and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him."
Isaiah 30:18
The Lord has been so incredibly gracious and kind to us to give us a son! As we mentioned in a past newsletter, He never promised us children, and yet, in his graciousness, God has favorably answered our prayer. We have waited and He has blessed us.
On Saturday, April 6th, Asher Ananias Renninger was born at home at 10:41am, at 8lb 12oz and 22 3/4 inches.
Asher's arrival was so speedy, the midwife barely made it in time! Both Asher & Kate are doing well. He spoils us with how well he sleeps and eats and how calm he is despite the many new experiences he's having each day. We are both mesmerized by him, loving all the baby snuggles. :)
We wanted to be thoughtful about his name as we see so many times in Scripture. Asher means "happy and blessed" and Ananias means "whom God has graciously given". After the trial of conceiving him, we wanted his name to convey our gratitude and praise of God for what he has done. So we found this name to be so fitting.
We pray that Asher would be a blessed man, which we know is found by serving and loving the Lord in all he does (Luke 11:27-28). We pray he would be obedient to the Lord as Ananias was in Acts 9 - the man who restored Saul's sight after his radical conversion on the road to Damascus. Despite knowing Saul's reputation as a Pharisee who approved of the murdering many Christians, Ananias still obeyed the Lord to go to him and care for him.
We look forward to when we can see many of you again to meet Asher!
Such a sweet little smile! :)
Loved his little toes peaking out while he was weighed for the first time!
Will Kate's role with DiscipleMakers change now?
Not really! We are grateful that DiscipleMakers is generous and accommodating to support our family well while still striving towards our ministry goals of raising up disciple making disciples of Jesus Christ on the college campus.
Kate will continue to manage the Event Planning Department to carry out all the details of our many events throughout the year, she just won't be confined to a standard 9-5 office schedule.
We fully expect to share many photos soon of Asher joining us at the Headquarters and contributing his cuteness to our efforts! □
Events Update
Even in the excitement of Asher's arrival, God continues to be at work in the hearts of college students, particularly in our 2 large events this spring. Here's a brief update on Women's Conference and Focus.
I (Kate) was so sad not to go to Women's Conference this year! But with Asher's anticipated arrival being the day before it started, I had to stay home. It's a humbling reminder that the Lord doesn't really need me to bring students to turn to Him!
I've heard from many of my coworkers that it was a great weekend where many ladies were challenged by the teaching in the Proverbs on how to apply the only true wisdom, God’s wisdom, to their lives when it comes to school, relationships, work, gender roles, and the future. Jesus was made great as we were faithfully reminded he is the perfect image of wisdom and it is by having a relationship with him that we too can become wise.
Some staff shared about the conversations they were able to have during free time where the students felt comfortable to share vulnerably about situations in their lives where they were seeking wisdom.
Here are three quotes from students about what they took away from the teaching:
"Christ is the source of wisdom so ask him for it."
"Worldly pleasure will pass away but applying biblical wisdom grants eternal life and heavenly rewards."
"Wisdom is found through God and is available to all. Both the wise and the simple need to gain wisdom to avoid temptation and folly."
I praise God for his continued faithfulness to use this event powerfully for our college women! Please continue to pray for them as they return to campus and grow in biblical wisdom as women of God!
This year at Focus, we want to equip you not just to be a disciple, but to make disciples – in your family, at your job, or wherever God sends you. We want to help you not only be part of a community, we want to help you build one!We’re going to walk through the book of Romans and see how the apostle Paul did just that. We’ll grow as God’s word renews our minds, challenges our hearts, and equips our hands – all for the work of making disciples!
Doesn't that sound exciting? This is what students will be learning this year at Focus, a week long conference for students after the end of the school year.
The rich teaching, whether in Romans or more topical sessions like "Bible Study 201", is the main focus of this week, but we also enjoy lots of fellowship time to process what student's are learning, and build relationships that will spur one another on as we continue to make disciples of all nations!
Please be praying for this event as we continue planning for it, and for the students as they consider attending!
Praise God for Asher! Pray that he will grow up to love Jesus. Pray for wisdom and strength for us as we raise him.
Praise God for Women's Conference and the ways God was at work in the hearts of the college students. Pray for the women as they continue to process and apply all that they learned.
Pray for Focus! Pray students would eagerly sign up. Pray the training at this event would push students to be more devoted and bold disciples of Christ.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are constantly in awe of God's work on the college campus and delight to share it with you. If there are any ways that we can pray for you, please let us know!
In Christ,
TJ & Kate Renninger
Outside the Office
The past two months at DiscipleMakers have revolved around planning for spring conferences, and getting closer and closer to implementing the financial software TJ has been working hard on! Our weekends have then consisted of preparing for Asher, including setting up his nursery and cleaning our home.
