It's hard to believe that the Clemson Foothills Church was planted over 3 years ago. But make no mistake about it, we are still a Mission Team and there's still a Mission to be accomplished! A TIME OF TESTING
This past fall The Clemson Foothills Church arguably faced it's toughest challenge since our mission began in January of 2009. As a young ministry, to have some of your best friends struggle and walk away from God can be devastating. However, with that being said, every situation we face as disciples is an opportunity for us to learn and grow in our convictions. Our young brothers and sisters have had to dig down deep in order to figure out and understand clearly where their conviction really lie. Are they in this for their relationships or are they in this for God?
From the conception of this ministry, it has been mine and Stacey's goal to instill within each young man and woman the kind of convictions that will inspire them to leave campus ministry one day and integrate themselves into the Singles and Married Ministries as strong productive members, ready to serve in whatever capacity is needed of them. For the women to be trained to be strong wives and mothers one day, for the men to become the spiritual leaders of their families and for both to never lose sight of the mission that God has given them to 'Go and Make Disciples'. One of the greatest needs in our movement is for young men and women to aspire & be trained to go into the ministry, however, God's greatest desire is for us to stay faithful to Him and to finish the race. This is where our initiative comes in to reach out to and convert students who will have the kind of deep convictions that will stand the test of time through both times of peace and times of hardship, men and women who are converted to God and not to the status of the Church.
STILL STIRRING THE WATERS
Amazingly, last fall we saw some incredible young men and women come out to church even during the trials we faced. Among them were Jennifer Noel Graham and Victor Liao. Both Students here in Clemson.
This past year has been a time of reflection for Jennifer Graham. A year ago, Jennifer lost her dad in a car accident. This was a devastating loss for this young freshman. As a member of the Tiger Marching Band at Clemson University, Jennifer was reached out to by Bryce Pinson, a brother who plays the Sousaphone along side of another Sousaphone player in the campus ministry, Meredith Cole. Meredith was Clemson's first Baptism back in May of 2009. She reached out to Bryce back in the fall of 2009 and he was baptized that December. This past fall Bryce built a friendshi
p with Jennifer and introduced her to Meredith, Shauna and Colleen who began studying the Bible with Jennifer as she was trying to make sense of her loss.
One Sunday morning In October of 2009 Meredith was on her way to Church...she just happen to walk by the dorm room of a young freshman student watching a TV Evangelist. She took the opportunity to invite this young man to Church with her that morning. Not only did he come, but he brought with him 6 of his friends. One of those friends was David Boerma who studied the Bible and was baptized in February of 2010. That following fall, David invited his roommate, Victor Liao to Church with him.
Victor, who knew nothing about God, Jesus or the Bible accepted David's invitation. After having studied the Bible for a little while, Victor had decided that this wasn't for him and stopped coming around. After a lot of soul searching over the summer and a realization that he didn't have much of a purpose in this life, Victor had decided to reengage. He began studying the Bible once again and attending everything. As Victor was growing in his understanding of God and of Jesus, he was eager to really dedicate himself to following Jesus and so he decided to attend an FCA (Fellow Christian Athletes) Meeting one Thursday night. During that meeting Victor was cut by the message that was preached and decided right thre and then that he would give God his entire heart, so....he prayed Jesus into his heart that night! That's right! You heard me correctly, he answered the Alter Call! Fired up and ready to serve God, Victor called David, Patrick and Jordan and shared with them the commitment that he had made to God! Now, of course, the story doesn't end there (thank goodness)...David, Patrick and Jordan had to burst Victor's bubble slightly regarding his "Conversion". And although this was a tough lesson for Victor, it was an awesome learning experience for him regarding false doctrine and the importance of him forming his convictions through the Bible. After further study and prayer Victor was baptized at 1:38am in Lake Hartwell on February 29th!
ANOTHER FIRST
Since we've already mentioned Meredith, we might as well close out this Newsletter with some more exciting news regarding this young woman. God has blessed Meredith in some amazing ways. Not only was she Clemson's first conversion, she will be the bride in Clemson's first wedding!
In the summer of 2010, Meredith studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. While there, she met a young brother, Justin Donaldson, in the Church there. They hit it off and began a great friendship. It wasn't long before the two had realized that they had deep feelings for one another.
Justin grew up in the Church in Sydney, but never could have imagined that he would fall in love with a young sister from Hickory, North Carolina who attended a small university called Clemson. After a fairly short courtship, Justin asked Meredith to be his girlfriend. This past October Justin moved to Clemson to be with Meredith and to help with the campus ministry at Clemson. Justin has been an amazing addition to our family here, accent and all!
This past January Justin asked Meredith to be his wife and you can probably guess what her answer was. Having begun setting in place a plan for them to be married in June of 2012, Meredith and Justin ran into some immigration issues. Due to the circumstances involved they have had to push their wedding date up to March 17th! "With God, all things are possible!" So, on March 17th at 2pm in Clemson, South Carolina, the Clemson Foothills Church will be celebrating it's first wedding; the marriage of Meredith Cole and Justin Donaldson!
It's always an adventure in Clemson, South Carolina! Thank you all for your ongoing prayers and support for the work here. Please, don't hesitate to come and visit your Clemson Brothers and Sisters!
Jarrod K. Robinson