Investing Spring Break
SALT 2010 Breaks ALL the Records
I hope you had a great holiday season with your family!
Derrick and I did a LOT of traveling, but we got to see all our family and that was so great! We ended the year at our annual SALT Conference, but this year's conference was like NO other!
Derrick and I did a LOT of traveling, but we got to see all our family and that was so great! We ended the year at our annual SALT Conference, but this year's conference was like NO other!
JOIN THE TEAM >
You can support all the Lord's doing at SFA by giving special gifts through our secure online donation page. For details on more ways to give financially, check out our Join the Team page!
The Challenge: Dare YOU to MOVE!
A very important message from Derrick Jackson (and Katelyn) to our students about XA Service this coming Spring Semester! Please pray with us as we make a MAJOR mid-year transition!
The End
The school year officially ends with classes today - our students have filed through the XA House the last couple days, buying new t-shirts for next year and saying goodbyes. We are both sad to see them go and excited to start planning for next year. We are excited to have the largest leadership team yet in our time at SFA and cannot wait to see what's in store for the future of this group!
Many thanks to all those who have sent financial and prayer support for us personally as well as the ministry - you guys are just amazing!
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Many thanks to all those who have sent financial and prayer support for us personally as well as the ministry - you guys are just amazing!
Way to Go, Gillen!
Congratulations to Michael Gillen, current SFA student and Chi Alpha leader, for his mention in the Daily Sentinel. Michael is working with the University to develop a new iPhone app for recruiting students to SFA. Check it out here!
Profundities From Our Students
Profundity: 1. Great depth, 2. Depth of intellect, feeling, or meaning, 3. Something profound
Cookie-Bakers & Leaf-Rakers
Derrick preached at International Church of Nacogdoches yesterday morning, and he did a wonderful job. He spoke about what it means to be a witness of Christ - and what our goal should be as the church. Many times we get really excited about the Gospel (with good reason!) and, out of that excitement, we make a couple of mistakes:
1. We think wrongly about our role as the church in the world: "Every person in this city is going to come to know the Lord!" "All the people in my class are going to get saved!" Those things just are not realistic - nor are they directly our responsibility. We are called to be witnesses - Chi Alpha literally means "Christ's ambassadors/representatives." Our job is to be a credible witness of who God is to the people around us - a credible witness.
2. We get that we ought to be a witness, but forget that our witness needs to be credible. Credible = not freaky. We do not have to be super-spiritual (i.e. speak only in KJV or scream when we pray) in order to be spiritual. And we do not have to freak people out in order to share the Gospel.
Derrick summed it all up with this: Everybody likes cookies - Nobody likes to rake leaves. So the next time your tempted to do something freaky (even if it's driven by a sincere excitement for the Lord), go bake some cookies for your neighbor in the dorm... or rake up all the leaves in your neighbor's yard for him.
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1. We think wrongly about our role as the church in the world: "Every person in this city is going to come to know the Lord!" "All the people in my class are going to get saved!" Those things just are not realistic - nor are they directly our responsibility. We are called to be witnesses - Chi Alpha literally means "Christ's ambassadors/representatives." Our job is to be a credible witness of who God is to the people around us - a credible witness.
2. We get that we ought to be a witness, but forget that our witness needs to be credible. Credible = not freaky. We do not have to be super-spiritual (i.e. speak only in KJV or scream when we pray) in order to be spiritual. And we do not have to freak people out in order to share the Gospel.
Derrick summed it all up with this: Everybody likes cookies - Nobody likes to rake leaves. So the next time your tempted to do something freaky (even if it's driven by a sincere excitement for the Lord), go bake some cookies for your neighbor in the dorm... or rake up all the leaves in your neighbor's yard for him.
"God, help us all to become cookie-bakers and leaf-rakers!"
*Also posted at sfaxa.org
Ashley's Project This Week
I have been working on a webpage designed to help connect alumni to each other and the ministry. Take a look at the alumni page for SFA Chi Alpha: XA Reflections !
(Click Screenshot to visit)
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(Click Screenshot to visit)
Preacher on Campus
The only shocking part of the scene on campus Tuesday was that it's the first time we've seen it at SFA this entire school year. Saint Jesse, as he referred to himself, walked onto campus around noon Tuesday and began drawing a crowd to listen to his message. And what a message it was!
This is not the first, or even the second, time we have encountered preachers like Saint Jesse. Our first taste came when we were only students at Louisiana Tech - Brother Jim was the main man for those campaigns. Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Lamar University in Beaumont, and LSU in Baton Rouge... no matter where the campus, the format is always the same. The giant signs with messages warning of judgment and wrath, the attacking statements/accusations hurled at students and general passersby, and the just-plain-offensive remarks made to anyone who dares resist the message. It's more of a slam-fest than open-air preaching. Students, of course, both love and hate the visits to campus - mostly because they love to hate the preachers!
Tuesday's appearance showed little to no changes in attitude, performance, or method. The message went out bluntly, and rather loudly: "God hates all fornicators, black people, homosexuals!" All this coming from a man who claims the right to make such statements because he no longer sins. The students were irate, yelling in his face, arguing from a sub-par knowledge of Scripture, and, when all of that failed, mocking his message and him personally (he was wearing suspenders that matched his pants exactly... the students had a field day!).
As usual, we started getting texts from our students asking if we'd heard about the crazy guy on campus. We headed to the Rusk Building, located prominently outside the Student Center in the plaza area of campus, to see what was going on. We were met by 4 or 5 of our students, who were clearly upset at what was happening. And, as usual, our role became walking them through an appropriate response and reaction to the scene. Derrick spent quite a while talking with the sign-holding assistant to Saint Jesse to no avail - they would not reveal the name of the church / organization sponsoring them. He only learned they were from Tyler, TX. The talks with the students were much more productive. We watched as their frustration and anger turned to sadness for the students so desperately trying to defend themselves against such hatred. We encouraged them to stay and pray for the students in the crowd and to start up conversations with people on the outskirts.
All in all, his permit ran up at 5pm on Wednesday evening and back to Tyler he went. As upset as many students got, experience has taught us that they will forget their passion and curiosity within a few hours of his departure. But, like we told the students standing in the sun, watching Saint Jesse bring several students to tears and wishing we could do more... "He is only here for two days; we are here all year long!"
God, remind us continually what we are fighting for. Stir our hearts, minds, and hands to do Your work at SFA!
To read one student's response in the Opinion section of today's Pine Log, click here. I warn you, though, it's as ignorant as much of Saint Jesse's message!
Student Charged for Shooting Threats Last Week
I never would have expected it to be the Barbie doll type of girl to post such hateful, frightening flyers threatening to kill students both on and off campus last week.
But that's exactly how Jennifer Grant looks in her Facebook profile pic. The Pine Log, the SFA school paper, reports (echoing students' mocking opinions about the true source of the flyers last week) she wanted to get out of a test she was not prepared for. I'm sure now that she's been charged with a felony terroristic threat she would say it wasn't worth it. So sad.
Click here to read the full newspaper article in The Pine Log Onine.
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But that's exactly how Jennifer Grant looks in her Facebook profile pic. The Pine Log, the SFA school paper, reports (echoing students' mocking opinions about the true source of the flyers last week) she wanted to get out of a test she was not prepared for. I'm sure now that she's been charged with a felony terroristic threat she would say it wasn't worth it. So sad.
Click here to read the full newspaper article in The Pine Log Onine.
Please Pray - Campus Alert at SFA!
The Campus Alert system has been activated at SFA - threats of shootings on and off campus have been received by authorities! Please pray!
Read the official report here.
News coverage report here.
Please pray with us today for the safety of all SFA students, faculty, and staff - wisdom for the authorities making decisions - and protection for the police officers on duty today. God, please watch over our campus!
___________________________________________________________
As of Friday morning, 7:30am, police were confident the flyers were only threats. All was quiet on campus Thursday, except for a bit of stress from locking down the library while police looked for a "suspicious person" who turned out to be unrelated to the threats. Security will remain on campus throughout Friday, but all classes will continue as scheduled. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!
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Read the official report here.
News coverage report here.
Please pray with us today for the safety of all SFA students, faculty, and staff - wisdom for the authorities making decisions - and protection for the police officers on duty today. God, please watch over our campus!
___________________________________________________________
As of Friday morning, 7:30am, police were confident the flyers were only threats. All was quiet on campus Thursday, except for a bit of stress from locking down the library while police looked for a "suspicious person" who turned out to be unrelated to the threats. Security will remain on campus throughout Friday, but all classes will continue as scheduled. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS!
Overdue
A few updates that are long overdue! HIGHLIGHTS: Leadership Training at SFA, Ultimate Frisbee as Missions?, and Guadalajara Bound!
Leadership Training:
We are now 3 weeks into our training of next year's potential small group leaders and I am reminded why this is one of my favorite times of the year! We have 9 folks in the class, 3 guys and 6 girls. Haha - we're whooping 'em! Every week somebody says something that lets us know they are learning. It's so much fun to begin letting these students in on all we've been doing for a semester and to watch them get excited about doing those things themselves is just beyond description. It's the passing of the torch and we are mid pass!
Ultimate Frisbee as Missions?
For some reason at the beginning of the year we started playing Ultimate Frisbee (UF) on the football field with new students we'd meet. It's become more than a tradition - it's really an obsession for some of our students! For a while it just became something fun to do - another activity, another event, blah, blah. But in the last 4 weeks, we have watched a handful of the guys really begin to understand the potential of our UF games for connecting people to Chi Alpha, and most importantly, the Kingdom. They started a Facebook Group to keep new folks updated on when they're playing. They pray before every game. And they make a conscious effort to invite people to small groups, services, and other Chi Alpha events. And it's working!
Guadalajara, Mexico
We are leading a team of 28 students to spend a week helping pioneer Chi Alpha on 14 campuses in one of the largest cities in Mexico this summer! We are honored to lead and overwhelmed at the amazing response we've had from students who want to go with us! Six students from SFA will join students from Sam Houston for 11 days in Guadalajara. We are excited and anxious for the trip. At present, all 28 students are actively raising funds to cover the $1,400 trip cost, so please pray with us for their success and God's always faithful provision!
Read more »
Leadership Training:
We are now 3 weeks into our training of next year's potential small group leaders and I am reminded why this is one of my favorite times of the year! We have 9 folks in the class, 3 guys and 6 girls. Haha - we're whooping 'em! Every week somebody says something that lets us know they are learning. It's so much fun to begin letting these students in on all we've been doing for a semester and to watch them get excited about doing those things themselves is just beyond description. It's the passing of the torch and we are mid pass!
Ultimate Frisbee as Missions?
For some reason at the beginning of the year we started playing Ultimate Frisbee (UF) on the football field with new students we'd meet. It's become more than a tradition - it's really an obsession for some of our students! For a while it just became something fun to do - another activity, another event, blah, blah. But in the last 4 weeks, we have watched a handful of the guys really begin to understand the potential of our UF games for connecting people to Chi Alpha, and most importantly, the Kingdom. They started a Facebook Group to keep new folks updated on when they're playing. They pray before every game. And they make a conscious effort to invite people to small groups, services, and other Chi Alpha events. And it's working!
Guadalajara, Mexico
We are leading a team of 28 students to spend a week helping pioneer Chi Alpha on 14 campuses in one of the largest cities in Mexico this summer! We are honored to lead and overwhelmed at the amazing response we've had from students who want to go with us! Six students from SFA will join students from Sam Houston for 11 days in Guadalajara. We are excited and anxious for the trip. At present, all 28 students are actively raising funds to cover the $1,400 trip cost, so please pray with us for their success and God's always faithful provision!
Amazing Moments - December 2008 Newsletter
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and hopefully have most of your Christmas shopping done. This semester has flown by for Ashley and I as we have seen the Lord do some amazing work in student lives over these last 4 months!
Be sure to check out the rest of our website...it has more updates in between newsletters www.derrickandashley.com!
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Be sure to check out the rest of our website...it has more updates in between newsletters www.derrickandashley.com!
Marry the Church
Monday, December 01, 2008
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Towards the end of his sermon, he told everyone how he had not slept at all the night before (which was 100% true... trust me!) - the Lord had been speaking to him. The Lord was saying that it's time for some of us to "marry the church." What does that mean? It means that for better or worse, I'm going to commit my heart, my life, my hands in this church - I will LOVE this church.
I have had an inexpressible prayer lurking right at the top of my heart for the last few weeks, but it had not fully surfaced. You know the feeling? You want so badly to pray something that is stirring in your heart, but you have no words. I have rested the last few weeks in the knowledge that before a word is on my lips, the Lord has heard my prayers. But when Derrick said those words Sunday morning, that surface prayer came bursting full-force into my mouth: LORD, WE NEED STUDENTS TO MARRY CHI ALPHA! A group of students to be built by the Lord into a foundation for His mission on this campus. We know the group is far from perfect, or even ideal, at this stage... we are not looking for students who pretend it is so. We are searching for students who will look honestly at the group, see all its flaws and beauty and potential and potential downfalls... and LOVE it! For better or worse, in sickness and in health - with their lives, the hearts, and their hands.
World Missions Summit Fundraising Progress
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
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Check here for updates on the progress of our fundraisers for sending students to the World Missions Summit 2 in Cincinnati, OH over New Year's Eve!
Penny Wars
Total Spent: $4
Total Raised: $197.63
On-Campus Plate Lunch Sale
Total Spent: $93.56
Total # of Tickets Sold: 49
Total Donations: $107.88
Total Raised: $259.32
Panhandling
Total Spent: $0
Total Raised: $731.72
Alumni Scholarships --> THANK YOU!!!
Total Given: $1,000
Student Organizational Relief Fund (SORF)
Total Available: $426
Read more »
Penny Wars
Total Spent: $4
Total Raised: $197.63
On-Campus Plate Lunch Sale
Total Spent: $93.56
Total # of Tickets Sold: 49
Total Donations: $107.88
Total Raised: $259.32
Panhandling
Total Spent: $0
Total Raised: $731.72
Alumni Scholarships --> THANK YOU!!!
Total Given: $1,000
Student Organizational Relief Fund (SORF)
Total Available: $426
TOTAL RAISED: $2614.67
Eat 'Em Up Jacks, Funerals, and Weddings
The last week has been a blur of activity for us. One of my close relatives passed away unexpectedly so we made a whirlwind trip home for the funeral. We were able to see Derrick's parent's for about half a day and were glad for that! The funeral was sad, but very encouraging too. I never knew much of my aunt's relationship with the Lord, but after hearing the details of her last few days, she really did walk with the Lord.
The day after we returned home from Louisiana, about 15 SFA students joined us in Huntsville for the annual SFA v. Sam Houston football game. While the Jacks battled the Kats on the field, Derrick and I went to Andrew & Leslie's wedding. They are two of our first-year interns - what a beautiful wedding! We left the reception a little early to make it back to our house in time for a post-game party with the SFA students.
Eli Gautreaux bought more BBQ meat than I knew what to do with and the students ate for hours! We spent the night hanging out in the backyard around our fire pit (which wasn't stolen after all!), talking and playing games. The weekend with the SFA students was very special to us - until now, the SFA folks haven't known much of our life in Huntsville so it was really great to have them in our house! The girls stayed at our house and we were up until almost 3am (that's 4am w/o the time change!) talking and having fun. This was the first chance the girls have really had to spend a weekend together and we had a blast! They are all so amazing and different and beautiful.
The girls and I stayed up so late because we were making journals by hand. I learned how to bind books recently and I made myself a small blank book to journal my prayers in. The girls found out and when the saw the book, they asked if they could make one too. So we stayed up binding books for journals! Haha. I couldn't help but think about all the things they will fill their journals with over the years - victories, defeats, prayers, hopes, dreams, questions, memories... and I feel very honored to be part of their stories!
Read more »
The day after we returned home from Louisiana, about 15 SFA students joined us in Huntsville for the annual SFA v. Sam Houston football game. While the Jacks battled the Kats on the field, Derrick and I went to Andrew & Leslie's wedding. They are two of our first-year interns - what a beautiful wedding! We left the reception a little early to make it back to our house in time for a post-game party with the SFA students.
Eli Gautreaux bought more BBQ meat than I knew what to do with and the students ate for hours! We spent the night hanging out in the backyard around our fire pit (which wasn't stolen after all!), talking and playing games. The weekend with the SFA students was very special to us - until now, the SFA folks haven't known much of our life in Huntsville so it was really great to have them in our house! The girls stayed at our house and we were up until almost 3am (that's 4am w/o the time change!) talking and having fun. This was the first chance the girls have really had to spend a weekend together and we had a blast! They are all so amazing and different and beautiful.
The girls and I stayed up so late because we were making journals by hand. I learned how to bind books recently and I made myself a small blank book to journal my prayers in. The girls found out and when the saw the book, they asked if they could make one too. So we stayed up binding books for journals! Haha. I couldn't help but think about all the things they will fill their journals with over the years - victories, defeats, prayers, hopes, dreams, questions, memories... and I feel very honored to be part of their stories!
Altitude08 Re-Cap
"SO, HOW HAS THE WEEKEND BEEN FOR YOU?"
Those eloquent words started one of the most exciting, encouraging conversations with the students from SFA who joined us for a weekend in Dallas at the Altitude08 conference (for you old-school Chi Alphans, think Fall Breakaway at a hotel!).
Over the next hours we listened to students share their hearts and their relationships with the Lord with each other. They were all just as excited to hear from the others as they were to share their own stories. The sense of unity and love really was amazing. After each student finished sharing, everyone would applaud. Haha - it was so funny, but you knew they really meant it. They loved hearing what the Lord had done for their friend!
Among the things shared that night: two students had made a decision to follow Christ for the first time; another had re-committed his life to Christ; several others had received some peace from the Lord in the midst of some serious life pain; and one student is now seriously pursuing a call into full-time ministry post-graduation! What an amazing weekend!
We want to say thanks to all of our supporters for your prayers and giving - without you we would not be able to do the things we do - and we absolutely love what we do!
Visit the SFA xareflections website for all the photos from Altitude08!!!
First Chi Alpha Service... Not What We Expected
You know how you make a plan and then you set out to accomplish the plan and somewhere along the way you just start to wonder who was the genius who came up with this plan to begin with? That's totally where my mind was around 6pm the night of September the 8th, aka the night of our first Chi Alpha Service at SFA. We were finishing the set-up of chairs at the Chi Alpha Cafe a block off campus and, to be very honest, I was really struggling to believe there would be enough students to fill the 20-ish metal folding chairs we'd just lined up. I'm a woman of great faith, I know. But we walked onto this campus knowing exactly one student - she knew a handful more, but there just wasn't much happening. Me, Derrick, Kevin (a 6' tall black guy who's into football), Brandon (a crazy-high energy kid who drinks Mountain Dew for breakfast), and Brett (the quiet one from Kansas who doesn't understand why it's so hot in Texas). Let's just say my hopes weren't too high.
We sat in staff meeting that morning and discussed all the contingencies. What to do if, like the weather threatened, it rained. What to do if no one showed up. What to do if we had 10 people and 20 chairs. What to do if the girls who live in the house part of the Cafe walked through service carrying their dirty laundry! We had a plan for everything. Except the one thing that actually happened. In the end, it did rain (but only for about 20 minutes at 6:15pm) and no one needed to do laundry that night... but the 20 chairs were
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We sat in staff meeting that morning and discussed all the contingencies. What to do if, like the weather threatened, it rained. What to do if no one showed up. What to do if we had 10 people and 20 chairs. What to do if the girls who live in the house part of the Cafe walked through service carrying their dirty laundry! We had a plan for everything. Except the one thing that actually happened. In the end, it did rain (but only for about 20 minutes at 6:15pm) and no one needed to do laundry that night... but the 20 chairs were
NOT ENOUGH!!!
We had 40 students come to the first meeting!
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