Campus Wisconsin

Sitting in a circle of chairs in the large and comfy room of the first floor Boiler Room Winnebago house, we worshiped together–college students and leaders from universities such as UW Madison, Eau Claire, Green Bay, Whitewater and Marquette University–some leaning forward in chairs, eyes closed, others standing, swaying with coffee in hand in the room’s dim corners, all prayerfully engaging the Presence of Jesus who met us there powerfully. Funny how the act of worship almost never fails to bring a room full of almost-strangers into unity and even a family-like relational experience. At this, I think I will never stop being amazed.

This was the experience of the Campus Wisconsin gathering the first weekend of April where God brought a seemingly small group of ordinary Wisconsinites together who just happen to have a heart for prayer on college campuses and a desire to see their fellow peers encounter Christ intimately and mess up their lives as He had for their own. Fresh from Kansas City, Wendy Andrews (national leader of 24-7 Prayer and Campus America) shared with us her story of being a very ordinary girl from a small city who brought her portion of fish and bread loaves to the Lord and how He made much of it. She shared the story of how God put this crazy idea of Campus America on the hearts of 24-7 Prayer leaders Pete Greig and Dave Blackwell through dreams, circumstance, and undeniable confirmation. The dream is that He wants to “call the dead to get back in the game” by drawing students at every 4-year college and university in the US to participate in an unbroken year of prayer during 2010.

On Saturday morning, students shared what God was doing on their campuses in prayer and how He was moving students to organize seasonal 24-7 prayer rooms for students of all organizations to encounter God in. These guys inspire me like no other! We also read aloud stories sent to us from Dayn at UW-La Crosse, Dan at UWM, and Isaac at UW-Eau Claire who weren’t able to make it but wanted to share the experiences they were having as a result of engaging in 24-7 prayer rooms on their campuses. Wendy also showed us some of the amazing tools God is providing in this endeavor such as the new Campus America website where students can connect and communicate as well as find info and share stories of what’s going on around the country.

Overall, I think we all had a sense that God was affirming the little ones–the ordinary students who know they need God more than anything or anyone else. These are the ones who He desires to work through. These are the ones He is going to bring His next revival through.

On this blog, I will be posting stories from students around Wisconsin who are witnessing God-encounters and prayer on their campuses. What a privilege it is to help connect students to each other so they can share these powerful and potent stories. When I reflect on all of this that is happening in prayer in Wisconsin and the US, the question keeps coming to my mind, “What are You up to, Papa?”

-Tim