Fire...lots of fire...

Fall continues to make itself known here in East Tennessee. The trees are all starting to sport the same colors as the fans in Neyland Stadium. And the weather? Perfect.

Tonight we had our Freshmen Hayride & Bonfire. The Glafenheins, a family at Redeemer, hosted it at their farm about 30 minutes outside Knoxville. Since the event fell through last year, we also had a number of sophomores looking to join in the fun. It was a blast! Unfortunately, the only thing on fire wasn't the firewood. While the first group was out on the hayride, the tractor caught on fire. Like...legitimately on fire. Everybody was fine, but that was the end of the hayrides for the evening. Haha. But the bonfire was definitely still a hit and the freshmen all enjoyed hanging out and getting to know each other better (especially since we have separate Freshmen Guys and Freshmen Girls Bible studies...ha).

The Glafenheins carved some pretty awesome roasting sticks for us for the hot dogs and marshmellows.

Me with a couple of the sophomores that came along and Anne, my co-intern (on the right)

Some of the freshmen guys at the bonfire

Freshmen having a blast!

It's so encouraging to see the freshmen getting to know each other better, and we are blessed to have such a big, awesome group of them! I wish I had taken a headcount tonight, but it was an awesome turnout.

Please continue to pray for me as I meet 1-on-1 with students, mainly freshmen guys. I'm starting to get to know them better. Pray for God's wisdom as I seek to reflect the love of Christ and the power of His gospel in their lives. Pray also that I will know how to practically demonstrate His love to them as well.

I look forward to posting a more informative post soon, but in the busy-ness of the semester, it's been hard to sit down and write! I'm leaving here on Sunday for Fall Intern Training in Atlanta. It'll be a a great few days to spend with my fellow interns from around the country. Good time to relax and regroup, comparing notes, etc. It's a wonderful group of folks, and it's such a joy to spend time in fellowship with them.

Thank you all again for your prayers and support, and I will hopefully be updating again soon!

In Christ,

Stephen