Fall Semester
Into 2023 with great expectations…
This fall, we hosted Rocky Mountain Getaway, a retreat for students from Denver Metro and University of Colorado Boulder. During the weekend, one student told me:
“The if onlys are what get me the most: If only I was good at sports, if only I liked to party, if only I liked going out more…then I would have friends.”
DU and Colorado School of Mines students at RMGA
The themes in this conversation come up over and over again when I talk with students about community, friends and what they fill their time with. Most students at DU are dedicated to their academics. They have professors challenging them with questions like “what are you going to do to change the world?” They search for these answers within textbooks, social outings, and themselves. They seem to emerge, tired, lost, and burnt out.
“DU is a dry and desolate place” another girl said. “I feel as though there are only a handful of Christians on campus.” This reality becomes more apparent the more months I spend on campus, but there is hope for these students! God is using Christian community to inspire hope and meaning through the small Cru movement that is being established.
I have spent much time contemplating different questions about our role as Christians, my role as a minister of the gospel here in Denver, not just on DU’s campus, but to my friends, neighbors and local barista. The list is endless. What are the best methods for evangelism in this current day? What about when someone’s only framework for Christianity is filled with past church hurt? How do I best disciple the guys that are entrusted to me? What do they need? Where can they find it? What can I give them?
While contemplating these questions, I have been encouraged in ministry. After losing several students to DU’s study abroad program and a few because of graduation, I was fairly pessimistic going in to last semester. Amazingly, we have seen multiplication despite these tangible “losses.” Our Monday night discipleship group has grow from 4 students meeting weekly for bible study, to 7 guys meeting regularly for Bible study and discipleship and 2 who come out for evangelism once a week on campus. It’s awesome to study the word of God with these guys. Getting to encourage one another, pray for each other, and build one another up has been a huge blessing to me and a source of community for them.
Last semester we studied the book of Ephesians together. This coming spring, I, along with another student, are planning on leading the guys through a short book from the 1880s called Thoughts for Young Men by Pastor JC Ryle. I stumbled upon this book early last spring and have read it twice in the last 8 months. This book offers exhortations for young Christian men as well as giving them a few dangers to be wary of and general counsels from a Biblical framework.
Please be praying for the Denver Metro team as we usher in the New Year. Our team leaders have prayerfully made the decision to step back from leadership and are on sabbatical the coming months as they discern what is next for their family. The team at UC Boulder will help the Denver ministry by providing leadership and structure while we figure out next steps for the team. Please pray for this transition! We are grateful for this leadership through the interim and are expectant that this partnership will be fruitful.
A second prayer request: it seems as though it is getting a little harder to evangelize on campus. We have a couple faculty members that are supportive of the ministry, but there is definitely a spirit of hostility on campus from the overall student body. The hopeful part of this is that we are excited about the momentum going into Spring semester! In addition to continuing men’s and women’s community groups, we have 2 student leaders returning from their study abroad! We have a Spring Break trip planned for March 2023 (more details to come)- we are praying for 3 students to join us! Please pray for the Denver Metro team, that we would be able to find the balance between being strategic in relationship building while boldly claiming Christ!
Thankful for all of you and your prayers. Maddie and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our savior, Jesus. May God bless you and your loved ones in 2023!
Happy New Year!
Joey Bernas
