*Special Funding Update*

*Our latest email update*

Dear Friends,

I write to you in great thanksgiving and praise, as well as in need.

When Lindsay and I think of you, we are greatly encouraged and humbled. Your partnership in ministry has been and continues to be invaluable to the advancement of the Gospel at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. You have “helped us on our way” (Romans 15:24), and we are so grateful for that. You have labored along side of us in the Lord’s harvest fields at Cornell through your faithful prayer and financial partnership. You have fought the battle, shoulder to shoulder with us, as you interced for us and for the students to whom we minister. Thank you. The words of Paul to the Philippians resonate deeply with us whenever we think of you:

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now"Philippians 1:3-5

There are numerous stories that we could tell of how Christ’s Kingdom is advancing at Cornell University. I could tell you about Jessica and her Investigative Bible Discussion (IBD) among her fellow teammates, who don’t know Christ, on the crew (rowing) team. Or I could share about Mallory, who has yet to trust Christ, in Lindsay’s weekly Bible study who loves to come, dive into the Bible, ask great questions, and give great answers. Or I could tell stories of our energetic, loving, and eager new class of freshmen.

Your labor in ministry with us has been key to the advancement of the Gospel here among Cornell students. We are humbled, grateful, and hopeful as we continue to seek to live and disciple among the lost here in Ithaca, NY!

Even as I write, we are currently on “Fund-raising Assignment”. Our account is currently in deficit, and we have been required to shift our focus from ministry on the campus to primarily on fund-raising. To minimize the growth of the deficit our salary will be decreased by 25% as well. The Navigators have these guidelines in place for our long-term financial stability and health in ministry.

We have yet to reach our full budget goal, we are at 89% for this academic year. That leaves about $9,000 left to raise. Our deficit is partly due to outstanding & year-end pledges, some that are coming in. Also, November was a very lean month for donor income, only about have half of what we needed came into our account.

Our vision and desire is to be on campus at Cornell in full capacity, to see the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom advanced there, through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost! We are currently unable to do that without the adequate financial partnership. We need your prayers.

Please pray with us for:

1. The Lord to move hearts to bring in a wide response from our end of the year funding letter (sent 3 weeks ago).
2. The Lord to connect us with new prayer & financial partnering churches and individuals who are excited about the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom.
3. The Lord to provide continued and increased financial partnership in ministry.
4. The Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom to advance at Cornell University and beyond!

*If you, or someone else you know (feel free to forward them this post), would like to give right now you can do so easily and quickly online at The Navigators website (gifts of any and all sizes are welcome, one-time or recurring, via Credit Card, Debit Card, or Checking Account):

To Donate Click Here (type “kinnick” to search for us)

For other ways to partner with us financially, see the bottom of this email.

Thanks for rolling up your sleeves and wading into the harvest fields with us,

Matt & Lindsay

*Names have been changed to protect confidentiality

August Email Update

M&L @ Cornell | 08/21/09

Dear Friends,

We are gearing up here for the Fall Launch at Cornell University! Today, first year students and their parents began ascending up the hill to Cornell by the hundreds. North campus, where all the freshmen live for their first year, is an absolute mad-house, as usual.

This academic year gives us much excitement for several reasons ...

√ Orientation Leaders from our Nav students have returned and are involved today and all next week with the first year students! They are helping out, serving, directing, and encouraging the students and their families during this key transition. Please pray with us that the Lord will strategically use these students to connect with believing and non-believing students alike, and that the gospel would advance through relationships!

√ We have six or so Nav students that are particularly excited & motivated to be actively involved during these next crucial few weeks of Orientation at Cornell! We will be surveying freshmen at our info. tables concerning their general spiritual beliefs (hoping to plug them into Bible studies, etc), giving out freezy-pops & info. cards with our event times, and (Lord willing) connect with spiritually thirsty freshmen. Please pray with us that as we bring these students along with us into the dorms and around campus, that the Lord would appoint divine meetings for us, and help our upperclassmen catch the vision for making disciples!

Thank the Lord with us ...

√ For our eager students excited to jump into this new year in all its aspects

√ For Lindsay and I having the privilege to rest this summer before the fall semester

√ For His provision of strength and energy this summer

√ For the privilege to continue to walk toward Christ with these freshmen turned sophomores

√ For 83% of our budget goal pledged

Petition the Lord with us ...

√ For believing & non-believing students to connect with our Nav staff & students (ministry)

√ For opportunities to share the grace & truth of Jesus and His gospel (John 1:14)

√ For servant hearts & gracious attitudes/words/actions etc (Mark 10:45; Colossians 4:2-6)

√ For our students to catch the vision & heart of making disciples on campus (Matthew 9:35-37)

√ For 100% of our budget goal (Romans 8:32) - we still need another $975 in monthly support

Paul says it best for us: "I thank my God every time I remember you, in all of my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now ..." Philippians 1:3-5 NIV We praise God for you and your partnership! Thank you.

We look forward to keeping you updated with the exciting events over the next few weeks!

M&L

Email Update | 07/31/09

Dear Friends,

We hope that you are having a wonderful summer. I know it can be busy, so hopefully you have had or will have a chance to slow down a bit and unwind.

Lindsay and I have been having a wild yet fun summer. We spent 6 weeks on the road, back in MN, partly in Iowa with Lindsay's family, partly in Colorado Springs for coaching other staff, and partly in Canada for fishing! Ever since July 2nd, we have been very glad to be back in Ithaca, NY and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Most of my (Matt's) time, this summer, has been focused on expanding financial partnership in our ministry, and preparing for the fall semester. This preparation for the fall looks like many different things, such as: Preparing the weekly Bible studies in Colossians, working through the Bible study curriculum that The Navigators have developed for my training, random administrative tasks, and keeping in touch with the students.

One of those students is Nick (not his real name). I chatted with him on Facebook briefly the other day and caught up a bit. At the end of last spring semester, Nick and I got together at a local coffee joint to catch up on the year and get to know each other better. During our time, Nick asked me if I would be his 'spiritual godfather' of sorts, and pray for him at his baptism at a local Chinese church. I was a little surprised at his unexpected request. After I realized the service was in English, I relaxed a bit.

It has been great getting to know Nick. He regularly attended our freshmen Bible study all last year, and came to several of our Nav events and retreats (sometimes while taking 23 credits!). He has expressed an eager desire to grow in Christ and know His transforming power. As I chatted with him yesterday, he mentioned that he is memorizing scripture using The Navigators Topical Memory System (TMS). I recommended it to him at the end of last spring, and am very excited to see him diligently hiding God's Word in his heart (Psalm 119:11). I am stoked to continue to disciple Nick this next year!

Thank you so much for your prayers & partnership on behalf of Nick! We are truly seeing lives transformed in Christ here at Cornell, and you have been such an encouraging and crucial part of that transformation. Please pray with us, that Nick would continue to dig deep and lay the foundation on the rock--that is Christ (Luke 6:46-49)

Also, in regards to our financial needs, we are encouraged as the Lord continues to provide in His time. Right now, we are thankful to be at 81% of our total budget goal. We are still trusting Him for the remaining $1,225 in monthly support. Please continue to pray with us for new financial partnerships with churches and individuals, and continued and increased giving. (If the Lord leads, giving information is at the bottom of the email.)

Paul says it best for us:

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel, from this first day until now, ..." Philippians 1:3-5 NIV

Partnering With You,

M&L

Email Update | 06/18/09

Here is out latest email update sent today (there is a # correction, I was absentminded when I typed in our budget percentile):

Dear Friends,

Thank you all again so much for your faithful partnership in our ministry! We hope that you all are doing well. As we think of you all, we want to be in prayer for you in as specific ways as possible. So, please, if you have a prayer request, do not hesitate to email us back. We consider it a privilege to lift you up in prayer to our Heavenly Father.

Lindsay and I are finally back in Minnesota for a bit! Currently we are in Willmar, MN re-connecting with friends, and sharing a bit about our ministry. We plan to be here from now till about Saturday, June 27th or so.

Funding Update
For part of this summer, we are focusing on our funding budget. We are so thankful to the Lord that as of January 09, our financial budget for last year was totally & graciously provided for! Here at the beginning of the fiscal year, we are seeking to secure the funds again that were one-time gifts last year.

Our budget goal has not changed since last year. Currently, our secured financial partnership is 62% of our budget goal. So that leaves 38% that still needs to be secured for this new fiscal year. We are in contact with a few potential partnering churches, and are seeking new individual partners. Please continue to pray for the Lord to bring us into prayerful & financial partnership with new individuals and churches.

Summer Plans
We hope to be back in Ithaca, New York around July 3rd. Our plan for the summer is primarily based around preparation for the fall. We will be praying over student names for key roles next year. I will be preparing the weekly Bible studies for fall semester, from the book of Colossians, as well as working through 70+ hours of the Navigators Bible study curriculum, and some other books as well. We will also be attending our Cornell summer students' weekly book study of Dr. Timothy Keller's, "The Reason for God".

We are looking forward to being back in our apartment, and enjoying our first Ithaca summer! Please pray for our courage, physical & emotional strength, and trust to grow during this season.

Thank you all again for co-laboring with us in the harvest fields. You are very precious to us! Philippians 1:3-5

Lifting Our Eyes,

Matt & Lindsay

P.S. You may remember in our last mail update, I was headed to Colorado Springs, CO to help coach some new Navigator staff. Below are two photos of a few of the guys I helped coach. Two of the men are from the U. of Vermont where I used to be on staff with the Navigators. You might recognize one from previous newsletters, big tall guy.

Here we are at the waterfall in Queen's Canyon in Glen Eyrie (Navigators HQ), just before we went swimming.



And then again, right before the formal banquet at the end of their training (I forgot fancy clothes).

Funding Update 10/27/08

Thank you all so much for your faithful & bold prayers on our behalf concerning our fund-raising! We have had such a wonderful and encouraging last few weeks in regards to our support. The Lord has truly heard your faithful petitions and has been providing in significant and stunning ways.

We have just recently come into partnership with a church in MN for a significant portion of our budget. (This gift is a one-time donation, so we will still need to raise that amount again next year, preferably in monthly support.) This has been such an encouragement since as of October 9th, we were required to cease ministering on campus until we were at 100% of our budget goal. We are so thankful to the Lord for this new church partnership as well as several individuals who have recently partnered with us in the last 2 weeks! This all has enabled us to arrive at 92% of our budget goal!

In addition, we still have some other donations that we are waiting to hear about. So we see the Lord continuing to richly provide beyond what we could have ever asked for or imagined (Ephesians 3:20-21 [NIV])!

Since we are very close to 100% of our budget goal, we will be allowed to minister part-time on campus! But if we are not at 100%, by the time classes begin again on January 19th. We will have to completely cease from ministering till we arrive at our full budget goal.

Above is a pie chart breakdown of our remaining monthly need, and what your potential partnership might look like. Please prayerfully consider how you might partner with us, either financially and or in prayer!

In regards to our fund-raising, one of the scripture verses that we consistently come back to for strength, encouragement, and pray is Psalm 27:13-14 (ESV):

"I believe I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!"

Lindsay and I have seen that the Lord uses this verse to help us to remember the truth of His goodness in which we believe, rely ultimately upon His provision in all things, and beckon us to step out in faith & courageously steward the gifts and resources He has given us.

May we all actively wait in faith for the Lord's provision, whatever it may be. Thank you all again so much for carrying us along in our lives & ministry. We crave your prayers.

Funding Update

Thank you all so much for your faithful petitions on behalf of our ministry and our financial support. And thank you also, to those who have committed to financial partnership with us in our ministry. We are incredibly blessed by you all. We are here ministering in NY at Cornell because of your partnership.

Below is a pie chart of how our remaining funds, still to be raised, break down. We like to help people visualize how they can partner with us financially in our ministry. Instead of throwing out some large number of our full budget goal, we like to break it down into a monthly need. We have found that this helps our friends better grasp what their part could be in our ministry.



(Click to enlarge image, then right click to 'save image as' and download to your computer.)

This is a basic breakdown of how many monthly partners we need at different monthly donation levels to achieve our remaining monthly need. I hope this is helpful.

If you are interested in partnering with us financially, or have more questions, our funding contact information is on the right side of this site. Please take the time to call us or email us personally if you have further questions, etc.

We are beginning an intentional fund-raising push over the next 5 weeks to try and connect with 100 people over the phone, as well as sending out letters, and seeking to make networking contacts. We especially ask for your prayers during this time as we need to connect with people over the phone. If you are interested in specifically praying for us during this time, please contact us personally at: mlkinnick@gmail.com

Also, as you feel lead, please pray over and consider this question. Lindsay and I are seeking to network through our friends, partners, and contacts to connect with new potential financial partners that we do not directly know. "If you were in my shoes and needed to build a team of ministry partners, who would you talk to?" If some folks come to mind as you pray and consider, and you would feel comfortable discussing with us the potential partnership, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us at: mlkinnick@gmail.com

Looking to Him | Romans 8:32,

[M&L]

Loading the Truck

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meghanandnick/1628541174/

Well, the time has finally come. Sometimes it seemed like it would never come, so far away. But here we are at last. We are leaving for Ithaca, New York this Wednesday!

The Lord has been gracious to us and provided 67% of our budget goal so far! We are so thankful for all the folks who have prayerfully & financially partnered with us thus far. With 3% more, we will be able to minister full-time on campus for the first 6 weeks.

Please continue to pray for 100% of our budget goal by August 21st! (If not 100%, at least our 70% minimum.) Please continue to pray that the Lord would lead us into financial partnership with new churches & individuals who would catch our vision for ministry & the Gospel!

Also, please pray that we would be able to connect with potential churches and individuals by phone. As most of our fund-raising at this point will now be done by phone.

We have almost completely packed up Lindsay's things here in Mankato, MN. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we leave for Rochester, MN to load a few of my things from home. Then, Wednesday morning we will drive our 14' Uhaul, with Buster (our Dodge Neon) dollied behind it, to Grand Rapids, MI (9 hour drive) for a friend's wedding in Holland, MI. We will stay there for a few days, then Saturday we will drive the rest of the way to Ithaca, NY (9 hour drive).

We are anxious to have our own space to settle into, to unpack, relax, and begin a normal routine. We are also anxious to bond with our staff team & get acquainted with the city.

Please pray for all the details of packing, moving, and our travel to MI & NY.

This may be our last post before we arrive in Ithaca, NY. Thank you all so much for your faithful partnership in prayer for us in this challenging & exciting time of transition!

Because He is able,

[M&L]

Rest & Preparation

Thank you so much for your prayers! Our ministry presentation at Christ Church PCA here in Mankato, Minnesota went very well. I believe that our heart for collegiate ministry and the Gospel was shared effectively, and people are responding. Thank you again, so much.

We arrived safely back to Mankato, MN Thursday night July 31st after a 2 week trip to Willmar, MN to visit friends & have opportunities to share about our ministry & financial needs. Thank you for your prayers during that time for our funding & safe travel.

The very next day, we went camping with Linday's parents to Sakatah State Park (about 30 mins. northeast of Mankato). We had an excellent & necessary time of rest & relaxation after our busy trips.

Now we're back into the regular schedule again & focusing on connecting with friends by phone. Please pray that we will connect with friends & potential financial partners over the phone.

I ask for this because, Linsday and I will officially be leaving for New York on Wednesday, August 13th next week. Thus, a large portion of our fund-raising work will be done via the phone from now on.

We plan to drive 9 hours to a wedding in Holland, Michigan, and then another 9 hours to Ithaca, NY a few days later. Please pray for all the travel preparations that need to happen between now and August 13th!

We are nearing 70% of our budget goal, thank you so much for your faithful petitions on our behalf! We are excited and thankful to see the Lord continue to provide for our needs. Please continue to pray for 100% of our budget goal by August 21st, when the dorms open!

Also, please continue to pray that the Lord would lead us to new friends & churches that would share our vision and partner with us financially! Thank you all for your faithful partnership in prayer & finances. You are truly the Lord's provision in our lives.

Because He is able,

[M&L]

Where are we?

Lindsay and I are currently in Willmar, Minnesota, connecting with friends and sharing about our ministry with the Navigators at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

We were planning on only being here till Sunday, July 27th. But it looks like we will be here into next week as well, seeking to connect with as many friends from this area as possible.

It seems that we will probably need to postpone our original launch date of August 3rd. Our revised launch date to Ithaca, New York seems to be more around the middle of the month, August 13th or so. Our funding base is still insufficient at this point to make the move, and we still have contacts here in Minnesota, so we will stay for a few more weeks.

We are praying for 100% funding by August 21st. Would you please pray with us?

(If not 100%, at least 70%. The Navigators desire for us to be in a firm financial position to minister effectively for a longer term capacity. So, they require us to be at a 70% minimum of our budget goal to be able to minister on campus for the 6 week 'fall launch'. And, if we are not at our 100% budget goal by the end of those 6 weeks, the Navigators require us to postpone ministering on campus and focus completely on our funding until we reach our 100% budget goal.)

Please continue to pray that the Lord would lead us to friends & churches that would share our vision and partner with us financially! Thank you all for your partnership in prayer & finances. You are the Lord's enabling & blessing to us.

Because He is able,

[M&L]