Thank you so much for your encouragement, your prayers and financial contributions, which allow us to continue to work with college students through the ministry of RUF.  We want to wish you a merry Christmas, and pray that you would be captured afresh by the astonishing grace of our God who sent His own Son for us.  Christmas is about how the greatest things often seem so small and irrelevant at first.  Who would have thought that the baby born in the manger that night was the King of Kings.  James Montgomery captured this well in one of the rarely sung verses of “Angels From The Realms Of Glory”: “Though an Infant now we view Him,/He shall fill His Father’s throne,/Gather all the nations to Him;/Every knee shall then bow down.”   We are so grateful that God is at work on Belmont’s campus through RUF and are humbled to be part of God’s grand work in gathering the nations to Himself.  You are a vital part of this work as well, and we thank you for your part in this ministry.  

 RUF has gone well this fall.   I have been preaching through the book of Hebrews each week, and our new interns, Molly and Chase, are finding their place in the ministry as well.  Each week they meet with students, lead small groups, and work through their study program, and I have enjoyed working with them.  We have a great group of leadership students as well, and four of them are planning to apply to be RUF interns next year!  Next semester I will be preaching on relationships, and we will be taking more than twenty students on a mission/vision trip to St. Louis over Spring Break.  If you would like to hear my RUF sermons, they are available for free on the Belmont RUF podcast on iTunes. 

Our financial support has been solid this fall, and we are really thankful for that.  We received a significant one-time donation at the end of the summer.  This allowed us to enter the fall without having to worry about falling into a deficit.  As we reach the end of the year, I would ask you to consider financially supporting RUF at Belmont with your tax-deductible donations.  We would really love to start the New Year with a solid financial base for the ministry.  You can also donate online through our secure site at www.ruf.org, (click here ) and you will receive a receipt in the mail.   

 It has been a very busy fall for our family.  Wendy has continued taking photography classes at Nashville State and is building her photography clientele.  She especially enjoys photographing kids and families and is really good!  (A husband can be forgiven for boasting on his wife.)  Wendy also is in charge of the annual RUF wives’ retreat in January.  Cooper (11) has become quite obsessed with all things hockey.  He was able to play inline hockey this fall and is begging for goalie equipment for Christmas.  Isaac (9) really enjoyed playing soccer this fall and has now begun winter basketball as well.  Isaac loves reading and always seems to have a book in his hand when he’s not playing sports.  Amelia (7) is still taking gymnastics and shows quite a knack for it.  She also loves singing along with her Justin Beiber CDs.  I (Kevin) enjoyed being able to lead the worship for the Presbyterian Church’s Women’s Conference in Atlanta for over 2,000 women in October.  I have also been asked to be part of a panel discussing the “re-tuned hymn” movement that Indelible Grace has been such a central part of at the prestigious “Calvin Worship Symposium” in January. 

 Once again we thank you for your prayers and support – Merry Christmas!  Kevin, Wendy, Cooper, Isaac, and Amelia Twit