For the past two weeks I have been having personal interviews with my students, i.e. the second year class for whom I am the advisor. I met with all 18 students. Many of them are good students. Most, perhaps all, are committed to some type of Christian ministry. At least three of the students need special prayer and attention.

One is our oldest 2nd year student. He is in his 30s. He has a good heart. He wants to serve God. Unfortunately he may not be able to handle the college requirements for this B.A. in Christian Studies. His GPA is on the 1.50 border and if it falls below, he will not be allowed to continue. This is not a McGilvary Faculty of Theology requirement, but one that comes either from the University or the federal government. I pray that God will help him to find the ability to do the work or that God will ease his disappointment by revealing to him a wonderful opportunity to serve God to the best of his abilities without the college degree.

The second is a young lady who has also struggled some academically. However, her real struggle has been to find herself. Her girlfriend relationship with a male student has scandalized some of the students and faculty -- though no sexual improprieties have been observed. She has struggled in her field work -- her weekend assignment in local churches. She is immature and blames her failures on others. One professor has suggested to me that she needs to leave our department and get a degree in some other discipline. However, I am not ready to give up on her. She has become more active in the 2nd year class weekly prayer meetings. (I am proud of how they have remained open to her.) She was even elected to an officer position for the class this past week. She has been more focused on her studies this term as well. I pray that God will help her to grow emotionally and spiritually, so that her life might bring glory to God's Name.

The third person is a young man who has also earned the displeasure of some of the faculty. He is often late for classes and sometimes falls asleep during lectures. His appearance is not as clean cut as is expected. His hair is a bit long and his shirttail is rarely tucked neatly in (as required by the dress code). Nevertheless he has one of the highest GPAs in our class. He is also the only student who has mentioned to me about bearing witness to students in other disciplines. He is the only Christian in his family. His one other Christian friend, with whom he came to University, has left school. Plus, he has had to overcome a problem with drugs and alcohol from his earlier high school days. I pray that God would protect him both from his former life and from his own penchant to sluff off schoolwork. I pray that God would overcome his loneliness by bringing a Christian friend into his life. I pray that our faculty would be patient and prayerful for him so that in the end his great potential would be harnessed for the Kingdom of God

And I pray for myself. I pray that God would help me to be a better advisor. I pray that God would give me wisdom and courage to help all of my students.