The school year has come to an end, and the majority of College students have gone home for the summer. Instead of taking time to recover in May, we have already begun to plan for the fall semester. This is partially due to the fact that my coworker, Mark Michaelis, will be in Philadelphia. Mark will be working with students in the CCO’s experiential trip, entitled “Encounter Philadelphia.” We are trying to plan everything we can for the upcoming semester while we still have him around. Let me just say, that I think that we have some exciting things planned for Cornerstone.
This summer, instead of having our usual large group gathering (which we have called Common Ground) we will be hosting a bible study on the Ten Commandments. I will be co-leading the Bible Study along with my coworkers Bobbi Perkins, Juliet Casinelli, and Dan Isadore. We will also be having another Bible Study, led by my former CCO Fellow Jordan Trump, on the book of Romans. It should be a great summer.
Meet the Students
Faith has always been an important aspect of my life since I was a child, but I could not have foreseen how much stronger it would grow in my short time at Pitt so far. When I was beginning my freshmen year last August, I knew right away that I wanted to get involved in some sort of Christian ministry around campus. As fate would have it, on the Wednesday during orientation week at the "Maintaining Your Faith in College" workshop, I met Andy Moore and Morgan Mitchell at the Cornerstone table. In that moment, I felt God telling me that this is where I was called to be, that Cornerstone would grow me into the person I am meant to become and allow me to carry out his work impacting the members of the Pitt community at large.
I made my presence in the group felt from the start, arriving 20 minutes early for the first Wednesday service of the year and confusing everyone with my punctuality. Luckily, I was welcomed in with open arms and along the way, I have met some of my closest friends at Pitt who have played a huge part in my spiritual growth. From this time on, I immersed myself in Cornerstone. My favorite thing within the organization quickly became our weekly Freshmen Bible Study every Thursday night. In high school, I was never invested enough in scripture and I knew this needed to change when I went to college. So every week, I always looked forward to Bible study more than anything else. I could see the changes that this time in Cornerstone was having on my life. I was growing stronger in my faith and becoming closer to God than I ever had been before. But towards the end of my first semester at Pitt, I felt like I could be doing more to help others reach this same point in their lives. That is when I decided to interview for a position on the Freshmen Ministry Team, taking on a leadership role that shaped the next five months of my life and continues to do so now.
In my eyes, this past spring semester at Pitt has been one of the greatest periods of growth in my life across the board. I was really tested a lot spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, but I feel that I am a much stronger person now that I have made it out to the other side. I had to juggle very challenging coursework with being the President of my Hall Council and leading Freshmen Bible Study, and at times I got knocked down. But I always had people who picked me back up. I attended Jubilee and reaffirmed my place in all of this. And I had the reassurance from God that I would make it through these tough trials still standing tall. Without Cornerstone, my first year at Pitt would have looked a lot different. I would not have these important people in my life. My faith would have been stagnant. I would have lacked the strength to get through these difficult moments. But here I am today, stronger than ever because of that decision I made all the way back in August to check out Cornerstone. And now, as I soon enter my sophomore year, I will do all that I can to make sure that our campus ministry can have that same impact on a new group of students.
Financial Update
Our financial journey is not over, however, for we are receiving a raise of an extra $350 a month! It is hard receiving a raise, mainly because the burden of raising the extra money falls on us asking you all for more help. We are stepping out in faith, again, and knowing the God will provide financially. In this step of faith, we are asking for you to be a part of this ministry through financial giving. We are also asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% to 25% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and to help reach my new goal.
If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what helps makes ministry to students like Sam possible, and helps me get out on campus. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! Remember that any gift is a good gift. We could always use financial help, and if you are interested in supporting this ministry (or giving extra), I would love to meet with you. Please contact me using the information on the front of this newsletter or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org. Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.
Moore News
The boys just have about a month left in school, and then (hopefully) we can begin a rather relaxing summer. For Christmas we bought season passes for Sandcastle (a local waterpark), so it should be a rather fun summer. Sandcastle should also be a fun replacement for baseball, since Josh and Ben are taking the year off.
I am continuing with my education, and just finished taking “Basic Hebrew.” I’ve always heard that Hebrew is a language you just get, or you must work extremely hard at. Luckily for me, it was something that I took to. This summer, I will be taking a class on Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians.
Emily recently got a job a Chick-Fil-A and has been spending her mornings doing that before the boys get off from school. She will be cutting back on her Chick-Fil-A hours once the summer hits and the boys are on vacation. She will also be nannying again, in the not-too-distant future, for some friend’s kids. Also, Emily had a terrific Mother’s Day. The boys bought her the movie Black Panther (yes, that was a gift for her and not for themselves), and we ate at the local Mexican restaurant Patron.
We pray that his newsletter finds you well. God Bless!
In Christ,
Andy Moore
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