The New Year

Worship at Summer Cru

For most people, the new year happens in January, however for Cry staff the new year happens in August!  Hello, friends and family, we hope  yall are doing well the Lord is making his presence known to you more and more every day.  Everything down in Statesboro has gone into chaos mode for us as GSU starts up next week.  Ashley is feeling great and our little guy is very active in there and we both get to feel him move around all the time!  We had a great summer with Summer Cru averaging about 30 people as our summer Cru/Bible study as well as getting a lot of freshmen contacts by going to freshmen orientation and meeting new people there which is exciting going into the year.  Or staff team has also changed once again as we added 4 new interns, 3 of them who have been raised up from our ministry and 1 that came from UGA which is exciting but also a little crazy because they need to be trained and equipped which is our responsibility as older staff.  We are very excited for this new year and everything that it will bring with it and all that God is going to do in our lives and in the lives of our students.

We wanted to give yall specific ways to be praying for our ministry over the first few weeks, so here is a day by day breakdown of the major things we will be doing so you can be praying for them.  Please be praying that we will meet both spiritually interested students and students who are far from the Lord and that God will use these Outreaches and events to draw more people to him.  Also pray for boldness for us as we will be sharing the gospel with many students over the next couple weeks as well as the meetings we will have outside of these outreaches with new students and student leaders

Sunday
-Leadership kick off and training from 1-3pm

Monday
-Handing out free Christian books and Cru logo cups (your support in action!) to students on campus and engaging them in spiritual conversations 10am-3pm

Tuesday
-Again handing out free Christian books and Cru logo cups and engaging in spiritual conversations 10am-3pm
-First Cru worship meeting of the year 8-9pm
-Capture the flag social 9pm-way too late for me but oh well

Wednesday
-Table at the student gym facilities from 5:30pm-8:30pm handing out Gatorade and engaging in spiritual conversations

Thursday, Friday Monday, regular meetings with students, follow up with students we have met

Tuesday
-Frizzpops-Giving out freezepops and playing Frisbee on campus with new students and inviting students walking past to join in
3pm-5pm
-Cru worship service 8pm-9pm
-Cru after social at steak and shake

Wednesday
-Greek ministry kick off-Bible study with every greek house on campus invited to join together for one big bible study (obviously we will split off into smaller groups)  with worship and Bible study 8-9:30pm

Thursday
-Spiritual surveys on campus-sharing our faith and meeting new people through spiritual surveys on campus 11am-2pm

Friday
-Cru Hoe-Down Social-We are giving students a safe and Godly alternative and having a hoe-down at a farm nearby where hopefully all the many people we have met over the past couple weeks will come and join 7-11pm

Here are some other ways you can be praying for us

-Pray for a healthy baby boy as we continue this awesome journey towards parenthood, also pray that we would not be overwhelmed with so many things going on all at once

-Pray for our support as having a baby means needing to raise more support, we are so thankful for all of your support that allows us to do what we do!

-Pray for our staff team, that we would love each other well and treat each other with grace and love and respect


Thanks you so much for everything you do in prayer and in giving financially that makes our ministry possible!  Thank you for partnering together with us to reach GSU and the nations for Jesus kingdom!  Look for a newsletter within the coming weeks in the mail to update you on everything that went on over the first couple weeks, thanks again and may Jesus continue to be more real and more valuable to each and every one of us every day!
-Nick, Ashley, and Baby Boy Nabors

Sweet Summertime

Jay and I with our Freshmen fraternity guys who all finished discipleship and many of whom
will be leaders next year in their fraternities.

Hello Team!  I hope everyone is doing great, we have finished up the spring semester down here at GSU and are now starting our summer program down here.  Ashley and I are the only staff in Statesboro this summer and so we will be running our summer Cru which starts up this week.  We will be having a weekly meeting as well as meeting with some students, although it wont be as intensive as either spring or fall because we don't have as many students.  We will be trying to reach out to freshmen who will be down here for what GSU calls SOAR, which is a freshmen program designed to help freshmen get used to college life.  Many freshmen will be down here and we have the chance to set up a booth at their organizations night so hopefully we will be able to grab some freshmen and get to know them before the college lifestyle that is so prevalent down here entices them in.

Ashley with some of her girls-From left to right Natalie, who is on summer project in Colorado at a Cru youth camp, Tyler, who is on summer project in Miami, Anna Beth, who is on summer project in East Asia, and a freshmen girl Kaitlyn

God Rocks Story-One of my student leader is a guy names Beau and he is a Sigma Chi and leads their bible study which has been going really well.  I wanted to share what Beau recently wrote about getting accepted to one of our mission trips, greek summit, which is designed to help greeks become more comfortable sharing their faith and having a ministry in their greek house.  Here is what Beau posted on facebook-

"I am beyond blessed to be accepted to go on Cru's greek summit this summer.  Many prayers have ben answered today.  God is so good and always delivers!  I know He will equip me and WC Hodges (one of our other guys going on greek summit) with the tools that we need to spread the gospel throughout the Eta Zeta Chapter of Sigma Chi, along with the rest of the greek community here at Georgia Southern!  May He have all the glory."

Now that is awesome!  What God is doing at GSU is incredible, and thank you so much for being a part of it!

Me Speaking to the pledges at the Delta Tau Delta House

Prayer requests and Praises
-We have 6 students currently in East Asia on a mission trip.  Pray for their safety, their spiritual health, that God would use them in awesome ways in East Asia, and that they would come back with a greater desire to make His name known!
-We have 7 other students on summer projects within the US ranging from Miami, Colorado, Greek Summit in Destin, and other places.  Pray for a fruitful summer and that God would work in them and through them in mighty ways
-Pray for summer Cru and that we would be able to meet a bunch of freshmen and get them plugged in even before their official school year starts.
-Pray for our students over the summer, many of whom are not going back to great spiritual environments, that God would protect them and keep them strong in their faith.
-Ashley and I are trusting God to raise more support now that a little one is on the way for us so we will be able to provide for our growing family!

Shaving cream fight at the end of year party, so much fun!

We cannot even begin to thank you for your continuing support and prayers for Ashley and I are our ministry.  Your faithfulness to the Lord has allowed us to do what we love and God is using your faithfulness in incredible and mighty ways to impact His kingdom all around the world.  Thank you from the bottom of our heart!
-Ashley, Nick, and Baby Nabors! (and Skye)

Go Eagles!

Our ever growing staff team

The semester has kicked off properly down here at Georgia Southern, and things are going in full swing. Our fraternity and sorority bible studies are going well and Ashley and I have absolutely loved being back here at GSU and seeing God work among our students here. We have already seen God bring people from death to life through trusting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior and know God is going to continue to bring more people to Him. As we reflect on this we are so very thankful that each and every one of you support us to make it possible for us to continue to minister to our students and to make a impact for Jesus kingdom.

Ash with some of her volunteers at our Girls Night Out event

God Rocks Story number 1

-We recently had a big outreach bringing in a speaker named Marian Jordan Ellis who is a traveling speaker and author who speaks almost exclusively to women as a part of her ministry Redeemed Girls Ministries.  We spent weeks/months preparing for this and inviting girls from all different areas of campus to come hear Marian speak.  The event was amazing and God moved in mighty ways as we had over 75 girls surrender their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!!!!!!  God rocks!

Our Girls Night Out Event where so many girls surrendered their lives to Jesus!

God Rocks story number 2
-3 weeks ago I was able to meet up with a couple of guys in a fraternity called Pike who we have been trying to get a bible study for years and have never been able to get anything going. I was able to make a contact through a friend who is a Pike and I was able to sit down with him and one other guy from his fraternity and we talked about how we could get a bible study going. Their president was hesitant to let them announce it at chapter, however eventually they were able to do so. We have now had 2 bible studies and we had at least six guys at each one. Pike has 95 guys in their fraternity with no Christian presence and it is so exciting to know that God is present and working in their chapter and we are praying that more guys keep coming to Bible study and hopefully give their lives to Jesus.

Praises/Updates

-We have already had a few people in our ministry before girls night out become Christians which is ultimately why we are here, so exciting to see God work!

-We have been able to start up a few new Bible studies and students are taking ownership and leading themselves which has been great to see.
-We have over 30 freshmen Greeks involved in our freshmen discipleship groups and we are praying that they would become future leaders in their chapters



Our student leaders at our leadership retreat

Prayer Requests
-In 2 weeks we are heading to Miami on a mission trip with 18 of our students. We are going to be working on the campuses of either University of Miami or Florida international university for a couple days and then we will spend a couple of days working with people at a homeless shelter in the morning and then working with kids at an after school program in the afternoons. Pray for safe travels down to Miami and then pray that we will be able to make a lasting impact for Christ and his kingdom in the most unreached city in the United States.

-Pray for the fraternities I am working with, that the guys will grow in their relationships with the Lord and that guys would surrender their lives to Jesus. I am currently working with SigEp, PiKap, Pike, Delta Sig, Delta Chi, ATO, SAE, and Kappa Sig. Also pray for the wrestling team Bible study.

-Pray the same thing for Ashleys girls, she is working with KD, AOPi, ADPi, Zeta, and PhiMu.

-I will be speaking in front of a few chapters and a few pledge classes in the fraternities soon on the myth that God isn't worth following in college that is all so prevalent in our culture today.  Pray for God to open up new doors for us, for boldness, and that these guys would be interested in following up with me after I speak

As always, we are eternally grateful that we are able to do what we do because of your faithfulness to God through financially supporting us and through your prayers.  There are already over 100 people this semester alone who you will meet in heaven that you have played an integral role in their being with us in Heaven, thank you so much for all you do!

-Nick and Ashley

PS-Update from Africa
Ashley and I have been so encouraged to hear from our students in South Africa that ministry there is going awesome!  It is entirely student led now, students are leading all the bible studies that Ashley and I were leading last year and they are leading the weekly meetings that we were meeting as well.  God has done awesome things in their lives and is continuing to do awesome things through their lives.   

The end is just the beginning

Dear Friends and Family-Ashley and I write this, our final word from South Africa before heading stateside, with very bittersweet hearts.  This year has been amazing, challenging, inspiring, and depressing all at the same time.  On a scale of 1-10, it has been a 1-10.  We have had incredibly high highs, and phenomenally low lows.  We have seen many many people become Christians through trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and have seen many others grow tremendously in their faith and now leave knowing God could not have been any more gracious and wonderful to us.  In the highest highs and the lowest lows he was and is working for our good and we give him praise and thanks for that.  Although we are very excited to come home and see friends and family, leaving this place that is so very near and dear to our hearts has been quite difficult.  In saying our goodbyes to our students, staff team, friends, and church, many tears have been shed and many long lasting memories made.  This year as well as our previous 3 years with Campus Crusade could not have happened without you and your faithfulness to God and generosity towards our ministry.  We could not be more thankful for your love and support and prayers throughout this year and pray that you would continue to pray for us and support us as we transition back to GA Southern Cru to continue to win college students for Christ, build them up in their faith, and send them into the world as life long laborers for His kingdom.  Here are a couple cool highlights and pictures from the end of the year.

-Because of your faithfulness and generosity, every bit of our furniture was able to be donated to a single mom with Children who was previously homeless living in the streets.  Our church built her a home and then we were able to furnish her whole house.  She was so overwhelmed with joy and gratefulness to God that she openly wept for hours upon receiving a bed, couch, table and chairs, washing machine and refrigerator.  There is now a woman and her children who have what they have never had before, a proper home, in Molweni valley, because of you, is God not amazing!

-Our South African friend and colleague Anele Hlongwane said something that brought both Ashley and I to tears when we were saying goodbye to him. He said the one thought he had to sum up our time here in South Africa was "You made a difference".   Thank you for providing the ability for us to come over here and do whatever we could in the strength of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to make a difference in the lives of our students and friends.

Here are just a few pictures of some our students who will be eternally grateful to the difference that you have made in their lives. 

-This is Sinethemba.  He became a Christian earlier this year turning from tribal religion and witchcraft to Jesus.

-This is Mpumelelo, a freshmen that I met through an outreach after a friend of his trusted Jesus as his Lord and savior.  This guy grew so much in the short time that I knew him and he is going to do awesome things in his life for the Kingdom.

-This is Fabrice, Fabrice is actually from the Congo and Fabrice became a Christian when our summer project team was here in SA when he trusted in Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior.

-This is Ayabulela, Aya for short, and I at our end of year banquet.  Aya has been such a privilege for me to work with and to teach, and Aya will be leading our campus ministry at Westville campus next year.  

-Myself and Joel, who is also from the Congo who was one of my really solid guys this year who grew quite a lot in his relationship with The Lord and his understanding of what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

-Ashley with a big group of her girls at the last weekly meeting at Howard Campus

-Ashley and Nyasha, one of her closest disciples who is from Zimbabwe who has been through a lot this year but thanks to Jesus she is stronger than ever in her faith

-Ashley with one of her close disciples Mthabs, a first year who is going to be helping lead the Howard ministry next year.

-Ashley and Trushka who was another one of Ashley's disciples at Howard.  Trushka is leading groups of girls next year and will be taking over Ashley's Bible studies, discipling students, and providing leadership for younger students.

-3 more of Ashley's girls, on the left is Nombuso, bottom right is Nondumiso, and top right is Petronella.

-And of course we had to add one picture of a sweet little child.  This is Anele who was orphaned by her two parents who both died of HIV/AIDS.  She is the sweetest and mot energetic little child, as you can tell we were pretty sweaty trying to keep up!

Once again we cannot thank you enough for your continuing support and prayers that make what we get to do possible.  We hope to see all of you and talk to you soon, God Bless and may Jesus be glorified in all of our lives as we celebrate his birth this month!

-Nick

The 800 meter dash

Hey everybody!  Sorry that we are a little behind on this blog, life has been pretty crazy over here in South Africa recently.  We are finally starting to slow down from our sprint that started back in June before our summer mission project came from the US.  We have been busy following up with people and also trying to set the ministry up for success and cotinuation when we leave in just a few months.  We have started to miss home recently quite a good bit and are getting really excited to go back and continue serving at Georgia Southern, God has REALLY been at work while we have been gone which has been great to hear about and encouraging for us over here on the other side of the world.  We know we still have a lot to do here in South Africa before we leave but it has become increasingly difficult not to think of home, of things that are familiar to us, friends, family, food, our dog Skye, and it is starting to wear on us.  We do have a mid-term break coming up next week which will be great because at this point we are feeling pretty emotionally exhausted and worn out, but we are sustained by Gods unending and amazing grace.  We have really been learning a lot about joy in Christ, rejoicing in him even when things are tough, and it has been great to see God growing both Ashley and I more into seeing how our joy comes from Christ alone regardless of circumstances.

"But he said to me,  "My grace is sufficient for you, for  my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that  the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then,  I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For  when I am weak, then I am strong."2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Anyways, enough about us, now onto the ministry updates

Nick's Ministry Updates
-One thing I have been really excited about has been a guy named Fabrice.  Fabrice became a Christian when summer project was here with me and a guy named Mitch, and he is growing like crazy.  Fabrice is from the Congo and will return to that country when he graduates but it is so great to see him grow in his love for God and others and to experience God more and also to think about how he will be taking the Gospel back to his country and influencing others for Christ when he does.

-Another one of the guys I meet with named Aya has decided to intern with Cru next year and in doing so take my place at westville campus!!!!! I am so excited about this, that God is using to raise up people to work for CCC over here and continue the work that we have been doing

-Our westville Mens Bible studies (One of them pictured above) have been going really well, and we have seen a lot of new guys coming and growing in their relationship with The Lord.  From the frustrations of having very few guys involved at the beginning of the year to now it is so cool to see what God has done in such a short time, he truly works in mighty and awesome ways!

Ashley's Ministry Updates
-My student leaders on campus have really been engaged in discipling other students and leading bible studies. Two students on Howard campus have been leading a bible study for law students. I just visited their group last week; it was very encouraging to me to see my disciple, Nyasha, leading this group and just how far she has come this year in her personal walk with the Lord. Another student, Nondumiso has been leading a small group of social work students as well! Trushka is also a student who is discipling two younger students. So cool to see students taking ownership!

-I'm currently leading a bible study  group of psych students (pictured above) on Thursdays and the girls have been really faithful to come, which has been awesome!

-I am extremely excited about a student of mine, Mthabs (pictured on the far left above) who is only a first year student. We meet every week and its amazing to see her love for the Lord at such a young stage. I know she is and will continue to be an incredible blessing to the Kingdom! Please pray that God really uses her among her friends and among the geography department in particular! She is the type of student who keeps me going and reminds me of Gods goodness!

Praise items
-9 of our students are now leading groups of their own and discipling other students, which is a huge answer to prayer as 0 were doing it at the beginning of the year
-We are seeing a lot of fruit from the summer project, with students we met through SP getting involved, students who became Christians growing in their faith and coming to Bible Studies, all of which has been awesome!

Prayer requests
-We need energy haha.  We have felt very run down recently and we need the supernatural energy to finish the year strong that we know can only come from God
-Pray for me as I am currently dealing with a couple of guys who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.  My goal is to get them both into Christian counseling as I am not equipped to help them in the way that they need.  Pray for the right words to say and to correct the negative thoughts they having going through their minds, and pray for them both that God would grant them freedom from this.
-We have a life directions seminar coming up where we will be helping graduating students on how to have ministries in their workplace where they will be and how to live missionally wherever God calls them
-Pray as the year winds down that we will be able to cast vision for our students as to what the ministry will look like next year and how they can continue to take ownership of it.

We cannot thank you enough for supporting our ministry and helping us to do what we have the privilege of doing.  God has been changing countless lives through your faithfulness to support us and pray for us.  You will meet South African people in heaven one day that will be there as a direct result of your faithfulness to support our ministry, and that is so awesome and we are so incredibly thankful for your continued financial and prayer support.  Cheers and Sala Kahle (keep well)!
-Nick and Ashley

The Continued Africa Experiment

The Continued Africa Experiment

Ash with the girls she disciples at Howard Campus

Hello everybody-We hope everyone back home is doing well.  Ashley and I have currently been living in South Africa for almost 4 months now and it's crazy to think its already been 4 months.  We are daily adjusting more to the culture and the way things are done over here.  Although I don't think we will ever fully adjust in just one year, we have been feeling more at home and feeling like we have more energy and less exhaustion all the time.  Although there are many challenging aspects of the culture here, we have also been reflecting on the awesome parts of this culture and things we want to bring back home with us.  Every church we have visited is incredibly welcoming; after every service people stay behind and have coffee and tea and biscuits (some sort of cookie) and socialize and get to know each other.  Nobody leaves right after church because the feeling of community is incredible.  We also spent all of Easter weekend at other people's houses, most of whom we had known for less than 2 weeks at that time simply because of the overwhelming feel of hospitality and love they show one another. It got me asking the question "How do people who walk into our Churches for the first time feel?  Not about the message, but about the people?  Do they see loving and caring people who genuinely want to make them feel welcome and loved through Christ?"  I am not sure I know the answer to that but the fact that I can't overwhelmingly say yes still worries me.  When someone new comes into our Bible study do we immediately have them over for dinner and show them the love of Christ whether they know Him or not?  I have definitely been challenged by this norm over here to try and make this the norm for us when we return to the States because I do believe this is one thing the American church is lacking and needs to take a lesson from the South African Church.  Now onto some ministry updates...

Me doing Bible Study with Johannes and Mark

-Ashley and I have been able to launch 6 bible studies this semester.  We are hoping to double that by the end of our time in South Africa but we have been so excited about what God has done this semester alone

-Ashley has been able to get involved with an orphanage called iThemba Lethu that cares primarily for orphans either affected or in danger of contracting HIV which she has been really excited about and is an awesome opportunity to display the love of Christ

-We have recently been able to share with a lot of people as God has provided many opportunities to share our faith.  Pray as we follow up with people that God would open their eyes to their need for Jesus and that they would trust Christ as their Lord and savior

-Many of our student leaders have started to understand how they can minister to others in their spheres of influence and are planning on starting their own Bible studies in the new semester which is incredibly exciting for us!

God is awesome story 1

One day at the end of a long day Ashley had some time before I was done at Westville campus and even though she was exhausted she decided she would go out and try and share the gospel with one girl.  She walked up to a girl named Lindy and they got in a conversation.  At first it seemed she was a Christian, she knew who Jesus was and went to Church.  However, the longer Ashley talked with her the more she realized she had never heard the gospel that we are saved by grace and not by works and as they started going through the Bible, she was very interested.  When Ashley asked her who was directing her life, her or Jesus she said she was still very much directing her own life but she didn't want that to be a true of her. She did not trust Christ as her Lord and savior at that moment but she took all the material Ashley gave her and said she wanted to go home and really think about what Ashley told her.  This was very recent and so pray that Ashley would be able to follow up with Lindy and that she would eventually surrender her life to Christ!

God is awesome Story 2

So I (Nick) have been recently discipling a guy named Joel who is from the Congo (DRC) and is in South Africa studying.  He speaks French and has a hard time with English but we have been able to get past the language barrier and communicate fairly well.  Joel is a solid Christian and he has been bringing his friends to our times together so I can share the gospel with them because he has a hard time explaining it in English.  Recently Busizwe is one of those friends Joel has brought around.  Busizwe was not a Christian and he thought because he sinned he couldn't be a Christian.  As I walked him through what grace meant and what Christ's death on the cross meant for him he was so excited because he had never heard it explained that way.  Busizwe has now trusted Christ as Lord and savior and is now going through follow up material with Joel and I.  Pray for Busizwe that his faith would be genuine and that he would continue to be excited about growing in his faith.

Prayer Requests

-Pray for the guys that I (Nick) am following up with that I met at an outreach we did recently would see the truth and become Christians!

-Pray for the people that have become Christians this semester would genuinely get involved in our ministry and that they would grow in their faith

-Pray for our National Student conference coming up June 25-28.  Pray that many students would come, they they would be able to raise funds to go and that we would do a good job planning the conference.

-Pray as we plan the American Summer project coming over July 7th-August 6th.  Pray that we would have wisdom in planning and that the mission trip would have eternal and lasting fruit.

-Pray for perseverance as we finish up this semester on campus

Me with Lwanda, one of the guys I disciple at Westville campus

We are so grateful for each and every one of you as you have made what we get to do possible through your support and prayers.  Because of your faithfulness to the Lord, God is drawing people nearer to himself and bringing people into the kingdom of Jesus Christ through faith in Him!  Thanks for everything you do for the Kingdom of God!

In Him, Nick and Ashley

2 Months in to our ZA Mission

Ash with some of her girls in a first years Bible study
(The girl on the far right is a Hindu girl who comes to Ashley's Bible study, Pray that she trusts Christ as her Lord and Savior)

“These differences in lifestyle (and many others, which we may not be aware of) affect us at a very deep level.  Sometimes we don't even understand the forces at work on us.  We find that we are quite emotionally unstable.  One day we feel pretty good.  The next day we will feel quite depressed for no apparent reason.  We often feel that we have no extra energy.  When we return from work, all we can do is collapse on the bed."

This quote is from a book that I have been reading about reaching out across cultures and bridging the cultural gap that exists between us and I think it really exemplifies well how we feel right now.  We would be lying if we said everything over the first 2 months has been easy and wonderful, although at times they have.  As the quote says we have days where things are simply amazing and days that are honestly hard to make it all the way through, whether it be emotionally, spiritually, or physically.  We have seen God do amazing things, 5 people have come to faith in Jesus Christ so far, we have shared the Gospel with over 100 people, and many others have gotten involved in our ministry and are starting to get discipled.  We have been able to start 5 bible studies with people we have met and have seen God do some really cool things.  However one of the main things that always looms majorly over our heads is the spiritual darkness of this place.  At the Westville campus, where I (Nick) am currently spending most of my time there is a Muslim call to prayer at the Muslim mosque on campus where the Imam prays over a loudspeaker and you can hear is ll over campus.  Walking around we see women who only have their entire bodies except their eyes covered.  Hinduism is also very prevalent here among the Indian population and it presents multiple barriers to the Gospel as they are very universalist in their ideologies, thinking that all ways lead to God .  The prosperity gospel, which essentially says if you become a Christian God will make your life easy and you will be rich and never suffer hardships, is very prevalent and leads many black South Africans away from truly worshiping God for who he is.  There is also a religion called shembe which is quite prevalent over here and it is close to the truth but yet so far away.  Walking around on campus or in the community can truly weigh on you as you think on and dwell on the spiritual darkness all around us.

At the same time God is working in incredible ways.  Ashley and I do love the people here and do love that God has called us to be here even though it has been hard at times.  As I said before we are seeing people come to faith in Jesus Christ which is the most amazing experience.  We have seen new people coming around any getting into Bible studies and Ashley has met multiple Indian Christians and I have met one or 2 as well. We are really praying that the Indian Christians can reach out to their Hindu and their Muslim friends in ways that we might not be able to.  God has surely shown us that he is the same God here in South Africa that he is in the US and that he is ever faithful.  We are constantly reminded of 1 Corinthians 15:58 that says 

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in  the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord  your labor is not in vain."

Thank you for making it possible for us to be here.  God has already grown us in ways we did know he would and has already used us in ways we did know he would.  As a result of your faithfulness in supporting our ministry 5 More South Africans will worship with us in Heaven for eternity!  On to some cool stories and prayer requests

Ashley and I spending some time with some of our students, 2 are from South Africa and 2 are from Zimbabwe

Cool Story 1-So I was on campus walking around looking for a guy to share with and I saw a young guy sitting by himself, which is always a good sign that he has time to talk!  I went up to him and asked him if I could talk to him about spiritual things.  His name is Nkanyiso and he said yes we could talk.  I have honestly never met anyone who knew so little about God or the Bible.  I asked him if he knew he could have a relationship with God and he said if he could he really wanted to.  I shared with him who Jesus was and how through Jesus we could come into a relationship with God and he prayed with me right there to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior!  Pray that as I follow up with him he would grow in his faith and would see everyday more and more just how much God loves him.

Cool Story 2-One day Ashley went out sharing and met a young girl named Nomusa and shared the gospel with her.  She was not a Christian and didn't know much about God however she was very interested in what Ashley told her about who God is and how Jesus died so that she could come into relationship with God.  Although she did not accept Christ on the spot she took the booklet we give out and said she would really think about what Ashley said.  A couple of days later she went to one of our Bible studies that is set up in her dorm and ended up saying she wanted to accept Christ as her Lord and savior.  When one of the leaders asked her if she k we how she said yes because this white American girl shared with her how she could know God!  It is so great to see God bring people from death to life in Christ, and Nomusa ended up coming with us to our student camp this past weekend, God is awesome!

Me with some of our guys involved in our ministry

Prayer requests-

-Pray for energy and wisdom for Ashley and I as our schedule looks different here than it does at GA Southern.  As we adjust and adapt to life here, pray that we would have wisdom in how to use our time well

-Pray for our team, we have 1 other full-time staff and then 4 part time people working on 3 different campuses, Ashley and I are on 2, and because everyone is at different levels of involvement it makes working together a challenge at times, so pray that we would love each other well

-Pray for our Bible studies as many of them are in the startup process.  Pray that God would use them and grow them for his glory and that students would grow in their faith and love for The Lord as a result of our bible studies.

-Pray for community for Ashley and I, we haven't met too many people our age that we can be friends with which has been hard at times.  We have found a great church and have been able to get involved in a community group which has been very refreshing

-Pray for my (Nick) rugby outreach, I have been going to rugby practice in the evening for the university and trying to reach out to students on the team, it has been a challenge at times because rugby culture is very unwholesome to put it mildly.  Pray that I would have opportunities to share with the guys and that God would use me in that team to make a difference for his kingdom.  I have been able to share the gospel with a few people so also pray that God would work in their hearts to draw the, to Himself.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks so much for everything you do , for your support in prayer and financially, that makes what God has called us to do possible.  South Africa thanks you for everything you do, Ngiyabonga Hamba Kachle! (Thanks and Goodbye!)

-Nick and Ashley

PS You can always check out all of our pictures on our shutterfly site at http://naborsmissiontrips.shutterfly.com/