Cleveland State Ministry Updates & Prayer Requests, December 2011

Hey all, here's my latest ministry update letter! Feel free to download the PDF or read the rest below. :)

If you're on my team of partners, you should be receiving an email or snail-mail copy shortly. If you'd like to start receiving these letters, just contact me and let me know!

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Friends,

Once again, the holiday season has come upon us! With Thanksgiving having just passed, and with Christmas just around the corner, I find myself reflecting a lot on what all God has done for us this past year, as well as what we're trusting him to do in the year to come!

This has indeed been an incredible year. Last year, our presence on the CSU campus was much less, but this year it grew immensely! Last year we didn't yet have a team of female leaders to reach out to and disciple the ladies in our group, but this year God has given us Hannah and Diana to fill that void! Last year, I had not even begun the process of raising support, but this year God made that happen in incredible ways!

In fact, during the entire time that I have pursued being on full time staff at The Rock, God has been faithful to meet every one of my needs! I will readily admit that things have been hard. Cutting my budget to a manageable size involved moving twice within months, I gave up dreams I never imagined God would demand from me, and I've suffered everything from financial pinches to significant health issues.

But none of this is anything compared to what Jesus has done for me. Jesus has been faithful! The CSU ministry is not jeopardized by any of these trials; on the contrary, its foundation is set deeply by them in Christ! I know these ideas sound very theological, but I assure you they've never felt more real to me.

So please pray thankfully for the work God has done! And while you're praying for us, there's plenty more we need your help to pray for.

God has blessed our group on campus immensely by causing us to grow and keep our momentum. Praise God for that! However, the burdens of leading the group in my absence have been weighing very heavily on our small team of volunteers. Kevin, Peter, Hannah, and Diana are all going to school, working, or both, so please pray that God will continue to give them the energy and unity to get the work done, and that he would even overflow their cups with his spirit so they would find themselves to be a light on campus even when their flesh would otherwise be too weary.

In my last letter, I mentioned that the ladies of our group were enjoying some much-needed bonding time, so I thought it only appropriate to mention that – since my last letter – our men got to bond some as well… By shooting at one another with paintball guns!

Since shooting paintball guns on campus is frowned upon, several of the men drove down to my parents' ranch in the central Ohio area for the day, and it was a huge blast! That kind of opportunity is something to definitely thank God for, and I would ask that you please pray that God continues to give us these times. Please also pray that God would continually give us more men who are hungry to grow in and be challenged by the image of Christ, and that we would always be faithful to spur them on to more action, less passivity, and deeper community.

On another note of praise, God has now provided over 33% of the support that we need to launch the next phase of the Cleveland State University ministry! This incredible milestone both shows the majesty of God in providing for the needs of the ministry that he's called me to and shows the enormousness of the work that still needs to be done.

It still breaks my heart to think that I'm not yet able to spend my time each week sharing the gospel with students and young adults, especially since the need for Jesus at Cleveland State University just continues to grow.

With Christmas just around the corner and a season of generosity upon us, please pray that God will raise up more supporters who believe in the cause and share the vision of reaching young people for Jesus. Please pray that God will raise up more supporters who will invest financially in the gospel at CSU!

And dear friend, if you sense the urgency of this mission and you feel that God is leading you to invest financially in the ministry at Cleveland State University, or that he is prompting you to add to an investment you've already made, thank you so much! Please feel free to call me at 740.927.3588 or follow the directions at AlexMarkley.com to make a gift online.

Thank you so much for reading and for praying, merry Christmas, and God bless!
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Alex Markley
Campus Missionary
740.927.3588
AlexMarkley.com
TheRockCleveland.org