ON CAMPUS
20 – FALL
TRANSFORMING COLLEGE STUDENTS TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD
IGHT L e h t
&
the
SHINES in the DA RK N E SS
dark
ness has not
om overc
e it
1
darkness
DO WE NEED TO NAME THE DARKNESS?
We feel it everyday. It feels like heaviness, like being afraid. Like only the hard things are true and will never change.
So we stretch out our hands, open our palms, and wait for the Lord, the Light of all things to flicker or Flame.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,�
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
2
/ Psalm 139:10-11
the light of the world is already there. 01 –
This is a different kind of On Campus magazine because this has been a different kind of year. When we sent our last magazine in March, many college students had just been told their spring breaks would be “slightly extended” while the world figured out what to do about a new respiratory illness. Then— with dizzying speed, it seemed—universities moved online, and our young people, along with the rest of us, woke up to realities without precedent and questions without answers. But this was only the beginning. Then, on the very screens where our lives had been relegated, came brutal reminders of another kind of pandemic—the pain of racial prejudice and violence in our country. Many students took to the streets, to prayer, and to social media, seeking justice, and longing for hope and healing. These actions and longings reached into many organizations, including the CCO. They continue to resonate today.
With all this, and so much more, it can be easy to despair. The way forward—individually, organizationally, and nationally—is uncertain, and the darkness seems so impenetrable. As the apostle Peter once asked, “To whom shall we go?” We go to the One who has the words of eternal life. We turn to the Light of the world, the only Light that can break through. And that light is not the CCO, not our political parties, not even our deeply held hopes for how all this will resolve. The Light of the world is the One through whom everything was made. Full stop. Jesus, and Jesus alone, can overcome the darkness. In this On Campus magazine, we have one goal—to bear witness to the Light. It is our hope that through scripture, story, and art, you will be encouraged—that is, given courage—to step into every dark place, knowing this: The Light of the world is already there. 3
beyond the “I've made a commitment that I'm not going to try to be strong during this time for anyone. Because I don't feel very strong right now. But I will be weak with you. I'll emphasize that again: I will be weak with you.� In late January, Pete Ware, CCO campus staff at California University of Pennsylvania, made this promise to students and university staff members, over and over. It had already been a difficult 2020. Bri was a student at California University of Pennsylvania and a member of STAND, the CCO campus Christian fellowship group. She died on a Saturday night.
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On Sunday morning, Pete got a call from a university colleague, asking him to help break the news to Bri’s sorority sisters. He met with some of her closest friends, and then with student leaders, and then with many others. They spent, as Pete remembers, “a long time in silence and tears.” STAND’s weekly large-group gathering became a memorial service, and afterwards, students sought Pete out for comfort and hope. “I had a student who I thought would never want to talk to me come by my office in tears about Bri, and we were able to mourn together,” Pete remembers. “I pray that I was able to help him open up a bit more to Jesus.” Day by day, conversation by conversation, prayer by prayer, 2020 continued to unfold. Like most colleges in the U.S., Cal U moved online in late March. Pete and his student leaders pivoted to online Bible studies and frequent text check-ins. When Cal U announced in late July that no one would return physically to campus in the fall, Pete was disappointed but not defeated.
I MUST TRUST T H AT G O D W I L L CONTINUE TO HELP STUDENTS TO COME TO H I M , N O M AT T E R W H AT T H E C I R C U M S TA N C E S .
“I really want to bump into students at the gym, say hi as I ride my bike on campus, sit in the student union, have students over to my house, and help them meet Jesus,” Pete says. “But while inperson ministry is much more my style and preference, I must trust that God will continue to help students come to Him no matter what the circumstances.” A new group of student leaders assembled in the fall, meeting for online prayer every Monday night and reaching out to classmates via text and social media. They split their large-group meeting into 20 minutes of teaching and 20 minutes of discussion in Zoom break-out rooms—creatively calling it “STAND’s 20-20 at 9:20.” It wasn’t like meeting in person, but they still got to know freshmen and other new students,
sought God in the Scriptures, and prayed together. And then, only a few weeks into the fall semester, tragedy struck again. Jamain, a senior football player known as “Juice,” was widely loved on campus for his kindness, initiative, and enthusiasm. On a Tuesday morning in September, he died suddenly. Again, Pete got the call to help break the news to students, and he was asked to help lead Cal U’s online memorial service.
I WILL BE WEAK WITH YOU On September 10th, students, faculty, administrators, and Jamain’s family gathered online to remember this beloved young man. Pete opened the time in prayer and closed the service with a short reflection, recalling a Bible study that he, Juice, and another teammate had gone through together—a study that looked in particular at how this world is not the way it ought to be: As I got that dreadful call, my thoughts went back and forth from anger to despair, and I thought about how this isn’t the way it is supposed to be. My heart sank as I lost someone I loved, and I felt angry because I wouldn’t be able to be in his presence again here on earth. I just liked being around my man Juice. And while I share here, knowing that Juice connected with everyone, and most everyone liked being around him as much as I did, I think he would want me to share where he found hope in the midst of the brokenness all around us. He didn’t find hope in his ability, though we know he could move some weight and clog up that defensive line. He didn’t find hope in his friendliness, though we all wanted to hang out with him. He didn’t find his hope in his intelligence, though
he was bright and thoughtful. He didn’t even find hope in how good of a person he was, though we’d all be okay with him dating our daughter. He put his hope in Jesus, because he knew he wasn’t good enough. We know Juice wasn’t perfect, but he put his hope in Jesus who is. I share this, not just because I’m a preacher and I have your ear for a few minutes, but because I believe it’s what Juice wants you to hear now. I believe he, because of his professed faith in Jesus, is healed from his personal brokenness now, and he wants you to have that hope that is beyond the brokenness of our world. After the service, the athletic director asked Pete to facilitate a sharing time with student athletes, and so they processed and grieved together. During the call, students noticed that there were 77 participants—Juice's jersey number. Pete continues to pray that these 77 student athletes, and many other students and staff at Cal U, will come to see the “hope that is beyond the brokenness of the world,” shining even and especially in the darkest places. Jesus, the Light of the world, will not be overcome.
bearing the light
STORIES FROM CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLUMBIA, SC —
Things were not looking good for the first few weeks of the semester. COVID cases were exploding on campus, room capacities were severely limited, masks were ubiquitous. Our plan was modest: we'll meet in small groups outdoors as much as possible. For Sunday worship, we would meet for morning prayer outdoors on campus. Everything could be easily scaled to accommodate a few students if need be. I'll be honest; I wasn't hopeful. How would all of this work? Surprisingly, quite well. COVID has forced us to do things I probably wouldn't have tried without a global pandemic. By the time the semester ends, we will have enjoyed over 100 COVIDappropriate individually packaged meals (thanks to an incredible volunteer), warmed ourselves around 20 bonfires, laughed, played games, prayed, discussed the Bible, and talked about what
it means to be a Christian in the 21st century. Churches may be closed, but the Church is not. God is not bound, and His Kingdom will endure. / Jonathan Furst, Campus Ministry Staff ANNE ARUNDEL COMMUNITY COLLEGE ARNOLD, MD —
deliver groceries to those in need in the community. / Stephen Manyara, Campus Ministry Staff with Stephanie "Frankie" Frank VIRGINIA TECH BLACKSBURG, VA —
During our weekly "Multicultural Dinner,” we’ve been walking through each chapter of the four-part Gospel This fall we are doing a narrative—Creation, Fall, Bible study on the life of Joseph. Joseph was a man who had Redemption, Restoration—to talk about our own journeys a series of events happen to him and experiences with our ethnic that he was not in control of, but identities. We ask honest and he remained faithful to God and hopeful questions, like How was able to be used sovereignly do we cry by Him in out to God C H U R C H E S M AY B E the midst of lamenting the very difficult CLOSED, BUT THE injustices in circumstances. C H U R C H I S N O T. our world? We believe How do we G O D I S N O T B O U N D this is the communicate situation we + HIS KINGDOM the hope are all in right W I L L E N D U R E . we have in now. So we are Christ, that encouraging He has come to make all things students and ourselves to remain new and shine light in even the faithful and remember that God darkest of places? is over this crazy time and is working things out to His good and perfect desired end.
We are also hosting movie and discussion nights, tea times, tennis, presidential debate watches, paint nights, and other activities that we can do safely or online. We have started a weekly service opportunity on Tuesdays with a pop-up pantry where we bag and
Every week, we gather outside to eat our physically-distanced BYO dinner. After getting to know one another “around the table” (aka on steps under a glass awning), we move inside to recap the four chapters and talk about the implications of this very good news in all of our lives.
Here’s what one student, Leah, told us: “The MC Dinner is a beautiful community of believers willing to ask the hard questions and engage in meaningful conversations about what the multicultural church truly looks like. I'm continually drawn back because it is a wonderful space to learn about other people’s ethnic experiences and how that intersects with the Gospel.” / Kylie & Nicholas Garrety, Campus Ministry Staff
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY STATE COLLEGE, PA —
Each summer, Walt fills our garage to overflowing capacity with a vast variety of furniture, mattresses, microwaves, dishes, pots and pans, lamps, etc. Nothing compares with the joy of showing kindness to new international students arriving in State College with only a suitcase. And this is how we met Teresa. Teresa’s mom accompanied her from India to the U.S. in January 2020 to help her settle in—and
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BUCKS COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWTOWN, PA —
Nothing is bigger than God. So I want students to know that we need to look through the lens of our faith, we need to bring things back to Jesus in order to make sense of the current events of our day or the events of our own lives. We get so caught up in what people are saying—but what is God saying? Every week, to try and help students hear from God, I start by listening to our student leadership president, who tells me what he sees students thinking about and struggling with. We come up with a theme and some key scriptures, and then we make a short worship and prayer video for our Facebook page. I use the same theme to prepare for our young adult
gathering at the church, which is a mix of live and virtual. Students are engaging honestly and transparently, and the dialogues have been great. It’s exciting to see them interact with the scriptures—not in the abstract, but in really concrete ways. We are in a new season of campus ministry at Bucks! And as our students learn, our campus ministry must learn as we work with new norms and serve by the grace of Jesus. / Matthew West, Campus Ministry Staff
EVERY GOOD GIFT + EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, COMING DOWN FROM THE
father of lights
WA N T M O R E ?
J
A
M
E
S
1
:
1
7
WITH WHOM THERE IS NO VA R I A T I O N O R S H A D O W DUE TO CHANGE.
Watch this edition of On Campus come to life at ccojubilee.org/OnCampusArt
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for such a time as this THANK YOU — Dear friends, We are living through uncertain times. From the threat of the novel coronavirus and state of the economy, to upcoming elections and adjusting to distance learning—it’s no wonder anxiety is on the rise. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know Who holds it. And we trust in God’s continued provision. You are a very real part of that provision, and we are humbled by your generosity in both prayer and finances over these past months, as you support our efforts to reach a new generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The mission to reach the next generation is as critical as ever. These future leaders will face challenges we cannot even begin to imagine. We are more eager than ever to provide them with the biblical and theological worldview that will help them to lead well. Thank you for your continued partnership in equipping a new generation of Christian leaders, for such a time as this. Jayson Samuels Senior Director of Philanthropy, CCO
MANY YEARS AGO, THE LORD SAID TO ABRAHAM, L O O K A T T H E S T A R S O F T H E S K Y. T R Y T O COUNT THEM!
so your descendents will be
Then, and now, we are the tiny points of light most visible in darkest night, gathered in flaming witness to the Light who gives light to the world.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made
that has been made.
In him was life, and that life
was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it. / John 1:1-5
W hen the fog settles in, or clouds block the sky, remember. Tr y to remember! Things that are hidden from view do not cease to exist.
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