The staff has left the building…

We have officially left Summer Mountain Project, and entrusted it into the hands of the students leaders. It has been challenging for us to trust God even more with any and every situation and circumstance that happens on project, now that we are not there to have a hand in it! This, however, is the way it should be, completely in the Hands of Him who is infinitely more capable than we. It is also a great opportunity for leadership development among our older students.

Melissa and I recently returned from moving our area director, Mike Jackson and his family, to Peoria, Illinois. There they will begin the long awaited process of our potential future expansion of Campus Outreach to several campuses in Illinois. Visiting with the partnering church and some of its members was very encouraging and has given us a desire to pray diligently for those campuses and for God’s work there, while we will remain at TTU. Please pray for our director, Mike and Stacey as they begin to make a home in Peoria and that God would prepare the students at Bradley University’s campus for the Gospel.

We are continuing to travel over the next three weeks in order to raise the support we need to remain on campus this next fall semester. Please pray that this time would be encouraging for us as well as our friends, family and supporters that we will get to visit with, as we share about what God has been doing in and through our lives at Tennessee Tech University.

Spring!

Thank you all for your prayers! New Years Conference was a hit! Many students walked away with changed hearts and a desire to know God in a much deeper way! The speaker was Kent Bailey, the Director of Campus Outreach Brazil. He spoke about the way our identity in Christ can shapes the community around us and the mission God has for our lives.

To start the semester off, we had a 3 on 3 basketball tournament on campus. Men and womens teams competed to win several gift certificates to a local restaurant. Many students attended and at the end a student got to speak for a short time and share how he became a Christian in college through building friendships with other Christians at events like this last year.


God has opened many doors for us on campus this semester. Eric is continuing to hold a Bible Study in the New Dorms with an average of 14-16 guys attending every Thursday night. I have also started a Bible Study with several women that I met at the New Years Conference and a few that have been involved in Campus Outreach throughout the last few years. We meet every Wednesday night to go through the book of John. Please pray for these Bible Studies that God will use His Word to change our hearts to be more like His, that our relationships with these men and women will grow into deep friendships, and that ultimately, God will be glorified in this time for us to help others come to know Him.

This coming weekend is our Spring Retreat. We are praying for 150 people to attend. Our speaker, David Burns, is the director from Campus Outreach Indianapolis. He will be speaking on becoming a Fireseed for God, someone who burns with an individual passion for God and with a passion for others to know God in an intimate way! Please pray that men and women will walk away from this conference with regenerated hearts and with a burden to share what God has done in their lives with every one around them.

We will also be introducing this weekend, the Summer Mountain Project, Campus Outreach's summer mission trip and training program. Pray that students will see their need to grow spiritually and will commit to attending the SMP 2007.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

::Sigh:: The Christmas season...truly my favorite time of year. I will admit, I sometimes do get caught up in admiring all the beautiful lights and decorations. However, all of this outward adornment can only serve to remind me of the birth of our wonderful Savior, only in Whom we have the opportunity to celebrate this holiday, which I am eternally grateful for...literally!

We hope and pray that all of our friends and family are having a blessed Christmas season, and that we all will use this time to remember why we celebrate so elaborately. It is a time to rejoice and be glad! We are thinking of each of you and we are so thankful for your love, support and prayers. Without you, we could never do what God has called us to!

Thank you so much!

Merry Christmas,

Melissa and Eric

"You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
Luke 1:31-33

We love the Fall!

Yes...our first Fall together as a married couple...and we are enjoying every second of it! Recently we took a day trip to Monterey, Tennessee. We walked on a trail that took us to a beautiful rock bluff where you could see for miles. It really never ceases to amaze us, God's glorious creation. Every year when the leaves change, I can't help but be in awe of His perfection!

Eric and his old 1987 Cutlass Supreme, made its début in the TTU homecomming parade after him and several students spent a weeks worth of late nights painting it in TTU pride! The car won first place! Who can blame the judges...it looked amazing!

We are looking forward to visiting our families over the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Please pray that this time will be refueling and that our families will be encouraged as we share about the things God has been doing at TTU.

In Him,

Melissa and Eric

A time of learning...

This semester has brought Melissa and I many opportunities to grow and learn, not only in ministering to the students at Tennessee Tech University, but also about our relationship with each other. Marriage is a blessing that we are thanking God for daily and will continue learning about for the rest of our lives together. We are very much looking forward to our future!

The return home to my old almer mater at TTU has provided me with many flashback memories of the ways God worked in my own life while I attended. I am increasingly grateful for the chance I have to impact lives for God here now. I have spent most of my time building relationships with men from the New Dorm on campus. A group of about 10-14 students and I just finished up a four week Bible Study and are beginning another study on 1 John. Please pray that students will see a need for God's word in their life as the source of true heart change and also that God will allow me to continue to meet more people in this dorm.

Our Fall Retreat at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee was successful in bringing many students to hear Truth, have fun, and meet new people. The theme of the retreat was Expectations. Mike Jackson, director of Campus Outreach at Tennessee Tech University was the speaker for the weekend. Students had fun learning how to swing dance, listening to talks, and getting the chance to discuss the things they were learning with their peers. Please pray that the students who went on this retreat will seek to understand the Gospel of Christ clearly and learn more in depth what it means for them personally.

We are deeply thankful for each of your prayers and all of your support.
Please pray for Melissa and I that we will continue to look to Jesus, the Author and Pefecter of our faith, in thankfulness for all the things He has done, is doing, and will do in our life!

In Him,
Eric and Melissa Robinson

Melissa and I are currently in the process of transition into the ministry at Tennessee Tech University, as well as finalizing preparations for our wedding coming up on September second. We are looking forward to seeing God do amazing things this fall at TTU. There have been many transitions the past few weeks and many yet to come. Please pray that God would help us plug into the community at TTU and that He would go before us in our ministry on the campus this fall. Please also be Praying that God would start a revival on the campus of Tennessee Tech this fall. Our theme this fall is "No Competition", we chose this as our theme because our God is so BIG there really is no competition, there is nothing that can stand in His way. Please pray that He would do Big things this fall.

Our theme this past summer on the Summer Mountain Project was "Be Amazed" it was a very fitting because as I look back I am so amazed to see all that God has done through this summer project. God really went before us and prepared our steps. This is the first time we have ever had a summer project in Pigeon Forge TN, and it went extremely well. We had 40 students from TTU attend the Summer Mountain Project (SMP) which is a 9 week training opportunity for students to grow in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ, through evangelism training, Bible training an interaction with the local church. It has been so encouraging to see students take big steps in all these areas. We had the opportunity to see several people come to Christ, but what is even more exciting is to see these students grow in evangelism and in the word which is going to continue to make an impact on this world. I am very excited to be joining these students in reaching the campus at TTU this fall.