Some challenges and some prayer

The past semester has been productive but has certainly given me occasions for spiritual growth.  It was wonderful to come back to our Five-College CSO this fall and see that we hadn’t lost anyone from last year but instead gained three freshman and two grad students.  So now we have 14 members.  In my role as Northeast CSO rep, I was surprised to see how few of the colleges in my area had CSOs and those that did had less than 4 or 5 members.  This showed me how much work there was to do.

My first thought was “the harvest is great, but the laborers are few”. I looked it up and the exact quote is from Matthew 9: 37,38  “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”Jesus said this after he saw how many people came to him for healing. And he told us what to do, he said to “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers.”  So that’s exactly what I’ve been doing and am still doing.

Some of the issues I’ve had to specifically pray about are:

1) How can I effectively reach out and really connect with the CSOs that are out there? I’m in Amherst MA, and the people I’d like to be in contact with are  hundreds of miles away in various directions. Sometimes I think that if I could just go visit each group, it would make a difference. But because of school and my swim team demands, that’s hard to do.  I know that the internet has helped to make communication easier, but it’s still hard to get people to email me back or to actually have the right information for Christian Scientists in each area.

2) Time constraints.  Everyone in college is so busy.  I know it’s hard to get people to attend a weekly CSO meeting if they have papers to write and tests to study for.  So how can I help students to see how important it is to be part of a CSO And how much CSOs help their campuses—and their members?

3) How can I have more spiritual growth and use this growth to be a more effective healer?

So these are the issues I’m dealing with and I can only imagine other reps are encountering too.  The answer is, “Pray ye therefore the Lord”.  So, with a new year and a new semester beginning I am redoubling my efforts to listen to God and follow His direction.

I love hymn #9 that says:

O longing hearts that wait on God
Through all the world so wide;
He knows the angels that you need,
And sends them to your side,
To comfort, guard and guide.

Well, I’m expecting guidance.  And I know that Jesus wouldn’t tell us to do something if it wasn’t practical and possible. I want all colleges to have an active, supportive CSO like I have.   The harvest is “plenteous” Jesus said.  That means the harvest is already a reality.  I’m praying that we’ll be able to see how to have plenteous CSOs, full of active, vital members who are blessed and can therefore go out and bless their college community.

- Dorothy