Newsletter Update

Lindsay and I at Taughannock Falls.

We sent out our December newsletter on the 23rd. Hopefully many of you have received yours by now. If you are not receiving our letters and you would like to, we would love to hear from you! Please email us at mlkinnick [at] gmail.com with your physical mailing address and we will add you to the list.

Around mid fall semester, my freshmen men’s study was gathered together on a Thursday night to study Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter three. As we came to the end of our discussion, we wrote a few questions on a 3x5 card individually. We then split up into pairs to pray over those things. Afterwards, I briefly asked if anyone was interested in sharing what they wrote and prayed for. Alec, a freshmen from California, said, “I prayed about being born again; because I’m not really sure what that means.” We are excited to continue to pursue students like Alec and others here at Cornell with the Grace and Truth of Jesus.



Alec



You can read more about Jeff & John here.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Taughannock Falls

Last weekend, some great friends of ours came to visit us here in Ithaca, NY. Among other things, we explored our Myers-Briggs personality assessments, drove up the Cayuga Wine Trail, and stopped off briefly at Taughannock State Park to see the falls! It was sleeting/raining/snowing, so we decided not to stop and hike, etc. Apparently it's taller than Niagara Falls and one of the highest water falls of the Rocky Mountains.

Jeff & John

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been getting to know a student named Jeff (not his real name). You can read more about him here. Well, in an effort to love and serve him well, Lindsay and I decided to invite Jeff and his roommate John (not his real name) over for dinner last week.

As I mentioned in our latest email update (if you did not receive it and want to, please comment below and or email us at mlkinnick [at] gmail.com), John is from China, and does not know Jesus. He is very introverted & marginally social. But I have had a few opportunities to get to know him. So we figured it would be a great opportunity to spend more time with Mark, build a deeper friendship, and also build bonds of trust with John as well.

So we ate chicken pot pie that Lindsay made, very good. That was John's first time having it! He is a good eater and had seconds. After dinner we played Sorry the board game and goofed around (see photos below).

Please be in prayer with Jeff and I for his roommate John, that we might have opportunities in spring semester to read the Bible and have spiritual discussions together!



Jeff (I kind of caught him off guard.)



John



We had finished playing Sorry the board game. We got a little bored after the second game, so we began to stack the cards and make strange sculptures, etc.

Thank you all for holding the ropes of our ministry here at Cornell!

M&L

Navs Thanksgiving Dinner

You have to have cranberry sauce (preferably fresh) at Thanksgiving! Every year, the Cornell Navigators have a large Thanksgiving dinner for any Cornellians that would like to come. Last year they apparently had 80 people! Well, this year we had almost 100!

We divided up the food responsibilities among Bible studies; we had two hotel majors running this shindig. My freshmen Bible study had the responsibility of cranberry sauce and ... yams. I threw my red flag and contested this decision. First of all, I wasn't sure what a yam was. Second of all, even if I did know what a yam was, I am sure they didn't want the freshmen men and I cooking them!

So we got away with making just cranberry sauce. But we went all out, fresh cranberries, orange zest, oh yea, the works. I must say, it was a triumph. We made almost a gallon! It was great. The guys and I were (are) very proud.

It was also a great opportunity for the freshmen guys to get to know one another better and build deeper friendships.



I apologize for this photo. I'm not sure what I was thinking.



Orange zest. Mmm.

Matt's Birthday

Yesterday (November 20th) was my Birthday. Lindsay and I celebrated the day before; she made me my favorite foods like Swedish meatballs, twice-baked potatoes, and apple crisp for dessert. Yea, I know ya'll are jealous.

Also, this photo below is completely unrelated, but I thought it was funny. So I decided that it should be here. She was cutting onions. Enjoy.

More Snow!

Some beautiful views of the early winter here in gorges Ithaca, New York! Click here to see more in an online album. Enjoy! "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."