Weekly Missions Focus - Week of September 13, 2009

Each week we focus in on updates and prayer for one of our supported missionaries.

This week is: Eriko Ishitsuka (Campus Ministry)

Eriko is on staff at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has been the director for the International Friendship Link (IFL) since 2002.

Dear friends,
Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. International Friendship Link is a sister ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois. Our vision is to create a safe community for international and American students to explore and deepen their understanding of faith and culture. We have weekly Bible studies and a large-group like gathering which we call Family Group. We also hold monthly outreach dinner discussions and organize several outdoor trips in the fall. Our hope is to build friendships with believers and seekers that can help them in their spiritual journey toward knowing and following Jesus Christ. I am part of a staff team with four others, where our main role is to disciple and provide training for our leaders.
Although half of our student leaders from last year left campus over the summer, we are grateful for the returning and new student leaders for this year. There has been good teamwork among them, and they are faithfully and courageously welcoming and reaching out to new students
We give thanks to God for bringing over 350 students from around the world that showed interest in our group from Quad Day and other outreach events we have done so far. We need God’s favor and leading to divinely connect with those that are spiritually open to the gospel, and with believers that are seeking a community that will help nurture their faith.
This semester, we have a weekend conference in November and the URBANA 09 missions conference in St. Louis. We hope many of our students will attend and be inspired and challenged individually, and grow as a community in understanding God’s vision for us. On a personal note, my husband and I are grateful for the arrival of our daughter Mayuri in July. Thank you so much for your prayers!!

Eriko

Prayer Requests:
1. God’s filling of our leaders with His Spirit of wisdom, joy, and creativity as they serve each other and the new students.
2. Recruitment for the URBANA 09 and our November weekend conference.
3. To be rooted in God’s Word and Spirit as the source of our strength, love and wisdom in our new stages in life and ministry.

The vision of CFC is to train each member of our church to become Christians who will not only remain faithful to God, but who will work and live for His glory. We desire to be a missions-minded church, with a congregation that is actively involved God’s work all over the world. To this end, 50% of all finances are devoted to missions. Listed here are various seminarians, ministries, and missionaries that CFC supports, financially and through prayer.