We announced our news on April 1st and didn't realize until later that...perhaps people didn't realize that it was not an April Fool's joke! :) Yes, we are leaving the beautiful town of Savannah and moving to West Lafayette, Indiana to minister to the college students at Purdue University through RUF. Curtis and I are very excited about this opportunity even though we are sad to leave lots of sweet friends and family in the FL/GA area. We are in the process now of trying to sell our house (or possibly rent it) and beginning to pack! Please pray for us through all these transitions. We also will have to fundraise for this opportunity, so we would ask you to prayerfully consider financially supporting us by clicking this
link and selecting staff member "Curtis McDaniel - Purdue University."
See Curtis' letter below for more information:
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Dear Friends,
I am writing to you with exciting news for the McDaniel
family. After spending almost four years
in the beautiful city of Savannah, GA, the Lord has opened up a door to
minister with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Purdue University in West
Lafayette, IN. As you can gather from a
map, this will be a big change for us.
Savannah has a special place in our hearts, as it was both the first
place we ministered and the birthplace of our daughter Anna. While we will miss our friends there,
particularly our church family at Grace Church of the Islands, we are thrilled
at the prospect of doing college ministry at such an influential campus like
Purdue.
Many of you know that both Margaret and I have a heart for
college ministry, particularly RUF. We
both were heavily involved in RUF during our time at the University of
Florida. RUF provided a place for us to
hear the Gospel, to have meaningful community, and to reach the college campus
with the beauty of the Gospel. Not only
did we meet some of our best friends through RUF, we even met each other! Consequently, we have a strong passion for
college ministry and we are excited about taking this passion to Purdue
University.
Some of you may be asking, “Why is Purdue such an important
school? Consider the following important
pieces of information about Purdue:
- It is a large state school with almost 40,000
undergraduate and graduate students.
- It has produced 13 Nobel Peace Prize winners and
23 astronauts.
- It has the 2nd highest international
student population of any public university in the US. In fact, one Purdue student told me of a
conversation with his Chinese neighbors in Columbus, OH (home of The Ohio State
University). His neighbors said they
hadn’t heard of Ohio State in China, but they had heard of Purdue. The nations come to Purdue, which provides a
unique opportunity to reach students and groups that would be much harder to
reach otherwise.
- The new president, Mitch Daniels, is widely
respected for his tenure as the governor of Indiana. Many think Purdue will become an educational
model for the 21st century, making it a university that others will
seek to emulate.
Why is Purdue important?
Purdue produces culture-makers and influential leaders who will shape
the Midwest region, our country and the world.
It is these students that need to hear the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. As you can imagine, these
students wrestle with many problems and questions. They grapple with the stress of a challenging
academic school, the pressure to succeed, and the temptation to find their
identity in their work. This is in
addition to other issues like family troubles, relationship hurts, and even asking
deep questions. These questions include “Who
am I?” “What should I do with my life?” and
“What do I really believe?” It is into
these situations that the ministry of RUF comes alongside college students with
the love and truth of God. It seeks not
only to impact students, but also to equip them to bring the hope of the Gospel
to their friends. It also emphasizes the
importance of the local church as it connects students not simply to RUF but to
the “enduring community” of the church. A
graduating student said this about her time in RUF at Purdue: “Although I had been a Christian since
childhood, I saw and met Jesus in a new way at RUF. And as I leave Purdue, I am
excited to keep growing in my understanding of the gospel and serving the
church.” In short, RUF ministers at a critical time in a transformative way in
the lives of students.
Because of our experience and our passion for college
ministry, Margaret and I are confident that this opportunity for ministry is
from the Lord. We are following the
first campus minister, Brian Davis, who pioneered the work of RUF at
Purdue. The Lord blessed his ministry
and as a result, there is a strong core of committed students who love the
Lord, RUF, and Purdue. We are stepping
into a great ministry and an good time to transition leadership.
We are inviting you to partner with us in this strategic
ministry. Because this is a time of
transition, it is a critical time in the life of this ministry. Consequently, you have a vital role to play. We are in need of both prayer and financial support. Please consider partnering with us by praying
for us, for this ministry, and for Purdue regularly. We would also ask you to consider supporting
us financially. RUF is funded exclusively
through the generous giving of churches and individuals like you. Please consider giving to RUF on a monthly
basis, one-time, or annually. I have
included a support envelope with this letter that you can send back with a
donation (if giving with a check, please write “Purdue University” on the memo
line). You can also give online at
ruf.org. I also would love the
opportunity to speak with you and possibly your church about RUF. Please feel free to contact me at the email address below. Thank you and God bless!
Grace & Peace,
Curtis McDaniel
