CCO On Campus | Summer 2017

SUMMER 2017

ON CAMPUS TRANSFORMING COLLEGE STUDENTS TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD

WHAT NEXT GENERATION

LEADERSHIP LOOKS LIKE

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FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

M

ANY INCOMING COLLEGE STUDENTS HAVE NEVER attended a Christian worship service or cracked open a Bible— and even if they have, they view it as just another story, myth, or fairy tale. They are skeptics; they do not believe the Scriptures to be God’s authoritative Word.

ABOUT THE CCO The CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach) calls college students to serve Jesus Christ with their entire lives.

Our ministry is distinct in three ways: 1. We develop students to be passionate leaders who serve Jesus Christ in their studies, jobs, communities, and families.

2. We serve together with the church, inviting students into the lives of local congregations.

3. We design each ministry to fit the needs of every campus we serve.

For more about us, please visit our website: ccojubilee.org or find us on social media: /ccoministry

@ccoministry

ccojubilee

On Campus is published tri-annually by Bonnie Liefer and Amy Maczuzak Photography credits for this issue: Andrew Rush, Caryn Carson, Nebia Pictured on the cover: The Nebia shower, produced

by CCO student alumnus Philip Winter. To learn more about Nebia, visit their website: nebia.com

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According to the Pew Research Center, the fastest growing religious group in the United States today is “the Nones”—those who, when asked their religious affiliation, identify themselves as atheists, agnostics, or “nothing in particular.”

“Many Christians worry about secularism taking over,” write our friends David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons in their recent book, Good Faith. “[But] secularism’s advance is downstream from anemic Bible engagement and thin theological thinking… We must relearn to trust in God’s ways, even when they run against the grain of current culture.”

There is a desperate need in our world for Christian leaders, and this need is at the heart of our ministry to college students.

This is why we invest in students like Cay Johnson, who has found joy in learning how to read the Bible, and in graduates like Philip Winter, who has chosen to take entrepreneurial risks for the sake of God’s Kingdom. The students featured in this magazine are just a few of the many promising young leaders our staff are mentoring every day on college campuses. Our prayer is that God will take a hold of their lives and bring forth a new generation of leaders.

This is also what is spurring us to accept invitations to do ministry on college campuses throughout the United States. We believe that the university campus is the most urgent mission field in our world today. We want to see God raise up a new generation of Christian leaders—men and women who will demonstrate by the way they live that God is sovereign over everything.

We want to be vessels of God’s good work in His world. We want to equip today’s college students to be tomorrow’s leaders, men and women of integrity and character who are rooted in Christ. We want to be available to be used by God for such a time as this.

Vincent J. Burens President & CEO

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A few of the Jubilee 2017 speakers

THERE IS NOT A

SQUARE INCH IN THE WHOLE DOMAIN

Lecrae Hip-Hop Artist, Songwriter, Actor

OF OUR HUMAN EXISTENCE OVER WHICH CHRIST, WHO IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL, DOES NOT CRY, “MINE!”

Jon Tyson Founding Pastor, Trinity Grace Church

—Abraham Kuyper

Léonce B. Crump, Jr. Senior Pastor, Renovation Church

Sylvia Chen Head of Patent Operations at Google Inc.

J

Propaganda Poet, Academic, Emcee

ubilee 2017 broke a record—more students attended this Jubilee than at any time in CCO history!

As a f irst-time Jubilee

annual Jubilee conference.

dream about what the world

participant and a new

Jubilee is a weekend-long

might look like if they

cares about all that I do

Christian, this conference

snapshot of the CCO’s

choose to serve Jesus Christ

was repeated over and over.

has given me a seriously

year-round ministry, where

with their whole lives, 24

Hearing that message from

different outlook on life

students catch a vision for

hours a day, seven days a

so many people in so many

and how to be a faithful

what their faith in Jesus

week.

different walks of life really

member of my community.

Christ has to do with their

My experience was honestly

everyday lives.

We can’t wait to see

drove it home. I cannot wait

how God will transform

to see what changes God will

this generation of college

bring about in my life in the

and in dozens of smaller

students to glorify Him

years to come as a result of

of February 17-19,

workshops, more than

in every square inch of

this conference.

thousands of college

70 Christian leaders

their lives.

students gathered in

challenged students to

life-changing.

During the weekend

Pittsburgh for the 41st 4

The message that God

In large-group sessions

Thank you to our sponsors who made Jubilee 2017 a reality!

Senior Compassion International Junior Acton Institute Creation Festival Eastern University Crossworld Lamar Advertising Values & Capitalism Sophomore Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child Freshman ELIC Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Plough Publishing Trinity School for Ministry WorldVenture

Bethany Jenkins Director, The Gospel Coalition’s Every Square Inch

Sho Baraka Recording Artist & Activist

Julia Wattacheril Faculty, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Anthony Bradley Associate Professor of Religious Studies, The King’s College

Katelyn Beaty Editor at Large, Christianity Today magazine

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“Everything we do has the divine possibility to bring glory to God.” —Jon Tyson

“Jubilee helped me

realize that my entire life

is full-time ministry no

matter what I do, and I should bring glory to

God in all of it.”

“Jubilee has opened

my eyes to why Jesus

is important to have

in every aspect of my life. I now know that

whatever I do, I am to

do for the glory of God!

I can’t wait to go to

classes and be involved

around campus, living

out everything I learned

at Jubilee.”

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HOW A CCO STUDENT FOUNDED A

Philip Winter is one

SILICON VALLEY START-UP

of three cofounders of Nebia, a water-saving shower system that has attracted the attention of prominent innovators and investors, like Apple CEO Tim Cook. So how did Philip get here and what does his work have to do with his faith in Jesus Christ? He traces it back to his involvement in the CCO’s ministry during his undergraduate years at the University of Pennsylvania.

Having just become a Christian and being so passionate about it, I was convinced I needed to go into ministry to serve God. Mike said, “Maybe not.”

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I

BECAME A CHRISTIAN my sophomore year of college, not long after transferring to Penn. I was dating a girl who was a Christian, and my roommate was also a believer. I became curious about their faith, and that’s when I really heard and understood the Gospel for the first time.

Not long after that, I met CCO staff member Mike Chen at a latenight prayer meeting.

He had also recently arrived at Penn, and we immediately clicked.

We started getting together.

Mike was one of the few people I could interact with who was older, wiser, and deeper in his faith, but who I could also relate to on an eye-to-eye level. He’s a good listener and very thoughtful, and he gave me really good guidance. We started reading St. Augustine in a book group together, and then we moved on to studying the Bible and praying together regularly.

Having just become a Christian and being so passionate about it, I was convinced I needed to go into ministry to serve God. Mike said, “Maybe not.” He helped me understand that I could serve God wherever I chose to work.

I attended the Jubilee conference my junior year. It was my first time ever at a large Christian gathering like that, and it was encouraging to see so many Christians who wanted to serve God through their work.

My first job after graduating from Penn was a one-year fellowship in Mexico City with Endeavor, a nonprofit that does economic development work.

I had a degree in international relations and had spent my first year out of college traveling internationally. Now I was talking with entrepreneurs all the time. It was a tremendous experience living in a different culture.

W

hile I was in Mexico, I met Carlos Gomez Andonaegui, who was helping to run a chain of gyms. They were worried about using so much water, which led me and Carlos to the idea of developing water-saving showers. We started working together on a prototype.

At first we thought, “Water is scarce and sanitation is a big issue, so we’ll do this in Mexico.” But then we realized that this issue is important everywhere, so we decided to take a broader approach. We recognized that if we created the brand in San Francisco, where resources would be more available, we would have an opportunity to create a larger impact. So far, it’s proven to be the right path.

Carlos and I connected with Gabriel Parisi-Amon, and the three of us co-founded Nebia together. Gabe is a mechanical engineer—before he joined us, he worked as an iPhone

engineer at Apple. His strength is in manufacturing, so he is our Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer. I am Chief Executive Officer, and Carlos is Chairman and Chief Brand Officer.

A

WHILE BACK, Mike Chen asked me, “What does Nebia have to do with Jesus?” He helped me think through what it means to serve God through making water-saving technology.

I believe there’s a redemptive nature to our work. On a very core level, we design physical products that people interact with every day. I also hope it helps people to be better stewards of their resources, which is especially important here on the west coast, where water is scarce.

I am also very deliberate about how we shape our corporate environment. My desire as CEO is to love people, to reconcile relationships, and to empower diverse teams.

I love seeing the effect of people working together toward a common goal. Our product and our brand is a reflection of that.

We hope to build a longterm sustainable business that helps people reinvent how they conserve water, that will sway and have influence in people’s lives. We are building a brand

that represents what we care about: responsible stewardship, treating people the right way, and having the right end goal in mind.

I want to reflect Jesus in the way I lead, how I pray, and how I trust God to direct my path.

Showers have been the same for 100 years. We set out to create a better shower experience first, and save as much water as possible. It turns out the age-old belief that more water equals a better experience isn’t necessarily true.

—Philip Winter, quoted in Architectural Digest, January 2016

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Cay Johnson: A GROWING DRIVE TO W hen I first met Cay, she was so eager to grow in her faith. She didn’t see

her potential as a leader, but she was

eager to be a participant. She just wanted to show

up anywhere someone was discussing the Bible. As she read through the Gospel of Matthew for the first time, she kept a list of questions, and then we would meet to discuss them.

Eventually, Cay began to realize that maybe she could serve as a student leader in the CCO college ministry out of the church, Delaware City Vineyard.

Even as I tried to nudge and empower her to lead, she would often text me questions that showed her tendency to doubt and second-guess herself.

In the two years since then, Cay now serves faithfully at our church. She coordinates rides for other students, she helps me lead a college small group, she participated in the Ocean City Beach Project, and she has started discipling other students. Now instead of texting me questions, she sends me updates. She has grown more confident in who she is in Christ and more confident about the ways God can use her to influence others. It’s truly a beautiful thing to witness.

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Tyler Charles, CCO Staff

SERVE I

CAME TO OHIO Wesleyan University as a Christian, but now I have a relationship with the Lord.

Growing up, I would only read the Bible in church when I was told to open it, but besides that, I didn’t know much about it. College is where I had a chance to ask questions I’d always been afraid to ask.

I first met [CCO staff member] Tyler Charles at freshman orientation. I discovered that he was genuinely interested in who I was as a person, which was new for me. I had always tried to be someone I wasn’t so I could look like a better version of myself. But Tyler didn’t care about that. He just cared about me.

These past few years, Tyler has taught me how to lead others in discipleship and to be bold and confident in who God says I am. He invited me to sit in on leadership team meetings. Then I shadowed a student leader and co-led and eventually started my own Bible study.

Now Tyler and I discuss topics for the group and I lead on my own.

Tyler also introduced me to the CCO’s Ocean City Beach Project as a place where I could get leadership training and learn more about how to read the Bible. I went last summer, and I’m going back this summer as a student leader.

When 28 college students are living and learning together, they aren’t going to let you get away with anything. We challenged and encouraged each other. We had jobs where we shared our faith with our co-workers. We were taught how to lead Bible studies and were encouraged to be hospitable. We worshipped together, and we learned to love the church. I was blown away by the things I learned.

B

ecause I have a stong science background, I thought I wanted to be a genetic counselor.

But then I realized that what I was really interested in was counseling. Why do we make decisions even though we know they’re the wrong ones? That led me to psychology.

Now I find such joy in learning more about Jesus through my coursework. Every day when I go to class, things stand out even more to me that draw me closer to God.

Now I know who God says I am. Before, I didn’t know that I am a daughter of the King. I didn’t know that I have worth and value that isn’t reliant on other people’s opinions. Because I didn’t know that, there were consequences to the choices I was making. I was chasing after things that couldn’t give me meaning.

I want to serve the Lord by going into ministry. I want to lead people to Christ! I want other college students to know that the Lord can use them beyond anything they dream.

God can take a mustard seed and grow it into something beautiful.

I had always tried to be someone I wasn’t so I could look like a better version of myself. But Tyler didn’t care about that.

He just cared about me.

The Ocean City Beach Project changed my life.

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HOW TYLER CAMPBELL’S PASSION TO SERVE JESUS LED HIM TO As Tyler Campbell neared the end of his junior year at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he began to pursue internship opportunities.

As he started interviewing for positions all over the country, he wore his faith on his sleeve.

Interviewers were intrigued

by Tyler’s willingness to connect his faith with his work, and he ended up with offers from two highly-sought-after internships: one at Disney in Florida and one at Tesla in California.

Wrestling with the decision of which offer to accept, Tyler realized there was one more factor to consider: was there a church for him to connect with once he arrived?

Ivan Strong Moore, CCO Staff

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T

ESLA IS ON ITS way to changing the automobile industry forever, and I got to be a part of it. I was one of 400 people—out of over a million applicants—chosen to be an intern. “Why me?” I wondered.

When I would explain that I am a Safety and Health Intern at Tesla to the Santa Clara community, they were utterly impressed that I was applying my skills to make one of the safest cars in the world.

However, that is not what I was doing.

I was implementing plans, procedures, and policies for the company with the hope of lowering incident rates, OSHA recordables, and ultimately keeping employees safe. The listeners would quickly shift from an amazed stance to a, “Well, that’s important too, I guess” kind of response.

Other interns were developing amazing designs and cost-reducing aspects to the cars, or they were engineering out bugs from the most-recently talked-about Model 3 that will be released in late 2018. When eating, living, and talking to these interns, it was easy for me

to convince myself that I was not as important or that my job didn’t matter as much.

But thanks to what I learned from the CCO, I was reminded that my job does matter.

When I create policies and procedures, order a stop sign, or even remind an employee to wear his safety glasses, I am taking part in caring for God’s creation by slowly eliminating the chaos that is inside of a hectic factory. When I look at the world like this, I fall deeper in love with God by seeing His deep love for creation.

So instead of comparing my work to that of the engineers in the factory or the administrative teams, I reminded myself that all of our work is equally important, because it is all bringing glory to the Kingdom of God. All work is God’s work and we need to take pride in it, whether we are inserting data into an Excel spreadsheet or creating a prototype for an electric car.

Although I may not fully understand why I got selected to be a part of Tesla, I do understand that no matter where I end up, I will do my work well, take part in cultivating the earth, and give the glory back to God.

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NE OF MY criteria in choosing an internship was where I would worship over the summer. My church family back on campus was really central, and I didn’t want to miss out on being part of a local church. I shouldn’t have worried.

MY FIRST Sunday in California, I entered the doors of Santa Clara First Baptist Church. Several families graciously invited me into their homes for dinner, picnics, and to simply hang out.

Every week, I got a taste of hospitality as ushers, pastors, and members of the congregation swarmed me with love, asking questions like, “How is work going? How is your grandma?

Can I pray for you?” And my favorite, “Would you like to go out to eat this week with me and my family?”

Finding a church community that loved, encouraged, and walked with me in my faith gave me hope that I will find a church home wherever God places me in the future.

I told one of the interviewers that my Christian faith influences how I see my job and he asked me to elaborate.

I told him that I have Scripture verses to help, if he was interested. He wanted to know more.

These are two godly men from Santa Clara First Baptist Church who I spent a lot of time with—Jerry and Darren. They included me in their family events, like going to the beach, picnics, and game nights.

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GENEVIEVE PARKER, WELCOMED INTO THE CHURCH AND

Genevieve Parker connected to the CCO’s

challenged to LEAD

ministry soon after arriving at Carnegie Mellon University to study mechanical engineering. As she finishes her junior year, she is now a student leader of the CCO athlete fellowship group on campus, where she is being mentored by CCO staff members Jonny Cagwin and Kaleigh Ritter. She also serves Carnegie Mellon as a Community Adviser in her residence hall and is an active participant in the worshipping community of Church of the Ascension.

Jonny Cagwin and Kaleigh Ritter, CCO Staff 14

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O LEAD IS TO serve. That’s what Christ taught, and that’s what I’ve learned from CCO staff members Jonny and Kaleigh. Watching them constantly pour into students’ lives and look for ways to serve the campus community has helped me learn what leadership looks like. They serve because they care about the people here.

They are leading us to become the leaders of our own future communities.

Jonny and Kaleigh guide students to Jesus. Whenever I approach Kaleigh with a problem, I already know what she’ll say: “Have you prayed about it yet?” Jonny challenges me to keep looking for ways to impact more students every week.

While both of them challenge me constantly, they also encourage me constantly.

Because of Kaleigh’s encouragement, I recently accepted a higher-level leadership role for next year in Carnegie Mellon’s residence halls. I had a lot of insecurities about my abilities as a leader and a decision-maker, and I discouraged myself from applying by believing these insecurities. Thankfully, I talked to Kaleigh about the position.

She addressed every one of my worries by pointing out a specific instance in which I had proved to be strong in each area I was insecure about.

I’ve been a student leader in the ministry for two years. I’ve found a community of believers that supports me, and thanks to Jonny, I’ve found a church home with the most encouraging people. It was this feeling of belonging and family that kept me coming back to Church of the Ascension. Now I am involved in helping with scripture reading and communion during services, and I’ve attended a few classes and retreats. I was even “adopted” by a family in the congregation.

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HE CCO HAS helped me figure out that I can serve God as an engineer. I knew that every kind of work was meaningful to God, and I knew I was passionate about engineering.

Even so, I had not considered that the field of engineering had its own story of brokenness and redemption. The beauty of God’s design in creation encourages me, and the realities of the brokenness in engineering remind me of our need for a Savior.

God is the perfect engineer.

Everything He makes is designed well to do its job. Yet when I look at the Challenger disaster or the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, I am hit with the disturbing truth that sin has soiled God’s design.

Praise God that the story doesn’t end there! I can look at how far engineering has come, how much we have progressed in areas of safety precaution, efficiency, and technology, and I can see God at work. Jesus has redeemed my career and will one day restore it to perfection.

Through the CCO, I have found hope for my work. I know that God cares about my studies and even encourages me to lead in this field. He sees every square inch of my life and redeems it for His purposes.

As I prepare to enter into work within the Department of Defense, an area that has a critical impact on many lives, I will rely on God’s redemption to help me do my work well.

Through the

CCO, I have

found hope for my work. I know that God cares about my studies.

He sees every square inch of my life and redeems it for His purposes.

I went to Church of the Ascension for the first time because my campus minister invited me. So many people introduced themselves to me—I felt immediately welcomed.

That feeling of belonging and family has kept me coming back.

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WHY STEPHANIE AND JASON SUMMERS GIVE TO THE CCO

Stephanie and Jason Summers met when they were undergraduates at Kenyon College, involved in the CCO’s ministry. After graduating, Stephanie worked for the CCO, on campus and in a variety of leadership roles; today she serves as the CEO of the Center for Public Justice. Jason is Chief Scientist and Managing Member of ARiA (Applied Research in Acoustics), a small research-and-development firm based in Washington, DC. For many years, Jason and Stephanie have taken turns chairing the The McIlvaine Fund, the alumni community board that funds the CCO’s ministry at Kenyon College, and both have spoken at the Jubilee conference.

Why do you support the CCO? We would not be the people we are without the faithful work of the CCO. So much of how we lead our respective organizations we learned at Jubilee, in conversations with CCO staff, or in books we read that we bought from CCO alumnus Byron Borger!

Why is ministry to college students important?

College and graduate school were the years God used to form the trajectory of our lives and leadership. We believe this period is a crucible God uses to form young adults, and we believe it is important to have campus ministers in place to help point to the Truth and to the work God is doing.

Why should others support the CCO? In terms of an organization whose impact on young people carries on 16

for a lifetime, shaping a diversity of institutions—from businesses to churches to families—you cannot do better than to make an investment in the CCO. Can you tell us more about your planned gift to the CCO? CCO staff alumni were the people God used in our lives to have very specific conversations about giving and stewardship. We are so thankful.

As our capacity to give has grown, we have found ourselves delighted to employ the wise advice we were given at the very beginning of our marriage. When we were in our 20s, we chose to designate a percentage of our estate, hoping that our choice would mean our gift will have a bigger impact over time.

Would you like to remember the CCO in your estate plans or through another planned gift? To find out more, please contact Allyson Sveda, Director of Development, at 412.363.3303.

OUR BOARD Elizabeth Baker CEO Hot Metal Media LLC Vincent J. Burens President & CEO Coalition for Christian Outreach Kurt E. Carlson Executive Vice President Hefren-Tillotson, Inc. The Rev. Nancy O. Chalfant-Walker Rector St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church CCO Staff Alumna Jennifer Ciccone Human Resources Director, Productivity Software Group EFI Judith Herschell Cole President Herschell Environmental, LLC Ryan D. Deaderick, P.E. Vice President, Production Energy Corporation of America Joseph P. Diggins, Jr. Partner Ernst & Young LLP Louis A. Divers President Precision Abrasives Reggie Dulaney CEO Panthro Fitness LLC Daniel J. Dupee Chairman of the Board Coalition for Christian Outreach The Rev. Dr. William R. Glaze Pastor Bethany Baptist Church Darrin E. Grove CEO TrueFit John M. Holt, Jr. President HOLSINGER, PC Harry Kunze Consultant Amylyn Kyler Managing Director Kyler Professional Search The Rev. Dr. Robert R. Long Chairman Emeritus Coalition for Christian Outreach Martha McElhattan Homemaker and Volunteer

Terrence H. Murphy Shareholder Littler Mendelson P.C. Audrey Murrell, Ph.D. Associate Dean, College of Business Administration University of Pittsburgh Brian T. Must Founding Member Metz, Lewis, Brodman, Must & O’Keefe Attorneys at Law The Rev. Richard Noftzger Executive Presbyter Redstone Presbytery CCO Staff Alumnus J. Paul Organ Founder & Certified Financial Planner Marathon Financial Services CCO Staff Alumnus James W. Rimmel Sr. Vice President, Investments UBS Financial Services, Inc. James D. Roberge Managing Director Staley Capital Advisers, Inc. David A. Schrader, Ph.D. Partner Full Circle Group CCO Staff Alumnus Chris Seidler Sales Executive Net Health Kenneth E. Smith President Simcoach Games Lori Stuckey Homemaker and Volunteer Henry B. Suhr III Adjunct Faculty Geneva College CCO Staff Alumnus J.T. Thomas Entrepreneur & Business Consultant Mary Martha Truschel Assistant Counsel, Southwest Regional Office PA Department of Environmental Protection James D. Young COO, Senior Vice President Crown Castle