Conspire with Sojourn

conspire!!!

Sojourn is undertaking a major project city wide this month. Two weeks ago we began to brainstorm ideas for Advent Conspiracy (thinking about alternative ways to celebrate Christmas by worshipping fully, giving more, spending less, and loving all: advent conspiracy).

The result of that brainstorm has led us to partner with Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring, an organization we appreciate and have relational ties to (CJ, one of their directors is a good friend).

AFC has been named one of Boston’s Outstanding Non-Profits of 2010 and will be honored in a ceremony at the Prudential Center (a major downtown Boston locale) on December 7th. Sojourn is joining with AFC to create a Christmas experience for the mentors and mentees that they will never forget.

Obviously, this is a great opportunity for us to bless this organization that is doing some amazing work with kids in our city (the need for foster care mentoring is staggering! check out their page). Moreover, this is a galvanizing moment for us as we get to conspire, dream, and tell a better story this Christmas season.

We’d also like to invite you guys in to the story as well. We have created a facebook cause page which you can find here: http://www.causes.com/causes/548375). The best way to participate is to (a) join the cause and show your support of our students, (b) make a small donation to the cause (i would suggest $5-$20…a few less trips to starbucks or one less meal out in the next two weeks can make a huge difference). Donations all go straight to our project budget…the money will be spent on food for the event and gifts for the mentors and mentees (Celtics tickets!).

So, join the cause, spread the word, participate in the story, and help Sojourn Conspire for the Kingdom this Advent.

week of november 4th

Hello Everyone!

1) Last week we had an informational meeting regarding our SAT tutoring program. So great to see this finally coming together! If you have questions/missed the meeting/want more information please email me and I can fill you in.

2) As usual, we’re meeting on thursday for our weekly conversation at 1 pm in the campus center dining area. Here’s our quote and question for the week (if you are looking for us for the first time, we try to grab a table near the front by the cash registers…look for a copy of the book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years on the table…it’s yellow =)

“The point of life is character transformation. In nearly every story the protagonist is transformed. He’s a jerk at the beginning and nice at the end, or she’s a coward at the beginning and brave at the end. If the character doesn’t change, the story hasn’t happened yet. And if story is derived from real life, if story is just a condensed version of life, then life itself may be designed to change us…maybe we were designed to live through something rather than to attain something, and the thing we were meant to live through was designed to change us. The point of a story is the character arc, the change.“

Question of the week: have you experienced change? how have you been changed?

week of october 28th

SAT TUTORING MEETING THIS WEEK AT 1 PM (WEDNESDAY) IN CC 3115!!!!!!!!

week of october 21st

Three things to be aware of:

1) Our SAT tutoring informational meeting is next wednesday at 1 pm in the campus center, room 3115. Let me know if you have any questions about this, but i did send out an email earlier in the week with more details.

2) Sojourn’s city wide event: Read Retreat Serve is coming up October 30th.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about what Sojourn does, get off campus for a day, unplug from the busyness of the semester, and meet college students from other campuses.  Email Steve for more info or check out our facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124725184249865&ref=ts

3) Here’s our quote and thought for the week: “The same elements that make a movie meaningful are the ones that make a life meaningful. I knew a character had to face his greatest fears. That’s the stuff of a good story. I also knew that most of our fears are relational. It’s all that stuff about forgiveness and risking rejection and learning to love. We think stories are about getting money and security, but the truth is, it all comes down to relationships.” Are there challenging relationships in your life right now and how does facing our fears (in any area, but especially relationships) help move our story forward?

the week of october 14th!

Another quote from Donald Miller‘s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:

“Writing a story isn’t about making your peaceful fantasies come true. The whole point of the story is the character arc. You didn’t think joy could change a person, did you? Joy is what you feel when the conflict is over. But it’s conflict that changes a person…[when you write a story] you put your characters through hell…that’s the only way we change. All that made me wonder if our stories aren’t being stolen by an easy life.”

Question of the week: is there a challenge you are facing right now? Are you stuck there or do you see it pushing your story forward to something better?

See you thursday at 1 in the campus center dining area!

the week of october 7th

Hello!

Just wanted to let you know that we are meeting exclusively on Thursdays now.  You can find us in the Campus Center Dining Area from 1-2:30 pm. We will continue with the theme of story, and our discussion this week will be based off the following quote from Donald Miller’s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:

“If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen.  The truth is, you wouldn’t remember that movie a week later, except you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend years actually living those stories, and then expect our lives to feel meaningful.  The truth is, if what we chose to do with our lives won’t make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either. And so I began to wonder…is it possible that a person could plan a story for his/her life and live it intentionally.”

Hope you are having a great week and we look forward to hanging out on Thursday!

semester reading

not that you don’t have plenty to read already but this book comes highly recommended for two reasons:

1) this is an issue we should all know and care about

2) sojourn at umass has a project in the works to raise awareness for women’s global health issues and this book helps shape that conversation and provide the background for why we care about this.

check it out at amazon here

Welcome Week

Good to be back on campus.  Thanks to those who came and stopped by, and to the 30 who signed up for more info on Sojourn!  Enjoy these pics, and hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow in the campus center (room 3115) from 1-2:30 to kick off the year.

back to school…

it’s that time of the year again…summer is winding down and we start thinking about a new semester. we buy some new notebooks, battle the text-book lines, finalize our class list, and dust off our fleeces and coats.

sojourn @ umass begins a new chapter this fall.  this is our first full semester on campus as a student organization!  here are some things to look forward to:

1) weekly conversations: we will be meeting in u03-3115 on wednesdays and thursdays from 1-2 pm. we’ll be looking at the narrative of scripture: the story that God tells and how our story fits within it. this will also be a great time to connect with people, make some friends, and learn more about sojourn.

2) tables: we will be “tabling” at the campus center on september 8th and 9th for most of the day.  come by and say hi and grab some info.

3) sat tutoring: our tutoring program will begin training and planning for a january launch.  we’re really excited to serve the neighborhood around the campus…this will be a great opportunity to do so! we’ll also be exploring and dreaming of other ways to do this as well.

may thoughts…

no mark, but good time hanging out and catching up last night.

link of the week