June 2017 Newsletter

Meet the Students

Meet Jack McAuliffe, a sophomore that has been involved in Cornerstone, and read his testimony…

Starting college is truly overwhelming. It’s a place where you are forced to make choices that shape who you will be and what your future will look like. You’re away from your home for the first time and students must choose between so many different facets of life to find their foundation. After applying to nine schools, I really questioned if coming to Pitt was the right choice of where I was supposed to be. I remember researching the campus ministries at Pitt and coming across Cornerstone. I mentioned it to my mom and she said, “Oh I know what that is, that’s where I went at Pitt.” I was blessed to grow up in a Christian household and upon going to school I knew I wanted to make God the priority in my life. Immediately upon walking into Cornerstone I felt welcomed into the community with friendly faces and interesting ice breaker questions from some of the students. I really enjoyed my first Cornerstone nights and Freshman Bible Studies and decided to go on the fall retreat.

The fall retreat provided me an opportunity to work on new friendships but more importantly to strongly feel God’s hand on my life. On the last day of the fall retreat weekend during our quiet time I came across Matthew 6, specifically the section “Do Not Worry.” This section calls us to trust’s God provision for our life which I realized I needed to do for my life. I read, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” This is when I first realized that Pitt is where I was supposed to be. I thought of all the amazing, accepting people I had made friends with the Cornerstone community and knew that through all of my uncertainty, God had gone before me and had what was best for me planned. I was aware that God is unchanging and would continue to be my rock in college and that this community will allow me to grow closer to Him.

My freshman year of Cornerstone continually challenged me to reexamine my priorities, trust, and understanding of God and scripture. Freshman Bible Study went through the Sermon on the Mount this spring and I really valued every discussion we had about how God calls us to live our lives. When Jesus gave this teaching, it was very counter cultural and that stands true today. My faith and the support from Cornerstone makes me want to pursue being a better person each day even when it’s not the easy path. I was blessed to be part of a discussion group with two other Cornerstone guys who had so much knowledge of the scripture that I truly benefited learning from them. I’m thrilled by my opportunity to be a part of Freshman Ministry Team next fall and hopefully be a friendly face to help new freshman feel comfortable joining this community. As someone who is generally quieter, I will be challenged out of my comfort zone. But, no one ever grew in their faith or as a person without challenge. And that’s what Cornerstone is all about.

Financial Update

Every so often, I write a newsletter largely dedicated to support raising. As you may have guessed, this is one of those Newsletters. Support raising has been one of those things that I have been descent at. I make my asks and I write my newsletters, and God puts the wheels in motion. I no longer view it as a “necessary evil” as some often do, but as a necessity for living and to see God’s provision. This, however, does mean that support raising is always easy, or that I don’t hit bumps in the road. Lately, it seems that I have hit quite a few bumps.

Do to various ministry expenses, our ministry account as dwindled down; it no longer holds the financial cushion that puts my mind at ease. I know that God has provided, and will continue to provide. There is no doubt about that. My mind is not worry free, however. The thought of providing for my family always pops up. I don’t have sleepless nights over it, but it is a pin prick in the back of my mind. I know that I need to pick things up, or that pin prick might become larger.

To put it bluntly, I need your help financially. I need help putting that cushion back into my ministry account. Having this cushion helps me to minister to students like Jack, and see how God has worked in his life during his years at Pitt. Yes, I will continually need to seek financial help as long as I’m a campus minister, but having a balance to work with frees up my time a bit more.

Working with College students, and seeing God transform them, is a true blessing. It is my ministry. Seeing how God has worked through all of you to provide financially is a true blessing. It is my ministry. I thank you all for that.

As you can see from the chart, we made $3,221 in the month of May; 82% of where we need to be. 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.

In every Newsletter, I preach that God has always provided, and he always will. This is something that I not only preach to you, but (like the Gospel) I preach to myself daily. I will say it again, “God will provide. He always has, 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.

To donate, go to: http://ccojubilee.org/donate/

Moore News

I am happy to say, that the Diamondbacks (Benjamin and Joshua’s Little League team) are in the World Series again for the second straight year! How they got there is quite the story. Going into the playoffs, we were the first seeded team, so we got a first round bye and were automatically in the semifinals. During the semifinals (against the Dodgers), we started out to an early lead of 7-1. The Dodgers soon mounted a comeback, and took the lead of 11-7 going into the final inning. The Dodgers got the first two outs quickly, and things were looking bleak. That did not stop us, however! We started to rally from behind, and soon we were down 11-10 with the bases loaded. Who came up to bat? None other than Benjamin. I can’t think of a higher-pressure situation for him. On the first pitch, he cranks a ball over the left fielder’s head and gets the walk-off double! The team dog-piled him, and he won star of the game! Now he and Josh are in the World Series. I’m not sure how the season will end, but I can tell you that both Joshua and Benjamin have had a tremendous season. I couldn’t be prouder of them!

Speaking of proud parents, all three of the boys had a great school year! Asher was accepted to the gifted program, Joshua was nominated and accepted to the National Youth Leadership Forum, and Benjamin won Student of the Semester in the gifted program! I always got good grades growing up, but never applied myself. Emily always got good grades growing up, but applied herself. I am glad that they got Emily’s work ethic!

We pray that that you are well, and that God is doing amazing things through you. Have a good a relaxing summer!

In Christ,
Andy Moore