God will accomplish His purposes. He does not NEED me here. I GET to be here.

Last Friday, I laid in bed, miserable with body aches, perpetual sneeze attacks and sniffles. I couldn’t take that I had spent a third day “resting up” and not on campus or working on bible studies or administrative work. God was teaching me to trust Him with my schedule again and to remember my value is not found in my works. As I breathed in His comfort and assurance, my phone buzzed with a text message. Earlier that week I had asked a student to pray about partnering with the ministry as a student leader. She was supposed to let me know that night. The text message was her informing me that she enjoyed bible study the previous night - the one I missed. Instead of texting her back, I called her and asked if she had prayed about her role in the ministry.
“Yes, I prayed,” she said and paused. Though I really wanted to see her commit to the ministry, I had a great peace that God would do what He wanted. “I prayed. . .and I want to take a step of faith. I don’t know what this is going to look like, but if I don’t like it I can always quit.”
I laughed. “That’s right. You can.” But in my heart, I knew that would not be the case. God had provided a friend for me to share my life with. My heart smiled. God was working in this girl’s heart even as I was absent from campus. Once again he was showing me that He does not NEED me to be here. He has invited me to witness and be apart of what He is already doing.
I find it hard to believe that it has only been a little over a month since arriving in Bowie, Maryland. The Lord has been moving powerfully in my life already, and in the lives of many new friends!



Here is a glimpse into what God has been doing in my life…

First Couple of weeks I struggled with the question, “Why am I here?” I struggled with comparing myself to my teammates. Two of them are extroverts and seem to always be connecting with so many people, while I felt like God wasn’t providing any opportunities or that I was getting in the way. I was chasing students, rather than waiting for God to provide. He kept knocking on my heart and asking me, “Will you let me into this area of insecurity? Will you trust me?” I also struggled with feeling so alone in a new place. God has been teaching me about his love. I’ve been walking more in faith these last couple weeks, and I’ve seen the Lord provide an opportunity FINALLY!!!! And yet I’m still called to not find my worth in that. When there is nothing going on and when there is too much going on, my worth is in Christ and His faithfulness.

On campus, God has opened doors immediately for meaningful freshman relationships…Sarah and I have connected with over twenty girls and have a seen a few come to Christ. Now that we are a month in, we also see the Lord bringing a couple girls for us to pour into and disciple. Robert and Brandon are the male missionaries on the team and they have over forty freshmen meeting for bible studies and prayer. We are seeing God move in amazing ways. Now, with all of this momentum, I can see first hand the reality of Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful, and the laborers few…” Your prayers and financial support are making a difference!

Here is a typical week in campus ministry. On Mondays I spend about three hours spending time alone with God and then I connect with students. On Tuesdays I spend another three hours working on bible studies that I will do with some of the girls and on the staff bible study. Then, I go back to campus to connect with students. On Wednesdays I have a staff meeting where we touch base on what’s going and
go through ministry training. I usually connect with students in the evening as well. Thursday looks like Tuesday. Friday I do administrative work and fundraise. Saturday is my day off. Sunday is my day of rest. At some point during the week Marvin (the campus director) meets with me for about an hour for more ministry training and at some other point I connect with his wife, Pam, for accountability.

As of this week, I am still trusting the Lord to raise up my remaining $6545 in financial support. Continuing to fundraise amidst a busy campus schedule has proven more difficult than I imagined, but I am confident of the Lord’s calling and therefore His provision as He moves in the hearts of additional ministry partners.

If you haven’t already, would you be willing to pray about joining me in ministry at Bowie State University as a financial partner?

Twelve partners investing $45 per month for twelve months would allow me to reach full support and minister that much more freely. Jesus used twelve ordinary friends to change the world. I am praying for twelve extraordinary friends, like you, to change Bowie State University!


Thanks so much for you prayers and support! And thanks for taking the time to read this update. I hope this gives you a better picture of what is going on here. I will be mailing out a newsletter in October.

With you in Christ,

 Laura Welch

P.S. I’m 80% funded! Praise God for His provision! And if you would like to give please click on my picture at the top right of this page.

Exposing My Fears and Growing in Faith

The four of us sat quietly looking at each other as Navigator veteran Eugine Burrell asked again, "What are your fears as you approach campus ministry at Bowie State?" I looked to Rob first, and then my roommate Sarah, both of them being extroverts and my finding there unction to speak and outwardly express themselves as an opportunity to either think or slink back into the background. Maybe they won't realize I haven't spoken, I think to myself.

As I predicted the extroverts opened up, and then Brandon shared, and then . . . unfortunately I had to speak. Many fears were exposed: fear of imperfection (the idea that one has to be perfect before ministering to others) coupled with the fear of failure, the fear of being on campus again and not having a selfless focus (many of our college experiences were not others-focused), fear of not having a purpose or being needed, and then finally mine, which was the fear of not being accepted among the students and, thus, not being used by God. I didn't want to share my fears, because I thought I sounded stupid. Coming from Florida, I'm used to more cross-cultural experiences, and I've become accustomed to relating with all different types of people. Coming to an HBCU, I didn't think this black population would accept me as culturally one of their own. This was my area to trust God in.

Would I have faith that God called me here for a specific purpose, to touch the lives of specific young women?

For the most of the week, I bogged myself down with negativity. I would look in the mirror and ask myself, "Why am I here?"

On Wednesday the 26th we officially began our ministry at Bowie State. We helped move in many freshmen and had them fill out surveys. Depending on how they answered, we could follow them up and share the gospel while also connecting with them relationally.

I prayed that morning that I would trust God that He can and will use me on this campus. And I met so many girls, shared the gospel with three of them and hung out with one of those three today.

I am so amazed by the potential relationships God has presented. I met four cool girls, whom I look forward to getting to know. Please join me in praying for them, that God would draw them to himself and that they would cling to Him. That they would seek Him with their whole hearts. As a matter of fact, let's pray that for ourselves and lets pray that God would give us the eyes of faith, that we may walk by faith and not by sight.

Check out my facebook video update

Called to Give Back

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, for you had become very dear to us.
1 Thessalonians 2:8

God used this verse to call me to the mission field this Spring while I was wrestling with counting the cost of ministry. The verse caused me to look back on the past couple years, my involvement in The Navigator ministry on my campus and even my involvement at a local church. He reminded me of all the leaders who took time out of their day to spend one on one time with me either in the word, or in the application of the word, or just to talk about life. It was in these meetings that I learned about God’s grace (why it’s so amazing), servant-leadership, and what it means to be the church (the beauty of authentic relationships in Christ). These individuals all spurred me on to not keep this knowledge to myself, but to share what I’ve learned with younger students. In time, as they continued to be patient with me, God began to break my heart for people and to give me the burden to share Him with others. I became very passionate about discipleship, investing my life into the lives of others that they might find their purpose in Jesus Christ and experience God satisfying their deepest desires through Him.

I graduated this past May and have been given an opportunity to give back to students what God so graciously gave me while I was in college--hope. I’ve been invited to help launch a ministry at Bowie State University, a Historical Black College/University in Bowie, Maryland. Due to the lack of campus ministries at this school, students have little opportunity to understand how eternal life in Christ connects with them as African American collegians. I am excited to build relationships with them as I intentionally spend time with them, not only sharing the gospel with them but also my own life as many others have with me. I will also help train students to do the same with their peers. Our hope is that we can build a foundation in these students that they can build on for the rest of their lives, leaving a legacy of changed lives behind them.

Because my job is a full-time ministerial position I have the responsibility of raising my support this year. In order to report on campus on time (by August 15), I need to raise 75% of my monthly support. I’ve been asking people to prayerfully consider partnering with me by giving monthly gifts of $50-200 a month.

If you are interested in joining my financial support team, you can click on my picture at the top right corner of the page.

Your Partner in the Gospel,
Laura Welch