Our Adventure in the Northeast - Part VII

It's a late night tonight as I write this, but it has been a full and fruitful day. I'm typing this as I watch the Kentucky basketball game with Ryan, so if there are typos, frequent lapses of focus are the reason. :-)

As I mentioned yesterday, we spent the entirety of the day with Russell and Cynthia again today. They have been so gracious in giving of their time to our team, and we have definitely bonded as friends and in Christian fellowship over the last two days. Russell drove us this morning to a community called New Britton, which is a few minutes southwest of downtown Hartford. There, we toured the campus of Central Connecticut State University. The students there were on Spring Break, so there weren't many people to talk to, but we did find a few student employees working the information desk that were able to give insight on the campus. This is a university founded by members of the Jewish community, and many Jewish students attend here. Naturally, then, there are several different Jewish organizations on the campus.

Central Connecticut State University

The girls at the desk here told us that while there is great outflow from the university to the community through internships, jobs, community service, etc., there is not much of a presence of the community itself on the campus. We asked some leading questions to determine the reason for that, specifically related to the presence of a church or a Christian organization, but they indicated that there is not a great need for that because the university itself provides so many resources to students. Pray that the Lord would raise someone up to penetrate this campus with the Gospel!

After spending some time in conversation with Russell and then prayer walking a bit of the campus, we drove to Storrs, Connecticut, home of the UConn Huskies. The small rural community of Storrs is where Russell and Cynthia live, and they were gracious to invite us into their home for lunch. It was so nice to have simple homemade sandwiches after eating out for a full week!

CCSU Campus (the building on the right is meant
to resemble a lighthouse)

Following our lunch there, we drove to another community called Willimantic, Connecticut. This lower-to-middle-class town is the home of Eastern Connecticut State University (we've covered all but the north and west this week!). Again, the students here were on Spring Break, so we only took time to drive through the campus in order to make some general observations about the surroundings. As was the case yesterday, many of the areas we saw today looked much like Fayetteville, and all three campuses were laid out and had a feel very much similar to the University of Arkansas. If only we could get the temperatures to look the same right about now! Really, though, we've been blessed the last two days with sunny skies, and while still very cool, it's been much more pleasant than it could have been.

The whole day was building our excitement to see the University of Connecticut, and especially for Ryan and me because of the fame of its basketball programs. :-) Before our hosts would take us on campus, though, they forced us to have some of the agriculture department's dairy bar ice cream, which was some of the best I've had. Forced could perhaps be the wrong word here!

Best ice cream in Connecticut!

Russell and Cynthia showed us around the Alumni Center, which is where their church plant, The Bridge, meets every Sunday night. Because this is largely a commuter school, they have found that more students are in town on Sunday night than would be Sunday morning, though they do host a Bible study on Sunday mornings in the Student Union. They have been meeting for three years, and have grown to having 30 attenders on a consistent basis. Russell and Cynthia will be leaving this church at the end of the semester, though, so pray that God would raise up another leader to carry on the work here.

We spent some time seeking out conversations and prayer walking on the campus before heading back to Russell and Cynthia's house, and debriefed with them for a while before dinner. They had invited a few of their church members to join us, and five of them were able to come. We enjoyed so much getting to share with them about how God is leading us as a church, and to hear their hearts about this church and community as well.

A graphic representation of the religious diversity
of the UConn Campus

University of Connecticut

Ryan and I were particularly blessed to share in a few extra moments tonight with Russell and Cynthia, as they gave encouragement to us as a couple in the joys and struggles of a ministry marriage. We were blessed to pray together with them for God's guidance in both couples' lives in the near future. Please pray with us to that end as well.

We'll meet as a team of six tomorrow morning for brunch and a final debrief before leaving Brant and the Northeast as we return home. It's been a great week, and we're eager to see how God works through this team and through UBC as we proceed forward with church planting. Thanks for reading along with us this week! I doubt that I will post anything tomorrow night, as we'll be arriving back in Fayetteville late, but keep watching the blog for future updates on the life of this project and in the life of the Martins!

PS - The Kentucky Wildcats are now in the Elite Eight . . . makes for a very happy ride home tomorrow!