Talks from Paradox Conference

Hey everyone, if you are interested in listening to and of the rallies or seminars that went on at Paradox 2009, check out the website: http://www.paradox2009.com/ and go to "resources".

There are tons of great materials. My personal favorite talk was Andy Lewis's talk, "The Paradox of Contentment" and I'd personally recommend all the men to listen to Dr. Mike Ross' men's seminar! Enjoy!

Paradox Conference Update!

"So I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the one who gave it all. I'll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered... all I am is yours."

The words above were the cry of the 500 students in Washington DC from Dec 29 to Jan 2. During this conference, God showed up in some amazing ways and Amy & I were privileged to be a part of God's work in the hearts of many, many men and women. Six different students from Charlotte made professions of faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! On the evening of January 1st, one of the speakers (Andy Lewis, pastor of Mitchell Road Pres in Greenville, SC) made a particularly strong call to everyone in the room to stop viewing their relationship with Christ as a on-again, off-again dating relationship and instead commit to following him as in a marital relationship. It was after this talk that four girls from UNCC gave their lives to Christ in the span of one hour! All 34 students from UNCC were significantly impacted by the preaching of God's Word and corporate worship. From exploring the monuments, visiting museums, staying 3 blocks from the White House, staying up late having spiritual conversations, worshipping with 500+ people, having a crazy dance party to bring in the new year and an awesome concert put on by a Christian hip-hop artist, JR, this conference was amazing!! It's hard to put into words all that God was doing at this conference, so below are some videos of students who were at the conference (I'll let them tell the story)! I would encourage you to take a minute to watch at least one of them. These students' testimonies are direct answers to your prayers!

Please pray that the seeds that have been sown into the hearts of these students would fall on to good soil (Matthew 13). The first day of classes in Monday!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Amy & I both hope that your 2009 Christmas was blessed!! It has been a treat to be able to see many of you over the Holidays. We are always reminded of how fortunate we are during this season when we are able to visit with you all!

We just wanted to send you a quick reminder that tomorrow we leave for Washington DC and the Paradox 2009 New Year's Conference. (Above is a picture of our staff members from our Charlotte, Lynchburg and Greenville regions that have been planning this conference at a Christmas Party that we had in Lynchburg, VA). We will leave bright and early tomorrow morning and make the seven hour drive to our Nation's Capitol. There is much to be excited for and much to be in prayer for. Would you take some time specifically to pray for this conference and the 500+ students attending (including the 34 students from our campus, UNCC)? Despite all of the planning and preparing that our team has done in the past four months, it is all in vain without God's power (Psalm 127:1). Pray for students who do not know Jesus Christ, to come to know Him and for students who are believers to become laborers (Matthew 9:38). Also, please pray for our health: Amy specifically has not been feeling well leading up to the conference. Pray that God would give her the necessary health to be able to minister well these next five days to students.

Thank you and have a Happy New Year!

Zach & Amy

Paradox 2009

As the Christmas season is upon us, Amy & I wanted to take a minute to wish you a Merry Christmas! This season always reminds us how blessed we are. Thank you for your support of us!

We wanted to give you an update our upcoming New Year's Conference (Dec 29th-Jan 2nd), "Paradox" (www.paradox2009.org). It has been amazing to see the Lord draw people to this conference. There are 34 students coming from UNCC! This is almost 3x as many students as last year. Praise God!! Over the past month, the UNCC staff has been helping students raise money by raking leaves at various people's homes. We were blessed to have raised almost $3000, which is going to be used to help these students pay for the conference! This past Monday, the students and staff gathered together at an informational meeting for the conference. Here is a quick youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jApY2OxP1yY of the students thanking everyone! Be sure to check it out!! We are so excited at the fruit this semester; this is the most students coming to a conference from UNCC since I have been working with Campus Outreach. God is building His house and growing us! There are going to be 500 students total from 12 campuses worshiping together, learning together and growing together! This conference is going to be a tremendous opportunity for the students to hear about the paradox of the gospel! We are so excited to have a pastor from Washington DC, Mark Dever, be our conference speaker. Please pray that God's Spirit would move into the hearts of many, many students. Pray for laborers to be raised up at this conference.

This is a truly exciting season of ministry! Your support and prayers make God's work on the college campus possible. Thank you.

Reaching the Next Generation

One of the blogs that I follow is Kevin DeYoung's blog. DeYoung is a pastor of a church in East Lansing. Back at the end of October, he had a great series on how to reach the next generation. Take a minute to look at these, I think they will be worth the read.

Reaching the Next Generation

On the Road Again...

Yes, that seems to be our lives this semester: on the road again. Tomorrow kicks off a four week tour of the Southeast for the Fulginitis. We will be out of town every weekend for four straight weeks traveling to Richmond, Chapel Hill, Charleston and Boone! This weekend we will be heading to Richmond, VA for a "Heart to Heart" Marriage Retreat that the Barnabus Center puts on. We are really excited to be able to invest in our marriage so early on. It will be a lot of traveling coming up, but much of it will be spent with friends and family. Pray for our retreat this weekend and safe travels coming up!

One of the major events of our ministry at Campus Outreach is our New Year’s Conference in Washington DC from Dec 29th – Jan 2nd. One of the major barriers for students to attending this conference is money. It costs $240 per student and another $80 to ride the bus up to DC. That is a lot of money for college students. In an effort to help the financial burden of this conference the UNCC staff are trying to help students raise money for this conference. The staff and students will be raking leaves for people and families who want their yards looking nice for Thanksgiving. If anyone from the Charlotte area wants to help a student get to this conference and have their yard looking good for Thanksgiving guests, let me know! We would love to come rake your leaves. We are planning to rake on November 21st. Would you considering praying specifically that God helps these students who desire to grow spiritually get to the New Years Conference in Washington DC despite how much money it costs them?

While Amy & I will be at a marriage retreat in Richmond, the guys at UNCC are going to be up in the mountains having a "Men's Weekend". The guys are planning all kinds of manly events and challenges that range from catching fish with their bare hands to wrestling in fire circles to sleepings outside of the cabin they are renting. I am really excited that some of the guys that I've been leading in a bible study have decided to go on this. It will be a great weekend for community building and Christian fellowship. Please pray for the 20 men going on the Men's Weekend tomorrow. Pray that God would give them godly fellowship with one another.

If you want to get a taste of our weekly event at UNCC, "The U", check out this video from a couple of weeks back that one of the leaders shot: "The U"

Interesting Story

Take the minute and a half to watch this video on a Planned Parenthood Director who resigned her post after watching an ultrasound of an abortion. She mentions a “spiritual conversion” and is now working with a pro-life group right next to her old abortion clinic.