Living As If Today Is Our Last

This past week a fellow missionary on the campus of UW-Whitewater passed away.
He graduated from UW-Whitewater earlier this spring and was hit by a car while crossing a street near the campus. He was a lively guy, born with muscular dystrophy but that didn't keep him down. He was just coming on staff with Intervarsity and doing what all campus ministers do when school starts, meet and connect with as many students as possible.

Later this summer one of our friends Dad who had been on staff with the Navigators for over 50 years passed away. He was diagnosed about a year ago with brain cancer.
The funeral was a great celebration of the life and legacy that he lived. It was a good reminder to check how I've been living.

Recently our campus director here at UW-Whitewater received news that his mom has brain cancer similar to the case above. It's been a hard time for them this summer. Not including the flooding in their basement and many other changes. His mom is in need of much prayer as well as our campus director and his family.

With all the tragedies and difficulties that we have seen or been a part of, it really reminds me that life on earth is not easy. Questions I ask myself and others are: What are you living for? Is it the big job, the nice boat, the cabin up north, weekends, vacations, etc. What are you holding on to tightly? Is it the job, the car, money, sports, or Christ?

Jesus says "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"-Matthew 16:25-26

My hope and prayer is that students will see that displayed in our lives because of what Christ did in us and that they will follow Him 100%.

Tim and Tara Chamberlain
-For the sake of the Gospel

The First Week of School

It's hard to believe we are already on to the second week of school.
Last week seemed to fly by. We had many outreach events and had some informal Bible study meetings.

Here is a picture from our first Nav Nite! We we're able to reserve the large ball room in the University Center on campus.

On Friday we finished with a Luau Party on campus. We grilled brats and hot dogs and then went over to the football game later that night. The Warhawks won! They haven't lost a home game since 2004!

Please continue to pray for all of us here as we reach out to the freshmen and the older students.
In campus ministry we talk about the three week "window of opportunity". This is usually when students are usually open to checking things out. After this time, students begin settling in to the groups they are going to be involved in and it's harder to connect with them.
Thanks for your prayers and support!

Tim and Tara Chamberlain
-For the sake of the Gospel

Celebrating your Birthday on God's day

Yesterday was my birthday! We started it off by going to church and then went golfing and lastly went out for dinner. As I was driving to church with Tara and a few friends I thought back to when I was younger and how I got to do pretty much whatever I wanted on my birthday. I got to pick where we were going to eat and something fun to do that day. I was probably selfish about it and in the U.S. we feel it's your right to get what you want on your birthday. But what about our creator, God, shouldn't He be the one we first thank as we begin to celebrate our birthday? In Psalm 139 God is praised for how He knew us before we were born and we were fearfully and wonderfully made.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

As we were singing the songs in church I was thinking about how my parents raised me and loved me and yet God even knew me before I was created! How awesome is that! I think it was God reminding me yesterday that He is the one to be praised and thanked. I hope that with every birthday in the future I will remember to give God the glory!

For the sake of the Gospel,
Tim and Tara Chamberlain

Leadership Retreat

Tara and I are getting ready for our leadership retreat Jump Start that starts today.
We will be joining up with 25 students on the leadership team and four other staff.
Here are some prayer requests that we have:

Prayer Requests:
-For safe travels for everyone as we're all coming from different areas of Wisconsin
-For protection from Satan in causing tension or conflict. That we would be able to build community and have good fellowship
-For God to give us ideas and wisdom in planning outreach events for the first week of school
-For Tara and I as we lead a workshop on Unity as Brothers and Sisters in Christ
-Threats to unity: conflict, gossip, lies, unwholesome talk
-Building unity: peace, valuing people, speaking truth, loving each other
-Discussion time
-There is some of this going on in our group and pray that God would use this in the way He wants and that it would be Him speaking through us
-For safety canoing down the Wisconsin River on Saturday
-For continued financial support: currently we are at 73%

Thank you for being a part of this ministry!
For the sake of the gospel,
-Tim and Tara

S.D. Gordon (19th century Christian leader) said "Prayer is the real work of the ministry; service is just the gathering in the results of prayer."

Funding Update

Our Fundraising Thermometer

We can officially go back to campus since we are at 70%, but we are praying to get 100% by August 15th. We have until Sept 31 to be at 100%, or we'll go back on fundraising.

Thanks again to all who have been praying for us and support us financially. We wouldn't be here without you!

In Christ,
Tim and Tara

Second time around

3,200 miles so far and about 1,000 more to go!
This is our second time making it over to South Dakota and Minnesota.
I guess we just loved it so much the first time around that we really wanted to go back and do it again.

Tara and I were in Whitewater for a week after making our way through South Dakota and Minnesota. We were able to get some rest and time with our friends there in Wisconsin.
A couple of our students were married in Illinois while we were back and the following Saturday Tara was in a wedding.

Throughout this summer I have had a lot of time to think in the car, alongside talking with Tara. It has been a good way to think about what God has been teaching me and what He has been challenging me in.

Throughout our lifetime there may be times when we don't follow God's plan and we choose ours. We choose to do it our way, trust our way of doing things, and end up unfulfilled and dissatisfied. God's plan is the only one that will succeed. So God brings us back for a second time around or third or fourth or etc. until we get on His path headed in the right direction to learn and experience the things He wants for us.

So in this second time around I am encouraged and excited about the things we'll learn and experience as we go through South Dakota and Minnesota. I'm so thankful we have a God that doesn't give up on us, who has a steadfast love for us, and is gracious to us when we sin.

Thank you Lord for sending your perfect Son to be the savior of the world!

Tim and Tara Chamberlain
-For the sake of the Gospel

Let us celebrate our freedom in America and in Christ!

As I (Tim) was thinking about this upcoming holiday that we all share in this country, I wondered why we as Christians don’t celebrate the freedom we have in Christ like we celebrate the freedom we have in America.

I was reading a couple weeks ago about when the Emancipation Proclamation that was signed and put in affect by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to abolish slavery. The problem was that many slaves didn’t find out that they were actually free until 1865! They lived as if they were slaves yet they were really free!

Similarly the Roman believers had lived for almost 25 years after Christ’s death thinking they were still in bondage to sin. Apostle Paul reminded them that what ever they submit to becomes their master. Paul says in Romans 6:17-18

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

Tomorrow we will celebrate the 4^th of July and our freedom we have in this country because of the many people that died and shed blood for this country. Let us also remember Christ’s death and the most amazing freedom and salvation we have because of his shed blood! I pray that we as Christians would never forget to celebrate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

For the sake of the Gospel of Jesus,
Tim and Tara Chamberlain