Friends and family,
I wanted to let everyone know a bit about what has been going on at Stanford and in our lives.
Fruit
Overall it seems like our fellowship is growing more rooted in God's love this quarter. Some symbols of this have included dance parties breaking out at our Leaders retreat, Back To the Farm (our all fellowship conference), and our Cafe Night outreach on campus.
At Back to the Farm after studying Luke 15 and the story of the prodigal son our fellowship began dancing as a make up re-birthday party for all the folks who have not had recognized how much God has celebrated their turning to Him in faith. Five students at the conference had come to know Jesus during their time in college and it was significant to have them stand and be acknowledged earlier in the evening. It was also particularly moving to acknowledge those who had been found by God at an early age and recognize that some of them were due some make up re-birthday parties as well. While joy in the knowledge of the Lord's love is surely only partly the reason for the dance parties that followed, it is new in our community and I believe points to this growing joy and understanding.
This Wednesday at our first fellowship meeting the reason to celebrate multiplied. After the talk we invited students who wanted to begin looking to Jesus for mercy and leadership to communicate their desire to do so and four students responded. Many others acknowledged the ways responded to Jesus in other ways as well. Upon following up I discovered that some of them were churched but have desired to return to Jesus in a significant way.
I could go on... but in the midst of this I have been struggling with some frustration and would like to invite your prayers.
Frustration
The most significant part of my frustration came when our landlord announced that he has scheduled to have our apartment fumigated this coming Wednesday, Oct. 1, and that we would need to be out of our apartment by 8:00 a.m. that day through Friday 5:00 p.m. The week ahead was already quite full but this put it over the top for me emotionally.
I was angry at the fact that I would even need to spend the time negotiating with him about the issue during arguably the most important time of the year to be available to students. I was frustrated that we would need to pack up anything that can be ingested (and with small kids that feels like just about everything!) and do all this on the second week of school, when Jane is on call, when my parents are out of town, when Nathan's sitter is taking a day off, when ... (I could go on about this as well)... The idea that our home will be filled with toxic gases tapes into my chemophobia and the unknown origin of Joey's tumor. Maybe the deepest pain comes when we reflect on some of our powerlessness in this as renters and the lingering regret that on the modest income of a campus minister over the past 13 years we have not been able to purchase a home.
Some students have commented that I rarely seem tired and I am usually full of energy - but for the last couple days just thinking about this coming week has made me tired.
Grace
However, yesterday evening I began to experience God's grace in the midst of my frustration. It started as Jane decided to take on negotiating with our landlord how he would reimburse us. Knowing we were together on this and I wouldn't be spending these strategic hours in the beginning of the school year as the middleman advocating for my family was a huge load off my shoulders. Having a gifted, loving and understanding wife in this time is God's grace to me.
Later that evening our family visited a group of friends and recent alumni who have relocated to East Palo Alto. Just being with these friends brought both joy and perspective. Joy because they are dear friends and their affection for us and one another is palpable. Upon arriving one alumnus offered space in his apartment for our family of four to stay... (I don't think he fully knew what he was offering!) Others confirmed with friends from the neighborhood who are out of town that we could stay nearby at their home.
We are joyful that we have a place to stay that is close to campus, Jane's office and childcare. The gift of these friends kept on giving today after church as about 7 of these alumni came over to help us prepare our home for the fumigation by packing up food and toys and brought it back to their place to store. Most of this happened while I was hosting about 40 freshmen and a number of older students to pizza after our second stop on the church tour. Coming home to see that many of the hours that this fumigation process threatened to eat up have been restored through our loving community brings me joy.
The lives of these and other friends has also brought me perspective. These friends discovered a number of months ago that many poorer families near them are being pressured to move by some less than just practices implemented by a large property management company in the area. Spending time with them reminded me of these families. At the church tour I hosted I met one student who comes to Stanford from New Orleans and I was reminded of the way the whole city needed to evacuate not too long ago. Even as I saw all the food and toys we had to pack I was reminded that of how fortunate we are to have cupboards full of food during a time when food prices are so high and many in our world are left hungry.
God has been helping me be more deeply rooted in his love today by beginning to turn my frustration into empathy and self pity into perspective. He has reminded me that over the past 13 years while we haven't been building up substantial home equity we have a God who is generous to us and who continues to keep his promise that "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields-- and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." Mark 10:29-30
Please continue to remember us in prayer this week as we:
· Meet with Joey's doctors tomorrow afternoon
· Have the first IVCF small group meetings of the year tomorrow evening
· We move out for a few days during fumigation
· I speak to our fellowship Wednesday and follow up with new students during the days to come.
For the Gospel,
Jon Paris - IVCF at Stanford
For more about our ministry visit: www.ivstanford.org
Family blog and photos: www.kuoparis.com
To support our ministry visit: www.ivcf.org/donate
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