Email Update | 03/13/2010

Recently, I (Matt) have been getting together with 3-4 sophomore guys (2-3 of which are not following Christ) over dinner to discuss the often challenging, painful, and confusing topic of "suffering".

Our first discussion was primarily from a philosophic perspective. "Does the existence of suffering disprove God's existence?" "Does the existence of suffering prove God's existence" (As Keller mentions it could) "How do we interpret suffering if God doesn't exist? What is our anchor or hope? Strength?" "If God does exist and what the Bible says about Him is true, how do we then interpret suffering?"

That helped us to transition into our most recent discussion this last Tuesday night over beef stroganoff, orzo, and Dr. Pepper®. We used one of the free online PDF Bible studies that coincide with some of the chapter titles from Dr. Timothy Keller's The Reason for God. We looked at 1 Peter 1:3-12together. This passage gave us a great launch pad for several avenues of discussion.

As we talked, it was great to hear one of the students who doesn't know or follow Christ articulate the good news of Christ. In response to my question, "What is the hope or strength for those who believe in Jesus in the midst of suffering?", he said, "Well, I guess, if you believe in Jesus Christ as it says here, then your sins are forgiven. I mean, that would feel pretty good, I think."

I was greatly encouraged to hear him restate what he was hearing and learning from our discussion. My hope & prayer is that these guys continue to further grasp and understand, by God's Spirit, the hope & life that is God's gift to them by faith in Jesus Christ.

All of this seems to have a weightier significance in light of the recent apparent suicides (read about it on our blog) here on campus, both to the students and to us as campus ministers.

Your partnership in ministry is so vital to Christ's Kingdom advancing here at Cornell and beyond! Thank you for laboring in the harvest fields with us.Philippians 1:3-5

Laboring with you,

Matt & Lindsay Kinnick

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Email Update | 02/26/09

(Our latest email update. In case you are not on our email update list, please email us a mlkinnick [at] gmail.com, and we will add you! Thanks.) 

M&L @ Cornell | 02/26/09

Dear Friends,

You all continue to be a wonderful encouragement & support to us as we labor here in the harvest fields of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. So, thank you for putting your hands to the plow with us!

Northeast Winter Conference 09
Two weeks ago we had our annual student conference in which all the Navigator ministries in the northeast + NY bring the students involved in their ministries to one location to worship, listen to the Scriptures taught by speakers, participate in workshops on the Scriptures, and have a lot of fun with each other. So from February 13-15, we all converged in Colebrook, CT at Camp Jewell (YMCA).

Cornell brought 25 students, and we had around 250 students total at the conference! These conferences & retreats are really an important & formative time for students in our ministries, especially for freshmen. We always love for the 1st year students to come, because they get so well connected with the rest of the students in the ministry, building deeper friendships. Thank you for your prayers as 5 freshmen came, Jeff, William, Kate, Amy, and Kelly (not their real names)! Please pray with us that they would continue to draw closer to the Lord in love, and to one another in friendship.

One-to-One Focus
As I mentioned in last month's email, Lindsay and I are focusing in on 1-1 relationships with the freshmen. So far I (Matt) have connected with about half of the men from our freshmen group. Lindsay also, has met with several of the young women from her freshmen Bible study, as well as upperclassmen women. It has been exciting & encouraging to discuss the Scriptures and life, and to pray together.

Another focus we are keying in on is to connect the older generations in our ministry with the 1st year students. Lindsay has really been focusing on this, connecting her freshmen women up with junior & senior women to read & pray through the Scriptures, & talk life. I (Matt) have also been connecting a sophomore guy, Jake, with Jeff from my freshmen study. It has been wonderful to see the older students catching the vision for discipling! Please pray with us, that the Lord would continue to work our ministry into a community where generational discipling flourishes!

Spring Break - March 14-21
In March, we will be taking around 25-30 students down to Washington D.C. for spring break! We are very excited to be working with an organization called Little Lights. They reach out to under privileged children in urban D.C. primarily through after school programs (i.e. helping them with their homework, providing a safe & fun environment, etc). We are very excited to head down there for a week and support their ministry, get time away from busy Cornell, spend some time with one another & with the Lord! Please pray with us, for the final details to be worked out, and for our students (especially freshmen) to get excited & sign-up!

Thank you all again for laboring with us in petitioning and trusting the Lord to bring the growth! (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

Matt & Lindsay

Email Update | 01/25/09

(Sorry it has taken this long to post this. In case you are not on our email update list, please email us at mlkinnick [at] gmail.com, and we will add you! Thanks.)

M&L @ Cornell | 01/25/09

Dear Fellow Workers,

Your labor in the harvest fields, alongside us, encourages our hearts and gives us strength. Thank you. 

Thank you for your prayers concerning our travel over break. We were guarded & protected. The snow conditions were quite sketchy when we left Ithaca, NY on the 12th of December, but it cleared up right around western Ohio :) We had a wonderful conference with our fellow Staff-In-Training friends in Delavan, WI, Dec. 13-18. Lindsay and I enjoyed quality & restful time with both of our families! And our travel back to Ithaca, NY on the 10th of January was snowy in Chicago, but beautiful the rest of the drive on the 11th.

This semester in our Navigator ministry here at Cornell, we are seeking to develop more intentional one-to-one relationships. Specifically I am thinking among these freshmen men & women that Lindsay and I are connecting with and ministering to. We desire to see them more deeply rooted in Christ and in true Christ-like relationship with one another. Granted this will take time as they are young. But we are seeking to sow the seeds for a foundational life with Christ now, so that they are equipped to walk with Him for a life time in devotion & in community with other Christ followers.

Please pray with us over these names, that they might obediently dig deeper (Luke 6:48) into the foundation that is Christ and experience His steadfast love & faithfulness. Please pray that out of the experience of that relationship with Christ, they might extend the same love in friendship to those around them (those in and outside of relationship with Christ).

Freshmen Men: Mark, James, Andrew, John, Jonathan, Aaron, Tim, Larry, Sean, Jesseon, Jacob, Dan, Walter, David
Freshmen Women: Jamie, Susan, Laura, Lauren, Anna, Amanda, Rena, Debbie, Emma

Lindsay and I are both seeking to share a Gospel illustration with each one of these students individually in the next few weeks. We hope to get a sense of their understanding of the Gospel so that we can better minister to them individually. (Some have come to Bible study & other events regularly, others are spotty, others have only come once.) Please pray that these meetings & conversations would be divinely appointed and full of Grace & Truth.

We look forward to keeping you updated on how your prayers with us are being answered! Thank you again for getting your hands dirty with us in the harvest field here at Cornell University!

Digging Deep,

Matt & Lindsay