tune in

students moved into the halls today at Waikato uni!

we spent the morning helping first year students move into their respective rooms in the halls on campus. it was fun to see all the wide-eyed first years and their parents, making the transition to uni life away from home. i am excited to hopefully get to talk more with many of these women! then, tonight we had an opportunity to give away free cups full of vouchers (coupons) for area businesses, lollies (candy) and our Tune-in survey in all the halls at dinner time. the Lord has given us favor with the hall directors and they see us as a positive presence on campus and in their halls. one even told us "the more students that get involved with you, the easier my job is!" praise God! we're the only Student Life movement on NZ campuses that is allowed in the halls - this is a huge blessing! the cups are a fun way to welcome students to campus, serve them, and right at the start of the year let them know who we are and that we care about them!

so, tonight the students were given the cups at the start of dinner, then we made an announcement asking them to take a quick minute and fill out the survey and turn it in. then we did an immediate drawing for a $50 cash prize. this is a super strategic way to get contact details for the 1200 first year students that live on campus!! the survey has 4 short questions asking if they would like more info about Student Life, do they have questions about God and are they wondering where they stand spiritually, and would they life more info on various aspects of uni life: studying, relationships, etc. then we follow up the cards of the students that are keen to talk more and we're able to have awesome conversations in which many of them hear the gospel!

and check out the Tune-in website! www.tunein.co.nz when classes start next week, we'll have tables set up around campus for students to fill out the surveys and enter to win a drawing for an iPod nano. this is the website they'll visit to enter to win.

please pray for the first years as they're beginning their uni career! pray for conversations we will have as a result of following up the tune-in surveys, and pray that God is softening and opening the hearts of these students to know Him. pray that they are ready to hear and trust Christ. pray that the partying and other "comforts" are empty and dis-satisfying to them. and pray that the Lord will raise up students who want to multiply their lives and influence their peers for Christ!

also, please pray for our team. we're all quite tired and seem to be experiencing some spiritual warfare - the evil one definitely does not want us sharing Jesus on campus!! please pray that we are feeding daily on God's word and loving one another and the students out of our relationship with Christ.

thank you SOOO much for your prayers!!!!! it is incredibly encouraging knowing that you are all in this with me, battling for the souls of university students in New Zealand! more prayer requests, updates and photos to come!