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Start Spreading the News…Yes, I’m Moving to Manhattan

2013 has been quite a year so far—Bible studies, launching new small groups, conducting a Veritas Forum, the BioLogos Foundation’s theology conference, and much, much more—but we’re just getting warmed up.  Several months ago I was unexpectedly blessed at the Urbana12 Missions Conference to meet an incredible woman, Alissa Moore.  Alissa lives in New York City and is Vice President and co-founder of the Nomi Network, a non-profit that helps victims of human trafficking in India and Cambodia to get back on their feet.  (You can read more about Alissa and her story here.)  Alissa and I have been dating long-distance ever since and, long story made short, we have been praying about getting married and are ready to take the next big step: moving me to New York.  

Alissa and me in Seattle

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us, Anna Lee-Winans, the Area Director for InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries in New York and New Jersey and currently the interim campus minister for NYU’s Graduate Christian Fellowship, Medical Student Fellowship, and Christian Legal Fellowship, has been praying for God to send her someone to fill the NYU position, freeing her to concentrate on directing the area and being a new mom.

As you can imagine, we—Alissa, myself, and the whole InterVarsity family—have a very clear sense that God is going ahead of us, preparing the way, calling me to this new mission to New York and NYU, and simultaneously answering both our personal prayers and Anna’s!

At NYU I will work with students in the graduate, medical, and law schools, which are consistently among the highest ranked in the country, making NYU one of our nation’s most influential universities.  In fact, NYU is regularly ranked among the top fifty universities in the world.  12% of NYU’s students are international students and 41% are minorities, making NYU, like New York City, a cultural hub where a wide variety of communities and nationalities intersect.  Ministering to grad, law and med students at NYU is an incredible strategic opportunity to advance God’s global mission.  I will also be working with the Emerging Scholars Network, a new national initiative of InterVarsity to equip the next generation of Christian scholars to be a redeeming influence in higher education. There is so much more I could say, but it will have to await my next letter.  This is a very exciting time and we would greatly appreciate your prayers and support amid all of the transitions coming up over these next few months.

I am so thankful for these past two years at NC State, Meredith, and Campbell Law, and so thankful for all of you who have supported me thus far on this journey in campus ministry.  Thank you!  None of this would have been possible without your prayers and support.

I hope that you will continue partnering with me as I enter into this new phase of life and ministry in one of our country’s most challenging and exciting mission fields.  I am currently working to raise $30,000 in new support by the end of December 2013.  To help me get started, InterVarsity has given me a $3,000 matching grant and, with it, an exciting opportunity: Every new donation or increase in giving made through the end of May will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $3,000.  So if you donate now, your donation will go twice as far and will take us a long way toward our goal—ensuring that we finish this fiscal year in the black and get off to a strong start in ministry in the Big Apple.  To make a contribution, follow this link.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support!