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It’s official! Joe and I have reached the minimum financial goal in order to be on campus! A thousand thanks to all of you who have been so generous in your prayers, encouraging words, and commitment to financial giving. God has used you in a powerful way on this journey of forming the financial backing for Chi Alpha’s presence in Vermont.
I’m currently reading The Language of God, by the head of the Human Genome Project Fancis S. Collins. Collins is a Christian and a scientist. Below is an excerpt from chapter 3 entitled “The Origins of the Universe,” where Collins gives a scientific account of the beginnings of the universe. When I first read this, I was so taken with a deep feeling of awe and wonder in God’s great work of creation! The method by which God has caused our universe to evolve is truly amazing! I appreciate Christian scientists who boldly maintain integrity where there may be both religious and professional pressure.
“For the first million years after the Big Bang, the universe expanded, the temperature dropped, and nuclei and atoms began to form. Matter began to coalesce into galaxies under the force of gravity. It acquired rotational motion as it did so, ultimately resulting in the spiral shape of galaxies such as our own. Within those galaxies local collections of hydrogen and helium were drawn together, and their density and temperature rose. Ultimately nuclear fusion commenced.
This process, whereby four hydrogen nuclei fuse together to form both energy and a helium nucleus, provides the major source of fuel for stars. Larger stars burn faster. As they begin to burn out, they generate within their core even heavier elements such as carbon and oxygen. Early in the universe (within the first few hundred million years) such elements appeared only in the core of these collapsing stars, but some of these stars then went through massive explosions known as supernovae, flinging heavier elements back into the gas in the galaxy.
Scientists believe our own sun did not form in the early days of the universe; our sun is instead a second- or third- generation star, formed about 5 billion years ago by a local re-coalescence. As that was occurring, a small proportion of heavier elements in the vicinity escaped incorporation into the new star, and instead collected into the planets that now rotate around the sun. This includes our own planet, which was far from hospitable in its early days. Initially very hot, and bombarded with continual massive collisions, Earth gradually cooled, developed an atmosphere, and became potentially hospitable to living things by about 4 billion years ago. A mere 150 million years later, the earth was teeming with life.” Francis S. Collins, The Language of God
God is opening doors for us here in the greater Burlington area. We’ve met some college students through our speaking engagements at churches, and we have talked with many moms and dads who are seriously concerned for their own children who are attending college in Vermont.
This month, for the second time, we are speaking at a class on Religious Experience at St. Michael’s College. We’re also bringing a couple of students to a Chi Alpha retreat in Amherst, MA on Feb 15-17.
And finally, our support raising is nearly complete. Once verbal commitments have been formalized, we’ll have just under $100/month left to raise before we reach our minimum goal and begin to work on the campuses in the greater Burlington area. It is because of your investment that this vision and calling is becoming reality!
Burlington, VT is starting to feel like home. We are seeking to live ‘missionally’ by involving ourselves in the fabric of our city. Joe has become involved with the music scene. Over the last two months he’s performed in a concert with the Burlington Chorale Society and has judged clarinet auditions for the Vermont All-State competition. We’ve also been opening our home to neighbors and college students. Recently, the Champlain Housing Trust (they helped us purchase our townhouse) chose to feature our neighborhood in their annual report and business meeting. Their theme was “Building Community,” and they included many pictures and quotes from us that focused on the sense of teamwork and cooperation in our neighborhood. It amazes us how much people hunger for aspects of God’s Kingdom - like a meaningful sense of community. We earnestly believe that if we can come alongside people as they seek belonging, justice, and meaning, we can build bridges and let Christ-in-us reveal a bit of God’s heart for them and our world.
