Ariel’s job, take 2

So I just got a call from Ariel whose at work right now saying come March when the new medical center opens there’s a “very high possibility” she would be able to transfer to days on the pediatrics floor (where she currently works). This would be GREAT!!!  We are praying hard something would happen for her to get switched off nights, because it’s really been wearing on us the last several weeks.

It’s hard to not get our hopes up with this. We trust whatever God has in store for us is best. But we are definitely praying hard for this.

More MZMO

A few days ago Reed and I got the chance to share the gospel with someone from MZMO. We’ll call him “Jamie” (because the other guy who I know named Jamie reminds me a lot of him).

I’m not going to lie as I was making plans to get lunch with this guy I was really praying hard that God would give us a chance to share the bridge with him.  And God did!

He seemed pretty interested throughout.  Jamie’s grown up in the church but is really trying to figure out for himself what it looks like to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Pray hard that we would be able to get another opportunity to talk with him before the winter break.

Ariel’s (potential) new job update

Ariel still hasn't heard back from the manager as to whether or not she's been picked for the days position, but the more Ariel learned about it during the actual interview the more unattractive of a position it turned out to be.  The HUGE perk is that it's days.  However, the actual type of nursing it is is uninteresting to Ariel and would be pretty challenging. She's been working with children and the position is for adult women who've come out of surgeries, cancer, etc...  If she is offered the job we would need to pray more about whether it's really something she would want or whether we should stick it out a bit longer with her working nights on a floor she really enjoys with the possibility of moving to days on the same floor sometime in the future.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

MZMO

Here’s another dorm you can be praying over.

Turns out all of the freshman guys in the Bible Study I’m helping out with live either in this dorm or MZMO.  God’s given us 4 guys who live on the same floor here! Mike, his roommate Gary (both who came on the camping trip), Jake, and his roommate (I forgot his name).

Funny story: four years ago I was an RA on this exact same floor-4 MO.  Walking down it brings back some really good memories. Please pray for entrances to this hall.

National Staff Conference

In 3 hours me and Ariel are leaving to Phoenix to catch a plane to Florida for our national collegiate staff conference which happens every two years.  We’re pretty tired going into this, but excited nonetheless.  The last staff conference we went to with just our region was an extremely refreshing time filled with a ton of great training that left both Ariel and I super encouraged to return to campus.  We’re praying this will do the same.

Jerry Bridges and some other famous authors will be there giving us some talks.  I’m attending a workshop by him on how to be an effective teacher. Ariel is attending one on how to make the house a place of hospitality. In addition to a couple of other workshops we’ll get to see some of our close friends from around the US.  We’re stoked. We’ll be returning to campus Nov 3rd, where upon I’ll be furiously cramming to give me first NavNite talk (which is also my first time ever pubic speaking to a group of more than 10 people. It will be more like 120.) :/

Posada san Pedro

It seems God is not going to allow me into this residence hall unless I pray my way in.  One committed student in a freshman Bible Study lives there, and I’ve been on his floor once already this semester. Please pray he would adapt Acts 18:26-27 as his calling verse to his dorm, and that people there (despite it being a historically closed off dorm) would begin to be social and come to a knowledge of Jesus.

Camping!

Thanks for all your prayers!  Some highlights from the trip this past week are:

- TONS of new people came!  About 1/3 of the trip were freshman, and several people were non-believers

- Everyone really enjoyed themselves. We spent all day Saturday on the beach and the common feel throughout the day was that everyone was genuinely enjoying each other.  That’s I believe that’s a direct answer to praying Romans 15:5-7 for trip!

- Despite some set backs (involving a stingray, 2 blown tires, and a caravan getting lost) everyone arrived back home in Tucson safe and sound.

- There is a night/day difference in the freshman class after the trip. They know who each other are, enjoy each other, and feel like the have found a “family” they belong to.

Please continue to pray that the effects of unity would be that “with one heart and mouth we would glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Camping, 09 Trip

This Friday we’re taking almost 100 UofA students to camp in CA near the beach on our first Nav trip of the year. A lot of planning has gone into this trip and our prayer is that it God’s love will be shown to the several non-believers coming on the trip.  Pray also it would be a great time to bond the group, especially the freshman.

Romans 15:5-7

⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Colossians 2:6-7

Japanese friend named “M." We spent the summer of '06 together in Tokyo, and he's flown out to Arizona to visit twice. This last week I traveled to Long Beach and Irvine to visit him. He's shown here with '09 setter Dan.

⁶So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

snakebite update

After seeing more doctors and giving more blood than I ever want to again, the verdict for now is that I can go to CA this weekend for our annual Navigators Regional Kickoff (yay!) and I don't need to get more antivenom.  So that's really good!  My blood is still screwy (read: really thin), but the doctor told me as long as I'm careful and avoid major activities for the next 2-3 weeks I'll be fine and it should thicken out eventually.

Thanks for your prayers!

Recovery

Keep praying I recover quickly from this dumb snake bite. I’ve been dizzy and way weaker than I though i would be. Today I had to cancel 2 out of my 3 meeting time with students. It’s even more frustrating because I’m heading out of town next week and don’t feel like I’ve had much time to “sow” during this extremely valuable sowing season.  Pray for energy and that God would lead clearly on who to be investing in during this precious time at the beginning of the semester.

And for your viewing pleasure, my best scar from this whole experience is in fact totally unrelated to the rattlesnake bite.  While in the ambulance the EMT tried putting in an IV right when we went over a bumpy bridge.  The result was an IV that slipped out, lots of blood, a ruined shirt, and a sweet bruise :)

Email Update

Thanks for your prayers these first two weeks of school. Things are still pretty crazy here, but as the dust settles it's looking like we'll have a great freshman class. A few days ago I ran into a guy named Tony who, though first seemed extremely antagonistic towards God, after talking was interested in getting together to read the Bible. Praise God!

I got bit by a rattlesnake two days ago. Just got out of the ICU about an hour ago. Thanks for your prayers; the nurses said it was one of the best cases they'd seen (as in, not blue and my blood returned to normal fairly quickly). However as a result I had to cancel my plane ticket to Hawaii that was supposed to leave this morning :(. Me, another staff, and our campus director were going to Hawaii on a training trip to encourage and see the ministry of two of my close friends. Pray they would have a good time and that I would heal quickly. It's pretty painful to walk on my foot. Right now I'm immobile nearly all the time, which is humbling and annoying.

Also, please be praying for Ariel's parents and cousins. 3 weeks ago they lost their grandma very sudden, and now just got word Ariel's cousin's grandma had a very serious stroke and probably won't make it much longer. Recently it's been a very difficult time for Ariel's family.

I got to share he Gospel with someone

I’ve never really done that before.  I’ve tried before, but in the past people will find a reason to leave, or something will come up, or whatever.  We randomly met a guy on the mall the other day who started bashing a campus wide worship event that had happened a few days ago.  I felt particularly blunt for some reason and called him arrogant for thinking that (not the approach I would recommend taking…).  Neither of us were picking a fight, however, and eventually I ended up telling him the Judge story, which he found fascinating—Explaining how a Holy God can be both totally righteous and totally loving, expressed through Jesus.  I got his number and he said he’d be up for reading through the Bible sometime. He ended up staying for dinner, meeting everyone else, and playing board games in the dorms with everyone after I had left.

And by God’s grace I’ve run into him on campus nearly every day after. Pray he would come to know Jesus as Lord.

I’ve never been more excited to seek out the lost than I have been this year.

First Bible Study

So I finally sort of know what my role this year is.  Turns out (despite what I thought) I will not in fact be leading a freshman Bible Study.  I will instead by helping two of our juniors, Micah and Reed, lead their freshman study.  I will assume more of a “coach” role with them. I’ll be meeting with one or two of the guys in the study and help Micah and Reed through every step of the process.

Their study is meeting for the first time tonight at 7pm in Gila dorm.  I’ve been heavily involved in the recruiting time and have met all of the guys that are planning on coming out to the study, and I think it should be a great time.  Please be praying this group of guys bonds quickly with each other and sees each other as men who they can trust and grow with over these four years of college.

Philippians mentions a man as being a brother, co-laborer, and fellow soldier.  Micah and Reed have a healthy friendship with each other and this year will become co-laborers. Pray the men in the study would see themselves as fellow soldiers after four years together.

Recruitment

So ends day 3 of recruitment.  I’ve met several freshman in Yuma dorm, none of whom seem to be believers, which is pretty cool.  Pray I can continue to develop relationships with them.  Pray I would be more aware of how to introduce the Gospel into everyday conversation and be very aware of the Spirits leading on when to further develop a relationship versus when to simply throw down the Gospel on them.

(For example, yesterday we were throwing a football with four freshman we had just met in Yuma.  I was talking a lot to a guy named Tim who seemed open.  I had no idea if he had any sort of interest in God and asked him if he wanted to be a part of a weekly Bible Study.  He said “no” but maybe later in the year. It’s tricky to tell whether that was the best rout or whether I could’ve developed a relationship with him over the years and asked at a later time.)

Sowing Season Begins

Tomorrow the dorms open and craziness begins!  The first two weeks are when we recruit 90% of our students.

My freshman year I had a friend who, when asked why he came to UofA he would say “I have no idea.” When asked whether he was a Christian he would say “nope.” When asked why he became involved with Navs he would say “Because they loved me and I felt like I belonged.”

5 years later he’s actively serving and loving the Lord in his work place.

Pray we would receive students like him.

 

P.S. Currently Ariel and I are 93% funded. Praise God!!!  If you would still like to give check out our website at: www.navstaff.org/Mullarkey

Yes Man!

Summer of Senior year I was a team leader at a summer training program in the CO rockies. I was responsible for leading, bonding, and helping to grow three students who composed our “team.” We were progressing through the summer living together, having several weekly events together, etc, and we enjoyed each other but there was still not that special bond that long time friends enjoyed. One night someone on our team suggested we take a bag of karate belts we found, push over some small dead trees, tie them together, build a 7ft long raft and see if it floated in the reservoir at midnight. I had work the next day and the thought of going out late on a cold night to jump in a bacteria infested pond was the last thing I wanted to do. But for the sake of the team I said “sure.”

To date it was one of the best experiences I had that entire summer as far as bonding with my team went. It gave our team the shared experience necessary to feel bonded, which translated into a trust freeing us to share more deeply about our lives.

This next year I want to say “Yes” to opportunities provided they meet two conditions: 1. They build relationships, 2. They’re legal.

Relationships are build through shared experiences. I can create quantities of time to hang out with students, but it’s up to God to determine the quality of that time. Pray this semester He give truly quality time when hanging out with students that would develop trust and allow us to experience Christ in our fellowship at a deeper level.

On-Campus Approved!

Yesterday I received an email from HQ saying I had acheived a high enough percentage of my budget to officially be able to be on campus this coming sememster. Praise God!

We are still about 5% shy of being fully funded and have no idea where that extra will come from. Thank you everyone for you support and prayers.

Please especially be praying for our campus director, Bryce Bouchard (aznavigators@gmail.com), as he still needs to raise a significant amount in teh next 2 weeks.