Sharing Stories of Lives Changed

Last week all of the Campus Directors gathered for a week conference to share about how things are going on their campuses; positive and negative. Being the conference planner, I had the privilege of joining all of these leaders for the week.

We kicked off the first evening by sharing stories of how we've seen lives changed throughout the year. Here are a few of the highlights:


University of Vermont: Ally came on a rock climbing trip this fall. She was late and cursing in anger. She loved the trip. Her mentality changed from roughness to . She got involved in a life group. She came to the spring break trip to Guatemala. She gave food, medicine and school supplies to orphans and others. At the end of the trip they went to church in a Guatemalan ghetto. It is very poverty stricken. The walked along way to get there. It was very scary for kids from Vermont. There were 5 believers and 5 non-believers when the trip started. Three had then become believers on the trip. Ally came forward on this last night and gave a testimony. She said that she had always refused God in the past. She said, "tonight, hearing the music, I know it is the voice of God and I want to give my life to him for eternity." Everyone was crying. After that, ten Guatemalans came forward to receive Christ. It had been years since any had come to Christ there. Finally the last guy on the trip went up front. All five on the trip became Christians. Katie, Henry, Mel, Alicia and Ally all came to faith.

Amherst: Aaron was a Christian football player but a lone ranger. He want to the AIA Fall Retreat and came back on fire. He went to Big Break and did a great job sharing his faith. He has been transformed from being a lone ranger to a spiritual leader on his whole team.

NYC: Victoria at FIT experienced freedom for the first time in college. She grew up following religious rules. She got to college and broke all the rules. She took advantage of freedom and became burned out, materialistic and vicious. After class one day two girls shared Solarium with her. She discovered a thirst for God. She began to be transformed by Christ. She prayed for the first time in two years and asked God for forgiveness. She has felt alive for the first time in years. She is a leader now.

NYC: Cammi at FIT came in as a junior. She came in late to the dorms and roomed in a guys dorm at FIT. This meant there were many gay men. She started a discussion group with several gay guys and a guy she calls "the anti-christ" who is pretty twisted. It is not an easy environment to represent the Lord. Cammi went to a place of timidity to courage and perseverance.

Syracuse: A kid named Aaron had just broke up with his girlfriend. John (staff member) shared his story with Aaron. He came to the weekly meeting. He loved it. The next week, he had an argument with God and gave his life to God. He got up in front of the other students and told them his story of realizing he needed to turn his whole life over to God. He is going on the Boston Ops Summer Project.

Yale: A student at Yale was an athlete and nominal Christian. He was barely interested as a sophomore but he kept coming and gradually grew. He had been dating a girl and he was excited to introduce her to Charmaine, a staff member. A month ago he shared his story. For the first 18 years he said he was a monkey, with no concept of what life is, but meeting God had given him insight into life. He is excited to begin to lead a fraternity Bible Study.

UNH: Meghan is an athlete at UNH. She was wild but moved in with one of her Christian track teammates. Her roommate loved her unconditionally and shared the gospel with her. Last spring she went to an Easter outreach and heard the gospel clearly. She was so moved she wanted to throw up. She was ready this fall, she trusted Christ in October. From the first day she began sharing her faith with her teammates. She is an emerging leader on her team.

Boston: Nate is a student in Boston who went to Big Break. He wore a bright orange t-shirt that said, "Gay? I'm fine with that." He was wondering how he would be treated if he acted outrageous. All the way through people treated him with dignity and respect despite his expressions. One day Brian (staff) and Nate talked. Nate said the big issue was language and translation of the word homosexual in the bible. But he said the issue is that he has no outlet for his sexuality. Brian said I have no idea how hard this is for you but life is not promised to be easy. It is easy to do what you want. The Gospel is hard but good. At the end of the week Nate updated his Facebook status saying "I am a changed person with confidence bubbles inside, praise the Lord for what he has given me."

Boston: Katie was the archetypal Harvard student. She was bright, a great dancer and skier. She decided last summer to try to answer the big questions of life. She loved Mere Christianity and began to process life in light of that. She was intrigued by the authenticity of Christian community and the facade that is so common to humans. She came to the beginning of the year meetings and was anxious to step into a Christian community. She plugged in. She went on the Fall Retreat. She asked Pat to walk with her and she told her life story. She was ready to confess her faith and burst into tears. She was baptized last weekend.

UMaine: Joe (staff) challenged a student to be part of Lifelines (the outdoor ministry of CCC). He said he would never do certain things; share his faith, raise money, lead a group. But God has helped him do all the things he said he would never do. He is now leading multiple people spiritually and is a natural evangelist.

Praise God for all of these stories ans many more! Please pray for all of these students!