Fall Is Upon Us

Fall is indeed upon us here at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. We are greatly enjoying it. I personally appreciate the drop in humidity & overall heat. I love the cool crisp air of fall with the smell of leaves turning & falling. A fantastic time of year.

Below are some photos of the fall foliage here in Ithaca, NY. Lindsay and I have not had the chance to take too many photos as of late. But we hope to soon. We did hike the Cascadilla Gorge the other day, only a few blocks from our apartment. But, our camera battery was dead. Bummer. Next time.



Some beautiful color at the corner of N. Cayuga & Court.



Some colors changing on Cornell's campus. That is Barnes Hall in the background. I believe, if my history is accurate, the funds for Barnes Hall were primarily raised by a student, John R. Mott. Mott was (among many other famous things) the president of Y.M.C.A. at Cornell University, and raised money to have a Christian Fellowship building on campus, thus sprouted Barnes Hall. Apparently, during his time, the number of students involved in this Christian Fellowship was over half of the students enrolled at Cornell. Barnes Hall is now used primarily for administration and events.



This is the replacement building, from what I have understood. This is the home base of the CURW, Cornell United Religious Works. This is Anabel Taylor Hall. Apparently, Mr. Myron Taylor gave a large sum of money to Cornell to build a law school (Myron Taylor Hall, one of the most prestigious today), but his wife, Anabel, would not have it unless there were some religious facilities on campus as well. Thus sprouted Anabel-Taylor Hall. Fascinating.

Anabel Taylor is also where the Navigators (and all the other religious groups) have their joint office with some other Christian Fellowship Ministries on campus. Many of the other Christian groups hold their weekly meetings in this facility.

Get out there and enjoy this beautiful time of year!

[M&L]

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]

Custom Campus Map

I have just finished developing a custom Cornell campus map (below). I have added information about where we have our meetings for Bible study, where we meet to be with students, play sports, and have our weekly meetings, etc. I hope this can be a tool/resource for you to help connect with and pray for our ministry here at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY!

(Click on the image to go to a page where you can right click and 'save image as' to your computer.)



Also, at the very bottom of our blog page here, along with photos of campus, there is a campus map that is straight from the Cornell website. You can click the photo to go to the Cornell website to download it (right click and 'save image as' to your computer). Hopefully this also will be helpful in connecting with our ministry.

Blessings,

[M&L]

Freshmen Guys

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the opportunity to meet with 2 different freshmen men, on 2 different occasions. I really enjoyed the time I had with each of them, and I am praying that the Lord would continue to deepen our relationships and trust.



This student, I'll call him Jeff (not his real name), comes from, it seems, a casual spiritual background. But in the last 2 years, through friends influence etc, has developed a deep hunger & passion to read & pour over God's Word, and to learn to be obedient in submitting his life to Him. (When I first met Jeff at one of our 1st week survey tables, he told me that he was 'packing'. Meaning that he was toting a Bible around in his backpack.)

Jeff and I now have a weekly meeting to get together and study the Gospel of John, we are seeking to know who Jesus is more accurately and intimately. Jeff also attends our weekly freshmen Bible discussion, but can only come for the last 30 minutes because of work. In our meeting last week, Jeff mentioned how he was thinking the other day, "How do I spread the Word of God?" I love it.



Tim (not his real name), on the other hand comes from a very vibrant spiritual background. He was involved in various groups in high-school, church youth group, lead worship, etc. He seems to have a keen understanding of the Bible and how it applies to his daily life here at Cornell. I hope to get more 1 to 1 time with Tim in the coming weeks.

In our get together a few weeks ago, Tim mentioned that he was trying to find ways of living his life for Christ, and at the same time being relevant to his peers at Cornell. Wow.

Both of these men seem to by potential leaders. It is exciting to see their love for God's Word, as well as their earnest desire to be reaching out effectively to their friends at Cornell with the Good News!

Please join me in praying for Jeff & Tim; that they would continue to dig deep & lay the foundation of hearing and doing God's Word (Luke 6:46-48). That our friendships would grow in trust and intimacy. And that they would grow up to become 'oaks of righteousness' (Isaiah 61:3), those that 'shall raise up the foundations of many generations' (Isaiah 58:12).

Thanks for laboring with us in prayer!

[M&L]

We Are Settling In

As things have settled down into a loose routine here in Ithaca with our work at Cornell with the Navigators, Lindsay and I have been slowly, yet steadily, settling into our new apartment.

Here are a few photos of our apartment building, and some info about it. The building was originally a large home, built sometime in the late 1700's. So now, it is on the historic registry, since it has been completely restored. It has been renovated into 5 different apartments. Three 2 bedroom apartments, and two 1 bedroom apartments. Most of the windows on the second floor belong to our apartment.



This is a shot from the sidewalk in front of our building. We have not had the chance yet to enjoy our porch, but we love its potential value for us at this point! It has been warm and humid on and off since we have moved in, so we hope on cooler fall days to take a hot drink out onto the porch to read.



This is a side view of our building, from the driveway. Each apartment has a parking spot off the street in back! (that's huge for downtown Ithaca) And there is also a 'carriage house' in the back for us to store some unused items, boxes, etc.



We have had the opportunity to do some decorating. This lovely shot of me taken by my lovely wife shows us setting up our new bookshelf. Riveting.



And the big news! We have a dining room table now! We are ecstatic. After our purchase of a table back in Minnesota fell through as the model we chose was discontinued, we have been eating on our couch for the last month. Well, I don't have to tell you how old that can get! We are so thankful for the privilege to eat at a table for our meals again. Woot!

Thank you all again so much for your support and care for us to this point! Undoubtedly, we could not have made it thus far without your indispensable intercessions on our behalf. We are so blessed by each one of you.

Thank you for being such an integral part in our lives & ministry!

[M&L]

The Fall Launch

The Cornell University academic year started off quick as we arrived on the 16th of August, and we had our first staff meeting August 18th. We had staff meetings almost every day that first week (18th-22nd).

That very next week the freshmen descended upon the campus & the town of Ithaca. All of the quiet coffee shops & relatively non-busy city streets were inundated with 'Red Zone' t-shirt wearing, key-fob toting, Target running students, and their families. The city was transformed over night.

From August 24th to the 29th we were busy connecting with brand new freshmen students all over campus. We had information tables setup all over campus during the dinner hours, having students fill out 'spiritual interest surveys', and pick up free Freeze Pops. In the evenings, we were out on campus following up the surveys, giving the students bags of free Nav swag and inviting them to Bible discussions, Nav weekly meetings, and other events.

On Tuesday the 26th, we had the Cornell Christian Fellowship Fair. Just like it sounds, the event is an opportunity for all the students, and staff, to get to know all the Christian Fellowship groups on campus. I was delightedly surprised as I found the groups quite encouraging and friendly towards each other, both staff and students. (In addition to Christian Fellowship groups on campus, their are a myriad of Christian clubs, i.e. Christian Acapella, Engineers, Theater, etc.)

It was the Navigators responsibility to put the event on this year. So we purchased all the burgers, hot-dogs, chips, water, soda, cookies, etc. We had an excellent turn out, several hundred new and returning students came to check out all the Christian Fellowship groups at Cornell. (Surprisingly, there are several to choose from.) See the photos below ...



This Cornell senior is our resident grilling guru.



The event was held out on the Appel Green, a beautiful view down to the Cayuga lake valley in the background. We had excellent weather for the event. The students are loading up their plates with food in the background.

Classes began on Thursday, August 28th, and on Friday the 29th we had our first Cornell NavNight (large group meeting) of the 08 Fall semester. We had a plethora of medium pizza's from Domino's ready for the freshmen students. We had a group of first years show up, so that was encouraging. In the subsequent weeks, we have only see the number of freshmen grow!

Freshmen Bible Studies

This year, Lindsay and I have been assigned to facilitate the freshmen Bible studies/discussions. Lindsay focusing on the women (co-lead with a junior woman), and I focusing on the men (co-leading with Doug [Cornell Navs Director]). After spending several hours that first week of orientation following up surveys and connecting with freshmen, we held our first Bible study 'Info Sessions' on September 2nd.

Lindsay had about 9 freshmen women attend (with more interested), and I had around 11 freshmen men attend. We were encouraged all around! We spent time getting to know one another for a bit, then attempted to coordinate our schedules. (Almost all the students involved thus far are self professed 'believers'. But some, I can tell, are definitely checking things out for the first time!) Please pray with us, that the Lord would draw those who do not yet know The Way, The Truth, and The Life to Himself.

We decided on Thursdays from 7:30-8:30pm for the men, and 8:30-9:30pm for the women. So, this last Thursday, September 11th, the men's & women's studies met for their first meeting. We had a good turn out for both. We spent time getting to know one another, then we discussed expectations for the time we would spend together over the semester/year. After that, we jumped into an introductory discussion of the Gospel of John, our book of choice for the studies.

I got the chance to hang out with one of the freshmen men after the study. We went out to the observatory & chatted about life, God, and our testimonies as we checked out the stars. Please pray with us, for these budding friendships, that the Lord would lead them into maturity in Jesus Christ.

Also, earlier that week, I had the opportunity to get together with another freshmen guy. We had connected well at the survey tables, and our first NavNight. He called me on the 7th with some questions about a Bible passage. So I asked him to get together on the 8th. We had a great discussion as we searched the Scriptures. I am excited and thankful for the future of these relationships!

Amidst all the setup & planning of schedules & Bible studies, we have been seeking to get good relational time in groups and 1 to 1 with the students. Lindsay meeting with women, and myself meeting with men. We have been going out for coffee, playing ultimate Frisbee, and swimming in the gorges (hopefully with photos to come sometime).

In addition to freshmen studies, there are also Bible studies for sophomores & juniors/seniors respectively. They are all student lead, and most them are also studying the Gospel of John.

Lindsay and I also had the privilege to share our testimonies at NavNight, September 5th. We enjoyed helping the Cornell Navs get to know us better, and to share a little more about how the Lord has had His sovereign hand over our lives individually, and together.

Thank you all again so much for your encouragement, love, and support! We are bolstered by your prayers & continue to thank the Lord every time He brings you all to mind. What a blessing & a joy it is to labor with you all in His harvest fields. Thanks for laboring with us.

For His glory, and our great joy,

[M&L]

Staff Outing

Lindsay and I got some time on Cornell campus on Tuesday afternoon to get our Staff Affiliate ID's. We picked those up, and also acquired our bus & parking passes. Fortunately, Lindsay and I live only a few blocks from a bus that goes up the hill to campus every 10 minutes!

Also, on Wednesday (August 20th), our Cornell staff team drove 30 minutes west of Ithaca to Watkins Glen near Seneca Lake (the largest finger lake). There we hiked the glen of rock up and up past waterfall after waterfall. At the top we enjoyed a picnic lunch together. We had great opportunities to get to know one another better and bond as a team. We are all excited for the immediately approaching fall semester!



The other young married, Staff-In-Training, couple with us at Cornell.



Linday and another staff member.



Lindsay with part of our staff team.



Some shots of Watkins Glen.