Ministry Development and More Family Updates - Robert Knuth

Big news out of Ann Arbor!

We are adding TWO new female staff to our team. Monse Santiago and Sarah Kettel officially started last week on June 1st, and will be spending the summer fundraising before beginning an orientation with us on August 7th.

What does adding female staff mean? It means A LOT of different things, but here are 3 quick highlights to having Monse and Sarah join our team:

1. The staff position is different from the intern position. While interns are awesome, their commitment is only for 2-3 years max. Adding female staff means that Monse and Sarah intend to commit at least 3-5 years here in Ann Arbor. 

2. A quick breakdown of our RUF group shows that roughly 60-65% of our group is made up of women. These students now get two older women who deeply love Jesus and His Church to now look up to and lead them. 

3. We have the potential to grow both in health and in number. One of RUF's core values is that we aim to be pastoral. However, that pastoral culture is hard to instill and maintain with only a campus minister and intern when our numbers over 4 years have ballooned to close to 120 students (praise God!). Adding Monse and Sarah keeps our pastoral "vibe" as well as the opportunity to reach different parts of campus with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

There's so much more that could be said. For now, I'd just ask for you to be in prayer for them as they transition to Ann Arbor! If you are interested in financially supporting them, their email addresses are: monse.santiago@ruf.org and sarah.kettel@ruf.org. I'm also happy to put you in touch with either or both!

Female staff often do not get the attention and support that campus ministers receive, so this is my effort to hopefully get them on your radar and to say: their work is vitally needed. God has called them to serve here, and they have a massive role to play as our ministry continues to reach students for Christ and equip them to serve the Church. 

Thanks for being a part of this wonderful work that God is doing on campus at the University of Michigan. None of it happens without you! 

Grace and Peace,

Robert

Brief Family Update

I can't thank you enough for all the responses, texts, and phone calls we received after the last update. It's a hard season for the Knuth family, but we persevere through God's grace (shown and experienced through your care for us!). Here is an update of how you can pray:

• Katherine's surgery is on June 19th. Please pray that it goes well, and the doctors are able to remove all of the cancer from her body.
• Please pray for our family as we continue to care for 3 young kids day-to-day. After Katherine's surgery, she will not be able to lift our 5 month old son. 
• Please pray that we experience a season of personal renewal as the kindness and gentleness of King Jesus becomes all the more palpably displayed to us. It's our most earnest desire to know and believe more of his undying and steadfast love for us. 

Please know that every single text and email you send is read and delighted in during this season. You mean more to us than you think even if it takes me relatively longer to respond to your encouragement!