Dear friends,

Hello from the University of Illinois at Springfield! Our names are David Lasley and John Kelly, and we want to tell you a little bit about what your support allowed us to do this summer. This summer we had an opportunity to serve the National Association of Christian Campus Ministries (the NACCM) by traveling to Christ in Youth (CIY) conferences and church camps. In addition to providing whatever support the conference and camp teams needed, we gave a workshop entitled: “Fish out of Water: How to Keep Your Faith on a Secular Campus.” After a great deal of prayer, research and talking it over, we decided that our means of transportation for the summer would be a minivan. This summer was a fantastic ride, and we could never have done it without your willingness to support us. The following is a little bit of personal info from the both of us, an insight into what we learned this summer.

John: My summer was an experience in discipleship, road-tripping, worship and learning a deeper meaning of faith. Over the summer, David and I had the opportunity to invest so much time in so many high schoolers, and to share with them the opportunities for spiritual growth on college campus – which for me and most students I see growing, comes through campus ministry. My experience on the road is a time I will never forget – getting to see about half the country, since our driving destinations were (in this order): Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and lastly Oregon. What was really cool were the different styles of worship I experienced from the high schoolers all over the country. Their sincere passion and desire to grow pushed me to serve them with all I had. I also learned about faith. Since I began to follow Christ, I had thought that I trusted the Lord and knew what it meant to believe. This summer, I learned that faith is so much more than words – but faith inspires God-filled action, regardless of the circumstances. During the summer I learned that I couldn’t trust in myself, in my friends, or most especially in our questionable Dodge Caravan – but no matter what happened, I could trust in the Lord. I may fail, I might feel like my friend had failed me, and I know for sure that I can’t put it past the van, but by the end of the summer, I realized that no matter where we ended up or what we were doing, God was in control, and I could trust that His will would be done. Thank you so much for letting me learn these powerful lessons, and for letting me experience God from across the U.S.

David: This summer was a time of great change in my life in which God taught me about leadership, showed how He was working in high schoolers and led me to put my faith in Him alone, all while being exposed to His beautiful creation. I will not soon forget traveling across the U.S. in a van, learning about myself, my world around me and the God I love and desire to serve. The summer began with God convicting me and removing layers of lies so that He could replace them with His truth. He did this in a variety of ways, including through two men He had appointed as leaders in the Body. During the 2^nd and 3^rd week, the CIY morning speaker, who was a Professor from Florida Christian College named Les, invested a great deal of time in me, sharing his faith with me. Over late night junk food, we found that we had a lot in common; specifically the origins of our faiths, which were started in our homes. Through Les, I learned how easy it can be, after being exposed to the truth for so long, to be a Pharisee. My Pharisaical pride, exposed in my trying to “say it right” or “get it right,” blinded me (and still does at times) from my need of grace given only through Jesus Christ. Les was one of two important male leaders in my life this summer. The other was Aaron Pelsue, a worship leader who invested time in me at possibly the most difficult point in the summer for me. The insights and example Aaron set have stayed with me as I learn about leading others into worship through music on Friday nights at our campus ministry’s service.

God’s work through campus ministry, which was the reason we traveled this summer, kept us looking for the high school students who were hungry for love, life and community. And every week God would bless us, bringing at least one or two high school students who were living out their desire to love God and love people with their whole lives. Along with these, we were blessed with so many others who were close to taking the step or had recently taken it. These students were sources of encouragement to continue the ministry each week, giving hope that God’s light shines in even the darkest places.

I would say the biggest lesson I’m learning from the summer is about grace. I started reading the book of Galatians during the fifth week and I still come back to it. I was opened to a deeper meaning of grace and faith in Jesus Christ: “the redemptive work of the cross”—what He did; what He is doing, and what He will do because of that sacrifice. John (you know…the other guy in the van) was the one who said these words and they’ve stuck with me ever since. This faith in God’s unconditional love and grace looks pretty different to me now than it did before. For one, “trusting” no longer means simply paying lip service; instead, it means living for God in the midst of inconvenient or just downright difficult circumstances. Also I’m learning how important it is not only to desire spiritual maturity, but to take time to really trust that I don’t have to prove anything in order to be saved. Because of the way our Father looks at us through Christ’s blood, I really can take the time “to be ok” (thanks Robbie Seay Band), to enjoy nature, to put my hand out the van window and feel the wind push it back, and to let out a smile even when I don’t understand what the heck is going on. I’m starting to believe that these things are no longer wastes of time, but serious steps toward living out my faith in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Overall, I guess to really sum up my portion, just read Galatians 3 and 5:1-6 (or the whole book J ) and Psalm 116. I couldn’t get away from them. Thank you so much for ministering to high school students, John and myself this summer.

God used your generous support this summer to give the two of us an amazing, spiritual adventure that we will never forget. Thank you so much for that opportunity and blessing.

John Kelly and David Lasley

Jkell05s@uis.edu dlasl01s@uis.edu

We'll be posting some pictures on here as soon as we get the chance---hopefully by the end of the week!