 Campus Crusade for
Christ -
Jay and Kelley
Reapsome
Dear Friend,
Praise God
for His work in the lives of students.
He is stirring the hearts of many internationals to seek Him. You are making it possible for us to
connect more than 90 Christian students with internationals as language
partners here at Penn State. These
partnerships provide wonderful opportunities to talk about spiritual issues
with lost students. Two of the students
god has given me to work with became Christians while meeting with me for
conversational English practice and another disciple was already a Christian
when I first met him as a language partner.
We’ve heard
encouraging reports of good spiritual conversations from conversation
partners this past month. Two of my
current language partners said they wanted to understand more about Jesus and
the Bible. I look forward to how God
will work in their lives as He leads them to the truth and breaks down their
misconceptions about who He is. Please
pray for Jack and Charlie (my partners) and the 90+ others, who (in the
majority) are hearing the truth of the gospel for the first time, to repent
of their sins and come to faith in Christ as their Savior.
On Oct. 23rd,
we hosted a demonstration wedding and reception. More than 130 students packed out the small
chapel on campus, where we re-enacted the wedding ceremony of a newlywed
couple from our church. Our director
shared what it means to be a Christian by telling the stories of how the
bride and groom came to faith in Christ and started following Him. A myriad of cameras snapped shots
repeatedly as the bride slowly cantered down the aisle to take her place
opposite her groom (actually husband).
The ceremony was very traditional with soloist, duets and even a song
sung by the bride accompanied by the groom on guitar.
Students
commented how wonderful and interesting it was to have this experience, since
very few will ever have the opportunity to attend a real American
wedding. Several of them also attended
our reception party for cake, punch and an explanation of traditions such as
throwing the bouquet, toasts, and the cutting of the wedding cake. During the reception, I met David from
India. He attended a Christian
University in India and is now doing his PhD at Penn State. Please pray that David will be able to meet
with me again and that God would build a bridge to reach other Indian
students with the Gospel through him.
As we head
toward our Thanksgiving break, we are seeking the Lord to move in the hearts
of many students to register for our winter conference during the Christmas
break. Please pray that more than 500
students from around the U.S. will join us in New Brunswick, NJ for our
winter conference. We invite both
Christians and serious seekers to come hear speakers from three
cultures. Several speakers from
Chinese, Indian and Muslim backgrounds will encourage the students to seek
the Lord, know Him better and walk with Him for the rest of their lives. Please ask the Lord to prepare the hearts
of students to receive His Word and pray also for wisdom for these men as
they prepare their presentations.
This past
weekend we hosted a gathering of students in our home from China, Japan, Sri
Lanka, India, S. Korea, S. Africa, Hong Kong, Taiwan and America. I think this is the most nations we’ve ever
had in our home at one time. Thanks
again for all you do to make it possible for us to serve the Lord making
disciples of all the nations He is bringing to Penn State.
Until
the whole world knows,
Jay
From Kelley:
October 16th,
2009 is a day we will remember for a long time…a surprising and at times
frightening period of hours during which we saw the intervention and had of
God moving all around us as He protected us and our cars while thinning out
the woods on our property, in our neighborhood and throughout State College.
The day
started early for Jay and I, as the crash of trees outside our home awakened
us at around 2am. The five inches of
wet snow had piled up on the remaining leaves and branches of our stately
oaks and maples and by around 2am they could no longer bear the weight.
Craaack!
Whoooosh! Craaack! Whooosh!! All around us limbs began falling, brushing
the sides of our home and shaking the whole house as some landed on the
roofs. We awakened our children and brought them downstairs away from the
threat of the sap-laden and deadly logs and branches. For awhile, none of us could sleep and some
ran from window to window, the snow providing contrast which allowed us to
watch the devastation as it grew…We were actually glad the electricity was
out, for that could have brought the possibility of fire.
As Jay and
the children settled down to sleep, I remained awake, praying for God’s
protection of our family throughout the rest of this dangerous night.
By daylight
we learned that school was cancelled.
The view from our windows and doors of the ravaged woods around our
home helped us to appreciate greater God’s protection. Amazingly, only 3 heavy branches landed
upon and damaged the roof, rain gutters and soffits. One spear-like branch actually broke
through the attic and protruded about 8 inches through the drywall in Ben’s
ceiling. Not a single tree hit our
vehicles, though they sat in the driveway with trees above them and broken
branches all around them on the ground after the devastation.
The insurance
company representative and contractors made it to our home before noon,
taking pictures and getting the roof holes covered so the melting snow would
not come into the attic and ruin more of the ceiling drywall!! We couldn’t begin clean up until the
insurance people and contractors had made their initial investigations!! The next day was a Saturday and that’s when
we began the outside clean-up. We
continue to cut and haul the remaining logs and branches which lay on the
ground.
All that remains
of the house repairs is replacing the rain-gutters and re-painting Ben’s
bedroom. The contractors replaced 3
slopes of our roof and soffits and part of the ceiling in Ben’s room. Soon the work will be done and our part of
the bill (the deductible) will arrive.
We are so
thankful for the Lord’s protection…
…of our family
…of our home (it could have
been much worse), and
…of our vehicles.
As I asked
the Lord to cover us in His protection, He did so, to even a greater degree
than I asked. How much more shall He
provide for the deductible and the expense of cleaning the dead branches
which continue to hang dangerously from trees all over our property! (They are too high for us to get to!)
The Lord of
all creation is worthy of our trust.
Please rejoice with us in His protection and provision!!!
In
His Grip,
Kelley
Jay
and Kelley Reapsome
jayreaps@juno.com
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