Hello,

I hope it has been a great summer for you. It was for Kimberly and me. As promised in the year-end newsletter it was a very busy summer for travel. Between June and August I spent time in eight states and thirteen cities either for work, weddings or vacation. Suffice to say it was an action packed, yet enjoyable summer. See below for the highlights as well as what’s upcoming in our lives and the ministry.

	NISET REVIEW After a wonderful six days in San Francisco, CA where I was the officiant for my sisters wedding I spent 11 days in Madison, WI for InterVarsity’s annual National Institute of Staff Education and Training. This year I participated in the Chapter Planters Co-Hort due to my role coaching Dusty Harrison as he plants a Greek IV chapter at Clemson, SC this Fall. It was very exciting to be part of this co-hort which was established to encourage chapter planters, provide specific models and training for success on campus AND help them out with some strategic funds. Each chapter planter (there are 12 this year) selected for the co-hort receives $30,000 over three years in budget supplements, strategic expense funds and training materials to help ensure success on a new campus. The strategies the co-hort administrators have developed are excellent, and to be honest I’m jealous I didn’t have these resources when I started at Carolina five years ago!
		CLEMSON UPDATE As mentioned above, my former student Dusty Harrison has accepted a three year assignment to plant a Greek IV chapter at Clemson University. The Greek chapter will be the first InterVarsity chapter of any kind at Clemson and marks the first time InterVarsity has established new work at a campus through the Greek ministry. Dusty moved to Clemson in late July and already has some good relationships in campus administration, local supporters and ministry advocates. There are number of student contacts he has from Carolina students, friends of friends and family members – so the potential for great momentum off the bat is there. Join me in praying for Dusty as he establishes this work. As his coach for the new two years, you all will get to watch another Greek ministry take shape from the bottom up. Praise God!
		BUDGET REVIEW For the first time in my five years on staff I was able to end the year with a significant budget overage. This is due to your very generous support and is a testament to the steady growing hand God has had on this ministry for the last five years. It also comes at a very fortuitous time as my budget will rise by more than $10,000 this year with the additional ministry responsibilities I will be taking on.  So keep praying, keep giving and I know that God will keep blessing the work underfoot at Carolina and across the region.
		GREEK CONFERENCE UPDATE Lots of fun to report for Greek Conference. I spent the summer negotiating a contract with a new hotel that we hope will be our Conference home for the next few years. Praise God for his faithfulness here as we will, for the first time, be able to lower student Conference costs by $10 and be more creative in some of the benefits we are able to offer them on-site. I also took part in a promotional task force as we look to create a uniform crisp marketing strategy across both Conferences. We arrived at this years theme ‘Connect’ and are excited to see the marketing efforts work in concert with the reality that our students are increasingly connected to each other and the world through many mediums, which also unfortunately lead to a greater disconnect between their faith and their college experience.
		GOLF MARATHON I’m doing something really crazy – playing 100 holes of golf in one day. Proceeds go to benefit Greek Conference and help lower student costs. For more information, please visit our fancy new Website shepleys.googlepages.com/golfmarathon.
		THE MONTH AHEAD The year kicked off last week as the Vision team and I retreated to Pawley’s Island for four days of leadership training, vision-casting, prayer and planning. I believe it was a significant time not only in the development of the ministry for the next 10 months, but in the personal spiritual and leadership development of those six student leaders. This Sunday we will gather our 18 other student leaders for a Leadership Kickoff and then head to the campuses annual Fall Fest informational fair for freshmen and new students. Classes and fraternity and sorority recruitment start on Tuesday, and Kimberly and I head on vacation. Yes that sounds absolutely crazy, but I’ve found over the years that this is such a hectic time for students that they really don’t have time for me! So Kimberly and I decided to celebrate our five year anniversary visiting my grandparents in England and touring a little around Europe. We are very excited for the change of pace and just the opportunity to spend 14 good days with each other after a very disconnected summer. Greek IMPACT will then reengage in full swing with our annual Kickoff Cookout on Sept. 9th and our first Monday night on Sept. 10th. For more information about the Fall, check out www.greekimpact.net.

 Thank you all for your faithfulness and commitment to prayer for this ministry. In addition to the aforementioned prayer requests – please remember students over the next 14 days as they reengage the campus and recruitment. This is often a time where students are tempted to scrap whatever God may have done in their lives this summer and start the year with poor lifestyle decisions. It’s also a time that many freshmen and sophomores will decide whether or not to join a fraternity or sorority. Pray that God leads the right men and women to this decision and that he rises up some Godly folks who will get involved with our ministry and be spiritual leaders within their pledge classes.

God Bless You,

Dave

"Do not conform any longer to the patterns of the Greek System, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Romans 12:2 (loosely)

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David Shepley

Campus Staff, UNC-Chapel Hill

dshepley@greekiv.org       AOL IM: iushep

(919) 452-7437  www.greekimpact.net