First Urbana '06 entry

Today, I’m in downtown St. Louis, MO with 38 others from Frontiers – some from as far away as India and Malaysia. We’re getting our booth ready for Urbana ’06, which is attracting more than 21,000 college students and young people (delegates) for 5 days of worship, learning, and seeking out how God would have them bless the nations.

I’ve come here seeking to develop new relationships with people from across America who already feel called to reach Muslims or are just investigating the possibility. Already, I’m seeing God’s mercy at work. About 2.5 weeks ago, my back was in serious pain – to the point that I could barely walk. When I looked in the mirror, it appeared as if my hips were in one side of the room and my torso in the other. By God’s grace and with the help of a brace, I’m feeling well enough to participate.

Another blessing has been that Urbana is, for the first time, being held in a convention center of a major city, rather than a campus hours away from a major airport. This has saved our team so much time and energy. We’re using hotels for the first time as well, and the one I was booked to stay in became overfilled, so Urbana changed things at the last minute. I’m now staying half a block away from our exhibit, rather than half a mile. A huge blessing!

One other item of praise – past Urbana have been so overrun with students that exhibitors like myself were barely ever allowed to participate in the main sessions, where thousands of delegates worship together and learn from God’s Word. Most of the time, for space considerations, we were relegated to a lecture hall or gym, where we could watch what was going on via television. This year is different – we can take part in everything because the main event is taking place on an NFL football field. I’m very excited.

In the summer of 2005, in England, when Frontiers overseas workers and others were discussing what our exhibit should be, I found myself suggesting that we take advantage of the latest technology and allow Urbana delegates to interact live, one-on-one, with Frontiers workers overseas. The idea was accepted. Over the next four days, fourteen field workers from the Muslim world, will be available to answer students’ questions about what life is like in their various fields. We could sure use prayer as we seek to work out technical glitches to make this dream a reality. We’ve also set up a large, authentic Moroccan tent where students can watch a challenging video about the Muslim world and pray.

I’m excited about what God is going to do in the next few days, and I look forward to posting more praise reports and praise requests—maybe some photos, too! Thanks for your partnership through prayer!