Update: $8500 Needed I am currently at 70% funding (praise God!), but my goal is to be at 100% funding before next semester begins (January 19). Please pray that I will reach my goal and please prayerfully consider giving a one-time holiday gift or committing to give monthly for the rest of the year:
Partner Financially
How can you continue to partner with me? Praying? Baking? Giving? When it comes to partnership, I need more than just finances. I need people who will commit to praying for and caring for these students. How would you like to partner with me? Please fill out the quick survey below to indicate how you can and would like to partner with me over the next few weeks and into next semester! This will be really helpful If you are, for whatever reason, unable to reach the survey by clicking the button below: http://goo.gl/forms/ddORv8mjlE
Ministry Partner Survey
• $2125/year (25% of my current need) • $850/year (10% of my current need) • $425/year (5% of my current need) • $85/month for the rest of the year (6-7 months) • $50/month for the rest of the year • Any amount you are able and willing to give because every dollar counts >
New Section 1 Page 5
Stories of Thankfulness First and foremost, I am incredibly thankful for all of my ministry partners. Thank you for supporting me and for trusting God to use me to impact the student-athletes at my alma mater, Boston University.
This has been an exciting first semester on staff and I am so thankful for the ways that God has been molding me. There have been both ups and downs, personally and with my ministry, but after a semester of rebuilding and rethinking how to keep Athletes InterVarsity moving forward, I am very excited to share some of my stories with you:
1. In my very first outreach opportunity as staff (a raffle at the annual athlete BBQ), I ended up being late due to technical (printing and transportation) difficulties, but God still came through. I was crazy stressed and significantly less prepared than I thought I would be, but God answered my one and only prayer, that I would have at least one new student say yes. And that one student said yes to all three contact card questions. Yes to community service. Yes to prayer. And yes to bible study. It was a reminder that God is good and that things will never go perfectly (no matter how much we want them to), but that God will still do amazing things.
New Section 1 Page 1
2. After a few weeks of low attendance, I decided to take a prayer walk around the BU athletic facilities. One of the new freshmen from the track team joined me during the first hour of the walk, then I met up with one of my athletes at her team's softball game (she was injured and in the stands), and by the end I had prayed for all 500 student-athletes (by name). The very next day another new freshman, a girl on the soccer team, messaged me and said that even though she had never done anything like AIV before, she was really interested in trying it out (proof that God was opening athletes' hearts). She came to our next meeting and has been coming every single week since then!
3. All semester our attendance had been pretty low due to game schedules and students stressing about their school work and other responsibilities, but I did not necessarily expect it to get as low as just one person making it to a bible study. That being said, the one person who came was the new student I mentioned above. The passage we read was about a man who had prepared a great banquet and invited many people, but all of his guests made excuses at the last minute (Luke 14:15-35). We obviously resonated with this passage, considering no one else had made it. We decided we would study the exact same passage next week, but this time we would pray for and invite more students to come.
The next week, one more student came, a 100% increase! Of course, we were a little discouraged, but the other student was a regular member the year before and I was excited to use this opportunity as a catalyst for something bigger. We read the same passage, but this time we used the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) model to analyze it and apply it to our ministry. The man's goal was to have a great banquet with many guests, so we decided to make our own goal: to increase our numbers with consistent members. The reality was, like the guests in the story, many athletes will make excuses for not coming or not trying it out. We decided to look at our options and focus on the best ones. We would first invite Christians we already know who for whatever reason have not been coming, then we would make flyers so that all the athletes would know our group existed, and we also planned a potential outreach opportunity. Finally, we prayed. New Section 1 Page 2
prayed.
4. The next week we had our biggest bible study yet, including two of my former leaders from the golf team (who had been in season and very busy all semester) and three completely new students! One of the new students, a freshman girl on the field hockey team, had been messaging me all semester, often apologizing for not being able to make it. Not only did she finally make it to a bible study, she even invited someone on her floor to join her. Everyone was engaged in the conversation (about what it means to put God first in our lives) and my former leaders said it was the best bible study they had been to in a while. I am excited to continue building these connections and to continue growing as a group next semester! 5. As a former member of the BU Track & Field team, I am especially excited to tell you about how God has been moving on my old team. My co-worker Lauren leads Umoja bible study, a black student ministry. All three of her student leaders are on the track team and regularly invite their teammates to join, nearly 12 teammates are coming semi-regularly! I have attended many of their studies, which are always engaging and filled with the Holy Spirit. The bible study transcends race as white, Asian, black, and Latino students from not only the track team, but from all across campus are joining together to explore God. One of the track team captains, someone who I had never expected to be interested in pursuing God, has been coming every single week. I have been praying for this kind of revival on my team for years and I praise God that these prayers have been answered, far beyond what I had even dreamed. And though I am now realizing I was not so great at remembering to take photos at my own events or with my students, I am so glad that I am able to partner with and be encouraged by my sister chapters on campus: Umoja bible study (the three track team leaders are included in the photo below), Asian American Christian Fellowship, and InterVarsity Multi-Ethnic!
New Section 1 Page 3
Prayer for Upcoming Events 1. COFFEE AND COOKIES (Sunday 12/13 to Friday 12/18) For the second year in a row, Athletes InterVarsity will be giving out free coffee (and tea, hot chocolate, cider, etc.) and cookies (and other desserts and candy, etc.) and encouragement outside of the athletes' study hall during study period and finals week! Athletes responded very well last year, so we are hoping to use this as an outreach opportunity. Please pray for all of the students taking finals and writing papers, and also pray that this would be a way for us to reach out to student-athletes, so that in experiencing God's peace and love they would be eager to pursue a relationship with him next semester. The more food the merrier, so if you are interested in baking or providing food and materials for the event this week, please indicate as such in the survey at the end of this email! (If you are based in Reading, not Boston, you could drop off the donations at my local address by calling my mom at 781-944-2400, otherwise you can call me at 781-439-0439). New Section 1 Page 4
781-439-0439). 2. ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK (3/5 to 3/13) Every year since Hurricane Katrina, InterVarsity New England has brought a team of students to volunteer in New Orleans over their spring break. Students will serve in New Orleans to aid the city as it continues to rebuild its communities after the disastrous and lasting effects of the hurricane, while also engaging in discussions about social justice, hope, purpose, and faith. (https://vimeo.com/141440442#at=49) In the past, few BU athletes have been able to go, due to competition or training schedules, but I am working to make the trip more accessible by going directly to their coaches to ask if their athletes will be able to attend and having by flying them down, rather than bringing them on the usual bus. Please pray for at least 5 athletes to attend this trip and that this can be the start of a new revival. Athletes InterVarsity at BU was co-founded by two soccer players whose lives were forever changed after they attended ServeUP. Pray that the athletes who go on this trip will come back with a desire to not only have a deeper relationship with God, but also to share this experience with their teammates.
Funding Update: $8500 Needed I am currently at 70% funding (praise God!), but my goal is to be at 100% funding before next semester begins (January 19). Please pray that I will reach my goal and please prayerfully consider giving a one-time holiday gift or committing to give monthly for the rest of the year:
Partner Financially
How can you continue to partner with me? Praying? Baking? Giving? When it comes to partnership, I need more than just finances. I need people who will commit to praying for and caring for these students. How would you like to partner with me? Please fill out the quick survey below to indicate how you can and would like to partner with me over the next few weeks and into next semester! This will be really helpful If you are, for whatever reason, unable to reach the survey by clicking the button below: http://goo.gl/forms/ddORv8mjlE
Ministry Partner Survey
• $2125/year (25% of my current need) • $850/year (10% of my current need) • $425/year (5% of my current need) • $85/month for the rest of the year (6-7 months) • $50/month for the rest of the year • Any amount you are able and willing to give because every dollar counts >
New Section 1 Page 5
