How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news...

What an incredible journey it has been so far here at Chicago! The Lord has been working powerfully in the hearts of the students and leaders. Tuesday morning we experienced our first training session and had the opportunity to hit the streets to put what we learned into practice. What an incredible experience! Many of the students felt fearful about approaching strangers with the intention of sharing the gospel, but God shattered those fears and did immeasurably more than we could have asked! There were several students who had the opportunity to have conversations with people at the park, the boardwalk, and even on the train. Those conversations were with people that had different religious beliefs including Islam, Buddhism, Atheism, Agnosticism, New Age, and Jehovah's Witness. The students have felt a great burden for the city and our group has been dedicated to bringing the light, love, and hope of Jesus Christ.  Several of our students have had in-depth gospel conversations and two of them have even led people to Christ! PRAISE GOD! We are so thankful for your prayers because we see them being answered daily. Please keep praying! 

On Wednesday afternoon we also had the opportunity to go and share on the streets. Many of the students who felt nervous on Tuesday were able to share with greater boldness. As a leader I have had the unique opportunity to witness this tremendous change and I'm blown away by God's grace. These young people are growing in their knowledge and practice of the truth and it is impacting eternity! God is so good. 

We also have had some great larger sessions with other churches here at the conference. Typically, we meet at 7:15pm to hear a word from The Lord and to participate in worship. Although the time with all the churches is good, the time we most look forward to is with just our church. We spend a couple hours praying, worshipping, and sharing testimony of the day. The Holy Spirit has been so powerfully present during our meetings that it gives me chills thinking about it. During that time that our group has grown closer and has become more unified. The Lord is growing many friendships and we have become more like a family committed to the mission set before us. I think I can speak for all the leaders when I say that these students have found a special place in our hearts. 

Here are some things that you can pray for: 

1. Pray for our time sharing tomorrow afternoon (actually today since it is 1:00am :) ) We get to do evangelism with our group instead of mixing with other churches. We will be sharing at Navy Pier from 1-5pm 

2. Pray for energy and good health. This trip is emotionally, physically, and spiritually taxing! We need God to sustain us and help us function with limited sleep and energy. 

3. Pray against spiritual warfare. The enemy doesn't like to see our group go out to share the gospel and bring hope to lost people. As Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." 

4. Continue to pray that God will fill our group with the Holy Spirit! We know that our help is found in Him and that He will guide us and give us words to say. We need the Spirit's power to have courage and boldness.

Thank you again for all our your prayers... We feel them!  

-UNITED