Hello,

The last month has been an extreme success. Kim and I enjoyed a terrific 5-year anniversary vacation, while the Greek system at Carolina had the best recruitment period, perhaps ever, as pledge classes are larger than ever before. The faith influence is beginning to be felt as well, as many men and women of faith are joining fraternities and sororities and looking to make a difference. At our Kickoff Cookout, Kimberly was talking with a freshman gal from Memphis, TN who didn’t personally know any of our five main guys involved in GI from Memphis, but had heard of Greek IMPACT at Carolina ‘through the grape vine.’ God is indeed at work! Onto the news…..

	GOLF MARATHON It's over, I finished it! For those who aren't aware, last Friday I participated in the annual Greek IV Golf Marathon - 100 holes of golf in just over 10 hours. It was exhausting to say the least as the temperature in Indianapolis was over 90 for much of the day. All in all it was a tremendous experience, and I'm proud to say that I completed all 100 holes, took about 560 swings, and emerged with no major blisters – just muscle pain on my left arm and my neck! Given that we raised over $26,000 for Greek Conference it was well worth the minor discomforts. That money lowers overhead costs from the hotel and keeps the price we have to charge students lower. For the Greensboro Conference (the one that I am the local director for), we are able to offer a Conference rate that is lower than last years rate! Praise God!
		KICKOFF EVENTS The Greek IMPACT calendar year began with a bang as we had successful events on successive nights to lay the foundation for the year ahead. The Kickoff Cookout was expertly planned and executed by our Special Events team - and well attended to say the least. While I don't have a solid count of how many people stopped by during the 3 hours we were grilling, I know that more folks mingled than ever before at this event - probably well over 300 Greeks total. The whole event was a great success as it was run completely by Carolina Greeks for Carolina Greeks! We then kicked off our Monday night schedule with over 100 students in attendance - an all-time high! I was able to lay out the vision of Greek IMPACT and share with students what our Purpose and Passion are on campus. It was part of a two-week series that you can find here.
		GI MONDAY NIGHTS I'm very excited about Monday nights this year, as we have a dedicated Monday Night team committed to planning, preparing, praying and executing all the weekly logistics. We have two great sophomores, Megan McHenry and Jared Brown leading this team and so far the welcome, hospitality, programming and music has been top notch. The core of these weeks is always our discussion groups and we are blessed to have 5-10 solid seniors and juniors to shepherd students through this time of application after the weekly talk. A new wrinkle this year is the addition of 'Pause' weeks, where we step back from the traditional talk format and do two things - 1) hear from a senior who has walked the Greek and faith line for years and can pass on some moments of wisdom and encouragement to the group, and 2) look at faith through the lens of multimedia (specifically a video outlet known as Nooma). This is a great opportunity for folks to look at life and faith a little differently and to hear stories from special people. Senior Amy Grantham kicked the year off with her story tonight and it was just a huge honor to see how God has shaped her life through four years of being involved in Greek IMPACT and pursuing her faith in the midst of her Alpha Chi experience. I will return to speaking next week as we kick off our 'Mind the Gap' series - which we hope will help students navigate the gaps between their faith and their Greek experience. For more information on the series, click here.
		A NEW FOCUS With so many talented (and long-serving) leaders stepping up and leading most of our core structures and leadership meetings,  I have been able to re-shift my focus back to the roots of the ministry. Take for example my Thursday last week: I met with a freshman who moved to Carolina not knowing anyone, but with a huge vision for the Greek system and Greek houses. Then I got to hang out with a junior who is serious about re-connecting with his faith and is excited about studying the Bible in depth for the first time. Then I had a meeting with a sophomore who is just trying to figure out fraternity life and then strengthen his faith in the midst of it all. I then went to a meeting where I got to help someone prep a Bible study that will be started up in a fraternity this weekend for the first time in a long time and hear about how excited he and other guys were that it was happening. Finally I got to hang out with a sophomore who basically gave up on faith for a while after hearing some pretty offensive things at Greek Conference, and is now in conflict with what he believes verses what the Bible says. He’s excited to get together weekly to talk about some of the tough questions of faith. You know the best part of all that – they are all MEN and are likely all regular meetings. I’m excited to get back to the roots of the ministry and invest in young men who could be leaders in their faith, on this campus and in the world – while watching the greater ministry still flourish without me worrying about as many day-to-day logistics.
		THE MONTH AHEAD Over 30 students (and Kim & I) will flee to Wrightsville Beach for our annual Greek Getaway this weekend. I've been amazed by how excited students have been, even weeks before the event, and how much buzz is surrounding what is essentially a weekend of doing nothing! I will lead an optional devotional on rest on Saturday and then lead an optional Greek IMPACT time about resting and work on Sunday, but most of the weekend revolves around hanging out on the beach, playing board games and eating tons of Kim's excellent food. It really serves as a good time for Greeks to get out of the traditional Chapel Hill weekend rut, however, and deepen relationships with other like-minded folks spiritually. Be praying that a number of Greeks who are very much on the fence spiritually come with us. There are always a few, and it's always neat to see them bond to more spiritually mature Christians over the 2 days. The following week after speaking on Monday night I will head to Atlanta for Catalyst ’07, an annual leadership conference that I love attending. We also hope to have the majority of our FOCUS Groups up and running in early October, and being our follow-up on folks who have started to fall through the cracks as school and social pressures begin to compete with their spiritual desires or callings.

As always, feel free to follow the student ministry at www.greekimpact.net. I will make an effort over the next month to upgrade the supporters side of the Web site, just in time for the Fall Break mailing.

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