We are on our way to MEXICO!

The Baxter family was selected to lead an International Training Project this summer to Guadalajara, Mexico this summer. The team is comprised of 12 students from the Univ. of South Alabama and another staff couple (Ben and Katie Nelson). We are so excited to be a part of it and yet we know that it will be a challenge, especially with 2 small children. Our goal is to partner with a local church and reach out to college students on a university campus in Guadalajara. Please pray with us for these things:
-the USA students would grow in a devotion and heart for God
-that we would reach many Mexican students with the gospel of Christ
-strength for Kim as she will have the kids a lot of the day without my help
-safety for the team
-wisdom for me as I have to make decisions for the summer

We'll keep you posted on how everything is going. As you can imagine there is lots of planning that needs to be done over the next few months in order to make this happen.
Thanks for your prayers and support.

Campus Outreach Global Conference

I just got back from a week long staff conference in Atlanta, GA in which there were over a hundred campus outreach directors and leaders from all over the region and various parts of the world to remind ourselves of what we are all doing. It was probably the best conference I've ever been to. We talked about where we are going as a ministry and where we've been. We talked about our strategy and the importance of having a team. We talked about our desire to continue to grow here in the US and expand our influence to different parts of the earth. Some of the most encouraging things we talked about is the fight for and the importance of humility; for God hates the proud and gives grace to the humble. In the fight for humility we began to take an honest look at our shortcomings and weaknesses and asked God to help us in those areas. We also said that if we want God to work in and through us that we needed to be men of depth. We want to be, men and women who love Jesus and spend time with Him; those who embrace His grace and find our significance in the gospel and our relationship with God, not in others approval. Please pray with us that we would be humble men of depth who wish to see others enjoy a relationship with their Creator. Please pray for wisdom in moving forward wherever that may be. Pray that we would be faithful to what God has given us. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for your support in this ministry!

Here's some new pics!

Fall 07 Has Begun at USA

Here We Go Again! We've started another school year by helping with freshman move-in and reconnecting with students that we haven't seen in months. This is always an exciting time for us as we meet new people and try to share the love of Christ to perhaps identify those who are spiritually hungry. Our hope and prayer is that God does an incredible work here this semester. Already we've met many students who seem to be either searching or already have a relationship with God.
These are our prayers specifically:
o Renewed minds & transformed Hearts(Acts16:14;Jeremiah 24:7;Romans12:1-2)
o Protection from our flesh, world and satan (Ephesians 6: 10-18; 2 Cor. 10:4-5)
o Genuine love for God, others and the world (Mk 12:29-31; Deut. 6: 4-6)
o Understand the Love of God / Christ. (Eph. 3:16-19; 4:1-2)
o Live worthy of our calling as Christians (1 Tim. 4:12)
Please Pray with us as we ask God to do these things!
On a personal note, I'm really looking forward to starting a discipleship group with Mikey and Russ, two fraternity guys that have gotten involved with our ministry. We start our group next week so I'll write more about that later. Thank you so much for your time, prayers and support.

Beach Project stories

We got to spend time with students the last week of Beach Project and it was amazing to see the changes in their lives in just three weeks. Here are some statements they made:

Heather: "Through God bring someone to me that had been through the same things I have, I saw that God could use me, and that I didn't have to wait a few years until I know more for that to happen."

Kelly: (WHO I WROTE ABOUT EARLIER THIS SUMMER) "I want God to use me to reach my friends at school. I want to think of ways that I can tell them what has happened to me. God has shown me this summer that I can trust him, and that he isn't like any human. I want my friends to know what I have found." (I wish you could see the difference in Kelly's countenance in just a few weeks!)

Derek: "God has shown me this summer that last year I didn't take responsibility for ministering to the people He put around me. This year I've gotten together with some other guys and we're going to hold each other accountable to reach our campus."

Johnny: "If our campus is going to be reached, it has to be through us, the students. We are the ones who God can use to make it happen."

Alisa: "I'm excited about going back and sharing all the things that I've learned at Beach Project. I just want to be faithful."

Carrie: (WHO I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT PREVIOUSLY WITH HER SISTER KELLY) "I learned this summer in Mexico that Christ in us is the hope of glory for everyone else. They have to see the hope within us and we have to share it with them."

This is only a small fraction of what happened over the summer at Beach Project. What is exciting is thinking of all the lives that will be radically changed through THEM! Please pray for their return to school and their new relationships.

Summer family pic

God Our Sweet Provider

Last night while we had some friends over, the spring to our dishwasher door broke off (it's very old). I realized today that Bailey and Owen could get hurt badly if the door came down on them suddenly. I told Duane and we decided to go get a new one today . We walked into Lowe's and right away saw two couples we knew. Long story short, one of them had just replaced their appliances and had a white dishwasher (which matches our cabinets) sitting in their garage, and they gave it to us! What is so amazing is that just 15 minutes sooner or later, and we wouldn't have crossed paths. Can you imagine all that has to happen, all the things in the universe that have to line up so that we met at that exact moment? Owen went down for a much later nap than usual, we went to Home Depot first instead of Lowes, and stayed exactly the amount of time that we needed to, and even that our dishwasher broke last night and that they would have a desire THAT DAY to go look at grills at Lowes (and that is only a few of the many unseen things that had to line up that we know of). It is so unfathomable how God orchestrates our lives to provide for us in such supernatural ways! Only a God who is in control of ALL things could make it happen!