The People the Numbers Represent
By Cody Cline, TSC Associate Director

We talk about a lot of numbers-- 855 students at our Thursday night gathering, 653 in our small groups, and 125 students at Freshman Group. But, TSC will never be about the numbers. Rather, those numbers represent people-- lives that are forever changed because of the work of God.  During the last leaders meeting of the school year, we asked the student leaders to throw out names of students who had made decisions to trust Christ, crossing from death to life.  This photo (above) is my favorite of the year because we love God, we love people, and we love to see people be made new by the love of Jesus.

Ministry is about relationships, life-on-life interaction where people are genuinely known, cared for, and valued.  We know a key to ministry is developing more and more students with a vision to live intentionally, care for people and lead small groups.  In answer to our many prayers, we have 78 new leaders joining our 77 returning leaders to expand our leadership team from 118 this past year to 155 for the coming fall! 

Please pray for our leaders this summer (new and old), that God would grow them, increase their love for Him, and give them a vision and heart for students they have likely not even met yet.    

Similar Paths to Leadership
By Shane Rothlisberger, TSC Ministry Leader

Josh Kerns and Trevor Roose did not know each other, nor did they know how much God had in store for them as their paths would cross when they both chose to attend Iowa State University to study mechanical engineering. They happened to live in the same dorm room, share the same love for music, and above all, share the same passion for Jesus Christ.  It didn’t take long for the two to become friends.

With the announcement of the Veritas Church plant in Iowa City, the Freshmen group worship leaders chose to leave and help with the music ministries of Veritas. This meant younger students, like Trevor and Josh, would be asked to step into leadership roles more quickly than normal.  By the end of their freshman year, the young men were leading worship on a regular basis.  They continued to develop as leaders during their sophomore year by leading the Freshmen Group worship team and being Salt Company connection group leaders.  They even got to co-lead with other worship leaders at The Salt Company and at Cornerstone Church weekend services.  By the end of the fall semester, it was clear that God was using these young leaders in big ways.

The trend continued through the spring semester as Trevor was asked to take an internship position at Cornerstone Church leading the middle and high school worship ministry. Josh was also asked to take sole leadership over Freshmen Group worship. Both eagerly accepted. 

At the midway point of their college career, Josh and Trevor can look back and see how the sovereignty of God intersected their paths and set them on a similar course to make His name great at ISU. Their story represents just one of many in which God is faithfully using The Salt Company to raise up the next generation of Christ followers.

Please pray that the Lord would continue to raise up students who will change the world within TSC, and bless Trevor and Josh as they follow the Lord’s leading. 

 

Changed Forever
by Drew Stevenson, Freshman Group Ministry Leader

You never know what will happen as a result of the Freshmen Group kickoff each August. This year, DJ Todd, a freshman at Iowa State, happened to invite Matt Brown, a student he had just met in his dorm.  Matt met other freshmen on central campus, ate some pizza, and hung out with DJ for the rest of the night.  Little did he know his life would change forever.

He began attending a small group Bible study, Freshmen Group, Salt Company, and Cornerstone Church each week. After a few months, Matt gave his life to Christ, and since then has been growing like a weed. During our weekly accountability meetings, he routinely shares about other guys he has led to Christ and passages of Scripture that are changing his life. This spring Matt took our semester long class called "Theology of the Gospel" where he was equipped to share his faith.  He also was baptized, declaring to his family and friends that he had devoted his life to Jesus.  And now, Matt has committed to be a small group leader next year. It is truly amazing how God transformed Matt's life.

Please pray that the Lord would prepare the hearts of ISU freshmen coming this fall, and that their lives would be forever changed because of Jesus.

TSC Spring Retreat "The God Who Is"
by Cody Cline, TSC Associate Director

There is nothing like a TSC retreat-- the anticipation, the sign ups, the planning, and the prayer. When God shows up-- there is no place on earth we would rather be. A retreat is only 40 hours out of a lifetime, but God always seems to move when we step away from homework, jobs, and routine, to enter into undistracted fellowship with 540 others. God was with us at the Embassy Suites.

Though the talent show was entertaining, and the breakout sessions were fantastic, the highlight was our time together in corporate worship and teaching, followed by genuine conversations with our small groups.  Our theme was The God Who Is, driven by AW Tozer's quote, "What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."  

 Throughout the weekend, we learned that that God is holy, to be feared, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and our Shepherd. We capped off the weekend with the question, "If this is what God is like, how then should we live?"

Students openly talked about about their lives, their insecurities, their questions, and turned their hearts and minds to The God Who Is.  

Thank you for praying for us and for supporting TSC. We hope that this gives you a glimpse of what God is doing through your partnership with us. 

For You Are With Me
by Sarah Taylor, TSC Women's Ministry Coordinator 

Hannah had a great weekend, but little did she know that she would be walking into a dark valley as the last day of the retreat turned to dusk. She got a call from her mom, telling her that a family friend had suffered an aortic aneurysm and was in emergency surgery. Sadly, the next morning the family friend passed away.

During the retreat, our speaker, Paul, had shared about Psalm 23. Verse 4 says, "Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff— they comfort me." Paul talked about how as our Shepherd, we would all go through dark-- really dark-- times and that the Lord, as our Shepherd, would lead us with his rod and staff to fight off the enemy and provide us comfort. This comforted Hannah and she is confident that God has a plan, will provide them with comfort, and will lead her and her family through this dark valley.

 

 

 

"I think I'm Going to like this Group"
by Kayla McVicker, TSC Student Leader

I recently met with a TSC girl who said her faith in God was eroding because of some serious trials within her family. And on top of those difficulties, she was a transfer student who hadn't met any Christian friends, so ithad been a challenge to go through this family hardship without a support system.

I encouraged her to read the Psalms and Proverbs during the month of March, and reflect on God's faithfulness and goodness, regardless of the season of life - trials or prosperity. I also helped get her plugged into a Connection Group.

She emailed me shortly after our meeting and said, "I think I'm going tolike this group! =)" She also wrote, "This weekend, I really tried to let God handle the situation with myfamily... I read my first day of the Psalms and Proverbs yesterday. I found that a lot of them touched on what I was feeling and what was going on in mylife at the time of reading it. He works in mysterious ways."

 

 

Meet David & Dane's Connection Group
by Dane Sorenson, TSC Student Leader

Our group started out as a pretty quiet bunch, but after Christmas break we hit the ground running with a study on Nehemiah. We were also blessed with the addition of 5 new guys in just the first 9 weeks of this semester! The discussion and the questions in our group have been incredible.

Some of our best nights happen when all we do is confess sins, share struggles/joys, and pray with one another. The authenticity and transparency among the group has led us all to be more open with our thoughts, questions, and insights about each passage. These guys hunger to know how to live radically like Jesus did, what it looks like to live eternally, and learn ways in which they can keep from becoming lukewarm over the summer. It has truly been a blessing and privilege for David and I to lead such a great group of guys.