The long vacation

The summer is (naturally) a quite time in the OICCU's public affairs. An Oxford student has no less than 15 weeks summer holiday. However I would like to think it is a very busy time in other respects. There are countless students engaged in overseas Christian mission, summer camps, beach missions and local church activities. In our last central meeting, we had a wonderful Powerpoint presentation in which a red dot appeared on a world map for each student travelling to that area. Please pray for us all as we give ourselves to God's service, that He would use us to accomplish his works. Pray that our trust would be firmly in Jesus, and that we'd all seek to share Him in whatever we're doing.

I'll post some details about what we're planning for next term in September..once it has been finalised. In short we've decided to meet together more often, and are keen on developing an evanglism plan that will lead us into the Mission in February. Pray for wisdom and boldness as we make these decisions.

In the meantime, I leave you with the OICCU Summer prayer diary. The challenge to keep praying is there for us all, I invite the reader to join with us.

Sunday - Freshers. Ask that God would strengthen those who are Christians as they leave their home fellowships to come up and that they would catch the vision of OICCU. For those who are not yet Christians that God would be at work in their hearts and minds so that they will be keen to learn more of Him.

Monday - Events. Remember the events happening in college during Freshers’ Week and the Freshers’ Dinner. Pray for financial provision for these events.

Tuesday - Mission Teams. Pray for all our members serving God on teams at home and around the world in particular please pray for the OICCU team heading to the Philippines.

Wednesday - Central Meetings. Please pray that God would use the new organisation of Central Meetings on Wednesdays to His greater glory through making us more effective as a united witnessing community.

Thursday - Weekly Events. Please remember the organisation of the weekly events. Especially pray for God’s provision in the organisation of Big Issues.

Friday - Each other. Pray that God would be keeping us close to Himself this summer and that in His will we will return to Oxford safely and also fired up to serve Him in Oxford.

Saturday - The Mission. Pray God’s blessing on the planning and organisation of the Mission. It may seem a long way off but we need to seek God’s will and blessing as we look forward to it.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph 3:20-21)

Malaysia beckons!

Just a quick advertisement: I'm off to Malaysia in two weeks with a mission team from St Ebbe's Church, Oxford. Details and prayer points can be found here. We'll no doubt be spending time with these goons. (This is Mark Wilson and Chris Flint who have just moved from Ebbe's to SMACC - see blog)

Trinity Term 2006

Once again, I apologize for not updating this blog in a while. The end of term was a tremendously busy time - I had Part A Finals and there were various other things going on. Needless to say God was in absolute control and I know many in the OICCU have really felt sustained and strengthened this last term, and I joyfully count myself among them.

In terms of what's been happening, I know these events were months ago, but it's never too late to thank God for them.

The BBQ in 5th week was a wonderful day. Despite the Saturday and the Monday surrounding it both being wet and miserable, our good God provided glorious sunshine and wind that helpfully dried the ground. Indeed it was so hot that you could see our prayers answered in a few burnt faces...including mine. Never pray for good weather and forget the suncream! More importantly, many came to hear Andy Robinson challenge us to have a bigger view of Jesus, and we pray on that the Spirit will be working in the hearts of those non-Christians.

The rowing and Da-Vinci events went well too. In summary, this term in the life of the OICCU has been really good. It has been a privelidge to lead and work alongside a mission team, increasingly committed to prayer and increasingly enthusiastic about the Great Commission. It hasn't all been plain sailing...I'm told Christian leadership never is, and some decisions you have to make are difficult in the extreme. But it's a great joy to "give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord", knowing that "our labour in the Lord is not in vain". With this perspective, the most mundane of tasks can be great fun and worthwhile.