Lord, raise up college students who will spark a fire at their school with their passion to care for orphans.
This prayer is continually on our hearts at Show Hope, and was featured as our “Daily Prayer” yesterday. I can tell this resonated with many of you by the response it received on Twitter and Facebook! As I read the prayer yesterday morning, I couldn’t help but smile…I planned to go to lunch that day with two very special college students!
Ginna Claire Mason and Alexa Behar joined Emily, Julia, and I for lunch in downtown Franklin in the precious last few days before they return to Elon University in North Carolina. Along with their small group at school, these girls joined the movement to care for orphans by raising more than $5000 in three days!!
While home on a break last spring, these young women were given twenty dollars through the “Living A Better Story” program at Brentwood United Methodist Church, located just outside of Nashville. The program was inspired by Donald Miller’s latest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and included a devotional that they were to read through as they discerned what to do with their funds. They were asked to pray over and invest in a ministry or person outside of the walls of the church.
Alexa suggested that they raise the funds for Show Hope, and Ginna Claire and their college small group got on board with full force! They raised the funds by asking friends to donate “meal swipes” in their school’s cafeteria, selling cupcakes and hand-made pieces of art, and through “dorm storms,” where they asked their classmates to donate spare change to change the world for orphans. These girls are showing hope to their school in an exciting way, and they are already planning their next fundraiser for Show Hope this fall!
I have been in on the recent Show Hope meetings where we’ve dreamed about and planned new student initiatives, and these ladies are definitely an inspiration to us! I hope you will continue to join me in prayer for Alexa and Ginna Claire, the students from our youth trips this summer, and the millions of college students across the nation who are heading back to school.
