July 2017 Newsletter

Meet the Students
Meet Cornerstone student leader Fiona Eichinger, and learn more about her through her testimony:

Geborgenheit. In German, this word captures a combined sense of security, belonging and love that I can’t explain in another language. Over the past two years, Cornerstone has embodied geborgenheit for me. The people of this community value and invest in friendships that are rooted in Christ, evidencing the beauty of God’s family.

The geborgenheit I’ve found at Cornerstone has also been an incredible support when transitioning to a large, public university. I attended a Christian school from 1st through 12th grade, where I was blessed to have strong role models and classes such as Doctrine, Apologetics and Pentateuch that taught me the foundations of Christianity. Yet now I realize that, in my “Christian bubble”, I never really had anyone question my beliefs--and I certainly didn’t question them myself. In my high school Bible classes, I learned big words like epistemology and prolegomena. If I could master topics such as the classical, evidential, cumulative, and presuppositional arguments of apologetics, I passed the exams. Yet it wasn’t until coming to college that I first got some push-back to the arguments I had thought would convince anyone on the spot.

It was then that I suddenly felt challenged to begin asking why I believe what I do. If God is sovereign and will carry out His plan, why should I pray? Would it even make a difference? How do I know that what I believe is really true? These questions scared me. Yet through conversations and prayer with friends at Cornerstone, I realized that I didn’t have to be afraid of questions. I had thought that my doubts made me a “bad Christian” and was ashamed to share them, but now I understand that seeking is an important part of truly understanding and proclaiming our faith. I’ve also come to realize that God is the one who saves, not me or my arguments! Through this growing process, I’ve learned that a fear of doubts implies that God is too fragile to overcome them—that He is not capable of withstanding my human objections. Yet I am convinced that the sovereign, omnipotent, holy God is not jeopardized by my questions. Rather, my faith is strengthened when I come to Him with a simple prayer: Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

Financial Update

Last month, I wrote a newsletter largely dedicated to support raising. The initial response was wonderful. As you can see from the chart, we made $3,471 in the month of June; 89% of where we need to be! That means we had a 7% increase in giving from the month of May to June! This increase is nothing to sneeze at, and I will not take that for granted. It is proof of God’s provision, and how he has worked through each of you. For that, we are so thankful! Working with College students, and seeing God transform them, is a true blessing. A blessing made possible through you and your giving!

We still, however, have at least 11% more to go. That means we still need your help financially. As I said in the last newsletter, our ministry account as dwindled down more than I feel comfortable with. I need help putting that cushion back into my ministry account. Having this cushion helps me to minister to students like Fiona, and see how God has worked in his life during her years at Pitt.

If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what makes ministry possible. Now is as important as ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through your giving. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra $5 to $25 on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference and reach my goal.

God has always provided, and he always will!

Remember that any gift is a good gift. We thank you, and pray that God bless you richly because you have given to advance His kingdom! Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

If interested in donating, please click the link below:

https://secure-q.net/Donations/CCO/15954

Moore News

The 14th Ward Diamondbacks are three-peaters! That’s right, the Diamondbacks won the World Series! Let’s go back to game 1, when the number one seated Diamondbacks played the number two seated Mets. The thing is, the Mets had had our number all year. The mentality carried over with the first world series game as the Mets beat us 6-7. After three straight rain-outs, we finally scheduled game two early on a Saturday morning. When we got there, we found out that half of the opposing players’ parents had made vacation plans, and weren’t planning to have a game three. In other words, they thought a win was in the bag. Needless to say, this didn’t sit to well with our team. During a real pitchers’ duel, our team won 2-1. It took a while to schedule our final game (because of the Mets’ vacation plans), but we finally did in a bit over a week later. The only bad part? We were taking Joshua to his STEM camp in Trenton, New Jersey. That means the Diamondbacks would be short one coach and (more importantly) one player. As we were in New Jersey, my mom (who came up to watch Ben and Asher) and pastor were both giving us live updates. For the first time, we put a hurting on the Mets. Ben had the game of his life pitching, fielding, and batting, and the Diamondbacks emerged victorious 11-7. Ben and Josh (from Trenton) were so happy! Let’s see if we can make it a four-peat!

Speaking of Joshua’s NYLF: STEM camp, he had a wonderful time. The week was spent at the College of New Jersey and consisted of engineering (mostly robotics work), forensics, and medicine. Being a pretty big extrovert (like his father), he was quick to make friends and experience a myriad of memories with them. He built a few robots, did blood analysis, and dissected a cow’s heart! It was an experience, I’m sure, he’ll never forget. While Josh was in class for most of the day, Emily and I had a nice vacation to ourselves. We went to New York City for two Days, Philadelphia for a day, the beach for a day, and Wilmington, Delaware for a day. It was such a great getaway!

We pray that this Newsletter finds you well! God Bless!

In Christ,
Andy Moore