The Butler Broadcast

Our VALENTINE Update

2009-02-11T21:08:00.003-05:00

Well V-day is just a few days away!! Earlier this week we got together as a staff team to reflect over what we've seen God do over the past year at UNC ...

This time last year we were canceling a winter retreat due to low interest and had to take the 10 girls who were signed up to a different retreat with another region of Campus Outreach. This year we'll be celebrating Valentines day In Asheville, NC with 120 college students from UNC and NC State.
Last year we were praying that 10 of the students we were connected to would attend our Summer Orlando Project. This year we're praying that those 10 would return in leadership positions and that 35 first year students would attend!!
In February 2008 we hadn't had our first campus meeting because we didn't know enough students that we could invite. On February 5th 2009 we hosted our first campus meeting run entirely by student leadership.
17 freshman at UNC are currently meeting in evangelistic bible studies.
11 new christians are committed to establishing bible studies where they will learn how to walk deeply with God.

We hope your Valentines is filled with the amazing love of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Back in the Swing of Things!

2009-01-27T15:25:00.011-05:00

Well, we had hoped to post some pictures here from our trip to New York and Christmas in Texas and in South Carolina, unfortunately our boxer puppy decided that the digital camera looked like a good chew toy before we got a chance! So, meet Rhett Butler, he helps us be reminded on a daily basis that the material things in life will one day rust, fade...or be destroyed on our living room floor :).
Nonetheless, we had an amazing Christmas break connecting with family, friends and getting to spend time with some of our supporters! We also spent 5 days in Atlanta, GA where the Campus Outreach New Year's Conference was held this year. It was great time of fellowship and refueling from God's Word. 20 UNC students attended and one freshman girl, who I met earlier this year in the dorms, prayed to receive Christ! Praise God for Lauren and please be praying that He would be at work establishing a firm foundation in her new walk with Him.
Now we're back in Chapel Hill and things are off to a great start in 2009...

We currently have 12 committed student leaders who have been meeting with our staff in discipleship groups and learning how to minister to their peers on the campus.
The girls are starting 2 evangelistic bible studies this semester, both led by our student leaders, and one establishing bible study for the 6 new christian girls that came to Christ or joined our ministry in the fall.
The guys are planning to start an establishing bible study for the 5-6 guys that came to Christ over the course of last semester and 2 evangelistic Bible studies as well.
Another one of our student leaders just moved into her sorority house hoping to be able to minister to her sisters there!
And at our first leader's meeting of 2009 we challenged a team of 2nd semester sophomores to apply to move back into the biggest freshman dorm on campus as RA's or residents with the hope of meeting, building relationships, and sharing Christ with the freshman class next fall!

Tangle in the Triangle -- Part II (Bowe's story)

2008-11-24T15:03:00.006-05:00

Bowe also coached a team for the tournament, "The Bowe-Berry Biscuits." The Bowe-Berries won their first game against another UNC team, but got out in the second round against State. They all still seemed to have a great time!

Tangle in the Triangle - Powderpuff Tournament!

2008-11-24T14:01:00.019-05:00

Again, we're sorry it's been so long since we last updated our blog. We feel we are just starting to learn how to function as "marrieds" and divide up our work
tasks in a better way! So ... I'll be taking over the blog updates (Ashley) --- you can blame me next time there's a 3 month lapse :) I'm excited to share about our 1st annual Powderpuff Football Tournament that was held last Thursday night at NC State. We partnered with the Campus Outreach ministry going on at NC State in hopes of furthering the relationships we currently have and building momentum and interest towards the New Year's Conference we hold every year in Atlanta, GA over Christmas Break. We at UNC were amazed at the turnout and excitement level we got from the girls we've been building relationships with all semester. 67 women came out to play from UNC forming 4 teams (3 more than we expected) to go up against State. My team, "the Jimski's" (named after our coach and UNC staff guy Jim Stephens), unfortunately got out in the first round. However, we had the best time sticking around to cheer on the other UNC teams that went up against NC State. It also helped the momentum that the REAL rivalry UNC v. NC State game would be held two days later on Saturday November 22nd. After the games were over, we headed back over to the staff house at NC State for a spaghetti dinner and the presenting of t-shirts! The girls seemed to have a great time and it served to get everyone excited about the possibility of joining us for New Year's in Atlanta!

Thailand Part 1

2008-06-21T04:49:00.002-04:00

Thailand is amazing!!! The people here are so friendly and welcoming. Just being an American gives us immediate favor with them. We have been here for about 3 weeks now. We spent the first 2 days in Bangkok and then flew to Khon Kaen.
Since arriving in Khon Kaen, we have been working on the NEU college campus here. Each day we go on campus trying to meet and build relationships with as many Thai students as possible. Our goal is to broaden the contact base, build deep relationships, and connect these students with the permanent Thai Campus Outreach staff.
God has really been giving us favor and we have been able to meet and build relationships with lots of students already. Everyday my heart breaks more and more for the people here. They kneel before idols and pray to them to pay for the short comings in their life and hope that their end will be better than their beginning. We are praying that in our brief 2 months here that God would do something in us that would last a lifetime in our development, relationship with God, and heart and vision for missions over seas. Also, we are praying that God would allow us to be apart of meeting students on the campus that he would bring to salvation and that the staff here would be able to train them to go back onto their campus and reach their peers with the Gospel.
Well, this is one of the few updates we will send this summer. Here are a few pictures that we have taken so far!

Leaving For Thailand

2008-05-31T17:47:00.003-04:00

Hey guys,
Sorry its been soo long. Its been a crazy couple of months. As most of you know Ashley and I are going to Thailand this summer for 2 months. We have been asked to lead a team 0f 14 staff and students to work on the college campus of NEU in Khon Kaen, Thailand. This is another one of the training opportunities that we give our students in addition to the Summer Orlando Project. The one that we will be leading is called Cross Cultural Project and is designed to help develop and prepare older college students(juniors and seniors) to walk with the Lord and do ministry as they move into the secular work force. Also, it is designed to help build a vision for the lost all over the world. Our hope is that this summer God will deepen our walks with him, deepen our dependence on him, and shake our paradigms of what it means to live for Christ. Lord willing maybe one of our team will give themselves to full-time overseas work and that all of us would come home seeing the need to pray and support financially missions overseas.
I will be updating our blog about once a week all summer with pictures and stories about what God is doing over there. Please keep us in your prayers and write comments on the blog to communicate with us.
Here is a picture of the CCP team we will be leading. We fly out on June 2nd and will fly back to the U.S. on July 26th. Please remember to keep us in your prayers. We need it!!!

Multiplication Begins

2008-03-13T16:29:00.004-04:00

Through the Bible study that we had in the Conner Dorm God has raised up a man. Matt Williams is a freshman from the Raleigh, NC area. Matt is to my left in the picture and his roomate DJ is to my right. Matt was one of the first guys that I met in the dorms at UNC. Over the course of this school year God has been blessing our relationship. Matt's is one of about 10 guys that I am heavily invested with on the 2nd floor of Conner dorm. All of these guys are either freshman or sophomores. As far as I can see right now, all of the guys on this floor are unbelievers and haven't had the transforming grace that comes from a relationship with Christ. Matt is the only one on this entire hall full of at least 75 guys that is a professing Christian and has a life that represents Christ.
Since the beginning of this semester my relationship with Matt has really blossomed. Matt has begun to recognize his need for discipleship and training in his life. I have spent some time getting in the word with Matt exposing him to passages like 2 Timothy 2:2, Matthew 4:19, Matthew 16, and Matthew 28:18-20. Through this process Matt has begun to see his need to be trained and developed personally. He sees his need to have practical skills to implement what he has been taught in church growing up and how to continue to grow.
He also, through looking at Mark 2:1-12 together, Matt saw his need to take his lost friends on the hall and even his roommate to Jesus like the people did in this passage. The best part about all of these things is that Matt is wanting me to be that man in his life that would help him learn how to grow personally and how to minister to his friends and roommate who don't know Christ.
How faithful God is!!! This is what we do! Who better to reach the 75 lost guys in a freshman dorm than a freshman in that dorm! I am now meeting with Matt on a daily basis and taking him with me to build relationships, share the Gospel, and love on the guys on his hall; so that he can begin to learn how to minister to his friends. We also get in the word together and Matt is learning how to study that word on his own now!
Please pray for Matt and his decision to come to our Summer Orlando Project, where he would receive more training and personal development.
Bowe

To See The Lost Saved!

2008-03-04T21:35:00.003-05:00

Last time I talked to you I talked about how we were beginning a four week evangelistic Bible Study. Well, that Bible study has been over for about 3 weeks now and we have been continuing to go deeper with the guys that were attending that Bible study. We averaged about 11 guys each week. Each week we took them a little bit deeper into the reality of who Jesus is and what the Gospel means for them.
It is important to note that these guys that were attending the Bible study did not come from heavily churched backgrounds. Some in fact, had never heard of the Gospel before. So, in light of that it has been a slow process with them. But, it has become more obvious over the past 2 months that God is very much at work in these guys but he has not yet opened their eyes completely.
One of the most surprising things about this group of guys is their desire to want to hang out and enjoy friendship with me. That might not sound like much to you guys but, when you think about a 25 year old married guy walking up into a freshman dorm and hanging out with them it can come across as a little weird to them. But, despite that, the Holy Spirit has been testifying of the difference of my life to theirs. So much so, that these guys last week asked me to come over and eat dinner with Ashley and I and spend the night in our apartment!
So, God is doing big things here with the unchurched college students in exposing them to his word and their need for a savior. Continue to pray for these guys! There names are Kameron, Tyler, DJ, Nick, Zac, Austin, Jeremiah, Andrew, and Jared.

Big News at Retreat Weekend!

2008-02-19T22:14:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend, we took 9 UNC girls to Asheville for a Ski-Retreat! On Saturday night during a Praise and Worship service, one of the girls who I've been hanging out with this year started crying and left the room. I followed her down the hall and she asked if we could talk. She started to explain how she felt doubtful about her salvation and wanted to know how she could be sure she was Christian! I shared Romans 6:23 with her and the more I shared, the more she cried! Soon her suite-mate came down the hall looking for her. We filled Natalie in on what was happening and she started to cry as well saying that she knew that she had become a Christian when she was very young, but had just realized that she hadn't really sought to grow with Christ since then! We prayed together and Nicole gave her life to Christ right then and there and Natalie committed seek out opportunities to grow in her walk! It was an awesome conversation as I got to watch God capture two hearts for Himself and His Kingdom! Ever since that conversation, Nicole has been proclaiming her new life in Christ to her friends both on retreat at back at school and Natalie has been sharing with her friends about her eye-opening experience and new commitment to growth with the Lord! Next week we will be starting a committed 8-week Bible study along with two other girls, Mollie and Andrea! Please pray for these young hearts as they begin to dive into His Word together!

Evangelistic Bible Study

2008-01-25T15:58:00.001-05:00

This past Wednesday Erik McKee(another staff guy at UNC) and I started an evangelistic Bible Study in one of the dorms that we have been spending time in. 10 freshman and sophmores attended the Bible study. We have building relationships with most of these guys for the past 3 months and sharing little bits of truth and the Gospel with them as God opened doors. But, it wasn't until this semester that we felt like the Lord was confirming that the students were ready for a Bible study and would respond to an invitation, until this semester.

This Bible study is a 4 week study that will walk them through understanding their position before God outside of Christ and his atoning work on the cross that he offers them through a relationship. All of the guys that attended this week were guys that when we first met them would never have been interested in coming to something like this, but God has begun to soften all of their hearts and has begun to make them more spiritually interested. We are praying that God would raise up some future laborers that would multiply their life out to their fellow student, from this Bibles study. I invite you to pray with us and I will update you as things progress.

By His Grace,
Bowe

New Support News!!!

2008-01-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody,
I just wanted to update you on our support situation. We need to raise about $300 more a month in commitments. However, over the past 2 days God has brought in about $75 a month in new support through a current supporter bumping his goal up and the Lord giving us a new supporter. Praise the Lord!!! Please continue to pray for our support and the students at UNC. We have been back on the campus the past 2 days and God is already doing things. We are praying about starting some evangelistic Bible studies soon with some of the non-Christian students that we have relationships with from last semester and a few that we pray to meet in the next couple of weeks. We are praying that through the exposing them to scripture that the Spirit will move and we will see some students make decisions to give their lives to Christ!!! Thank you for laboring with us!

P.S. If any of you are interested in bumping up your goals please contact us at brobowe@hotmail.com or call at 843-324-8573 to let us know how much.
By His Grace,
Bowe and Ashley

Back In Chapel Hill

2008-01-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

Finally, we are back in Chapel Hill. As we have talked about in the past posts, we have been on the road living out of a suitcase for the past month. We have spent the majority of that month meeting with supporters, raising new support, preparing for our ATL 07 conference, and putting on the ATL 07 conference for the 800 + students that attended. We had about 30 students from UNC and NC State attend the conference and a few of them made professions of faith at the conference stating that they made a decision to give their life to Christ and begin a relationship with him.

So, now we are back in Chapel Hill preparing to start another semester. The students go back to class tomorrow Wednesday the 9th. We will have a staff meeting tomorrow morning to pray through and discuss the direction and strategy we feel the Lord leading us to go in trying to reach the campus of UNC for Christ. I ask for your prayers on this matter, that God would open our eyes to what he is doing on the campus and where and how he would like us to go. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We prayerfully look forward to being able to update you on students making decisions for Christ and the kingdom expanding.

By His Grace,
Bowe and Ashley

Blazing The Trail

2007-12-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and spent some time really worshiping and praising God for his ultimate gift. We just wanted to update all of you on what we have been up to since the students left for their break. We, flew to Texas to spend some time visiting supporters and family there and then to New Mexico to visit some more supporters and family. On the 23rd we flew back to Columbia,SC to spend Christmas with the other side of the family.
Now, we are getting ready for our ATL 07 conference which will take place on December 30th-January 3rd. We could really use all of your prayers for this conference and that God would move in the hearts of college students that attend. Also, if you could pray for our physical and spiritual rest as all of the traveling has worn on us and we will be having very long days at the ATL conference. Thank You!!! and Merry Christmas!!!
Bowe and Ashley Butler

Comments

2007-11-29T15:23:00.001-05:00

Hey guys
In order to really help this blog serve the purpose that we are hoping it will serve(to better inform you guys of what God is doing and how we are doing) then i encourage you to leave comments on our wall. At the end of each post or article there is a "comment" link that you can click on and write back to us. It is an easy way to communicate with eachother and ensure that we inform you guys more with things you are interested in. Thanks for your partnership in making this a better blog!
Bowe and Ashley

A Seed Planted!!!

2007-11-27T23:59:00.001-05:00

This is a freshman here at UNC named DJ. I met DJ in the dorms one night a couple of months ago. Over the past couple of months the Lord has been building a relationship between DJ and I. I found some things that DJ enjoyed doing and started doing some of them with him and we began to build a bond, friendship, and trust. During that time God also gave me insight into some of DJ's deep hurts and desires that have led him to a life of perfectionism and a work-aholic mentality. His whole life all he has known, is that in order to have any worth, purpose, or approval from his family of the world that he must be the best athlete and student. He is an extremely hard worker and an amazing athlete and very smart. He plays on the club lacrosse team here and he got a 1400 on his SAT's to help you understand just how gifted this guy is. But, despite all of his gifting, he still can not save himself from his sin. Prior to our relationship DJ had never heard the Gospel and that it was a gift.I have been sharing little bits of my testimony and the Gospel over the past month when we hang out but tonight I finally got to share the Gospel very clearly and take him to scripture. The conversation went amazing and I really feel like the Lord is really working on his heart. He didn't make a profession of faith right there but it really hit him deep. He recognized his need and where he was at and that he wants a relationship but he was a little hesitant. So, I decided to let the conversation sit and I wanted to ask that you would pray with me that the Lord would really move in his heart and make his need very clear. Pray that he would even initiate to me to ask questions about our talk and that he would consider coming to ATL 07. Thanks
BOWE

Newly Weds

2007-11-25T22:32:00.000-05:00

These are some pictures of our new home in Chapel Hill. Its not much but we love it!!! Our apartment is about 1.5 miles away from the campus and our apartment complex itself is over 70% students.

First Blog Ever!!!

2007-11-25T21:44:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is, our first blog ever!!! Neither of us is very experienced with this sort of thing but in an effort to keep our friends, families, and supporters more updated we are going to tr y. From here on out we will try to update our blog weekly or bi-weekly with short stories about what is going on with us and our ministry here at UNC Chapel Hill. We will also try to frequently post pictures of students, events, and us to help you gain vision for what God has called us to do here!!! Finally, we would really benefit from any comments or opinions you might have about how to make the blog better.
Thanks and God Bless
Bowe and Ashley