Fall 2012 Newsletter

Hi Family and Friends,

We hope that your Thanksgiving was blessed! 

Below is our first newsletter.  Enjoy!  Blessings!  (Philippians 3:12-14)

 

XA Fall Breakaway Update/Giving

Hi Team!

Here is a quick update on Fall Breakaway 2012:

From October 12th to 13th, we had the privilege of attending Ohio XA’s Fall Breakaway 2012, hosted at Camp Lebanon in Lebanon, Ohio. This year’s theme was “What’s up with your cup?” with a focus on Ephesians 5.  Jeff Alexander, state-wide XA Director for Indiana, was the key note speaker for the event.  This was an extra special treat for us because we had the privilege, during our Youngstown State University undergraduate years in Chi Alpha to meet Jeff and his wife, Sara, as they served as the campus pastors at The Ohio State University.  Students came to the altar for prayer for the baptism of the Holy Spirit!  What an incredible weekend!  We also had the opportunity to start connecting with the OSU Chi Alpha students!  

We are continuing to raise support.  Please consider giving so that we are able to reach the freshmen at Ohio State!  

A monthly gift of…	Equals a yearly gift of…
$10	$120
$25	$300
$50	$600
$75	$900
$100	$1200

If you are able to give, please do so by clicking the "Missions Giving" tab at the top of the page.  It will take you to our Assemblies of God giving page.  We will continue to keep you updated!  More to come.  Blessings!

Team Kurz

Giving Update and Fall Breakaway 2012

Hi Team!

We just wanted to take a minute to update you regarding the progress on our monthly and cash budgets.  Currently, we have a few people supporting us at $100.00/month and our cash budget is at $1000.00.  We have to raise a total of at least $3320.00/month and a cash budget of at least $5000.00.  We have a LONG way to go but we are believing that God will provide every dollar to send us to Ohio State!  When God calls us to it, He makes a way!  If you are interested in becoming part of our team, financially speaking, please click on the "Missions Giving" tab above.  It will direct you to our giving page through the Assemblies of God website.

We also wanted to inform you that we are traveling to Dayton this weekend to minister to XA students from all across Ohio at Fall Breakaway!  There are 150 students registered!  Praise God!  Will you join us in praying for students' lives to be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit?  We pray that many will be baptized in the Holy Spirit and experience God in new ways.  We also pray that God will speak into lives through the keynote speaker and the breakout session speakers.  Tom will be teaching a breakout session titled Maximizing Your Devotional Life and Charity will be teaching a breakout titled Discerning God's Will for Your Life:  Hearing God's Voice and Being Led by the Spirit.  Please pray that God would use us and the other XA leaders to speak life into these young people!

Looking forward to posting an update soon!  Blessings!

The Kurz Team

Entitlement v. Servant

Why?  It's a question that I think we all find ourselves asking in various times in our lives.  See our society allows us to feel entitled to answers, entitled to quality, and entitled to the "American Dream"...entitled to "why."  As Christians, even though we are children of God, we are not entitled to anything.  God graciously offers forgiveness, love, mercies, and the list goes on.  We never deserve those things; God chooses to give them freely to us.  I have heard sermons before on being entitled because we are children of God and I agree to an extent.  But God chooses to graciously give when we give our lives to Him.  He doesn't have to give because of entitlement, instead He CHOOSES to give. 

In my own life, I have felt entitled to answers from God.  Reasons why things happen the way that they do or did...As evident in my last post, I felt entitled to a reason for why God put us in the middle of State College in the midst of the turmoil what would erupt a few months after moving.  Why did He place us in this community?  Wouldn't we have been better off where we were?  With family, friends, and ministry we dearly loved?  For over a year, I have been asking God these questions without any response.  Oh see He would answer me in other areas and He would show me things not related to our move, but He kept silent for over a year on this particular topic.  It was a tough year not truly being able to recognize His plan in all of this.  To be honest, I did feel entitled to an explanation.  We picked up our family and moved 300 miles east, for what?  I have sacrificed things as a mom, as a wife, and as a minister. 

Last spring, when God began to open our eyes while He opened doors for ministry with XA, I began to see hope and see past the entitlement.  I began to see that God was at work all along!  He had ordained the moments and He had laid steps for us to walk.  It was Him that opened doors for His will!  When I began to focus on just hearing God's voice and being attentive to His leading, my entitlement attitude began to fade.  Things began to look differently.  Don't get me wrong, I still wondered about His reasons for placing us in this community, but I was able to see it from a different angle.  I began to understand that it wasn't necessary for me to have the answers that I felt I needed, but it was necessary for me to trust His leading.  He has never left us or forsaken us.  In whatever He has called us to do, He has always provided. 

So this past Sunday, I went to the altar to remind myself and God that I truly live to serve Him.  While kneeling in His presence, I clearly heard Him speak to me regarding the reasons I wanted.  He said to me, "I sent you to State College and to the University for the people.  See the main reason that I sent you there wasn't to earn a degree but to bring them Me.  I sent Jesus to bring Me even to those who spit on Him and treated Him with contempt.  I sent you there to bring Me even to those who hate what you represent.  Your main purpose there is to bring Me."   

Wow.  It seems so simple:  The Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).  I am here to bring Him to the people. 

The question then is:  am I doing that?  Am I living a life of worship (Romans 12:1-2)?  Are people seeing the Light of Jesus in the darkness?  What am I doing to contribute to their view of Christians?

I think that these questions are for us all to consider as we think about where God has placed us.  Are we truly living the Word in our lives?  Do we love our neighbors even when they show contempt? 

I am writing this entry not only for myself but for each person reading it.  We are not entitled to anything; God has blessed us with His Son, Jesus.  He has blessed us with His gifts of mercy, grace, love, hope, and...you can fill in the rest.  My prayer is that each us would grab hold of the truth that we were created to worship Him by serving Him with our lives.  When we recognize that we exist to serve Him, to do His will, our perspective changes from entitlement to servant. 

Who needs Jesus?

I (Charity) wrote this as a blog post about a year ago...I think that it still has meaning for me today and I thought that I would share it.  

When the Lord called me to complete my Ph.D., I was and still am unsure as to what I will be doing with the education after graduation.  In fact, I am not sure why He called me to the particular school and community that my family I currently reside.  I know that Jesus came to provide salvation for ALL people.  I also know that the people in the realm of academia “get forgotten” when it comes to ministry.  I am not sure if this is because we are afraid to talk to those with “degrees” about Jesus for fear of rejection or if we already assume that they will not accept the message of salvation.  Regardless of whatever qualms may be, we need to recognize that Jesus came to save the academician as well.  He not only came to save people in other countries and others less fortunate, but He also came to save those who work in our nearby universities and schools.  My prayer is for all of us working with academicians (or if we are academicians ourselves)…that the Lord would give us wisdom and would prepare opportunities for us to share the ‘good news.’  After all, He does call us to go into ALL the world, even our universities, and share the good news!  Many blessings! 

(Matthew 28:16-20)

Account Number Correction

Hi Friends and Family!  There was a mistake with our account number.  Our correct account number:  #2718526.  Please click here to contribute:  Missions Giving.  Thanks for your patience!  We will keep you updated!

His Strategic Plan

Update:  We are back in our hometown, Youngstown, Ohio, visiting and meeting with friends and family!  We have had many opportunities to share our passion and vision for the students of The Ohio State University.  What a blessing it is to the have the opportunity to share about what God is doing in and through our lives! We are in full-swing support raising...LONG way to go but God is faithful!  We know that He is "strategically" building a team around us!  We are praying that He will lead us to the people that are meant to serve alongside us, through prayer and financial support.  We are learning that missions is very strategic.  If you look back at Paul's journey, everything about it was strategic!  :)  So glad to be part of HIS strategy to reach the students at OSU.  If you would like to be part of our team and give, the website link is: Missions Giving.  Our account # is 2956860.  Many blessings and much love as you serve the King!

For His Kingdom,
The Kurz Team

We had an INCREDIBLE weekend in Columbus meeting with all of the Ohio Ministry Network Chi Alpha Staff!  It is great to connect with other people that share the same passion:  ministering to college students.  We are truly looking forward to ministering to the freshmen students.  

We have officially started support raising!  We are very excited about what God is going to do through this.  We are praying that God is preparing hearts to partner with Team Kurz.  The students need to know that there is more to life than partying, faulty theologies, and empty philosophies.  All of those things will leave you empty.  Only Jesus can fill you...He is truly our hope!  Please pray about partnering with us to bring Hope to these students.  

Follow our blog as we update you about our progress on this journey!  Many blessings to each of you!  

For His Kingdom,

Team Kurz

Well friends and family, we have officially begun our Chi Alpha journey to Ohio State!  We are waiting on an account number from the national office and Tom is about to complete the support raising training that will allow us to begin partnerships with friends, family, and those that the Lord leads us to. We are excited about this next step in our lives to begin working with college students at Ohio State!  We are thankful for God's provision that has provided us with the funds for training.

We will be using this blog to keep everyone informed about our journey to serve at Ohio State as missionary associates and we will continue to use this blog as we work with students!  We are excited to be part of the Lord's work in an area that truly needs the love of Jesus.  Please partner with us in prayer as we begin the next phase of preparation.  Much love in Christ!  (Jeremiah 29:11)