December 2015
Dear Friends and Partners of Penn,
The end of the fall semester always coincides with many things coming to a close: students are confirming via final exams their mastery of class material, the calendar year is winding down, and fall is formally handing off the season to winter (even if the reality doesn't agree). It is a time of the year that is ripe for considering where we've come from in the year prior and to give glory to what God has done.
One primary way we do this at Penn during the close of the semester is the Penn Faith and Action Formal, now in its second year. The program is simple, yet powerful: a brief space for mingling, followed by dinner, and concluding with an extended time of "toasts" to one another in the ministry. This time of sharing distilled a number of things about Penn Faith and Action (PennFA) that have impacted the students in the past year and pray will continue to benefit the students in the year to come.
One of the first things that was apparent was the depth of community. Having formed 2.5 years ago, PennFA, (a ministry resourced by Christian Union) now includes freshmen through juniors, yet it is clear that each year the web of connections continues to grow within classes and across classes. One student even remarked in the time of toasts that she was amazed at how fast her relationship with a transfer student had grown in only a matter of three months. In guiding the ministry, we've known that only God could knit hearts together in our group and He has certainly done it!
The second thing the toasts revealed was the love the students have for one another. A photographer who we had hired to capture the evening said afterwards that she had never before seen anything so heartfelt and genuine as the way that everyone loved and cared for one another, so much that she set her photography fee as the registration fee to attend the upcoming PennFA Winter Retreat!
Finally, the time of sharing exhibited the desire for PennFA to be a community that challenges each other to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Roommates spoke of the faith of those they lived with and how they were encouraged by the example they saw. One of our executive student leaders, amongst all of many people she could have toasted, chose instead to express her thanks for a quiet, shy sophomore by mentioning all of the great qualities about him that she hoped others would seek to get to know better.
It has been an incredible semester as we've welcomed the freshmen at the beginning of the semester and now seen them fully integrated into a community that loves and encourages so well. Join us in thanking God for the work He has done in the lives of students as we see the words of Christ in John 13:35 ring true: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Please join us in praying for these specifics needs in the coming month:
- For rest and renewal for our students before returning to campus for the spring semester.
- Our leadership transition as our upperclassmen leaders begin to hand off aspects of the ministry, big and small, to others.
- Attendance and spiritual connection at our PennFA Winter Retreat, January 22-24, 2016.
- A new office as we recently needed to relocate from our previous location.
- Additional volunteers to help with the growth in the female side of our ministry.
Justin Mills
Christian Union Ministry Director
University of Pennsylvania
previous >
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at University of Pennsylvania, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
