Coffee and Dessert

Thanks to everyone who came to the Coffee and Dessert event at my house last Thursday! It was an honor to have people come to hear about RUF and to support me. It was a great way to end my Christmas break and head back to Clemson. (I will leave on the 10th.) I am appreciative of all the prayers and financial gifts I have received over the last several months. Here is a copy of the handout that I gave to people at the event if you couldn’t make it.

RUF @ CLEMSON

April Smitherman

205.540.4046

april.smitherman@ruf.org

Thank you so much for coming over to hear about Reformed University Fellowship and my ministry in Clemson! I appreciate your interest and support immensely. Please do not hesitate to contact me to hear updates about my work at Clemson or to ask questions about what I am doing there.

 My blog, April Goes to Clemson, found at aprilatclemsonruf.wordpress.com, might be a good way to stay updated between receiving my newsletters. Check it out!

How you can be involved:

1.    Prayer

• Housing/roommate for me next year
• Spring break mission trip to Chicago (March 19-23)
• Winter conference (February 10-12)
• My Galatians Bible study this spring
• Freshman unity and commitment to RUF
• That RUF would be welcoming to outsiders
• Wisdom in conversations with students
• That “fringe” students from the fall would get plugged in
• My relationship with my campus minister, Stephen Speaks (communication, planning, etc.)
• Stephen and his wife Rebekah and their 3 kids- rest, their trip to Spain with Mission to the World over the summer
• That Stephen would clearly and wisely preach the Gospel

2.    Giving

• One-time Gifts
• Pledges

How to Give:

Checks– mail to  Reformed University Ministries

        1700 North Brown Road, Ste 104

        Lawrenceville, GA 30043

*Make sure to indicate that your check is for me.

Online Donations– www.ruf.org

* This is only for one-time donations using credit cards.

* I am now starting to raise new support for the 2012-2013 school year, as I have committed to another year with RUF at Clemson. I will need to raise another $32,500 in order to be fully funded. Please consider supporting me for next year. I hope to be in touch with you this Spring to talk more about this opportunity.

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Merry Christmas!…and an invitation for you!! (my house, January 5, 7-9 p.m.)

Merry Christmas! I am so thankful for all of you! I hope that you have had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our savior with family and friends.

The coming of our Savior into our broken world and our celebration of it every December has been the perfect segway for me in conversations with girls as the semester came to a close. Several girls I meet with have difficult circumstances at home, which makes going home for a month for the holidays a challenge for them. Many of them feel as if they are the peacemakers in their family and the one on whom their family relies to keep the home running both physically and relationally. This is a burden, and many of these girls feel as if they are the savior for their families, or at least they are supposed to be. It was with joy that I told them that although it is a good thing for them to be peacemakers and to care about their families, they are NOT their families’ Savior. Christ came to save us and our families and often time this means saving us from each other and the wars we wage amongst us.

My first semester has (obviously) ended by now! It was a great learning experience. I learned a lot about myself and about ministry. There have been several students who I have really connected with and have been able to begin “a deeper dicussion” with about faith and how we relate to it. I look forward to returning in January after a long break and picking up in conversations where we left off. I hope to go deeper with these students that I have already met and also to continue to meeting new people, as the beginning of a semester always brings in new faces.

During this holiday break I will be catching up on my Study/Reading program that I must do for the internship as well as reflecting on this past semester and setting specific goals for myself and for my relationships with some of my students. Also, part of this break will be dedicated to support raising!!

***If any of you have not heard yet, or if you forgot, or if you lost the invitation then please note that YOU ARE INVITED TO COME TO MY HOUSE (120 Brookshire Lane, Pelham, AL 35124) ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 5TH FROM 7-9 P.M. FOR DESSERT AND COFFEE! Whether or not you support me through prayer or finances and whether or not you receive my update letters, please come! You are welcome to bring your family and friends too- the more the better! I want the chance to thank you personally for the way that your support has enabled me to reach Clemson for Christ this semester, and I want to update you on how things are going. If you have questions or want more information about RUF or what I do then this is the perfect opportunity for you to ask!***

If you cannot come, then feel free to call me and to set up a time to meet with me over the break! I will be in Birmingham for the most part until January 9th, and I’d love to meet up for coffee just to talk and to catch you up on what God has been doing this past semester. My number is 205.540.4046.

Furthermore, I am now beginning to raise support for next year! I will need roughly the same amount that I raised last summer- $32, 495. This is a large amount, but I will not doubt God’s faithful provision as he has not failed me yet in providing for my needs!

I could post several stories and updates from the end of the semester but I will save them for the Coffee and Dessert at my house!

Thank you all again for your faithfulness to pray and give on my behalf!

 

 

 

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To whomever my anonymous donor is,

you inspire me.

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85%!!!

I got a call today from the RUF office  saying that I am at 85% and that I can now move to campus!! Woo! THANK YOU EVERYONE for your prayers and support! I am amazed and relieved.

My projected moving date has rolled back a few days to the 16th or the 17th now because it’ll give me more time to pack and get things finalized here in Birmingham. Clemson’s class doesn’t start until the 24th, anyway, so I’ll still be there a week early regardless, (which is incredible!)

Please be in prayer for my fellow interns as they work towards 85% as well. Some are really close and some have a really long way to go. I am blessed to come from an environment where people understand campus ministry and give willingly, but some of my intern friends do not have this type of support and are really struggling. Please pray that they would trust, that God would provide, and that others would give.

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Another update…and may I suggest a book?

I am up to $22,995! I cannot wrap my mind around how much money that is. That’s like another year of tuition at Auburn that people (like some of you!) have freely given me! Thank you a million times!

God is a good provider, not one who, like an indulgent parent, spoils his child with excess, teaching him nothing, but rather He is a provider who patiently and consistently dispenses the proper amount of blessing, teaching his child to value the wisdom and care of the Giver rather than his gift.

I am confident that the Lord will provide the remaining $4,625.75 for me to move to campus and then the additional $4,874.25 to reach 100% for the year. All these numbers seem small in light of a God who parted waters, healed the sick, turned water in to wine, and raised a dead man. All worry and doubt seem irrational in light of a God who chooses those that were enemies to his nature and calls them to Himself and to certain and future completion.

In other news, if you do not already know, interns have a study program that we work through over the course of the two-year internship. In addition to working through the Bible we read books on theology and ministry. The idea is that by reading these books and using our minds to engage every point we will be better equipped to love and serve students.

As I said in a previous post, I am grateful that RUF does not ground itself on a method of evangelism. (Not that having a strategy is necessarily a bad thing.) The books we read are not “how-tos” on witnessing or spiritual improvement. They are books that explore the Gospel from different angles and with emphasis on different components of it. Our goal in reading is always more exposure to the bare-bones Gospel in the belief that ministry springs up organically where the seed of Truth has taken root.

So, all that to say, you should read Putting Amazing Back Into Grace, by Michael Horton, which I just finished reading for July. Simply put, it’s the best book on understanding grace, particularly justification, that I have ever read. And for all you “reformed” people out there, Mr. Horton does of fabulous job of walking through some of the foundational tenants of reformed theology.

The subtitle on my copy of the book rhetorically asks, “Who Does what in Salvation?” It seems like a fairly obvious answer, but something about the way Horton explains it makes it seem quite radical. He makes bold claims, supports them, and doesn’t back down. (Everyone has time to read something like that. Yep, even you!)

And not having the money to buy it is not an excuse, either 🙂 I found a retro copy from ’94 on half.com for 75 cents + shipping. (Putting that support money to good economical use!) You can find it here: http://product.half.ebay.com/_W0QQprZ399308

I recommend the retro copy. You never go wrong with retro.

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Thank you! and an Unexpected Interview

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me either financially or in prayer or both! I am so humbled by the care and generosity that others have shown me. Seeing individuals within the church live out the Gospel with their time and money has made me love the church more than I ever have.

I am excited to say that I have raised at least $19,165! (I say “at least” because I have had verbal commitments from several people, but their money is still being processed in the RUF office so I am not sure what the exact total is for the day.) Hopefully, on Friday I will have a more accurate amount to report! I am still striving for a total of $27,620 by the 13th!!

Also, yesterday I had a strange thing happen to me.

A student from UGA majoring in journalism emailed me, asking if she could interview me about an article she was writing in response to a USA Today article about religion in the South and how secular universities impact a student’s religion. It was right up my alley.

I said “sure” and emailed her my phone number. She called about 20 minutes later. I asked how she got my name, and she said she googled “religious people on universities in the South.” I laughed really hard when she told me that. I’m not sure how my name showed up in Google. I think it may be because I was technically listed as RUF at Auburn’s president for the past 2 years. (Not a big deal…I just answered emails and attended a university meeting once a semester.)

The student interviewing me asked about RUF, what it is, how it works, who comes to it etc. It was awesome! How many people ever  just randomly  call you up on the phone and ask to talk to you about something you love, much less question you about Christianity!

For 30 minutes she asked me questions like, “Do you think students who grew up in Christian environments typically rebel when they go to college?” “Do you think peer pressure (especially the positive kind) to attend religious organizations plays a large part in students attending campus ministries like RUF?” “Is RUF a place mostly where students from the PCA or from Christian homes congregate?” “Do you think that students who grew up in religious environments are more likely to attend RUF or other religious organizations in college and why?” “Do you think that secular universities make students less religious?”

I believe that last question is what she was really getting at. It sounds like the USA Today article was arguing that secular universities DO make formerly religious students less religious. Interesting idea. I disagreed.

I am trying to find the USA Today article. I will post it here when I do. Also, the student told me she would send me a copy of her article with my interview in it once she’s finished. I will also post it here.

I would love to hear some of your responses to the question of whether or not secular universities have a negative affect on a students religion. Do you think attending a secular university make a student less religious? What would you have said?

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