On Wednesday, September 17 Chi Alpha hosted its first contact table in UVM’s Student Union. Our theme was “Stupid Human Tricks.” People could stop by the table to show off their special talent for a video camera and enter for a chance to win movie tickets for two. I was amazed by some of the things that people came up with! It was quite entertaining, and a great chance to meet more students. We’ll be posting the footage on Chi Alpha’s website at chialphavt.com by the end of this week.

On Thursday, September 18 we hosted our second “Theology on Tap” study group at Brennan’s Pub in the Student Union. The turn-out for the first one on the 11th was a bit disappointing since only two people, a student and a non-student, showed up. Ironically, just down the hall from us the very popular UVM Outdoors Club had at least 200 students in attendance at their first and only Thursday meeting of the semester.

So, we decided to give Theology on Tap one more chance and worked on spreading the word a bit more with people we’d already met. Well, last week five freshmen guys showed up and actively participated in group discussion. We’d personally invited four of the five guys, and the fifth guy came because he’s friends with the other guys. The guys enjoyed the gathering, and by the end of the night it was agreed that Theology on Tap would become a men’s only gathering every Thursday night.

One of the guys who is becoming a consistent face in Chi Alpha is a Christian who is originally from Nigeria. He relocated with his family to New York just a couple of years ago, and this is his first semester at UVM. Last week at Theology on Tap he told the group that since moving to UVM he hasn’t been praying as much as he used to. He realized this when he had to go to the UVM health clinic. At one point the doctor said he might need surgery for his condition. The doctor left the room and our friend immediately called his dad and they started praying. When the doctor came back in, he told our friend that the condition wasn’t as serious as was first thought and prescribed medicine instead. Our friend took the experience as a lesson to not forget the importance prayer now that he’s at UVM.

This Friday night I’m (Rachel) planning to do a little banana bread baking in the dorms with a gal I’ve met. It’s been a bit of a challenge so far to connect the gals I’ve met with each other. Please pray that friendships would begin to form, and community would be created.