This letter is from Ben Post, GVSU Campus Ministries Director.
Hello Church Partner Friends!We are incredibly grateful for the cloud of witnesses who care about and believe in the work God is doing at GVSU. There are countless stories of how God continues to use CM@GVSU to completely transform students’ lives. In case you haven’t seen it, one of our alumni recently made this video highlighting the work God is doing at GVSU. Some of the students highlighted in the video graduated in the Spring and are out changing the world, the others are getting ready to go as student interns this year. I encourage you to check it out!
We are in the thick of getting ready for another great year of ministry at Grand Valley. GVSU is getting ready to welcome the largest incoming freshman class ever – over 4,500! I went on a prayer walk around campus today with some of the CM staff to pray for all the students, faculty and staff that are about to descend on the campus. Lord, hear our prayers for these students!
A number of churches have reached out and asked, in addition to financial support, please let us know if there are other ways we can tangibly get involved in serving Campus Ministry @ GVSU. The following are two, practical, and extremely helpful ways your church could really bless the CM community.
1. Snacks for The Well
Every Sunday night at our weekly worship service, “The Well,” we love to provide snacks for students to enjoy between our two worship services (7 & 9pm). We would love for church partners to help fill this need by signing up to bring snacks for a Sunday night. A few details: These snacks are for about 350-400 students. They love food and they love variety. Things like veggie trays, fruit, cheese and crackers, chips, dips, cookies, brownies, etc. are always a hit. Please have these snacks delivered to the Cook Dewitt Center (right by the clock tower) in Allendale anytime between 6:00-6:30pm on the night you are scheduled. You can drive right up to the building (on the sidewalk) to drop them off. In addition, we would LOVE for you and a handful of people from your church to join us for worship that night! We would also be happy to provide you with a 6 foot table so you could share some info about your church as you interact with students.
If this is of interest to you, please fill out the following spreadsheet with your church name, your name, contact info, if you plan on staying for worship (7:00-8:30) and indicate if you would like for us to provide a table for info about your church that night. Click the link for the schedule below. Please note, we only need sign ups for Fall 2023 right now, but there is a tab for Winter 2024 if you want to put your name down for next semester, that’s fine with us too!
Thanks for considering this!
2. Dinner for Life Group Training Gatherings
In addition to providing snacks for The Well, we also are trying to bless our 60 Life Group Leaders with dinner during their Sunday afternoon training gatherings. These student volunteer leaders pour their heart and soul into caring for, loving on and discipling hundreds of students in their Life Group (probably about 400 total). We have 7 Life Group leader gatherings this semester to help train, equip, care for and bless these leaders. We are looking for churches who are able and willing to provide, serve and clean up dinner for these training gatherings. These gatherings will take place at Evergreen Ministries in Hudsonville from 4-6pm on Sunday nights before The Well.
If this is of interest to you/your church, please fill out the following spreadsheet and we will follow up with you with more details. Also, if you are interested in attending The Well the night you serve Life Group Leaders dinner, please let me know ahead of time so we can make sure we save a seat for you and your team!
(Please note, only sign up for the dates Fall 2023. The training gathering dates for Winter 2024 are not finalized at this time).
Thanks for considering this!
Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or feedback about these opportunities.
Thanks again for your partnership in the gospel. We appreciate you and are praying for you and your ministry as well. The world needs Jesus. Keep going!
Peace,
Ben