Further Up and Further In

University Christian Outreach Alumni Association

Volume 1, Issue 1

Why Further Up and Further In?

Summer 2001

Further In seems the most appropriate name for a newsletter about UCO.  After all, taking students further up and further in to Christ and the life of faith is what UCO is all about.  UCO continues to issue the call "come further up, come further in," and thankfully many students are responding.
-Brian Laba  Alumni Association Director

I spent some time trying to come up with the right name for this newsletter.  The UCO Word - a bit presumptuous, Chapter Connection - the Europeans got to that one first, The Alumni Association Newsletter - anything suggesting the local newspaper is best avoided.  Nothing seemed to quite fit. 
I had just finished reading Lewis' The Last Battle and the name just popped into my head.  Acronyms aside, Further Up and

A Heart Brimming with Gratitude.

For eighteen years of my life, I did not know the love of Christ; I did not know what it meant to have brothers and sisters in Christ; and most of all I didn't think I needed any of it. 
I lived my life day by day, hoping that the future would bring me both success and fulfillment.  What I didn't have was someone there looking out for me, or the trust that there would be someone helping me go through life and guiding me in making hard decisions.
When I decided to go to U of M this year, even though going to our community college would have been a lot less expensive, I just felt like there was something telling me to go there - something pushing me in that direction - something I couldn't explain to myself at that point in my life. 
Now, I realize that the Lord has been there all along, just waiting for me to put my fears aside and accept him as a big part of my life.  I came to this realization when I joined UCO this year. 

I discovered not only the Lord in the group, but also a set of individuals who have helped me so much on my path of self-discovery and in becoming the better person that I am today.  I think my choice to join UCO this year was probably the best decision I have ever made, and my life will never be the same because of it.
-Joanne Begg

Joanne has been a wonderful addition to UCO this year.  She joined the Alpha course (one of UCO's main evangelistic activities last year) and heard the Good News for the first time in her life. 
She has invited many friends, and even her twin sister Mary into UCO. 

• "I have come home at last! This is my real country!  I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though  I never knew it till now … Come further up, come further in!"
  
• -The Unicorn in The Last Battle
  

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