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Prayer is one of the greatest gifts we have to share with God. It can be done anytime, anywhere, anyway. With that being said, praying out loud with my fellow brothers and sisters and wit God is something I need to work on. I grew up praying with my family before I went to bed, but praying about my feelings, desires, wishes, hopes, is not something I am fully comfortable doing out loud yet. With that being said, I believe praying is something that should be shared, just not all the time. I try and pray every day to simply clear my head and in doing so, I know God will help me with whatever it is I am struggling with at the time. I always try and thank God for everything he has given me that day because I know nothing would have been possible without Him.

One thing I need to work on is listening to God. I tend to get frustrated when things aren't working out and I don't always understand why things happen the way they do. In acknowledging this, I hope to become more patient and understanding with God.

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Being a Christian isn't simply about knowing and attempting to live up to God's word...it is much more than that. This section in IV's core values explains that loving God's word is another way we becoming closer to God. By studying God's word through our bible studies (now our small groups), we are learning to live and love His word.

One aspect of loving God's word is personal meditation with it. This is one thing I need to work on in my own relationship with God.

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Because of the fact that we, as Christians, are the "spokesmen and women" of Christianity (sorry that was a really stupid way to word that), we must always be conscious of our actions. In other words, it is imperative that we embody what the Bible teaches us in terms of how we are to act/interact with one another. By portraying ourselves as Christians and living out our lives in the way God intended, we are helping spread the word of Christ.

We must constantly be aware of the fact that "A Christian’s lifestyle is contagious..." and in recognizing this, we are attempting to live up to what it means to be a Christian.

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When I read the VIV beliefs on community, the part that stuck out to me the most was "creating a community to reach a community." While I am a person that tends to stick with that I know and not venture too far out of my comfort zone, I think this is integral to VIVs perception on Villanova's campus. I also think this is one of the things we are doing exceptionally well so far. Seeing all of those people at our 1st large group on Friday August 29th made me realize the importance of growing, of reaching out to other individuals and truly sharing the word of God with those around you.

The last paragraph in VIVs explanation of their views on community, it expresses the challenges in growing a community: it is scary and at some points overwhelming. This is exactly how I feel. But because of the necessity, because of the pure good we are doing by growing and sharing what we know, what we love, what we want to know more of about Jesus, I am excited to see what the semester holds for our ever-growing community.

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Sometimes I forget what a privilege prayer is. We get to talk to the creator of the universe, who made me and loves me and listens. That's incredible.

Praying before everything VIV does really reminds me that we need to rely on God to talk and move through us. Sometimes I can get overwhelmed because I feel like I'm not up to a particular task, but prayer reminds me that it is not up to me- It's all up to God.

Sometimes I struggle when people talk about the power of prayer. I know God wants what is best for us and listens to us. I also know that God has the ability to work wonders in this world, but sometimes I feel like praying for something specific is like telling God what he should do rather than being open to his will. I love talking to God, but I'm still trying to figure out what it means to ask God for something.

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I'm really trying to make quiet time a daily part of my life (for me this looks like spending 20-30 minutes doing a devotional). It's hard to create habits so it would be great if others wanted to make this a priority as well and we could encourage each other and have a space to share what we are learning in our personal time with the Lord.

I fall into the trap of using scripture as support rather than illumination. I would like to rely on the text and God's spirit rather than my own biases and predetermined ideas, but this is really difficult because I come to the text from a certain context that is hard to shake.

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Karl Li - Ethnic Reconciliation & Justice

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Karl Li - Ethnic Reconciliation & Justice

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One of the chief reasons why I left RCF and started VIV was because I was desperate for friends.

To be more specific, I longed to make friends on campus that belonged to the "majority culture."

Being Chinese at VIV and at school hasn't been easy. There are days where I feel like I am also white due to my low association with other Chinese or Asian students on campus...this is a very difficult thing for me to admit.

I long for a day where VIV, RCF, GCC, and Gospel Choir ministries will know each other intimately.

Between the fellowships, there are a number of very different nuances, intricacies and emphases that have the potential to complement each other very well.

For example, (this is a generalization), but VIV has planned some amazing off-campus activities. We've got a knack for leveraging different families that are sympathetic to our vision. During my time at RCF, I remember the talented musicianship, and ample praise-leading resources. They're able to cultivate a depth of intimacy in worship that I often miss.

I pray that one day, we can freely intermingle between events, coordinate campus outreach together, and pursue Christ-centered living together. Then and only then will the rest of campus recognize the love of Christ in our groups. Maybe this year we can take small steps closer towards this direction.

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Munger points out that submission to Jesus involves not a single decision, but a series of daily choices that give Him control over various “rooms” in our lives – the study (mind), dining room (ambition), living room (quiet time), recreation room (entertainment), bedroom (sexuality) and even the hall closet (secrets).

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Dwight L. Moody once observed: “Of one hundred [non-believers], one will read the Bible; the other ninety-nine will read the Christian.”

Paul Little, InterVarsity’s first Director of Evangelism, once defined evangelism as “one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.” The first part of our task is simply to point others in the right direction.

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When I was reading the IV Core Values for Scripture, I was convicted of Alec Hill's observation: "During my quarter century of working with students, I have come to conclude that a solid Quiet Time is the best predictor of spiritual growth."

Although VIV is full of opportunities to immerse oneself in scripture, I still feel very vulnerable when it comes to knowing my way around the bible. I'm excited to dig into 1 John this semester, but I yearn to have many different passages memorized, and available for sharing with my friends. I know that this will take a lot of work, so I think the real question is: am I ready to make this a priority for my life? If not today, when?