Ministry at Mesa State

Kevin, one of our staff members, is doing a ministry called “Compassionate.” It is very much a social ministry in which students are encouraged to identify and develop ministry projects that serve the less-fortunate. Among the projects taken on so far: raising several hundred dollars to help buy a new wheelchair for a Mesa student, remodeling a trailer home for a homeless person, and preparing breakfast at 6:00 a.m. for a local shelter once each week. SERFS (Safe Rides for Students) also continues to be an important ministry for our Christian Challenge group. We gave around 3,500 rides this past year to students who had been drinking. The ministry involved as many as 40 of our students in 6-8 hour shifts on Friday and Saturday nights.

One of my favorite activities is a Thursday afternoon group called “disciplemaking.” The idea is to present a devotional in such a way that all of the students involved can turn around and present the study to somebody else during the week. We started with 3 students in August and now regularly draw 20 students.

Darrin Crow, Director of Christian Challenge
Mesa State College - Grand Junction, CO

Students Sharing Christ

I have lunch on campus twice each week, and usually it is easy to find several students from our ministry with whom to visit. One day in November I was eating with one of my students and talking to him about sharing his faith. Jake has been one of our best students for years, but his shyness and awkwardness have always been a problem for him. Who should join us but the most outgoing girl in our ministry, Susan, and a friend of hers, Kayla, from the swim team.

Susan asked us what we were talking about, and I explained that I was talking to Jake about sharing his faith with somebody he didn’t know. Susan said to Jake, “Kayla is not a Christian. See how you can do with her.” After Jake sat for a minute trying to say something intelligent, Susan told Jake that he was not doing very well and needed to get after it. Jake’s panic was starting to show, so I asked Kayla if she would mind if Jake tried to share with her how he became a follower of Christ. She agreed, so Jake stumbled through the plan of salvation. He did a pretty good job until the end when he really talked himself into a hole. Kayla asked a question and Jake’s response was, “Everybody knows that.” Well, we teased Jake a little and thanked Kayla for playing along.

Later in the week Susan led Kayla to Christ. Her question was, “Do you really believe the stuff Jake was talking about?” From there Susan was able to lead her to a commitment to Christ. Susan later told the story and graciously gave Jake credit for sharing his faith. Jake knows he really butchered things, but he also recognizes clearly God’s ability to work through all of us.

Darrin Crow, Director of Christian Challenge
Mesa State College - Grand Junction, CO