It’s been a year that I started to serve in a college ministry. And I’ve discovered that most often times, the students are looking to understand God on a deeper level. Even for me, when I first was invited to YEF campus fellowship, I was desperately searching for someone to help answer my questions about God, life and the meaning of it.
Actually, all students and Christian students are asking this exact same question in their last years of high school and when entering college. Because going college and university is the start of their adult life, where they can more easily form their own opinions about life and the world.
College is a place of education and enlightenment, so I feel that many students go in hopes of finding their ultimate meaning in life. Especially for those who were raised in the church, they begin to have more questions about what place Christianity and God have in their lives.
But, then why is it more difficult for college students to cultivate and grow their faith? Why are so many students putting away their faith? In the small experience that I’ve had in this mission, to me, the answer is simple.
There aren’t enough people answering their questions. Now is the time to show them the way to God, but often times, they don’t even have anyone to show them and pray for them. They have an emptiness that needs to be filled with the Word of God.
Christian fellowships need to be on the grounds, focusing on teaching the deeper Bible before anything else. It’s especially important to go to them when they first begin to think about their faith, because if we don’t, then they’ll begin to fill their hearts with temporary things and find the Word less important to them in their lives.
The solution to the problem of college students losing their faith seems like a very simple one to me. And that is to “go out, making disciples of all nations.” As long as we’re there and we’re praying, working side by side with the Lord, the Holy Spirit will set a fire within the hearts of the students on these campuses and a revival can happen.
In the early church, the numbers were added on daily, because of the work of the Holy Spirit and the truth the apostles spoke. This too can happen on the college campuses during our time. We must be the one to preach the truth of God first and foremost and be there to lead the students to God. So, their spirits can be fed and their life given greater meaning.
By Danielle White, YEF Atlanta Student Leader