Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know about our Let's Start Talking teams preparing for their summer projects. As part of their training, each of our 4 teams is responsible for putting together a party. They will do the same thing during their projects this summer, so they are learning now how to do that by actually putting on a party.

The first team up is SHSU Team Italy (Travis Esquivel and Jonathan Rowe). TONIGHT is the night! The party starts at 8:30pm so there is time to get to the KFC Building after church. There is a facebook event (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=115333001815259&index=1) to which you can respond if you must let everyone know you are coming.

If you haven't met these two guys (and the rest of our teams!), join us for a great time of fun! Your support will go a long way in helping our teams be prepared to share Jesus and share themselves this summer. I hope you make it!

The spring semester is in full swing and we are loving it! God is moving in students' lives, bringing them to various levels of commitment. Some are learning to go deeper in their faith through all our service opportunities and others are making the ultimate commitment to put on Christ in the waters of baptism. Even more students are learning what it means to truly be a Kat for Christ as they mature in their being Jesus' disciple.

One of the huge parts of this spring semester involves training FOUR teams to go on a Let's Start Talking project this summer. We've never had so many making this commitment to go overseas to help people with their conversational English using the book of Luke. These 12 students are meeting weekly to get ready for what God is going to do through them this summer. This is a huge commitment for them!

Here is where you can be a tremendous help and blessing to our ministry. Each worker must raise $2,975 for the Let's Start Talking Ministry to go on a project this year. They must have half their funds in next Monday, February 1! A few students have already passed this mark, but many still have a long way to go. Will you partner with our KFC ministry in helping them raise the necessary funds to go to Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany this summer?

You can contribute a couple of ways. One, you can go directly to one of the student's team LST pages listed below and contribute securely online with any amount. If you know any of the students that is probably the best way to help them directly. If you don't know which student to give to we have another option. Two, you can go to our KFC LST page and click on the LST KFC Contribution button that will send you to our secure KFC PayPal site to contribute any amount. The money will then be distributed according to those students who need it most to fulfill their commitment.

Our challenge to our KFC alumni and KFC friends is this: we want to find 40 people to give at least $100 this year that goes directly to our students' LST fundraising commitment. Will you help us with this challenge? Know also that any amount will be accepted and is tax-deductible! We praise God that you want to partner with us in sending students all over the world through this ministry.

Here are the teams you can help with any financial contribution:

SHSU Team 1 (Belgium)

• Austin Atwood
• Jeremy Baggs
• Lindsey Montoya

SHSU Team 2 (Italy)

• Asia Kopp


• Jonathan Rowe


• Travis Esquivel

SHSU Team 3 (Switzerland)

• Alicia Carter


• Monique Bertrand


• Samantha Allardyce

SHSU Team 4 (Germany)

• Jamie Lenz


• Jessi Pitt


• Travis Knight

I thank you in advance for your continued support of our ministry. Let me know if you have any questions. If you want suggestions as to one particular student, please let me know that too!

Last weekend was our annual fall retreat. We focused on Discovering Our Design. God has given every person a unique design that we cannot change. We spent the weekend seeking to begin discovering the way that God has wired us. I am excited about seeing these designs working in our ministry helping it function the best it can.

Oh yeah...we also had a ton of fun. It wouldn't be a retreat without it! Hanging out. Playing games. Staying up late. We did a high ropes course that really pushed some of our students faith! Overall, God was glorified, and we had a chance to get away from the routine to refocus on him. Thanks for you prayers and support for this weekend.

Chris <><

Here is where you can help us. I love hearing stories of God working at retreats through the years. It seems like He takes advantage of people choosing to get away for a weekend to get closer to him with other Christians! Will you consider sending me a short story of how God worked in your life at one of the Kats for Christ retreats? I want to share these with our current students so they can see our God more clearly!

Also, will you consider contributing to help one student go on the retreat this year? The cost is $35 per student. We have a temporary online retreat payment option where even students can pay for their retreat. If you want to help make the retreat a possibility for a student unable to pay this year, just go to http://www.katsforchrist.com/retreat.php and make your contribution as long as this option is available. God is good all the time.

We appreciate your continued support for this ministry. Let me know if you have any questions.

Chris <><
Kats for Christ
Campus Minister
christopherblair.blogspot.com

PS-As always, you can also make one-time or recurring online contributions here.

We have begun with eagerness a new service-oriented approach to blessing our community that we are calling ARK after the idea of acts of random kindness. People in the community (mainly at church right now) contact us about service needs they have. We write down all the important information on an ARK card and tack it on our cross. Students take it down, get a group of students together, contact the person directly about meeting that need, and then go serve!

What is cool about this is how we are able to use the youth of college students to serve like Jesus! Students get the benefit of learning the way of Jesus. We have also developed a little reward system to give a little more incentive for our students. While it is not about the points, we want to help students have some benefit for serving others. They receive points for their service. If they have a certain amount of points, we give them a discount on the retreat or with our Let's Start Talking expenses. Even when we go on our Spring Break Service Project next semester they will need to have a minimum level of points to go.

All in all, I'm excited about seeing how students are being formed into the image of Jesus. We are trying more and more to train and mature disciples of Jesus.

We thank you for your continued support of this ministry. Please keep us in your prayers!

Chris Blair <><
Kats for Christ
Campus Minister

The time has finally come! Many of you have been waiting for a way to bless this ministry financially through an online payment option. Some wanting to bless the ministry with a one-time gift. Others wanting a no-hassle recurring payment option. We now have both available for immediate use through PayPal. There are several options available so be sure to see all of the options on the PayPal page of our KFC website.

If you would like to contribute to this ministry using a different period (maybe once a quarter) or using a different periodic amount please contact me and we will set something up for you.

Thank you so much for your continued support of our Kats for Christ ministry.

In His Service, 

Please RSVP by this Sunday for these events so we can purchase food for the weekend. We need to know if you will be attending the Saturday lunch, dinner, or both. There are many ways to RSVP. One, send me a quick email (blairgolfer@gmail.com). This is by far the best way to RSVP. I will respond to your email confirming your RSVP. Two, sign up on Sunday morning with me in the welcome area at church. Three, call the KFC Student Center telling us which events you will attend on Saturday (936.295.6001). Or four, quickly fill out our online form. We will call you to confirm your RSVP.

Here is our schedule:

Well, I am getting more and more excited about our 45th Reunion. I hope you are too! Think of all the people you are about to reconnect with. Let me know if you have any questions.

Chris <><

PS-even if you aren't technically alumni, I'm sure we'd be blessed with your presence! Please come support this very important ministry!

Things began to trickle in slowly. A bag of clothes, a desk, a box of a few things, a bag of something else, bikes, an entertainment center, lawn equipment, a table, another box, and more and more and more stuff. We completely filled up the room in the basement of the KFC Student Center! No joke! Then we took it to the church the week before the garage sale.

As we unpacked everything, we were overwhelmed with the generosity of our congregation! And my wife, Tanya, performed the impossible: she organized and got price tags on every item. I can't tell you how much time it took to do this. As you can see from the picture, the church fellowship hall was completely packed!

All that we raised will go toward Kats for Christ mission expenses. This would include expenses for our Let's Start Talking projects as well as our spring break mission projects to Mexico, Galveston, or any other place we end up going. I also imagine other mission efforts coming up that would fit in this category.

We praise our God for such a loving congregation. Thanks to all you who help us be Kats for Christ on campus!