The semester is coming…
As you all may know, I am going into my third year on staff at Christian Student Fellowship, where I serve college students at Western Kentucky University and point them towards Jesus. While it will be my third year on staff, I’ve been at CSF for much longer than that: I started at CSF as a student when I was just a freshmen. When I went to college, I knew I needed a community of Christ-followers since I was away from my church. I found CSF the first week I was on campus, and I showed up to the first event, which was pancakes and worship, and I knew that was where I was meant to be. I had never had a community quite like it before—there were hundreds of students my age who all were worshipping Jesus with no limitations. It was restorative, it was authentic, and it was so fun. I got involved in a Bible study led by the girl who invited me, I grew with a group of girls, and eventually, I applied to be a leader myself. I started serving as a community group leader, I poured into other girls, and I grew so much. Around my junior year, I started thinking about getting even more involved—I thought about what God was calling me to after graduation, and I knew I was called to ministry. I saw myself working in a church or other ministry, doing admin work or digital outreach or whatever, and training up other girls to be leaders. I applied to be on student staff, which was an intern-like position, but they told me I was better serving as a community group leader, continuing to pour into younger girls.
My senior year was a crazy one. I started unofficially working alongside a girl on staff, helping with whatever she needed. Mostly I started managing the social media. When COVID hit, I started attending the zoom staff meetings and in June of 2020, I was hired to be on full-time staff. I knew this was where God was calling me because of all the doors He opened and the burning passion He placed in my heart for the ministry being done here. College is a tumultuous time in a young person’s life: they’re moving away from home independently for the first time and deciding what they believe separately from their parents and family. This is the most common time that young people fall away from their faith. Those who grew up in church either run away completely or they get caught up in the worries and distractions of life when there isn’t someone there who cares about them and their spiritual walk.
Not only that but not all students coming to college have even heard the Gospel. And even of those who had, there are many who haven’t made Jesus the Lord of their life. There is a widely unreached and unchurch group of people in the midst of society that churches often forget. There are ministries ranging from babies to high school for kids, and adults have their pick of small groups, Bible studies, and service opportunities that are saturated with 30+ year olds all the way up to and past retirement. College ministries in churches, if they exist, expect theses newly independent adults to come all the way to them and participate in the same stuff those 10 or more years older than them do when just last year, they were still being told what to do and getting to play games in youth group. It’s too big a jump for young people who are used to church, let alone those who never set foot in one.
These college students are young and playful but also so smart and still figuring out how to navigate these new experiences and opportunities on their own. They are looking for a place to belong with people who care about them and understand them and are willing to walk alongside them where they are right now. Campus ministries like CSF offer that to them.
CSF is right on campus at WKU so all students have to do to find a community is walk across the street. We have fun and silly events to draw people in and connect with them so that we can walk alongside them as they figure out life and college all by themselves. We preach the Gospel and invite them to ask questions and live life with us. We have community groups that are student-led where they can study God’s Word with peers. And we provide them with opportunities to serve the Lord, each other, and the community around them.
In order for CSF to keep the doors open, we have full-time staff who dedicate their time serving these college students, planning events for them, meeting with them, and pointing them towards Jesus. I’ve been doing this full-time for two years now, and it’s not only so fun, but also incredibly rewarding spiritually. As I’ve served as a local missionary, I’ve grown in my own relationship with the Lord and been edified and built up to be more like Christ every day. I’ve heard from the Lord about where He has called me and seen His faithfulness over and over in many different areas of my life. CSF is not a church, but a mission field that brings in the lost and guides them toward a deeper relationship with Jesus and the Church community.
Since CSF isn’t a church, we don’t collect tithes and therefore rely heavily on churches and supporters like you to give financially so we never have to ask students to pay for what we do for them. Everyone on staff is required to fundraise their own salary. I know you all care about me and about the mission that Christ have given to us all: to go and make disciples of all nations. I’m asking that you support me in where God has placed me in that mission. I need monthly and one-time supports in order to do what I do full-time. My goal for the upcoming year is $25,725, and I am over 76% of the way there. I need $5,960 more to be fully funded. I’ve seen God’s faithfulness over the past two years in fundraising as well as all the other ways, and I know that I can be fully funded before the semester begins in just one week. Students are returning to campus on August 15th, and we’re planning to hit the ground running, drawing in the new freshmen and welcoming back returning students. Our goal this year is outreach, and we want to spend all our time loving and leading students.
Thank you for letting me share again about the ministry that has captured my heart. If you want updates about what I’m doing or how the ministry is going, I send out a quarterly newsletter that you can sign up to receive below, or you can reach out to me directly any time by email or phone. I’m praying for you always, and I hope you will pray for me. Amen.
