The Navigators has invited me to be a campus missionary for the next year at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. The Navigators is an interdenominational Christian missions organization. It ministers on more than 173 campuses in the U.S., and its staff teams serve in 108 countries around the world. I will be part of a Navigator ministry, the EDGE Corps, which is comprised of recent college graduates who will minister for one to two years on college campuses. We will be on the “cutting edge” of ministry – interacting daily with students, developing relationships of trust, leading Bible studies, and telling students about Christ. The Navigators feels that EDGE Corps participants have a unique hearing among college students since we were recently students ourselves!
Before I arrived at Purdue, I claimed to understand the Christian religion as introduced to me by my mother. Within a few short weeks after my arrival, God had moved into my life in a new and unfamiliar way. Although it was clear to me that I needed to be involved in a campus ministry to sustain good principles, my efforts to find a group that “fit” me proved difficult. Through a friend already involved with The Navigators, I found the Christian ministry and family that God had intended to use to mature my faith. This group of students and staff has challenged me each and every semester to grow in my imitation of Christ and my love for people around me.
God has shaped me through some of the hardest years of my life. He has proven to be faithful and able as He has promised repeatedly. As a freshman, I was mostly just a Christian on the outside. I often fell asleep in Bible study and missed the questions offered by my Bible study leader. After four years with the Purdue Navigators, I find myself a senior who strives to share my passion for the one true God and His Word with anyone willing to listen. I have invested my summers in a summer training program and a summer-long mission trip in Taiwan. God has especially put a desire in me to remain with young students and people from all nations. It is with eagerness and humility that I continue laboring for the LORD at my alma mater.
College is a crucial time in a person’s life – a time full of new experiences and tough decisions. Many students are on their own for the first time. Countless philosophies, lifestyle choices, and values confront these students. Fewer than one in five of these students have a relationship with God. I agree with The Navigators in believing that the 16 million students studying on campuses this fall represent a strategic segment of our population. At Purdue University, I will have the opportunity to continue living among 40 thousand students.
Many of the world’s best and brightest students come to the U.S. to study. Reaching these international students and other young men and women for Christ will propel the Gospel across the country and around the world as students graduate and become leaders in their communities, businesses, and governments. Purdue University ranks second among all U.S. public universities in international student enrollment. Next year, almost 6,000 young adults from over 126 countries will join us to study in West Lafayette, IN!
Jesus observed in Matthew 9:36-37 that “the harvest is great, but the workers are few.” So many college students feel spiritually hungry and dissatisfied with life. I believe God is calling me to share with them the fulfillment that comes only through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
