College students were scattered through the Belhaven Heights neighborhood.  Some could be seen picking up trash and sticks along the street or stopping to say a prayer in front of houses.  Some worked side by side with the neighbors weed-whacking, hauling bricks and garbage, or pausing for a friendly offer of water.  I stood back for a minute, leaning on the rake I was using to move dry grass and dirt into a pile of garbage for one of our neighbors, and I watched my friends working and sweating and chatting with neighbors and among themselves.  And I couldn’t help but think: “This is how they will know we are Christians, if we love one another.”

On Saturday, April 10, over fifty students from Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student Missions Fellowship, and Reformed University Fellowship joined together to offer a helping hand to our neighbors just across Fortification Street in the Belhaven Heights neighborhood.  We did anything and everything from hauling bricks and sticks to picking up garbage to leaf-blowing and lawn-mowing to simply sitting down for a chat with a few of the people who asked for our help.  We heard so much encouraging feedback from neighbors who said that we came at just the right time, when they needed a reminder that people were there to support and encourage them.  I think what meant the most to me, though, was seeing the students from our university work together and have a wonderful time doing so; to see them encouraging each other and praying together, even those who had never met before that day.

This entire year in Student Ministries has impacted me in that way.  I’ve been humbled by the great love that I’ve seen between students in our campus ministries.  I’m amazed by the passion that these students have shown for Christ as I have worshiped, prayed, and served with them over the past two semesters.  Sometimes I wish that this love were more evident to the entire school, because it is the kind of love that can shake the earth to its core; yet at the same time, if it were more apparent, I’m not sure it would be the same kind of humble, unassuming love that I so admire.

As a word of encouragement for anyone who stumbles across this: Whether you are a part of FCA, SMF, RUF, or you are simply a Christian trying to live each day of your life in the light of Jesus Christ and for His glory, remember that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  All around you, here within our student body, are those who have been changed and shaped by the love of God and who are ready to pass that love on.  As we go into the summer, to jobs, families, mission trips, whatever–let’s go remembering that mind-blowing love and practicing it every single day.  Then, when we come back and classes start again and we get into the routine of college life, let’s not forget it.  We remind not only each other but also our classmates, our neighbors, our community what it means to be a Christ-one: by our love.  Not OUR love, but His love demonstrated in us.

The kind of love that’s willing to pick up a Cross, or just pick up leaves.

A night of worship for ANY and ALL students.

Whether you are a part of RUF, FCA, SMF, or not a part of a campus ministry, you’re welcome to come worship with us! We will sing praise songs, hear a word from missionaries to Lusaka, Zambia, and in lieu of Black History Month we will be hearing from Dexter Shelby on reconciliation between races as well as between God and us.

Take a break from homework and studies, bring a friend, and come relax and enjoy time to hang out and worship together.

For more information, contact Sarah Vanbiber at studentministries@belhaven.edu.

Belhaven University has the opportunity to aid in the relief efforts for the country of Haiti. This effort is specifically for an orphanage that was home to 40 girls in Leogane, Haiti. The Fleury Foundation lost the entire building and the girls are seeking shelter. Our goal is the raise the money to get the girls humanitarian passes so that they can live in the U.S. If the money for these passes can not be reached we could at least provide temporary shelter until permanent housing can be built. Please donate money at lunch and dinner in the Student Center Tuesday 1.19 through Friday 1.22. Also please be in prayer for this efforts and the rest across the world to help our neighbors in Haiti.

Join us every Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. at the Pavilion (in case of rain, Student Center lobby) for a casual time of prayer and fellowship.  This is a chance to relax from the busyness of college life and to turn our focus onto our great Savior, Jesus Christ.  We will pray for one another, for our campus, our friends, families, and our world.  Please come lift your voice in prayer with us this Sunday!

for more information, contact Sarah Vanbiber: studentministries@belhaven.edu

A word of encouragement from Jarrett Morgan

“Then He answered and spake unto me saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubabbel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”                                                                                         – Zechariah 4:6

            I have heard it said that God will never call you to something that you can do on your own. He will always call you to those things that are “impossible,” on your own, that is. We see this theme over and over in Scripture. It was impossible for an old man and woman to have a child that was promised to them. It was impossible for a lowly shepherd to defeat a giant many times his size. It was impossible for an army of 300 to stand against a force as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Yet all of this was done. The giant fell, the promised child was conceived, and the armies of the enemy were defeated, “not by might, nor by power, but by [God’s] Spirit.”

            Similarly today, we are called to an “impossible” life, a life in which we are commanded to live faithfully towards God. In a world where God is hated and rejected, where we are often times left alone because we live differently, where even our very hearts tempt us to betray God, we begin to understand that the Christian life is “impossible.” In some ways, it is meant to be that way because we are not to live according to our own strength, but in dependence on the almighty strength of God. We do not live for our own glory, but for God’s, and He is seeking people who will understand that “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.” He wants His people to stand for Him, “not by might… but by [His] Spirit.”

            The burdens of this life that stem from hardships and strife lose their weight in the arms of Him who calmed the raging sea, who made the blind to see, and who rose from the grave victoriously, and through Him, we can live faithfully. We can fulfill those plans that God has for us, and we can realize that with God, “all things are possible.”

We will have special guests to lead us in worship and deliver the message. Mark your calendars, grab two or three of your friends, and come lift up your heart and your voice in worship!

“COME, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and BLESS THE LORD!”
Psalm 134:1-2

sponsored by BLC Student Ministries
for more information contact Student Ministries Coordinator Sarah Vanbiber:
studentministries@belhaven.edu