Christmas Caroling

Tonight was a fun time visiting some special people in Wilmore. The folks we visited have set an amazing example as prayer warriors for missions and also for Asbury students. We showed them our appreciation by visiting and singing a few carols! Just what we needed to get in the Christmas spirit!

At the Barkers', we even had accompaniment!

Christmas Fun!

Here are some snaps from Wednesday night's Cabinet Christmas party. We had the requisite 'white elephant' exchange, and ironically, most people liked what they got very little trading took place!

December means parties at WGM!

As I write, I'm hearing the tune of a familiar Christmas carol waft into the office from a movie playing out in the front room. 2nd West is having a Christmas banquent and we've been subjected yummy smells drifting into our apartment all evening!

It's that time of year when this building is buzzing with activity as halls and classes and campus groups find time to squeeze in an evening of fun and good food before the semester comes to a close.

I can't complain about the plethora of good cooking taking place here as earlier today we were included in a lunch of chicken enchiladas and homemade salsa compliments of our WGM MK contingency from Asbury & IWU (photo, above) that met together here this weekend. Thanks, guys! It was even more fun to hang out with you (but the food was amazing too)!

If you're wanting to reserve the center for a Christmas party before the end of the semester, give us a call quickly as the number of openings on the calendar are dwindling!

Photos from Sunday's Global Cafe` -- Mike Banks (speaker)

The WGM Channel

WGM now has a You Tube channel! Click here to watch selections from our media library...

Global Cafe` Audio Posted

Stacking dolls from Ukraine -- part of the Tarrs' display on September 9

Did you enjoy John Morley's message on Sunday? We've got it and several other messages from this semester posted as MP3s online (click here)!

Another year has begun...

It's hard to believe we are completing the third week of classes already! In spite of this we have crammed quite a bit into 3 weeks: First Serve, an Activities Fair, Freshmen Progressive Dinner, Cabinet Retreat. two Global Cafe`s, Revival Week services, and many, many meetings!

The center has also been humming with use. It doesn't hurt to call ahead to reserve an area of the center in advance, though drop-ins are always welcome. We're glad to see lots of you using the back patio for studying al fresco! As the photo above demonstrates (taken at our cabinet retreat last Saturday), we're here to serve you. Don't forget to stick your head in the office to say 'hi'!

Books for Kenya

Books, books, and more books! Thanks to the generosity of Asbury students, about 700 lbs of textbooks were collected this year for Kenya Highlands Bible College in Kericho, Kenya. This small school has a meager supply of resources for their students, often finding students in the position of having to share the use of one textbook between an entire class.

When freshman Jessica Rupright (photographed above with her mother) heard about this situation from the Caulders (former missionaries and professors at KHBC) at Global Cafe last fall, she applied for and was selected to receive a grant to assist in meeting this need. With the aid of some friends, she set out collection boxes around campus to collect used textbooks at the end of the fall and spring semesters. The response was incredible and resulted in the collection of several hundred books. This past week Jessica and her mom came over to the student center and spent Monday evening and Tuesday morning sorting, cataloguing and boxing up the books to be ready to ship overseas. The grant funds will be used to cover postage for shipping about half of the books collected. If you want to participate in this project and contribute to cover postage for the other half, please contact Nathan, Cydil, or Jessica.

Steph's Birthday

Last night we got to celebrate Steph's birthday during cabinet meeting! If you've never been at one of our cabinet meetings, then it may seem rather curious that she's standing on the coffee table. That's just something we do to "honor" the birthday person while we serenade him or her with our best singing. She said her favorite dessert was "mud." This was our interpretation. It contained a whole pan of brownies, 2 boxes of chocolate pudding, a container of Cool Whip, and nearly an entire package of Oreos. Needless to say, 12 of us had our fill and there were leftovers!

Pheanson Speaks at Global Cafe

This year at Asbury we have had the blessing of getting to know Pheanson Kirui, an exchange student from Kenya Highlands Bible College (KHBC). Last night we got to hear Pheanson's testimony at Global Cafe. He also shared some photos of himself in ministry at his home church in Kenya as well as at school with his classmates. We thought it would be fitting to pray over him as he returns to Kenya in a few months to return to ministry, then to get a photo of him with some of his Asbury friends. Pheanson, thank you for sharing yourself with us this year! We'll miss you!

The Cabinet Visits Headquarters

Images shot March 29, 2007 in Marion, IN @ WGM's Int'l Headquarters

Images from 3/4/07

Praying over the Reynoldses

Two Birthdays = Two Cakes

News, Announcements, Etc...

We are hosting a brief informational meeting Tuesday, Feb 27 @ 7PM (here at the student center) for those interested in joining us this summer in Hungary! Again, we can't say enough about how exciting this missions opportunity is. We are praying for the team the Lord is putting together -- perhaps you are meant to be a part of it!

The Nouget Cafe` Band CD (produced by 2/3 of our regular Global Cafe` worship team) has completed their CD project. They are available for $5 at the student center. You can listen to some selected clips by clicking on this link. All proceeds benefit the audio system upgrade we sorely need in the lower level of the student center.

Slideshow of Ski Retreat 2007

Click here to view a slideshow of images from last weekend's retreat...

Summer Opportunity

(above) The teen group after English lesson

The student center is in the beginning stages of developing a small team to travel to Budapest, Hungary June 25-July 10. The purpose of the team will be to assist WGM missionaries in hosting a family (ages 6 years-old and up) English camp.

Nathan and I have had the opportunity to lead two Asbury teams to Hungary for previous English Camps and can testify that this is one of the most exciting short-term missions experiences that we've ever been a part of. (I know, I just ended a sentence with a preposition -- but even if you didn't catch that, you are still qualified to be a member of this team!)

If this piques your interest, please stop by at the student center or give us a call and we'll tell you more about it.

This Sunday at Global Cafe` & other stuff at the center this weekend...

We've just come off of missions conference at Asbury this week! What a great week of messages from Dr. White! If God touched your heart in a special way for missions, you won't want to miss this Sunday's Global Cafe`. Kevin Zirkle will share about the country of Japan, a place where he and his family have invested their lives to share the hope and love of Jesus. Did you know that less than 1% of Japanese individuals call themselves Christians? Click here to view learn more about the need for men and women to invest their lives (like the Zirkles have done) to grow the Kingdom in Japan.

In other news:

• the upper level lounge TV is STILL in the shop! We're so sorry! Especially as the cold winter temps are keeping us all indoors!
• We're excited to have the Consecrated Class in the lower level tonight and the swim team in the upper level this evening!
• we have room for 2 more men and 3 more women for next week's missions ski retreat! Contact us at the center if you want to come. It's only $70 for skiing (including ski rentals) AND an overnight stay at a hotel. It would cost you $70 for skiing alone if you went by yourself.

Here's where some of your gifts went!

Before Nathan and I headed to Albania to pick up Ellie, many of you showered us with gifts for the kiddos remaining behind in her orphanage. From the 3+ weeks we spent visiting Ellie, we know how sorely they needed the gifts you gave! While protocol required us to give the items to the orphanage director on the day we took custody of Ellie, we did manage to sneak a few toys in for her roommates. Sorry for the delay in reporting on this event in which you were such generous benefactors. See the photos below!

Here we are unloading the goodies y'all donated to the orphanage!
Olsi didn't know what to think of the "ribet-ing" frog!

We thought Matilda would benefit most from the teething ring since she had done a good job chewing up her crib rail...

Here's Xhemmi (like "Jimmy") with a stuffed bear from Shannon

Ermali didn't know what to think of the ruckus. I think his teething discomfort kept him pretty quiet that day!

Ellie's first cabinet meeting

The Center's Newest Resident

(an advance copy of our adoption announcement)

You may have noticed that it's been a little quiet on the blog front! That has been for good reason. Thanksgiving weekend we flew to Albania to adopt our daughter, Ellie! While Nathan was able to come back to Kentucky for the last week of classes and finals week, I stayed in Albania through the duration of a 15-day waiting period after our adoption hearing, and then another 9 days while we waited to get Ellie's passport and travel visa. We got home on December 29 and have spent the last week catching up on mail, messages, and paperwork. We're anxious to introduce her to all of you when classes resume next week!