January 7, 2022
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Happy New Year from Palo Alto!
George Muller, the 19th century’s famous father of orphans and giant in prayer, wrote some profound words about the importance of our happiness in God and the role of God’s word in that pursuit. I can think of few more helpful ideas to commend to you in this new year! Muller writes,
Happy New Year from Palo Alto!
George Muller, the 19th century’s famous father of orphans and giant in prayer, wrote some profound words about the importance of our happiness in God and the role of God’s word in that pursuit. I can think of few more helpful ideas to commend to you in this new year! Muller writes,
December 3, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Stanford students have begun their final exams, which end on Friday (or sooner for some). It’s a sprint to the finish! Then they’re off to a welcome three-week break over the Christmas holidays.
In our last Bible course, leading into this most challenging part of the quarter, we meditated on Philippians 3:7-11:
Stanford students have begun their final exams, which end on Friday (or sooner for some). It’s a sprint to the finish! Then they’re off to a welcome three-week break over the Christmas holidays.
In our last Bible course, leading into this most challenging part of the quarter, we meditated on Philippians 3:7-11:
November 5, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Greetings from Palo Alto!
Students’ initial excitement of being back on campus at Stanford (after a long time away!) is waning, and midterm season has been going strong for multiple weeks now. Students are in need of refreshment from the Lord! I suppose we all are, all the time.
Greetings from Palo Alto!
Students’ initial excitement of being back on campus at Stanford (after a long time away!) is waning, and midterm season has been going strong for multiple weeks now. Students are in need of refreshment from the Lord! I suppose we all are, all the time.
October 1, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Greetings from Palo Alto!
Fall quarter is underway at Stanford, as are our Bible courses! In our study of Philippians, we recently meditated on God’s all-encompassing and lovingly wise command for our thoughts and actions:
Greetings from Palo Alto!
Fall quarter is underway at Stanford, as are our Bible courses! In our study of Philippians, we recently meditated on God’s all-encompassing and lovingly wise command for our thoughts and actions:
September 3, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Warm greetings from Palo Alto!
I’m sending a brief prayer letter this month since our family (which includes four kids age six and under) has just moved back to California! To say there is a lot unpacking and settling in left to do is an understatement!
Warm greetings from Palo Alto!
I’m sending a brief prayer letter this month since our family (which includes four kids age six and under) has just moved back to California! To say there is a lot unpacking and settling in left to do is an understatement!
August 5, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
We’ve been reading Exodus this summer and just finished the ten plagues, God’s deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, and the beginnings of Israel’s journey to Mt Sinai. The students on our most recent Zoom call were dumbstruck at both the Egyptians and the Israelites. Which makes less sense: that Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had ten times experienced firsthand the awesome power of the Lord, were foolish enough to follow the Israelites into the Red Sea? Or that the Israelites, who had seen the same and had been delivered from Egypt by the hand of the Lord, time and time again doubted the Lord's goodness and power and thought he was leading them to their death in the wilderness?
We’ve been reading Exodus this summer and just finished the ten plagues, God’s deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, and the beginnings of Israel’s journey to Mt Sinai. The students on our most recent Zoom call were dumbstruck at both the Egyptians and the Israelites. Which makes less sense: that Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had ten times experienced firsthand the awesome power of the Lord, were foolish enough to follow the Israelites into the Red Sea? Or that the Israelites, who had seen the same and had been delivered from Egypt by the hand of the Lord, time and time again doubted the Lord's goodness and power and thought he was leading them to their death in the wilderness?
July 1, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
—Philippians 4:10-14
Stanford students are comfortably in the cadence of summer, and of course I’d love to ask you to pray yet again for these cherished image bearers of God. May the Lamb of God rule in and through them, more and more, for his glory and for the joy of His people! But I want to focus this prayer letter on two non-students who are near and dear to our ministry.
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
—Philippians 4:10-14
Stanford students are comfortably in the cadence of summer, and of course I’d love to ask you to pray yet again for these cherished image bearers of God. May the Lamb of God rule in and through them, more and more, for his glory and for the joy of His people! But I want to focus this prayer letter on two non-students who are near and dear to our ministry.
June 3, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Warm greetings from Christian Union Caritas!
This Friday is the final day of classes for the Spring Quarter. We praise God that the students we serve have made it through this challenging year!
Warm greetings from Christian Union Caritas!
This Friday is the final day of classes for the Spring Quarter. We praise God that the students we serve have made it through this challenging year!
May 6, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Warm greetings from Christian Union Caritas!
Warm greetings from Christian Union Caritas!
April 1, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
In our Psalms and Prayer night to kick off the spring quarter on Sunday, we feasted on the epic Psalm 18. We would commend the entire psalm to you! But for now, here are just the first few verses to whet your appetite:
In our Psalms and Prayer night to kick off the spring quarter on Sunday, we feasted on the epic Psalm 18. We would commend the entire psalm to you! But for now, here are just the first few verses to whet your appetite:
March 4, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Last Thursday morning, a few of the fifth-year co-term men in Christian Union Caritas and I prayed through Psalm 25. The following verses, in particular, struck a chord in us:
Last Thursday morning, a few of the fifth-year co-term men in Christian Union Caritas and I prayed through Psalm 25. The following verses, in particular, struck a chord in us:
February 4, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world! (John 16:33)
As a ministry, we’ve been considering Jesus’s overcoming of the world through the perspective of Revelation in a four-week read-through of the book. For almost two thousand years, this apocalypse has helped readers look beyond their present tumults and see Jesus—unshaken, overcoming, and worthy beyond description. The book’s imagery can be so foreign to us and difficult to piece together, but the main message comes through loud and clear: Jesus saves and Jesus wins. We concur with the great multitude that cries out,
In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world! (John 16:33)
As a ministry, we’ve been considering Jesus’s overcoming of the world through the perspective of Revelation in a four-week read-through of the book. For almost two thousand years, this apocalypse has helped readers look beyond their present tumults and see Jesus—unshaken, overcoming, and worthy beyond description. The book’s imagery can be so foreign to us and difficult to piece together, but the main message comes through loud and clear: Jesus saves and Jesus wins. We concur with the great multitude that cries out,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
...
Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory.” (19:1, 6-7).
January 7, 2021
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
Welcome to 2021!
We’ve been reading 1 Samuel over Zoom together during the break. The faith of Hannah, the intimacy between God and Samuel, the failures of Saul, God’s incredible promises and grace to David, and so much more have been instructive and encouraging.
Welcome to 2021!
We’ve been reading 1 Samuel over Zoom together during the break. The faith of Hannah, the intimacy between God and Samuel, the failures of Saul, God’s incredible promises and grace to David, and so much more have been instructive and encouraging.
December 3, 2020
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
At the ministry’s Psalms and Prayer night last Sunday—the post-Thanksgiving final event of the quarter—a student shared Psalm 73. In a good way, we can’t shake the final verses:
November 5, 2020
Dear CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
As one of the most turbulent years in recent memory draws near to a close, the ministry would love support in prayer for the Stanford students CU Caritas serves. They are in the final stretches of this fall quarter, which ends November 20.
As one of the most turbulent years in recent memory draws near to a close, the ministry would love support in prayer for the Stanford students CU Caritas serves. They are in the final stretches of this fall quarter, which ends November 20.
October 1, 2020
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
Stanford students are nearing the end of their third week of online classes this fall, and I’m sure they are experiencing about as wide a range of emotions as you can imagine. I’m so glad you’re receiving this letter so that we can, for a moment, join our voices together in prayer for these students!
Stanford students are nearing the end of their third week of online classes this fall, and I’m sure they are experiencing about as wide a range of emotions as you can imagine. I’m so glad you’re receiving this letter so that we can, for a moment, join our voices together in prayer for these students!
September 3, 2020
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
In a week and a half, Stanford students will begin an academic year unlike any of the 129 before it. Only a few undergraduates with special circumstances will reside on campus; the rest will be scattered across the country and globe. The Stanford community will push technology to its limits in a valiant attempt to substitute physical with virtual presence. Please pray that the time required for these measures will be short, and that God will bring relief from the sickness, disunity, and hardship of these days!
In a week and a half, Stanford students will begin an academic year unlike any of the 129 before it. Only a few undergraduates with special circumstances will reside on campus; the rest will be scattered across the country and globe. The Stanford community will push technology to its limits in a valiant attempt to substitute physical with virtual presence. Please pray that the time required for these measures will be short, and that God will bring relief from the sickness, disunity, and hardship of these days!
July 30, 2020
Grace and peace from Palo Alto!
Usually, during the summer weeks, we pivot a bit from our regular Bible courses to do something different. This summer several CU students—including some incoming freshmen—are meeting on Tuesday nights via Zoom to read through and discuss the book of Genesis. Recently while covering chapter 18, we read about Abraham’s persistent intercession on behalf of Sodom before God:
June 25, 2020
Greetings from Palo Alto!
My wife, Kate, and I have a habit of listening through books of the Bible, one chapter per night, as part of our evening routine. A few nights ago we came across one of the most astonishing parts in Joshua:
May 28, 2020
Socially distant greetings from Palo Alto!
As most of us continue our stay-at-home daily rhythms, our students are wrapping up this very unusual Spring quarter with their final projects, papers, and examinations. Certainly, while no one could have anticipated what this year would be like, I think back to my prayers in the fall as we stepped into this academic year. I had prayed that our students, as well as our ministry team, would hear from God in new and fresh ways. It’s fair to say that prayer has been answered! There have for sure been some heartbreaks along the way, but as I interact through video conferencing with our Stanford students, generally I find hopeful faces looking back at me. I remain encouraged by how they have faced this challenge, and continue to see God actively speaking into their lives.
As most of us continue our stay-at-home daily rhythms, our students are wrapping up this very unusual Spring quarter with their final projects, papers, and examinations. Certainly, while no one could have anticipated what this year would be like, I think back to my prayers in the fall as we stepped into this academic year. I had prayed that our students, as well as our ministry team, would hear from God in new and fresh ways. It’s fair to say that prayer has been answered! There have for sure been some heartbreaks along the way, but as I interact through video conferencing with our Stanford students, generally I find hopeful faces looking back at me. I remain encouraged by how they have faced this challenge, and continue to see God actively speaking into their lives.
