The story of the Bible is one of sojourns, exiles, homecomings. Adam and Eve leave the Garden. Abraham is called out of Ur. Moses leaves Egypt, returns, and leads his people back out again in a mighty Exodus that eventually culminates in the Israelites arrival in the Promised Land.

McKenna and I have been on something of a sojourn ourselves for the last few years, in the land of Illinois for my graduate studies. Thankfully, though the weather has been a trial, it has not been an exile. We missed home dearly, but the Lord has blessed us richly out here. He has blessed our marriage, our friendships, and our faith as we have seen him be faithful provide for us in so many ways, not least of which was giving us the wonderful church community at Grace Presbyterian.

It appears, though, that the time of our sojourn in Chicagoland is coming to an end. And while we will be sad to leave, it’s for a very good reason.

I am pleased to share with you that I have been offered and taken a job with Reformed University fellowship (RUF) to be the new campus minister at the University of California, Irvine. I start this summer and my first quarter with the students will be this Fall 2019. My full-time to job will be to share the gospel with, disciple, and pastor students at my alma mater, UCI (go Anteaters!). And we’re both very excited about this opportunity.

RUF and UCI

For those of you who don’t know what RUF is, it’s the college campus ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America (sort of like Intervarsity or Cru). Some of what distinguishes it as a campus ministry is its commitment to partnering closely with the local church as it ministers the gospel to college kids directly on campuses. It’s also warmly Christ-centered and distinctly Reformed. Beyond that, every campus ministry is led by a seminary-trained, ordained pastor, who is a member of the local presbytery. It’s really an amazing organization and family that we’re very happy to be partnering with.

Now, the specific ministry at UCI is only a few years old (Chad Brewer, the current campus minister started it in 2015), but it’s already a lively one. They have several Bible studies going (5 or 6), a large group meeting, a student leadership team in development, they’ve gone on their first mission trip, and even started a unique gospel outreach ministry to the previously under-served Greek community. Things are popping. RUF has also managed to become a pretty diverse cross-section of folks on campus with a good mix of students who live on campus and commuters, different economic groups, races, backgrounds (churched and otherwise), gathering together to learn about Jesus. It’s going to be an immense privilege to join in and be a part of what God has already been doing on campus at UCI.

Some Prayer Requests

With all this said, we’re going to need prayer, as there are a number of steps we have to take before we get there. I’ll just go ahead a list a few things for which we need that support. (Actually, if you’re interested in being a prayer supporter of our ministry in the future, I’ll share how to receive a regular newsletter with updates and prayer requests in a later post.)

The Ministry. As I’ve already mentioned, the ministry is growing and thriving. Pray that God would be preparing us even now so that we can just jump in on the work. Pray that we get to know our students and build relationships quickly. We are already praying for them and have begun to develop a love in our hearts for them. But pray that God would increase that love, as well as give us particular wisdom about how to serve these students well. Also, pray that they would come to know and love us too. Pray that God would just continue to bless and grow the ministry in depth, maturity, and love for Christ.

As I said, the ministry is already doing well. But UCI has something like 30,000 students and is one of the largest research universities in the state (if not the country). There are students from every nation and walk of life there. The field is wide and ripe with harvest. But we need divine help if we’re going to be of any use in it. Pray that God would give us grace, wisdom, and boldness in the gospel so that more people would come to hear and love his name.

The Move. We actually move back to California in mid-July. There’s a lot involved with that, just in terms of preparation, transitions, leases, logistics, etc. We have moved across country once before and so we know what that looks like, so that’s good. But also, we know that it is very tiring and a bit overwhelming. Also, we’d love to find a good, affordable spot near UCI’s campus so we can be available for ministry and open our home to hospitality. Please pray for us on this matter.

The Dissertation. I’m not done with it, which is pretty typical at this stage in my program. Still, it means that I need to be hard at work on the dissertation even as we prepare to move and get ready to enter into a new ministry. I’ll realistically be working on the dissertation part time for the first year of my time at UCI on top of my full time ministry. Pray that God gives me focus, clarity, and speed as I think and write about his holiness.

Ordination. As I mentioned, one of the great things about RUF is that campus ministers are ordained pastors. This is important for so many reasons and I’m deeply grateful for the honor of getting to be a part of this company of ministers. That said, it also means I have to get ordained, which is not simple or light thing. Besides the move, the dissertation, and so forth, I also have been and will continue to be preparing for my ordination exams. Please pray that the Spirit gives me energy to give this weighty process the diligence and care that it deserves. Also, that God gives me grace in the eyes of the local Presbytery, and that I be able to enter, learn from, and form good relationships with my future brothers in the pastorate.

A Job. While I have a job lined up, McKenna will be looking for employment as we head back home. God came through in a huge way here in Illinois by providing a spot at Grace Pres. It’s been a wonderful environment for her and us both. We would love it if you would pray that God provide another good job where McKenna can serve and use her many gifts in a way that is meaningful to her and a blessing for others.

Church Transitions. We are leaving an awesome church that we love to death. We want to do that well, saying bye to folks properly, handing off ministries we have been a part of, etc. We also want to be able to transition into our next church well. We already know it’s a good church; a solid community with a healthy set of elders and pastor. But it’s a still a new church to us. Please pray that we’re able to plug in well.

Fundraising. RUF is essentially a mission organization. I will be commissioned as an evangelist/missionary to the community at UC Irvine. And so, the ministry is supported just like many other missionaries—the tithes, contributions, and gifts of those whom the Lord has led to support his work in the lives of these college students by giving of their resources. We need prayer that the Lord will provide, that he will give me boldness in inviting folks to participate in the ministry this way, as well move in people’s hearts to respond. (Speaking of which, if you’d like learn more about the ministry, feel free to email me. If you’d like to give to the ministry at UC Irvine, you can click here (https://www.givetoruf.org/), type in my name, and donate.)

For all these things, we would ask your prayer. We ask in faith, though, because we have seen the Lord’ hand at work in this in so many ways.

Honestly, it’s wild to think about the way the Lord brought all this together. When we came out here, we really didn’t know what the next step was going to look like. I’d told my advisor, Dr. Vanhoozer, that I was really ready go back into church ministry or the academy on the other side of the program. (As a side-note, he was supportive of this, which is really nice to have from your advisor.) We had hoped to make it back to California, but that wasn’t a guarantee.

But here we are, four years later, about to head into a ministry that has us working with college kids again, at my old alma mater, in our old home county, near our families, with an organization that focuses on maintaining a solid relationship with the local church, that just happened to open up when we were going to start looking for the place where God was calling us to serve together. God is threading a very fine needle with this job. Looking back with hindsight, there have been so many different providential relationships and events leading us to this point, which have given us confidence this is his hand at work.

He is always doing more than we could ever ask or imagine. And we’re excited to see what he does next.

Soli Deo Gloria