Dear praying friends,

It was such a simple idea - two 4x8 sheet of plywood at the end of a 45 minute "Missions Experience" (a multi-media experience, part guided, part self-guided, to learn about what missions is and why it is important - and how God might be calling them to go and send.). One one sheet of plywood, the text "Before Jesus I was" and a grid with 8 different pre-written answers. On the other sheet of plywood, the text "After Jesus I am" and a similar grid. Next to each sheet of plywood were dot-markers for people to indicate an answer on the grid.

And then more than 2000 students came through the space. Check out the result.

The grids got so full that in the darkened room, you could not longer see the original texts. And then people began writing their own answers. Things like:

Before Jesus I was - Lost, heartbroken, alone, not enough, scared, adicted, dead, hopeless, angry...and the list goes on, and on, and on.

And then:

After Jesus I am - Free, saved, hopeful, alive, forgiven, whole, seen, found, healed.

The signs are so powerful. Before and After. Wow.

So, thanks for praying! Elissa and I spent our first two days helping set up this event, and then four days sitting outside the Missions Experience processing with individuals and groups. We asked questions, listened, and connected people with next steps. Thanks to your praying, we made it! There was a great team, and we were so happy to be a part of it.

Please pray for:

1. Students who made new commitments this week. Some made commitments for the first time, others made new commitments to follow more closely, to go, to listen, etc. Pray as they go back home that they keep following through.
2. Pray for Elissa. She woke up sick last night, and being sick while traveling (especially with a stomach bug) is no fun. We were able to delay our check-out time, but only for a little while.
3. We got to see a lot of our TCK (Third Culture Kid) friends at LIFE. Pray for some of the ones who are dearest to us who will be going thorugh some major changes in the coming months (not returning to the field, going on home assignment, starting new post-high school things.).
4. Pray for us as we recover form a really intense week!

Thanks for praying!

mike