STORIES

UW
"The Purple Door continues to be an asset in many ways. Obviously, it’s nice for us to have a home base for ministry, as well as a revenue source for collegiate ministry in the Puget Sound. But this month, we were able to open the doors to other campus ministry groups to use the building for special events and projects. As we have had a challenging year of ministry, it has been encouraging to us to be about a larger Kingdom vision for our campus. We view ourselves as co-laborers with the other groups, and are pleased to be able to help them in this way. We have discovered through these events that the other campus ministries have also had an unusually challenging year of ministry thus far, and it’s been a blessing to us to bring encouragement to them in small ways.

I spent nearly three hours with a young lady who had initially asked to meet with me to discuss spirituality in social work. We talked at length about how to integrate spirituality into work and life. It was primarily a project for non-Christians, so I wasn’t able to fully integrate a specifically Christian spirituality into my suggestions. However, as we talked, I began asking her what her own faith background was. As it turns out, she has had prior experience at a Baptist college in the Midwest, and had been active in ministry, but had left her faith behind at some point. She describes herself now in spiritually eclectic terms. The more we talked, the more she opened up, and she actually began seeking my counsel about a relationship that she just came out of, which involved some emotional manipulation and abuse. Throughout the conversation, I was able to point her consistently back to how Jesus lived and taught. I am confident that this will lead to further conversations of faith in the near future."

EASTERN
"We were invited by World Relief to do child care for the African Club’s dance party. World Relief is a Christian relocation agency for refugees. The evening began with a potluck dinner, followed by a presentation about English tutoring, and ending with a dance party. The World Relief representative who called me said they especially wanted to offer the tutoring information to the adults without being interrupted by the children.
We had provided childcare last fall for a similar event and knew the challenges of the cultural differences. The children were not sent to childcare in Africa, so they did not understand our expectation of remaining with us until their parents returned for them. They freely roamed from the childcare room to the dance and back again. However, this year the World Relief directors were very emphatic of the need to have some uninterrupted time for the tutoring presentation. We prayed before we began, thanking God for providing our needs.
The evening turned out to be a lot of fun for us and for the children. We played games, did crafts, drew pictures, and anything else we could think of to keep the children occupied. When the music began for the dance party, several of the children came and went as they danced with their parents and alternately played with us.
At the end of the evening the World Relief representative, the African leader, and the pastor of the church hosting the event all commented on our help. They were so pleased because they had heard the children laughing while they listened to the tutoring presentation. It was the first time the adults had ever been able to hear an entire presentation without having to divide their attention with their children. The pastor also shared that at the previous dance party where there was no childcare, one of the older boys had jumped from the balcony railing to the dance floor – 3 times! They were very pleased that there was not a repeat performance since we were there.

K. is a second-year transfer student from Clark College (yeah, for Keith and Paige and Chad and Star for laying a great foundation!) During her first year at Eastern, she began a Bible study with four girls on her floor. None of the girls knew Christ. During her second year at Eastern, she roomed with A., one of the girls, and prayed for the opportunity to ask her about accepting Christ as her own Savior. There never seemed to be a smooth segue between talking about studies to talking about salvation. The Saturday before Thanksgiving K. prayed with her sister for an opportunity to present the gospel to A. This time, K. chose not to wait for a smooth transition. Through tears, she shared with A. her deep desire for A. to consider beginning a relationship with Christ. A. was ready. They were able to pray together, and now there is one more student headed to Heaven!
K’s example has helped us to realize that God doesn’t always provide conversations that are easily turned to a gospel presentation. We must be prepared not only to give an answer for the hope we profess but to turn conversations to purposely present Jesus."

OSU
"The second weekend of November we decided to take a mission trip to Seattle. It was something very low-key and low budget, we just wanted to see students serve others around them. After the student conference in Canada and reading Chasing Daylight, we’ve talked with
our leadership team about the power of influence.
There are a lot of people who want positions of power but don’t want to use the power of their personal influence. We’ve challenged students to try to put feet to their dreams of reaching the culture of OSU and Corvallis, but we wanted to give them an opportunity to not create some big idea just yet – but to use their personal influence.
We drove to Seattle, got up early the next morning and baked muffins. We then walked the streets near the U-district (UW) and handed muffins to the homeless. After lunch we spent time making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then went to the heart of downtown Seattle and spent several hours passing them out to the homeless and talking with people on the street.
I asked the students, " a lot of students talk about starting organizations to feed the homeless or clothe the poor, but how many take the time to take one meal to one homeless person?"
We didn’t want them to lose sight of starting at the heart of things - all they really have is their ability to influence others.
On Sunday morning, we got to take the students to Mars Hill’s Ballard campus and see what their community and worship is like. It was eye opening to some students. So I guess we could have stayed in Corvallis and given food to the homeless, but we couldn’t have gone to Mars Hill!
I think I see the effects of small things like that. At our last leadership team meeting one of our students volunteered to start an umbrella ministry on campus, helping students stay dry in the somewhat wet Willamette Valley conditions. It was his idea and he wants to start by getting a handful of umbrellas. I’m hoping it spurs other students in that direction.

Some ways to see the gospel working its way into the lives of OSU students:
- One of our NCM staff here, K., has been spending a lot of time with a couple of young ladies that are involved with our ministry. She regularly goes to a restaurant right off of campus with this students, so much so that they’ve gotten to know some of the workers well. A couple of Sundays ago, they met one of the young men who works there for breakfast before church. They’ve started a really cool friendship with this guy, who as far as we know doesn’t go to church. It’s good to see how God uses relationships, because during Thanksgiving week we had a party at our house for NCM students and friends. We had a really cool attendance, allowing some of our students to bring friends to something non-threatening and with a lot of incredible, free food. The soup shop worker showed up and sat down at a table with a couple of us. I was shocked to see him there, but it was great to talk with him. As the night wound down, I spoke briefly about Thanksgiving and how we should be thankful for the life God’s given us through Christ. After that, we had people share at their individual tables what they’re thankful for. Not knowing this young man, many of our students and friends shared their stories about the goodness of God openly. You see, he didn’t hear the Gospel presented in some systematic, 4 point way. He heard the Gospel as it changes lives, as a path that runs through the very existence of their lives. K’s continued to have breakfast with him, finding out that he was once Catholic. She’s continued in that spiritual friendship which was impacted by our students.
- D., a student who accepted Christ last spring and was baptized this summer, has been very involved with NCM this fall. He lives in a house with some guys who have been friends for a while, and none of them are Christians. After some Bible studies with D., he was convinced he needed to bring his friends to church and NCM. This has led to conversations about God and one of his friends regularly comes to our weekly worship. A few weeks ago he told me he didn’t have a Bible, so the next week I brought him one and asked him to read some passages. I’m hoping that when we get back together after Christmas, he’s searched through some things."

UofO
"During a discipleship meeting with a student, he had a light bulb moment where he was confronted with the issue of knowing how to follow Christ, but not following through with the knowledge he had. He is wrestling with his own desire to follow Christ, but lack of desire to put the effort into making his relationship with Jesus real. I think it was a good conversation. It ended with him saying he wanted to follow Christ and move forward. I pray that continues and he solidifies his faith!
We went to the St. John’s Bosco house this month with our community Service group. We painted a room for them. One of our students painted a mural on one wall. They were so happy to have us there. It was a great night!
We held an iron chef night. Each small group made a dish and brought it to the church for dinner. We all voted on the best dish, and then played charades. It was a great night of community.

We handed out hot chocolate one morning on campus. I was able to talk with a guy who said he had no religion. He said he never read the Bible – but was interested in reading it. I encouraged him to do so and gave him my card to call me if he had any questions or just wanted to grab some coffee. We had a great conversation about God, religion, and just looking for what is important. I pray he is drawn to Christ.
Last week in my racquetball class, I was able to talk with a guy who is essentially my assistant coach. He told me he has a hard time with "proving" Christianity and God. He said his dad raised him to have good morals and that he grew up in the church and then logically ruled out God. I encouraged him to read the Case for Christ. He said he had it but has never read it. He seems open to discussing spiritual things, but at the same time believes he is a good person and does not need God. I pray God gives me more opportunities to talk with him, and that he would recognize his need for God.

PSU
"The international ladies’ weekend: Discovering True Beauty. Every international female student I’m halfway aware of was invited with announcements & personal invitations. I have been planning the weekend since end of June 2006! Volunteers were gathered, supplies came in, money to cover event costs, location: Canby Grove Conf. Center secured - & now it’s finally over. What a challenging endeavor. I was stretched, nervous & very excited! It was worth the outcomes I’ve seen.
One of my major goals for the event was that the weekend would create a foundation that could supply topics of conversations over the next few months between believers & pre-believing int’l students. Since the retreat, volunteers are meeting with some of the girls they didn’t know previously. Those meetings include Bible studies, dinners, & basically getting to know int’l students on a deeper level than before. I am very happy with the outcome. It was great to see some of the girls write down "you are fearfully & wonderfully made" in their notebooks & hear (for probably the first time) that they are beautiful b/c they are made in the image of God!
In my graduate classes at PSU last year, I learned that you can’t make students engage – only create a safe environment for them to share within. Creating that environment is HARD work, yet it has connected students with someone who follows Jesus & wants to share that joy with their new friend, which is really what God asks of me to facilitate. I feel I’ve grown through being the "administrator" of this event: learning to work with & coordinate interested individuals; gathering orgs, volunteers & students around a subject of importance & ultimately planning something that was a very daunting task for a non-detail oriented individual. He has guided me through the process & I’m thankful. The below excerpt of students’ evaluation responses tells me He has used this & I pray He will continue to work in the lives of the women that came to Discovering True Beauty ’06.

What ways has the weekend added to your personal development?

• It caused me to re-evaluate what I want in life & what sort of person I really am;
• I believe it has really changed my life for the better
  to have beautiful friends make me more beautiful;
• sometimes I should ask myself who am I? am I beautiful?
• Had a chance to think about beauty;
• I will think about it sometimes from now on
• Learned how to develop my inner beauty
• I feel enlightened by the experience I had & by the lecture.
• I want to care more about my inner beauty & less my outer beauty b/c I think it is the one you are with forever
• It has giving me a starting point to analyze myself & understand that I need time for myself to ‘regroup’ & don’t accept interruptions

Sharing faith is how I classify evangelism, & that’s what the story below exhibits. An int’l student that has identified herself as a follower of Christ for the past 7 years has basically taken a vacation from Him, everyone she knows that knew her as a Christian, etc. She’s running away from Him & His followers. She says she’s not sure she believes Scripture to be truthful anymore. I saw her for her birthday – I am still trying to pursue her through Christ although it’s VERY difficult! She was thankful for her present, for my continued friendship. I shared with her that God is big enough to handle her ?s, He is true & if she’s searching for truth she’ll be able to rest in Him again. I shared truth w/ her"

UW
"We did a "Trick AND Treat" candy giveaway on Halloween at UW. We set up a table at the crosswalk in front of the Purple Door, where hundreds of students walk. We gave away full size candy bars to students passing by, but we added a twist. When the students went to select a candy bar from the variety we had available, we said, "You can have a candy bar, but you can’t take just one – you have to also take a second one. You take one for yourself, but the second one you have to give away to somebody that you don’t know. It’s just a little social experiment in generosity." We gave them flyers advertising our weekly free lunch, but emphasized that the point was to pay attention to how it feels to receive and give small pieces of generosity.
It was a fun experiment. A lot of the students were very skeptical at first, thinking that we were going to ask them to sign a petition or sign up for a credit card. But when they heard what the "catch" was, they smiled, laughed, and eagerly embraced the idea. Some of them became pretty enthusiastic. It was really cool when we began to see students walking toward us with candy bars that we hadn’t given to them – they came up and asked us why a total stranger had just given them candy! I’m sure a lot of the students either ate both candy bars or gave one away to a friend they already knew, but we had enough first hand evidence that it worked that we were pretty encouraged.
This was obviously not a classical kind of evangelistic event, but our idea was to get people thinking in terms of receiving gifts, and then sharing those gifts with others. This is a very Jesus thing to do. We plan to follow this us with other similar thought experiments, and perhaps become known on campus for getting people thinking and serving in fun ways.

Four students that I’ve been building relationships with over the past several months recently came to talk to me. As a group, they had gone to see the documentary film "Jesus Camp." This is a film that follows a pentecostal children’s pastor and her church group, which whips children into frenzies of speaking in tongues, prophesying, use of militant language, and hard core evangelization. The students were very disturbed by this, and encouraged me to go see the film so I could discuss it with them. The following week I was able to watch it, and have discussions with them about my own responses. I had multiple hour long conversations with three of them about the nature of the church, the political agendas, and where those ideas come from. Without defending or advocating for strange practices in the church, I was able to bring some clarity to what Jesus actually said and did and asked his followers to do.
Unfortunately, I was forced into a somewhat defensive posture by the film, and trying to make a case for healthy ways of following Jesus, but it did stimulate conversations that I believe will continue. I was encouraged by the fact that at least these students knew that the things in the film didn’t square with what they know of me and my faith, and that they were interested in what someone like me would have to say.


Thanks for the great stories!!!!!