March Herald.indd - Lake Union Conference

As a kid, I would often spend
Sabbath afternoons playing
missionary games with my siblings.
We would pull out all our toys
and transform the living room into
continents where we would explore
imaginary new areas and pretend
to be missionaries on exciting
ventures.
In reality, I have not felt the
call to go to distant lands where
dangers lurk and new territories
need to be explored. But I have
discovered a vast mission territory
that has hardly been touched, right
in my back yard here in the United
States. This field is the campuses
of public universities, where
bright young minds are brushing
shoulders with a wide array of
fringe and not-so-fringe cultures. A
place where everything goes and all
is acceptable, but few missionaries
venture to share the three angels’
messages.
Why is it that we spend large
amounts of resources trying to
enter countries within the so-called
10/40 window, but hardly think
of entering our public universities,
where the only cost is time and
interest Yet the best and brightest
from the 10/40 window nations are
sent to American public universities
where we can reach them with
the good news of Jesus Christ,
before they go back to their home
countries.
The good news is that across
this nation, young people are
right now answering the call and
Young Adults Reach Out to
Public University Students
Campus Ministries in Indiana
B Y T H R O S T U R T H O R D A R S O N
holding up the banner of Jesus
Christ on public campuses. One
young man is praying that he may
lead between 50 and 100 to Christ
at a public university this school
year. At another university, a group
of Adventist young people began
Bible studies, and 52 came the first
night.
Here in Indiana, young people
are also getting involved. Both at
Indiana University in Bloomington
and at Purdue University in
Lafayette, our young people are
forming student associations with
the full intention of presenting Jesus
Christ to their fellow students and
faculty.
At Purdue University, about
20 young people come together
on campus each Friday evening
to fellowship, sing, and study the
Bible. Because they have formed a
student association that has been
accepted by the university, they
have full access to campus facilities
to carry out their mission.
The Indiana Conference
sponsored a seminar on public
campus ministry. Two young men
who have been involved in campus
ministry at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, told of their
experiences and shared ideas
of what can be done to reach
young people. The students
then spent time exploring how
they could apply these ideas on
their particular campuses.
To begin a ministry at your
local public campus, start praying
to God for guidance and that He
will send workers to help. Seek out
Adventist students on the campus
and form a student association that
is registered with the university
authorities. Expect God to lead you
to the right people, those whose
hearts the Spirit is already working
on, and trust that God will give a
bountiful harvest.
Elizabeth is an 18-year-old
student at a public university. She
isn’t a Christian and is interested
in sorcery. One Friday night when
Adventist Students for Christ met,
she took the initiative to pray. In her
prayer she voiced, “Thank you God
that we can believe in You.”
Is it possible that God might
call you to minister at a public
university mission right in your
back yard This is no kid’s Sabbath
afternoon game. It’s the real thing.
Throstur Thordarson is the Lafayette
(Indiana) Church pastor.
Visit our Web site at luc.adventist.org Lake Union Herald, March 2004 • 17