Not By Campus Ministry Alone

A year ago, I met a young woman in our church who wanted to move overseas as a missionary. God saved her in a trusted campus ministry earlier in college, introduced her to the needs among the unreached, and mobilized her to spend a summer in East Asia. When she returned, her campus ministry leader trained her how to disciple her friends, and she began sharing the gospel on campus more regularly and faithfully.

God used a campus ministry to shift the direction of her life.

But one of the most important things her campus ministry leader did was invite the church into the process. Rather than assuming that the campus ministry could prepare her on their own, she connected this young woman with our church.

Quickly, she joined our church and started attending an intergenerational community group. She expressed a desire to be sent by our church to share the gospel on a university campus among the unreached and connect students to a healthy local church.

We need more of these kinds of partnerships. Campus ministries can awaken that missionary ambition, but that ambition needs to be tested in a local church.

A DESIRE TO SERVE THE NATIONS SHOULD BE ROOTED IN THE CHURCH

Over the past year, we’ve assessed this young woman’s character, helped her grow theologically, and identified an opportunity for her to serve in a church-centered campus ministry among the unreached for a year as she discerns her next steps.

Her intergenerational community group is supporting her financially and prayerfully. A woman on staff with the church gave her a copy of Kevin DeYoung’s Daily Doctrine to deepen her theological roots.

And earlier this year, she spoke to several hundred college students in our church about her upcoming move. She could have moved overseas quicker if she went on her own, but by inviting the church into the process, she’s impacting hundreds of members who are committing to pray for her and support her.

In my experience, stories like this are fairly uncommon. Many students become passionate about missions before they’re deeply rooted in the local church. But if our focus is on establishing and strengthening churches among the nations, then missionary preparation cannot be disconnected from the church.

I’m immensely grateful for campus ministries and the unique way that God often uses them to share the gospel on campus and mobilize students toward missional living. But I often find that the students who are most passionate about the nations lack a meaningful connection with the local church.

I long to see a generation of college students with a passion for spreading God’s glory among the unreached and who have been discipled toward the church.

This young woman’s story should be remarkably ordinary. She heard the gospel on campus. This group discipled her toward the local church. And now that same church is sending her to serve among the unreached.

May the Lord use campus ministries to evangelize students, awaken missionary ambition, and sacrificially disciple them toward the church. And may God prepare churches like ours to receive those students, disciple them, and send them to the nations to establish and strengthen churches.