THAT HIS WAY MAY BE KNOWN

THAT HIS WAY MAY BE KNOWN GOD S GRACE AND OUR GOING Have you ever considered why God has given you what He has given you? Why do you have what you have? There is a reason. The reason beats with the missionary heartbeat of God. As believers, the blessings that God has given us are not about us. God blesses us not for our own sake, but for His sake. The purpose of God s blessings is the praise of all peoples peoples throughout nations and neighborhoods. In Psalm 67, the psalmist asks that God might bless us so that His way may be known. He says let the peoples praise you and let the nations be glad and sing for joy. This is the ultimate end of God s blessings in our lives that others will acknowledge and worship our great God! Our response to God s blessings cannot simply be one of thanksgiving. God does not bless us so that we might be thankful; He blesses us so that we might be witnesses. God s grace always results in His people making His way known among the nations. In addition to your daily life of witness, you have an opportunity to join together with others from Union to be a witness through a GO Trip. You will connect with God s Word, God s world, and God s work. Will you prayerfully consider one of this year s GO Trips? GO! May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You! The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him! PSALM 67

BOSTON TAMPA UCONN team leaders: Jonathan and Sara Boyd team size: 10 trip cost: $995 team leader: Anna Marie Deschenes team size: 8 trip cost: $995 team leader: Josh and Cynthia Simmons team size: 8 trip cost: $995 SPRING BREAK Assisting City on a Hill church and its staff in outreach and service to the greater Boston community Assisting with ESL ministry among international students at MIT Touching thousands of people through servant evangelism at subway stops around the city Upon Boston s founding in 1630, Governor John Winthrop gave a sermon declaring Boston to be a city upon a hill. He said, The eyes of all people are upon us. He meant for Boston to be a city upon a hill shining the light of Christ. Boston is still a city on a hill, wielding immense influence on culture and the world. Boston is home to 100 colleges and universities with more than a quarter million students. Twenty five percent of world leaders come to Boston to be educated. The city of Boston is rich with many cultures and people groups. coahchurch.org namb.net/boston/overview Serving alongside Covenant Life Church, an urban church plant that ministers in an area that is 78% unchurched Assisting Covenant Life in establishing and developing relationships with a diverse group of people with the hopes of seeing the gospel change their lives Working with local schools, organizations, families, college students, young professionals, and the urban poor Tampa is an urban city that is home to many internationals. In addition, there are many who walk the streets without a home and have numerous tangible needs. Tampa is rich with diversity across all spectrums ethnically, socio-economically, and generationally. CLC hopes to accurately reflect this diversity as Tampa inhales the world and has the potential to exhale the gospel. The University of Tampa is a private university of 7,000 with around 100 known believers. covenantlifetampa.org Partnering with The Bridge Church to build relationships and share Christ with college students on the campus of the University of Connecticut Participating in servant evangelism, surveying students, and prayer-walking to reach students and residents in the surrounding community with the gospel Promoting and hosting outreach events for students on campus The University of Connecticut is a large, public research university located in Storrs, Connecticut. Schools like UCONN are referred to as Public Ivy meaning that students get an Ivy League experience with a public school price tag. The Storrs campus includes 25,000 students representing 100 different countries. The population of New England is less than 2% evangelical. thebridgestorrs.org Boston is a very diverse city, where people from all over the world come to learn at its many schools of higher education. It was really cool to see this church seeking the nations even in their own diverse neighborhood. MATTHEW, BOSTON

God used my previous experiences to help me relate to people I met in Honduras. I didn t know my major would connect with this experience, but I saw how my calling connected with needs they had there. The Lord knows the desires of our hearts and He is going to provide for us. He is shaping us and we need to be obedient. HONDURAS Orphan Care/Community Development LOUISVILLE Community Development team leader: Randy and Ginny Schwindt, Audra Teague team size: 20 trip cost: $1,700 team leaders: Melanie Taylor and Ally Currie team size: 10 trip cost: $800 NOEMI, HONDURAS Loving, playing with, and ministering to children through relationships and activities Working on projects at Orphanage Emmanuel as teams from Union have done for almost twenty years Engineering majors: Using the practical application of technology to meet ongoing needs at Orphanage Emmanuel Serving the hurting of Louisville by partnering with Love Thy Neighborhood in a variety of service projects Expressing the gospel by serving with ministries working in areas such as homelessness, abortion, the sex industry, healthcare, and the arts Expressing the gospel in word by building relationships with people of Louisville through listening, conversation, prayer, and sharing God s word The children at Orphanage Emmanuel come from difficult circumstances. Some of the children are orphans while others have been abandoned, abused, or come from extremely poor conditions. Orphanage Emmanuel provides for the children including food, comfortable and clean clothing and living quarters, and educational, medical, and general developmental needs. But most importantly, they strive to give the children strong spiritual guidance. The vision of Orphanage Emmanuel is to evangelize and disciple children so that they may grow up to be living lights and good examples in the ways of God to their countrymen. Love Thy Neighborhood provides young adults ages 18-30 with the experience of living in an urban community while working alongside a dynamic, Christ-centered nonprofit. The city of Louisville is religiously diverse with influences of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism among others. Understaffed and underfunded nonprofit ministries are working in the various areas where God s mercy continues to transform broken lives in and through the gospel to provide real and lasting hope to those in need. orphanageemmanuel.com lovethyneighborhood.org SPRING BREAK Orphan Care and Community Development

ETHIOPIA / Community Development trip dates: May 21-June 3 team leaders: Matthew and Rachel Marshall team size: 7 trip cost: $3,500 MAY and Community Development Discipling teenagers in the TLC program through sharing personal testimonies and practical ways that the gospel bear fruit Offering VBS activities to over 200 TLC and neighborhood children and ministering to guardians and families through prayer and Scripture while visiting their homes Helping with practical needs that will help support the work of the TLC ministry The people of Ethiopia are generally very warm and friendly and socially conservative. About half of the population of Ethiopia is Muslim and the other half Orthodox. Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Constitution and the current President is an Evangelical Christian. However, outside of the capital, evangelicals are few in number. In most villages where local pastors work, their churches are the first and only evangelical presence. TrueLight Childcare Ministry seeks to offer seeks to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the children and their families. tlcproject.org SOUTHEAST ASIA trip dates: May 21-June 3 team leader: Dan Lancaster team size: 7 trip cost: $3,500 Participating in a variety of ministries such as working with children in orphanages and teaching ESL in new churches Encouraging local believers and churches by providing training in simple discipleship lessons and training to an established network of pastors and leaders Prayer-walking Buddhist and demonic strongholds in one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia This country is working toward democracy but is still considered one of the worst military dictatorships in the world. The official religion in this area is Buddhism, though some of the ethnic groups are Christian. While many religions are practiced, Christian and Muslim populations face religious persecution and it is hard, if not impossible, for non-buddhists to join the army or get government jobs. The local government recognizes 135 distinct ethnic groups and there are estimated to be at least 108 different ethnolinguistic groups. southeastasianpeoples.imb.org/pray I can t describe the privilege it is to be a part of the Father s work, even though He can do it perfectly all by Himself. He wants us to be a part of His grand plan, and I am thankful for that. ERIN

CENTRAL ASIA EAST ASIA SALT LAKE CITY trip dates: approx. May 29-July 26 required orientation May 24-27 team size: 4-6 trip cost: $5,300 trip dates: approx. May 29-July 26 required orientation May 24-27 team size: 4-6 trip cost: $5,300 trip dates: approx. May 29-July 26 required orientation May 24-27 team size: 4-6 trip cost: $3,150 [My friend] brought up the good news again. We talked for some time before he explained some typical Asian thoughts on what I had said. I explained further and he proceeded to tell me that he had been having dreams over the past few months of me sharing the good news with him. He said when he met me he did not know who I was, but that I was the man from his dream. STEPHEN, EAST ASIA Studying the local language and culture in this Central Asian city and developing relationships with other university students and young adults Participating and hosting events and activities through a local community club and sharing the good news Being an integral part of a long-term, disciple-making strategy in one of the world s largest unreached cities This country is primarily Islamic with currently only about 3,000 known believers among a population of more than 70 million people. The people in this city have a veneer of modern/ post-modern thought overlaying the deep-rooted history and traditions stemming from their Islamic heritage. While the vast majority of people are Muslim, most university students have a secular worldview. They are warm, friendly people who enjoy talking about religion and learning about western culture. centralasianpeoples.imb.org Taking a language course and developing relationships with other students on campus Sharing the gospel with Asian students who have never heard the truth of Christ and modeling discipleship characterized by radical obedience and a passion for building the church Serving alongside Union alumni to invest in the lives of East Asian students in a spiritual climate marked by a distinct mix of traditional and modern beliefs Home to 23 colleges and universities, this port city of 14 million people is quickly becoming the economic center of East Asia. Students are open to new ideas, but have never had anyone tell them exactly who Jesus is. The spiritual climate is marked by a mix of the traditional and modern. There is a significant layer of traditional Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucian ancestor worship to go alongside more modernistic functional atheism. Add to this the current idol of materialism, and barriers to the gospel are many. eastasianpeoples.imb.org/pray Exploring avenues for relationships and ministry among an unreached people group in this metropolitan area Assisting new churches by prayer-walking, canvassing neighborhoods, fostering relationships and encouraging those who live and labor in the Salt Lake City area Serving alongside Union alumni to develop relationships and share the gospel in communities heavily influenced by Mormonism This breathtakingly beautiful place is a spiritually dark place that desperately needs the gospel. Salt Lake City is a place so closely linked to a single concept it is difficult for many people to separate the city from the thought. In Salt Lake the entity that brings that single thought is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With only 2% of the population claiming Christianity, the State of Utah ties with Rhode Island for the title of most lost state in America. christfellowshipslc.com namb.net/saltlakecity/overview SUMMER

When I shared my thoughts about obedience and comparison with my team, our leader shared with us the importance of obeying God in the areas that we think are small. God doesn t always call us to glamorous work, but He does call us to be obedient. REBEKAH, LOUISVILLE Something I learned through my time in East Asia is that our stories are stories worth sharing. Many of us have things in our lives that we don t always want to share with people. But I ve learned that rather than keeping these stories hidden, He can use all of them to reveal His glory, His power, and His love. MARY, EAST ASIA PAYING TO GO Concerned about the cost? Here s what others have to say. The value of Christian community and of working together was emphasized to me particularly as we met people through prayer walking and canvassing neighborhoods. The unity that we experienced in Christ expressed itself beautifully as we played off of each other s strengths and encouraged each other to speak boldly, truthfully, and in love. The discipline of prayer is indeed hard, but joining with my teammates in prayer encouraged me daily, grew my own desire to be faithful in prayer, and deepened my love for the people there. AMY, SALT LAKE CITY Once I committed to my GO Trip, it was incredible to experience the Lord s provision. Almost immediately I began to receive income from unexpected sources. This isn t to say that I didn t have to be financially responsible; if anything, I worked harder at the jobs I was given and was more careful with how I spent my extra cash, but God provided and the entire trip cost was covered. I ve had two really different experiences with the financial aspect. I ended up paying a very large portion of my first GO Trip out of pocket. My second GO Trip was primarily funded through donations from others. I think it is important to remember that both of these show God s provision. In both situations, God was in control, and even if it was coming out of my own pocket, that was still God s provision. The financial aspect is a tough one, but if the Lord is leading you to go on a trip, He will provide. Work hard for the money and trust God to provide. [The finances] were definitely a concern of mine but I can attest that the Lord provides in His timing. It is a test of faith and it stretches you. I found that trusting God s provision financially was a huge part of the preparation for what I would need to trust Him for throughout the trip. JOSH ERIN He laid it on my heart to save all summer for the trip and to ask my parents to cover my expenses as my Christmas present. My GO Trip was the best gift ever! KATIE STEPHEN ZACH

2017 GO TRIPS WHY GO Serve in various ministry contexts regionally, domestically, and internationally Participate in a team-based opportunity with Union faculty, staff, and students Discover new cultures and see how God is at work around the world Explore your unique role in taking the gospel to all nations Receive training and investment that will benefit you far beyond your GO Trip Spring Break Boston Honduras Louisville Tampa UConn May Ethiopia Southeast Asia* HOW TO GO Participate in Global Focus events throughout September to learn more about GO Trips Prayerfully consider each opportunity Complete an online GO Trip Application at uu.edu/events/go Commit to attend training sessions and team meetings (schedule available online) Be flexible, available, and teachable Maintain a 2.0 GPA We are big believers in students coming to serve with us because we recognize there is genuine value in it. We see the value as twofold. Kingdom work is being done and we genuinely believe there is kingdom impact in the here and now. People are hearing the gospel and that matters to us, our team, our ministry, and our city. And secondly, there is value in the longterm impact on the student who comes. We want to have a big-picture mindset and we see this as an opportunity to invest in long-term kingdom work by investing in those who come and serve with us. GO TRIP FIELD PARTNER Summer (8 weeks) Central Asia* East Asia* Salt Lake City *Specific locations withheld for security reasons. More information about trips to these locations is available in the Office of University Ministries. APPLY FOR A GO TRIP uu.edu/events/go Friday, September 23 Early Bird Deadline (50% off app fee) Friday, September 30 Application Deadline ($40 app fee) Monday, October 24 GO Trip Team Reveal ($100 deposit due) See GO Trip Calendar for Training and Team Meeting Dates

Office of University Ministries 1050 Union University Dr. Jackson, TN 38305 731-661-5062 uu.edu/oum Todd Brady Vice President for University Ministries 731.661.6566 tbrady@uu.edu Dan Lancaster Assistant Vice President for University Ministries 731.661.5971 dlancaster@uu.edu Julie Bradfield Director of Student Mobilization 731.661.5242 jbradfield@uu.edu Ally Currie University Ministries Assistant 731.661.5062 acurrie@uu.edu Anna Marie Deschenes IMB Campus Liaison 731.661.5165 adeschenes@uu.edu Matthew Marshall Director of Service and Diversity 731.661.5304 mmarshall@uu.edu Melanie Taylor Director of Discipleship Ministries 731.661.6598 mtaylor@uu.edu Audra Teague Administrative Assistant 731.661.6528 ateague@uu.edu uu.edu/events/go EXCELLENCE-DRIVEN CHRIST-CENTERED PEOPLE-FOCUSED FUTURE-DIRECTED