Virginia Tech, Prayer Needed

Todd (a friend at my office) has a sister who works at Virginia Tech. She works at RUF on campus, wrote this letter and she is requesting the following prayers. Feel free to e-mail her with words of encouragement and by all means pray for them.

Hello All,I just wanted to quickly say thank you to all of you who have been praying for the community of Virginia Tech. I've told my students about the number of emails and phone calls I've gotten from all over the country and it's a comfort to them. It has been a long and exhausting few days as I'm sure you can imagine. In some ways, the horror of what happened has yet to sink in. A campus that was full of life is now subdued and the effects of grief are everywhere. Most of the Freshman have gone home for the rest of the week, however many of the upperclassmen have stuck around. During the week RUF has tried to provide various ways for students to gather, express their pain and their faith. My hope is not only to remind them of God's promises, but also equip them that they may be able to support their peers. Although no one from RUF was hurt, everyone has been affected in a personal way, whether it be a friend of a friend, a professor, or an acquaintance. One student told me, "I feel as though our campus has been raped." There are so many ways to pray for the students, too numerous to name, but I will give a few suggestions.

1. Leadership on campus. Students are proud of Tech and they love their school. It is hurtful to them the scrutiny the media has put the President of the school and the police department under. They also have a lot of decisions to make for months to come.

2. Victims and their families. There were over 62 people shot, of those 29 survived. In addition there were several students who were in the classroom and not shot. One of those students actually attends RUF. Pray for them too as they are tormented by the amount of violence and death they witnessed.

3. The Christian Community to have a voice and an impact. Both Christians and non-Christians are searching for answers, hope and someone to grieve with them. Pray for Christians as they are faced with questions they may have never asked. Pray for them as they wrestle with their faith, God's goodness and his providence as they suffer.

Thank you again for your love and support. praying with you,

Mackenzie--
Reformed University Fellowship Intern Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University m.l.skaer@gmail.com