March Madness

Little Zachary, Jr. just turned five weeks old! We can tell he is growing as he's put on 2 lbs since we brought him home from the hospital. He likes to sleep, eat and poop right now! We are very blessed that he is a happy baby who doesn't fuss or cry excessively. The past couple of weeks we've been able to bring him to church, a cookout for UNCC students and to a wedding in Durham. He is a joy to be around and we love him very much! We would love your prayers for him and for us as parents. Below is a passage of Scripture that we have been praying for Zachary.

Colossians 1:9-10, "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Summer Leadersip Retreat

This weekend, 75 student leaders will gather in Matthews, NC from three different summer projects with CO-Charlotte. This retreat is focused on preparing the students to be leaders with the SBP, Cross Cultural Project in Johannesburg, South Africa & the Charlotte Summer Ministry in Matthews, NC. Zach will have the opportunity to be one of the four main speakers and will be delivering a message on Spiritual Leadership. Please pray for our retreat!

Calendar

April 1-3: Summer Leaders Retreat in Matthews, NC
April 2-3: Church at Charlotte Missionary Awareness Weekend
May 2: Our 2nd Anniversary!
May 12: Final Exams at UNCC
May 21: Depart for Myrtle Beach and the Summer Beach Project
June 19: Return from the SBP

Prayer Requests:

1. For our new family of three and for Zachary, Jr. continued health, growth & development.
2. For Zach as he speaks at our upcoming Summer Leadership Retreat.
3. For our staff team as we prepare for the Summer Beach Project
4. For Christ to be at the center of all we do.

Meet Zachary James Fulginiti, Jr.

On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, our first son, Zachary James Fulginiti, Jr. was born at approximately 9:20am. He is a beautiful boy who weighed 7lbs and 6ozs. We are thrilled and as proud as we can be.

However, as many of you know this was a long difficult process. Amy began feeling contractions on Sunday night at 11:30pm before she had gone to bed. Over the next 11 hours she labored at home through the night. We had a previously scheduled doctor's appt at 11:20 that day, which we kept. At that appt, Amy was measuring 3-4cm and was looking great! The only thing we were concerned about was the potential that this could be false labor. We returned home and continued to labor there until about 6pm. Contractions were getting closer together and more intense. When we arrived at the hospital, Amy was measuring 5-6cm and still looked great! A couple of hours later revealed she had progressed to 7-8cm dilated and we thought we might be able to deliver this baby in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, Amy stopped progressing after that. For the next 3 hours she remained at 7-8cm but with contractions growing closer and much much stronger. All along we had planned and prepared to have a natural childbirth. But as midnight passed and the 25th hour of labor, with no signs of progress and no sleep for almost 36 hours, we decided it best to have an epidural to allow Amy to rest and gather strength for the delivery.

The epidural was not bulletproof as it only worked on half of her body for a time leaving the other half is a great deal of pain during the contractions that were taking place. Fortunately, this was resolved but not after at least another hour of painful contractions. As of 5am, Amy was still 7-8cm dilated. Dejected and exhausted the doctor's recommended taking pitocin as it looked like there was no end in sight. Finally, around 8am we began to push. Amy did an amazing job and finally he came out around 9:20am! Amy was unbelievable during the whole process. She made it through 25 hours of labor with no meds and by the time Zachary came she had not slept more than a few minutes at a time for 48 hours. She labored for almost 34 full hours!! What a trooper, my wife is absolutley amazing!! I really do look back at the last two days (in addition to the 9 months prior) and marvel at her faith, endurance, and perseverance. She is my hero.

We are so blessed and felt deeply cared for by our friends and family. Your prayers made a tremendous impact on us. Our boy is beautiful and healthy, more than we could ask for! Thank you!

Love,

Zach, Sr., Amy & Zachary, Jr.

2.5 Weeks Left

Baby Due: March 7th
In just 19 days, our first child, Zachary James Fulginiti, Jr is due! We are so excited about this and ready to meet him (Amy is particularly ready for him to come)! We are putting the final touches on getting his room together, setting up his crib, putting our hospital bag together, etc. and everything feels like it is approaching really fast. In the past month, we've been taking a birthing class, a new daddy bootcampus class and have attended a parenting conference to help prepare us for labor & delivery and life as Mom and Dad. A week ago, we had an ultrasound and Zachary, Jr was weighing 6 lb & 3 ozs. We feel blessed that so far he looks like a healthy baby!

Winter Blast 2011
This coming weekend is a significant event during the course of our spring calendar. It's our Winter Blast retreat that will be held in Asheville, NC from Feb 18-20. We are prayerfully expecting 250 students from our campuses to attend. Unfortunately, we will be unable to attend due to travel restrictions so close to our due date but we would love your prayers for this events. Here are just two quick prayer requests for Winter Blast:

1. Pray for students to grow in their walks with God.
2. Pray for students to begin to make godly decisions about their summer plans.

If you want to follow along and see some of the Winter Blast updates, check out this website: http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23winterblast2011 or watch this youtube video about what the retreat's

content will be focusing on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eoi3kQeErHE.

Here is a picture of Amy when she was about 32 weeks pregnany.

Would you join us in prayer during these next 2.5 weeks until he is due? Here are some specific prayer requests:
1. Pray for the health of Zachary, Jr. and Amy during there last weeks of pregnancy, leading into labor & delivery
2. Pray for Amy that she would be able to rest and sleep during the night before he comes. It's been hard to get any rest since he is so active and moving around during the night.
3. Pray for us as parents that we would be wise and godly in our parenting.

Thank you!
-Zach & Amy

100 Hours of Prayer

100 Hours of Prayer!

As many of you may know, Campus Outreach is holding a 100 Hours of Prayer event over the New Years Conference in Washington DC. Our hope is that friends and supporters of our ministry would join us in prayer for this conference. This year, there will be 550 students from SC, NC, VA and DC coming to the conference. Many of the students that will be joining us will be young in their faith and many more will not be Christians at all. These students are in need of our prayers! There has been a great deal of time and effort put into planning for and recruiting to the conference; however I'm reminded of Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Unless the Lord moves in the hearts and minds of these students, all of our planning and recruiting is in vain.

We would like to ask you to give 30 minutes of your time (or more if you wish) between the hours of 5 AM and 12 AM during the week of Dec 29 - Jan 2 going before the Lord in prayer for this ministry. As we approach this conference we are mindful of the strategic importance of prayer as the foundation of our ministry efforts. We are in need of your prayers! If you would like to participate, please visit this website: http://signupgenius.com/go/100hours where you will find a link to a simple form in which you can select one or more 30 minute blocks of time to commit to praying for the ministry of Campus Outreach. Thank you for your friendship and partnership in the Gospel!

Coming Up...

It's hard to believe that the fall semester is over. Students are beginning to take their final exams and head home for the holiday season. Below is a picture from our UNCC Christmas party. These are our student leaders who have been laboring on campus this year. We had a blast celebrating Christ and all He has done this year.

From Dec. 12-16, Amy & I will be in Washington DC for our Staff Training. We will be joining Campus Outreach DC and Campus Outreach Lynchburg for this time. After spending some time in Charlotte and Charleston for the holidays, we will once again head up to Washington DC on Dec 27 and will be there until Jan 2 for the Al!ve Conference. You can pray for endurance during this busy season of traveling.

In less than three months, we will get to meet our firstborn son, Zachary James Fulginiti, Jr! We are in the midst of preparing to be a new mom and dad. Continue to pray for Zachary Jr's health during this final trimester.

Thank you for your support and prayers. We are thankful for your partnership in the gospel! Merry Christmas!

-Zach & Amy

Happy Thanksgiving!

As the holiday season approaches, Amy & I wanted you to know how deeply thankful we are for YOU! Our lives and our ministry is made possible because of your support and your prayers for us. In this semester alone, we've seen dozens of students across North Carolina has been ministered to through retreats, discipleship groups, one on one meetings, evangelistic teaching opportunities and serving our staff administratively because of your faithful giving and prayer. When we take a step back to consider all that God has done, we marvel at His goodness and His faithfulness. One thing is for sure: God is committed to His people and it's is such a privilege to be a part of that. Thank you for you partnership in the gospel!

Mobilization Retreat Recap

Last weekend, 35 seniors from five campuses descended upon Matthews, NC to gather for an overnight retreat for the purpose of thinking intentionally about their lives and walks with God after college. Part of Campus Outreach's vision is to "mobilize" students from the campus to the lost world. Our hope is that the training that students received in college would translate into the workforce. We want to see men and women laboring for the gospel in banks, schools, hospitals, courtrooms, etc. for the rest of their lives, not just the four years in college. During the retreat, the staff and students got to hear from pastors, church leaders and men & women in the business world about how to make much of Jesus Christ after college. One of the timely talks was about bridging the gap between the campus and the church. Would you take a minute to pray for these students that they would seek to labor for Jesus Christ after college? If you are interested in hearing some of the talks from the weekend, check out this website: http://cocharlotte.org/media.php?pageID=43.

New Year's Conference
Much of this semester has been spent in preparation for our annual New Year's Conference in Washington DC. This year we are expecting 550 students from South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington DC. Here's an update from last year's conference: http://followingthefulginitis.blogspot.com/2010/01/paradox-conference-update.html. We are praying that God does it all again in the lives of new students! Would you join us in prayer as we anticipate this critical event in our ministry. We are asking God to bring 70 students from UNCC alone. Please pray during this season of recruitment, that students would be willing to sacrifice a small part of their holiday break in order to pursue Jesus Christ more. You can pray specifically for me, as I am giving a breakout seminar at the conference on world missions. If you are interested in joining us in Washington DC for any part of the conference, please let us know. We would love to have you see first hand the fruit of your investment. Thank you & Happy Thanksgiving!

-Zach & Amy

On the Move at UNCC

It's approximately half-way through the fall semester on the campus of UNC-Charlotte and it's been clear that the Lord has been working in the hearts and minds in many students! In the past two months we've seen over a dozen students make professions of faith. It has been extremely encouraging for our staff and student leaders to witness the Lord drawing men and women to Himself.

Here a video testimony of one of the guys: Justin. He was placed on the 9th floor Moore hall for a reason. Listen as he shares how God used David, one of men that I am leading in a committed Bible Study, to continue to work on his heart and to be a witness to him about the Lord.

If you have trouble viewing make sure you click on: www.followingthefulginitis.blogspot.com

Personal Note:

We are having a BOY! We found out this past Tuesday that our baby in the womb is a boy. We are thrilled with this blessing from the Lord and are excited to meet our son in early March. Please continue to pray for his health, growth and development these next five months. Amy is currently feeling much better than she was in the first trimester, but has spells of sickness from time to time. She would love and appreciate your prayers as well. Say hello to our little boy in to womb below:

Prayer Requests:

1. Rest - we will be taking the next few days off to recharge our batteries for the 2nd half of the fall semester.
2. For the men and women we are leading: David, Aaron, Daniel F, Daniel W, John, Stephen, Danielle, Morgan, Carmen & Jennah to grow in Christ-likeness.
3. Planning for the upcoming Mobilization Retreat in mid-November.

Thank you!

-Zach & Amy

Mobilizing Seniors

[Above is a picture of seniors from Wingate University and UNC-Charlotte]

The reality of college ministry is that the men and women you are ministering to ultimately leave the campus. Every four years, it's a completely new group of people in your "nets". This is why Campus Outreach takes the ministry of mobilizing seniors from the campus and to the real world very seriously. The past couple of weeks, Amy and I have had the chance to travel to the different campuses within CO Charlotte and have dinner with the seniors who will be graduating in May 2011. The goal of this time is to help the students begin to think about life after college. The vision of Campus Outreach is to "Glorify God by Building Laborers on the Campus for the Lost World", well very soon these graduates will be leaving the campus to enter "the Lord World". We want to see the men and women who have come to know Christ in the past four years at college to walk with God for the rest of their lives. We hope to see men and women laboring for the gospel for a lifetime, not just for the four years in college.

You can pray for a retreat that we will be hosting for the 70 soon-to-be graduates and recent graduates from COC on November 13-14. There, we will give them a time to hear from alumni, church leaders and staff who are walking with God in the real world. We hope to help equip them to be exported from their campuses all across the country and the world! Amy and I are responsible for planning and executing this retreat. Would you join us in prayer for these seniors?

Campus Update

The start of the school year has been a wonderful success! We are seeing the Lord move in some awesome ways at UNCC. Tonight, we are hosting an event with Christ Covenant Church's senior pastor Dr. Mike Ross on campus. He will be answering the question of "Is Jesus the Only Way to God?" This weekend, there are men's and women's retreats. We hope these will be great contexts to share the gospel with many non-believers. One of the staff members at UNCC, Andrew Hathaway, started a Bible study with the baseball team and eleven men came. Last night, one of the became a believer, praise God!

Day of Prayer

This coming Friday, September 24th, we will be taking a day to meet with God through prayer. If there is anything that you would like us to pray for, please feel free to let us know.

Thank you & God Bless,
Zach & Amy