Note: Peter is Reformed University Fellowship / Mission to the World Campus Minister to the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
http://www.rufmexico.org/
The fall semester of 2008 was a semester of change at the UNAM. While we continued our second semester of large group (I taught through the gospel of John), as well as small groups located in three of the "faculties" of the school, our student makeup shifted towards newer students (both new converts this semester and Christians who for the first time discovered a Christian group to support and encourage them at the university). These students are now owning the group and developing relationships with one another, which is making for some good movement forward as we we enter the end of the first month of the Spring semester of 2009.
This semester I am teaching on the 10 commandments, and how the law points us to our need for Christ and his grace and teaches us to respond to our salvation with love for God and others. We also have five small groups, including one new study that began this week among the "yearly calendar" students (in the schools of Medicine and Dentistry) and another in the national school of Social Work (spearheaded by a new Christian who wants a Bible study in her faculty). Pray that the new small groups will catch on (especially the experimental one with the "yearly students"), and that student leaders will continue to emerge to direct these small groups.
We continue to have our English conversation clubs on Wednesday and Thursday, where we make many non-Christian contacts during the semester who often show interest in finding out more about our main activities. Last semester several English club students made their way into the RUF group, and at the end of the semester, several others asked to meet with me personally to talk about struggles with depression and decisions. English club attendance started out small this semester, but has grown to around 20-30 students, which is good especially since we have half the native English speakers we did last semester. Pray that God will send us some Christian exchange students (perhaps even from the PCA as he has in the past) to help our with the clubs. Pray for students from the clubs to take an interest in their spiritual lives by connecting with RUF students and checking out different avenues for involvement where they will hear the gospel.
This semester we have added a Friday social time called "a moment with RUF" (it sounds much better in Spanish), where students lead a community building activity (get to know you, discussion, etc.) and then we eat and do something informal (last week we played soccer, other weeks we have checked out different cultural activities at the UNAM). We hope this will enable students that cannot come to our Tuesday large group to get integrated, and for the students to build relationships with each other (remember that no one lives on campus, so most students have 2 friends from the UNAM, 2 friends from high school, and two friends from Junior High). Pray for this space to grow and for students to bring their friends.
Not only has our student group shifted, but our staff group has changed as well. Interns Josh and Amy Oettle headed to Austin at the end of the year, and we will miss them and their gifts and service, especially in developing the organic feel of our group and our outreach through the English clubs. Intern Jared Weatherholtz is engaged to be married to a Mexican girl who was working on staff with another campus ministry in Puebla, and will finish up his service in August. In addition to meeting with students, especially in the English clubs, and leading a small group Bible study, we are also excited about a CD of RUF hymns in Spanish that Jared is producing as part of the RUF music project in Spanish. Pray for more connection with RUF in the US through visiting campus ministers and groups at Spring Break and during the summers.
We don't have our budgets met in terms of support here, and need to work on building and growing relationships with givers. The financial situation in the US makes this a lot more difficult. Pray for us to be diligent communicators of what God is doing in Mexico and relationships builders, and for the Lord to provide the support we need to keep working in the church and among the 178 thousand students here.
