What DO you DO...

We are asked this question alot:  Just what DO campus missionaries DO...

The rest of the question usually varies... at the office?  during meetings?  to raise money?  on campus?  and the focus of today's post:   during the summer?

So, just what DO campus missionaries DO during the summer?

I thought you'd never ask.  :)

Here's a little pictorial review of what this summer has looked like for the Jacksons!

 As you can see, it's a little bit of family time and a whole lot of planning & prep time!  In actual words, here's some of what we did this summer:

Planning >
We spent the majority of the summer making plans for the upcoming school year (which starts for us in about 1 week).  We manage two properties which we rent to students and those needed updating and leases renewed.  The first few weeks of summer were spent making those arrangements but most of our summer planning hours are spent on Chi Alpha events, strategies, and organization for the Fall.  We have planned our first two weeks of school, which we call Welcome Week at SFA (top left photo).  They are jam-packed with events designed to attract freshmen and connect them to our small groups.  We want them to feel loved and welcomed!  We keep in touch with small group and iTeam leaders throughout the summer.  We plan and facilitate a retreat just for the leadership team at the end of every summer, which requires budgeting, negotiating, planning, shopping, brainstorming, and more  (bottom left photo). 

Freshmen >
We also spent 5 weeks this summer participating in Freshmen Orientations.  We set up a table during the University-sponsored Religious Organization Fair and spent several hours a week meeting and connecting with incoming freshmen (read, "Potential Chi Alpha members").  We invested more effort this year in our table set-up to highlight our major Welcome Week event, the XA Luau.  Every member wore a lei and the girls put flowers in the hair, too.  We gave every student information to take home about Chi Alpha and our upcoming events, which brings me to...

Design Work >
I (Ashley) spend an insane amount of summer time catching up on design work and planning new marketing strategies for the coming year.  This summer I've designed multiple websites for Chi Alpha related entities in addition to the pieces you see in the collage above in the top and bottom right photos:  Promo Pieces for the XA Luau and a new Chi Alpha tshirt.

Underground Church >
This summer we tried something new.  Because we had a good number of Chi Alpha students staying in Nac for the summer, we organized a weekly Bible Study which we called Underground Church.  We got together each week for a bit of worship and a study through the book of Romans.  In addition, a different student took the book Operation World  home each week to learn about and pray for a country, which he/she then shared about with the rest of the group.  We spent time in prayer each week for a different country!  How awesome is that!

Support Raising >
But probably the most important part of our summer schedule is the time we spend raising finances.  This summer was quite the task:  we had 3 major ongoing projects that needed financial backing.  Personal Support ($1,000 monthly), Welcome Week ($1,000 one-time), and our International House Remodel ($5,000+ one-time).  We are still in the process on several of these projects, but are excited to say that the up-front work on the International House Remodel has been provided for - Praise God!  We have received a few donations towards the Welcome Week budget and while we have received an overwhelming amount (seriously, it's been amazing - thank all of you!) of special offerings for us personally, we have still not raised anything towards our new monthly goal.

So, as you can see, the summer may technically be "off" time for us - but our workload is anything but light!  In addition to all that, we managed to squeeze in multiple medical procedures & accompanying doctor's visits, a trip to south Louisiana, a couple of short trips to north Louisiana, and our first real family vacation with Katelyn!

Please do pray for our family:  we need to raise our personal finances, we need wisdom and God's direction in several areas, and we need strength and peace to continue working hard for His Kingdom.  And please pray for our ministry:  we love these students and have big dreams for what God could do in them and through them!  Help us to communicate those dreams clearly, to accurately and proudly proclaim the Good News to this campus, and for souls to hear the Gospel and respond to Him!

I hope you've enjoyed our first installment of What DO you Do... Keep your eyes open for more answers to your questions in the future!