Life in Campus MInistry

Emily and Bonnie

I am going to attempt to tell you about Campus Ministry in one post! And I am going to start at the beginning for us. Back in May of '09 Josh and I drove up to Muncie, IN for an interview. Mind you this job never crossed our minds until a professor at Ozark started talking about this position. Josh just thought he would work in a church since, well, that is what he is trained to do. So anyways we had the interview, dinner with some students and a meeting with Mark all in a 24 hour time. By the time we left for Joplin (home at the time), Josh had a job and we were moving in a month!
Now through the interview and talks with students I was realizing that Campus Ministry is very different than working in a church. It was going to require 60+ hour work weeks from Josh, we were going to only have people in our church for four years (except those students that just love us so much they make it five!) and I was told we are not a package deal so I could do as little or as much as I wanted. Since I want to see my husband I went with the "MUCH" part!

My first accountability group, they are all mostly graduated

Honestly it has taken us three years to figure out how to make a family work in ministry. I know that seems like forever but we really had to figure out the groove of things and how to say "NO." In those three years I have had a job, we added Cadence and now I stay home with him. Josh has had to learn to say no to staying out late and I have had to be willing to go up to the Campus House to have lunch or just hang out with Josh for a little bit. We have had to balance family time and student time. And also there is always this shock of having Josh around all summer and then home in the fall only to eat and sleep!  So finally, I think we did it. Now don't get me wrong it is still an adjustment, but one we are both willing to work on it.

The N. Ireland Team May 2012

Let me tell you a little of what we do at the Campus House.  Josh got hired to run the Worship and Men's ministry part at the Campus House. That is working with the praise team (remember, that changes every year!), retreats, bible study, occasional preaching, always planning Sunday mornings, Men's activities, discipleship groups, tech support and of course whatever else that may go on during the week (service projects, international student meals, etc). Honestly that is just naming a few. My man is a man of many talents so he is just well...excellent at his job!
Since I have chosen to be involved in the Campus House, I help as well. I have two accountability groups, one student I meet with one-on-one and all the regular women's and worship team activities. And I enjoy all of it!! Being in a college ministry is so different then we ever thought. But I can't imagine us doing anything else. We have grown to LOVE the ministry and the students. A lot of our students come from a Christian homes so there isn't a ton of evangelizing with them, but we are given many opportunities to serve the campus and community.

Holly in Ireland!

I think one of the biggest things we tend to see with the students (I need another name for them!) is that for the first time they are away from parents and it is time for them to choose their faith and how they want to live it. They are becoming adults and have real life situations they have to figure out on their own and along with that comes their belief in God. They can choose to not go to church, grow their faith or even be a good influence on others while at school. We get to help guide them, but still allow them to make those decisions on their own. Along with growing up in the church though, a lot of them still have made decisions they regret, parent issues and really just reality finally hitting them. They still have to learn how to forgive, forget and move on in life. They still have to be shown God loves them no matter what friends or family tell them. That God has grace, forgiveness and unconditional love they just have to choose it.

Guys this is seriously a very small part of what we do (mostly Josh!). I am not going to go into the mission trips, retreats and daily conversations we have had over the last three years. I can just tell you that we love this ministry and it is needed on every secular campus in the world. There are prayers needed, finances needed (we are a support-based ministry) and just love for these students needed!