How to Give

God has done wonderful things this semester through your prayers, encouragement, and gifts, all added to my time, energy, and ever-deepening love for these girls. I'm still on board, are you? The encouragement has been pouring in, I know there are faithful ones who lift up this mission in prayer, and judging from the joy and enthusiasm with which people are giving what they can, I'd say we can make it through the next semester with a year-end financial boost! We are a few thousand dollars short of the budget, so as you look at your giving for the year, please consider supporting me, whether you have before or not! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Giving is crazy-easy!

Just go to the bottom of this page,<---(that's a link to the page) and click the yellow box that says 

How To Support RUF

a simple guide

PDF

DOWNLOAD

You can view it without downloading it, or you can download it for future convenience. It explains the many ways of giving available for your convenience :) Be sure to designate your gift to Mary Hope Bray at Belhaven University (Not Belmont) to get it to my account!

Tip: The easiest way to give is online through this page. <---(link)  :)

It's a metaphor. Please help.

Please email or Facebook me any questions! My email is maryhope.bray@ruf.org! If I know you, I would also be happy to talk over the phone :)

Living Life at Belhaven!

Good gravy! So much has happened! RUF at Belhaven is growing in depth of relationships as well as maintaining the enthusiastic crowds that started out this amazing semester! Chad Scott, our campus minister, has been preaching through Acts in a series about what Jesus' death and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit mean for our lives, and our students are certainly living it out by loving the community! RUF has helped with the Sonbeams ministry of Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, which gives parents of special needs children a night off by taking these children in for a night of games, snacks, biblestudy, and singing. Our girls especially had a blast and have been asking when the next one will be :) 

Over Fall Break, a group of RUF students gave their time and energy to Palmer Home for Children, repairing greenhouses where the home grows poinsettias to raise money, working alongside some of the kids to space poinsettias inside the greenhouses, completing some odd jobs to make things run more smoothly, and just generally goofing off and showing these kids some individual love and attention. We played tag, hide and seek, basketball, and even taught a couple of two year olds to play duck, duck, goose! Again, students want to know when we can go back, and hopefully we will be able to make another trip this spring! 

Here is a picture of some of our crew with a tarp to cover a greenhouse. Palmer Home asked that we not post any pictures of the children for their safety.

The other weekend away this semester was the MidSouth Fall Conference. Over 300 students from all over the MidSouth gathered at Twin Lakes retreat center for a time of teaching and fellowship, away from the pressures of college. 

The Group! by Anna Lois Callen Photagraphy

The guys doing a "girl" picture. They're...special.
Anna Lois Callen Photography

Ligon Duncan and Billy Dempsey were our speakers, and let me tell you, folks, these men are exceedingly gifted at making the gospel come alive to college students through unexpected passages. I don't think these students ever expected Numbers to be so piercing and gospel-filled! Plus, Belhaven's RUF music team led worship, and it was KILLER!!! (Bonus: We have drums, oh YES we do!!!)

The girls playing "Inky Pinky Punky Monkey"...or something
like that. We're special too ;) Anna Lois Callen Photography

Aside from learning loads, WE HAD SO MUCH FUN! From the dance party to reconnecting with friends from other schools to disc golf to basketball to climbing the fire tower to just hanging out/napping, this was a much needed break!

Did I mention the Giant Jenga tournament?
It was pretty much epic.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support! In addition to these events, I have been able to spend a large amount of time on campus, especially in the Student Center, and as a result I know (and am known by) more girls than I ever thought possible! RUF also has avenues of reaching the areas of campus that have previously been closed to us in terms of student interest, and we are wondrously thankful! The choir director has generously allowed me to sing with the Belhaven Concert Choir, and Chad, our campus minister, has used his talent for volleyball to reach many athletes by occasionally volunteering with practices! We can't wait to see where God points us next!

What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?

This is the title of the book we are using for the only official RUF small group this semester (more on that shortly). Ladies and Gentlemen, you should read this book! There might be a small percentage of people in this world who do not struggle with thinking excessively about what other people think of them, but (especially in the USA) it is a small percentage indeed. PLUS, it's not that long, and there are big spaces between the paragraphs which the author, Ed Welch, cleverly inserted to make you pause and hopefully encourage you to ponder what was just said.

Ben (my co-intern, who is leading the study) and I were thrilled to welcome 16 people to the first meeting! Hooray!!!

A thought about celebrating large numbers: I was hesitant to express excitement over how many people have been showing interest in RUF this year because I have heard all my life that it's not about "numbers, nickels, and noise."But did that mean it was by extension wrong to BE excited about the high attendance even if I wasn't broadcasting it? I don't think so, and I don't think it's wrong to share my exuberance either. We are excited that we have the chance to impact so many students and that our community is able to spread and diversify! If it were to shrink we might consider what we need to change in the way of musical style, outreach methods, location, etc. What we will not change to gain numbers or for any other reason is our dependence and emphasis on the absolute truth and power of Scripture in every aspect of our ministry. Anything else is worth changing to bring God's Word to our students.

Speaking of numbers, over 100 people showed up for our second Large Group meeting, and many of them were new faces, praise the Lord! Chad preached from Acts 2:1-12, when the Holy Spirit came on the disciples at Pentecost, and they miraculously preached the Gospel in the languages of all the people there! I loved the parallel Chad drew between God speaking creation into being, announcing through angels that Christ was born, and proclaiming the Gospel through the disciples in languages that they didn't know before. Each time, God acted in an unforgettable way to make clear to His people that their God is present for them! The coming of the Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of God's people was every bit as much His presence with them as Jesus walking with the disciples in the flesh, and God wanted to make sure they knew it! I also love how this speaks personally to the disciples, who were missing Jesus and feeling abandoned by Him, but at the same time makes it clear to the non-Jews listening that they were to be included in His kingdom because the message was in their own languages! Ah me, the things you pick up when you look at a passage of Scripture for the 50th time :)

I said I would explain the reason for having only one official RUF small group this semester. It is due largely to our Servant Team, which is simply spectacular! Chad, Ben, and I realized (after much discussion and consideration) that small groups naturally exist among our students without our help! The whole point of them is to have small groups of people (hence the name) growing in relationship together, which is what they are doing! Our hope is to have students love one another personally (Hmmm...sounds familiar...second greatest commandment, maybe?), so instead of trying to invent topics to draw people together, we are encouraging the friend-groups that already exist on their own to be intentionally outward-focused. This way, the older students welcome in the new ones instead of becoming exclusive and cliquish, which would only damage our community. And so far it's working splendidly!

Please be praying for me as I strive to love these students well, and praise Him for continually teaching me about the extent of the influence of His love for me on my life!

Trust

I promised a post about the trustworthiness of Jesus, and here it is:

    I'm a big fan of asking questions and acknowledging your doubts about what you believe. I think it was Tim Keller who said you have to allow for them because if you don't they will rise up one day and bowl you over. However, there is a point at which you have to decide who/what is the ultimate authority for truth. Here's a hint: If you can't accept anything unless it makes sense to you or agrees with your sense of right and wrong, then you have made yourself the ultimate authority. If you are not the authority, chances are that what/whoever is will contradict you from time to time.
    This is precisely the trouble I ran into with the question of prayer and God's love. I couldn't reconcile the biblical fact that God is love with the biblical fact that He doesn't save everyone. It tormented me that I, as a finite human being with a finite human mind, could conceive of a "greater" love than I knew was true of God. It didn't occur to me that my conception of love seems greater to me because I can't fully understand the love of God. If you are deceived (even if you are deceiving yourself) you don't know it. If you do you are no longer deceived.
     The issue of prayer was based on my experience. I had been unsure of how to deal with a situation and had prayed about it often, considered the Scripture I knew on the subject, sought wise counsel, and finally gone with what I thought to be the best course of action, praying again that God would somehow stop me if it wasn't what I was supposed to do. In other words, I did everything I could think of to handle things biblically, but when it came down to it, I still screwed up. Since then, any mention of prayer has caused a mental frown and the thought "What good does it do, really?" I could accept that "God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose," but I didn't see any evidence that He was willing to help me out with the day to day stuff.
    I talked about both of these with Chad (my campus minister) last week. His response (though rather lengthy - he does like to talk) was very simple and can be boiled down to this: This is what belief is. Many things make sense, but when they don't you have to take them on faith. - My response appalled me as soon as it escaped from my mouth: "Faith in what?"
    My "homework" was to go home and not do anything except let it sink in that God loves me. LOVES me. I have known that truth for a long time, but somehow it got stuck in head knowledge as an abstract kind of love, instead of a personal one. I thought God loved me the way I love kids in Africa. Do I want what's best for them? Of course! Do I know them personally? No, I don't. Do I delight in their quirks the way I do my family's or my best friends'? No. But God's love for me is much more in the vein of a family member or best friend, except far, far more profound. I did go home to talk to God and read Mark's account of the crucifixion of Jesus. I've heard it literally hundreds of times over the course of my life, but this time I realized that Jesus proved that He loves me when He died to have a relationship with me. Me! Not just humans in general, but Mary Hope Bray, chosen before the beginning of time for no reason except that He was determined to have me in His family. Don't you think you can trust someone who loves you like that?
     I think of it like in The Princess Bride. From the very beginning, no matter what happens, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Wesley is going marry Buttercup in the end, and he even chides her a little for doubting it when she thought he was dead. After all, "death cannot stop true love." After that moment, she believes with all her heart that he will come for her, even when he really dies, and that trust sustains her and guides her every action even though she has no idea what's going on on his side of things. She does falter when it looks like he failed to come in time, but even when she doubts, he comes through, and it is in time after all! (Wow, you know you've been around RUF ministers for a long time when you see the Gospel in your favorite movies.)

    The point is: Jesus loves me. The proof of that is that He died for me, and the result is that I can trust him with everything. All I need to know about His plan is in the Bible (which, by the way, is a lot!). The rest is not my business, and I can be ok with that because I trust Him. You wouldn't believe how freeing that is!

    I'm not saying I wasn't a Christian before this, but I had strayed into some peace & joy-killing self-justification and self-dependence, and it is SO good to be back! One great thing about God is that he is always pursuing me, so no matter how far I stray, when I do turn around He's right there. (That bit of insight is from Michael Horton's Putting Amazing Back into Grace, one of many excellent books in my study program.) :D

    In other news, we had 52 people show up to the freshman dinner! I'll admit, it was slightly overwhelming, but it's amazing how much more manageable groups are when you talk to one person at a time and stop worrying about how to entertain everyone at once! Funny thing about college students: They're pretty good and talking to the people around them! Shocker! So we ate some food, played some games, and generally hung out, much to everyone's great enjoyment! :)

Best. Job. Ever.

Oh yes it is! I don't care what you do or how much money you make doing it; I have the absolute best job a single girl can do :)

Let's catch you up a little. Last week was BU.org, which is Belhaven's organizational fair, and the start of classes. BU.org was done carnival-style, outside, under some big, shady trees, and they had cotton candy, funnel cakes, soft pretzels, nachos, and a dunking booth, and RUF brought a giant Jenga set! Some of the students from RUF's servant team came for the RUF booth and we talked to at least 50 people about who we are and what we do! Classes started last Wednesday, and the servant team retreat was Friday afternoon through Saturday morning. It was a blast! A gentleman who lives in Madison (just north of Jackson) lent us his lake house and boat for the retreat, so we were able to go water skiing, wake boarding, and tubing all Friday afternoon before getting down to the business of the semester Saturday morning. Here's an idea of the time we had:

      

   

Chad's family got to come and join us! This is his daughter and Anna Lois,
to whom goes the credit for all these awesome photos!

Some of us were more adept...                                       

...than others ;)

But the guys figured it out eventually! Pictured here are Joanna, Ben, Thomas, and me right before Thomas jumped
on top of me, as per Chad's instructions.

We had fun times in the boat too :)

          

                      

Y'all, this servant team is a wonderful, encouraging, welcoming group of students! As I told them, I keep forgetting that I'm not with people I've known all my life because they've given me such an incredible sense of belonging! I am exceedingly grateful. 

Also, I was kidding about the adeptness. We had many guys and girls who were quite at their ease on the water. I, on the other hand, have added "attempting to water ski" to the list of things I like to do for fun because I hardly think 2 seconds out of the water qualifies as actually skiing. ;)

Lately I've been spending a lot of time in the Student Center because it's a great place to run into students, plus the Caf(eteria) is there so it's easy-peasy to find someone to sit down with for lunch! I'm also gaining a whole new appreciation for traditional-style dorms. At least 5 people stopped by while I was hanging out with one of my girls in her room the other day, and I met someone else who had decided to study in the lobby! It's amazing the things that happen when students don't have a quad with a sitting room and kitchenette!

Tuesday was the first large group meeting and it was majorly encouraging! Chad and Ben said there was more variety of students than ever, and we had 121 people show up! There was no lack of freshmen to meet, and I even remember most of their names! Unfortunately, I got very few last names...still working on that. But last names or no, I'm falling in love with my girls already :)

Lastly, tonight is the freshman dinner, hosted by a family from Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church, which is where I attend, for those who don't know. We are very thankful that the hurricane isn't making us cancel it, and ecstatic to get to know these students better and give them an avenue to learn about each other!

If you are praying for me, I would appreciate it if you would ask that I would humbly learn to do ministry from Chad and Ben and know what questions to ask them about it. Please also pray that my girls would never see me as someone who doesn't struggle the way they do, but that I would be wisely honest with them about my failings, my constant dependence on Christ, and His complete and utter worthiness of our trust. I learned a great deal about that not long ago, but I'll save the account for another post :)

85% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dear friends, we have reached the first goal of 85%! Thank you so much to everyone who has given to and prayed for this mission, and to all who have been so encouraging to me!

I am writing this post from my house in Jackson! The Lord has shown Himself wondrously faithful in providing a marvelous living situation fairly close to the Belhaven campus and with two fantastic roommates, Krista and Caroline! The move could scarcely have gone more smoothly, and I am now settling into life in Jackson before students arrive around August 18th.

Here are a couple of pictures of my room. You can't see everything, but shortly after taking these the camera in my laptop ceased to function properly, and I do not have a normal camera because I destroy them.

Sample of what I'm getting from my camera at this time:

That is my hair and part of the room, but I have no earthly idea what the blue thing is.

On to relevance!

This morning my family and I visited Pear Orchard Presbyterian Church before they began the return trip home to Georgia. It is a lovely church with a wide range of ages and solid preaching. Though I will likely visit some other churches in the Jackson area (there are 13 PCA churches alone), at this point I think Pear Orchard will be my home. Hopefully I will be able to be involved to some extent in their Hispanic ministry and there find some use for the Spanish major to which I devoted 4.5 years of my life.

If you intended to support me but haven't given yet, please don't change your mind! I still have 15% to raise for this year, and if it so happens that I raise more than that, it will roll over into the second year. Based on the hope that monthly pledges will continue for two years, I still have less than 20% for next year. To give online or for information on how to give, just go to http://www.ruf.org/support-us/.

I feel thoroughly privileged to be here right now. This week, I will be working on support, catching up on my study program, familiarizing myself with Jackson, and beginning preparation for students! Hooray! Please pray for a sense of purpose and diligence as these weeks will be rather unstructured, though quite full, and for humility as I strive to learn from Chad (my campus minister/boss) and Ben (my co-intern, who has already been here for two years).

To those who have given me prayer requests, know that I have been and will continue to petition and praise our loving Heavenly Father on behalf of you and your loved ones!

My posts should be more frequent from here on out. The last three weeks have been a little hectic between saying goodbye to old friends, fundraising, training in Atlanta, and moving, first to my parents' and now HERE! Also, emails will go out to those who have requested them as soon as I figure out how my account does group messages.

I bid you farewell, as Krista will soon be home and she, Caroline, and I have plans to make dinner together :)

Purpose and Request for Help

Dear friends, family, and any others who have happily come upon this blog,

As many of you know, I am beginning a two-year internship with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Belhaven University in Jackson, MS with the intent of loving college students. Our hope and purpose is to point them to the surpassing, never-ending love of God as he has revealed himself to us in the Scriptures.

How in the world am I going to do that?

Well, the short (though complete) answer is "by God's grace." Practically speaking, it means my full-time job will be being available for students as they enter this searching time in their lives. I will lead small groups of students attempting to connect what the Bible says with real life. I will encourage them to honestly examine what they believe because God is big enough to handle all their doubts and struggles! I will persistently show them that someone loves them when they feel unlovable. I will pray for them every day.

And I will fail them.

Yes, I will. I can guarantee it. And I wouldn't have it any other way. You see, I found in my own college experience that I don't turn to God until I have no other choice, so frequently the way he drew me to himself was to remove everyone else. Only then did I remember the point of everything my parents, my intern, my campus minister, and the rest of the believers in my life had been living out: Turn to Jesus. He's the only one who is always there, no matter what, and he loves you dearly! I love the way Sally Lloyd-Jones puts it in the Jesus Storybook Bible, that he loves us with his "Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love."

So that's what I bring to this mission, an experience of God's grace, a desire and call to share it with college students, a willingness to reveal myself as a broken sinner in specific ways, and the time to spend building the trust necessary for my words to have any clout.

BUT

I need help, and lots of it! The total cost of ministry for one year is $33,798, and I must raise 85% of that before I may move to campus. This amount is NOT my salary.  I would be happy to go through each element with you, but for now know that RUF has streamlined this budget over many years so that interns have to raise as little as possible, but so that every cost of ministry is covered and the interns have enough to live on, albeit very modestly. At this point, I have just under $16,000 to go before I reach that 85%, and my target date to move is August 2nd. Yes, I do realize that that date is coming up exceedingly quickly.

My desire is to build a team of people who will come alongside me to pray for this mission and who are supporting it financially as they are able. Never, I repeat NEVER underestimate the power of and need for prayer, or feel that you are a lesser member of the team because your discretionary income does not allow you to contribute financially!

For those who can, here is a possible breakdown of giving that reaches our goal:

3 @ $100/mo. = $3,000

6 @ $50/mo. =   $3,000

15 @ $30/mo. = $4,500

25 @ $10/mo. = $3,000

50 @ $5/mo. =   $2,500

Total             = $16,000!!!!!

Please look at this! Even if you have already given generously - can you add $5 or $10 per month? That adds up fast! 

I believe this is quite doable, and certainly God has pulled off crazier sounding schemes before - think Noah's ark, Jericho, David and Goliath, and ......oh yeah - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Not to mention the way he works every day in ways we don't realize have anything to do with him! He loves to use people in his work though, so let's claim that privilege!

To give online or for more info on how to give, simply go to https://www.ruf.org/support-us/

-when giving online, be sure to select my name if you wish to support me!

-for checks, write Mary Hope Bray - Belhaven on the memo line

Questions, concerns or comments? Feel free to call me at (912)536-0642 or message me on Facebook! I'm the only Mary Hope Bray on there :)