The Sovereign Times Winter Into Spring Guys Night and Dave In February | started hosting a guysonly game night, (It seemed an obvious approach given that Ive met most of the guys | know through spending time in the lounge/game room where they hang out.) My hopes in initiating a weekly gathering were twofold: 1) to continue developing relation- ships with a handful of guys I've met on campus 2) to connect the game room guys with some of the guys from our Christian fellowship. Things started out rocky about 4 guys came the first week, 4 the second and then things took off! After a few weeks a couple of them began asking me about what Ido and why. it was a great oppor- tunity to begin sowing into their lives. I've spent enough time with them that I've now eared the right to be heard. From the start | hoped to pique interest in a weekly study and accountability time—this was just the opening | needed. For the past few weeks about 3 guys come over early to spend time looking into Scripture, then an other 5-8 guys come for the games. This continues to be a great outreach time! One of the game room guys, Dave, has been a regular since the start of the guys’ night. (He also began attending our weekly campus fel- lowship about the same time, too.) At the guys’ night he is often the last guy to leave... we wait until the coast is clear then set up the chess board and talk/play for an other hour. I've really enjoyed get- ting to know him this semester and have been praying for his sal- vation for two months. As a result of the Holy Spirit's work in his life through this semester Dave prayed to receive Christ just before Easter! Praise God with us! April 2009 “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:35 Editor's Note This edition of the Sovereign Times has taken longer to put together than usual. The arti- cles were done and the pictures chosen then Dave received Christ and | wanted to be sure to share with you our excitement. So | reworked the article and reformatted the pic- tures. It was almost ready for printing. Then Ariella accepted Christ on Thursday and Blaise became a Christian on Sunday! I've cleared just enough space to let you know that their stories are posted on our blog (listed on back). Pajama Party! Similar in nature to the girls’ night we had in Octo- ber, twenty girls that came for all or part of the event, including a couple that | (Ashley) had never met! We started with some fun icebreakers, then got a workout! One of the girls brought a Bollywood workout DVD and we all tried it out. It was a lot of fun and even more laughs! The theme of the night was authenticity and its importance in a community. This topic is some- thing that this generation desperately wants but has a hard time finding It was a thought provoking discussion. Later on in the night we had the oppor- tunity to practice what we preached! By this time several people left to go back to their rooms to sleep so it was a smaller crowd. A couple gis shared their struggles and we had the privilege of lifting them up to our Father in prayer. One asked the simple and yet difficult question ‘How do | trust We've seen God do some pretty amazing things in both our own lives and those of our students this year— especially the past few weeks. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God has put us here and is blessing this ministry. Yet He is currently remind ingus to trust Him in all things. | have partnered with a local church for the past two years and served as the Director of College Ministries. The church, which subsidizes about 1/3 of our monthly support, is shifting its focus and resources toward the youth and family ministries. tt has opted not to renew its contract with CCO fora third year. 'm thankful for my time with the church and agree that this decision best positions it for longterm growth. My service at the church will wrap up in July when my contract ends. We'te excited for what God has in store! Pray with us for His direction and provision.Much has happaned since our lst newsletter! Clockwise from upper eft One cof the highighes was ‘our Thanksgiving trip to New York City and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, We had prime spots right in the middle of Times Square! We hosted a Christmas party for the sudents in our minstry. The theme was Christmas swanters! The official photographer (Andrew Rush) of the CCO's jbiee Conference in Pieeburgh captured some of our students worshping and Greg listening to 2 speaker. We took 18 sudents {0 the conference! We have had more snow this year than the past two Philadelphia wincers. It made for some fun snow days! Cole, 6 Yamonths, absoluely adored by Caed and Abii, Caed is always happy ‘make Cole lugh by ticking or, in this case, dressing him in disguise Pratses + Caed's improvement in school. We've met with his teacher to discuss his attention difficulties. After some adjustments to his schedule at home we've seen an improvement in his classroom behavior and performance. + New support. What a faithful God we serve! In our last newsletter we shared about our financial need. We've seen over $250 in new monthly support, plus other additional gifts! Thank you for investing in our lives and ministry through your gifts and prayers! + Anew apartment. An apartment in our building that was formerly used by — the maintenance manager is actually 2 apartments combined into one. | Greg and Ashley Sovereign With an extra bedroom for our family and a much larger gathering space CCO staff at Arcadia University for our students, we were praying hard about it. The school needed to approve the change (it was previously set aside for student occupancy) and decide on a new rental rate. We just found out that the change was approved and the rent would only increase $150/month (we were bracing || Ashley 610-883-1787 for a $400/month jump that we couldn't afford)! It’s not official, but will “ likely happen within the next 6 weeks. Dave, Ariella, and Blaise accepting Christ. Pray for their growth! www.sovereignfamily.blogspot.com ronsforming tudonts to transform the world Greg 610-888-1792 gdsov@hows