North America News

Science and faith unite at Tulane University’s Veritas Forum

On February 4, 1,500 people were challenged to consider the existence of God and reevaluate their view of the relationship between faith and science when they attended the Veritas Forum at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Matthew DeGier, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries New Orleans director and Tulane Religious Life co-chair, described the forum as pre-evangelistic outreach to college students and professors. Chi Alpha worked with several other campus ministries to host the event.

The Veritas (meaning "truth") Forums began at Harvard University in the 1990s and have since been hosted at over 80 campuses. The purpose of the forums is to "engage students and faculty in discussions about life's hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life."

Dr. Francis Collins was the featured speaker at the Tulane event.

Collins is a world-renowned geneticist who led the Human Genome Project and became a Christian as a medical student. During his discussion, Collins described the role science played in his journey from atheism to faith.

"Dr. Collins has been the guest at several universities, sharing his reasons for engaging in a living relationship with God as a scientist, and how he sees the handiwork of God at the microscopic levels," DeGier explains. "He engaged our audience with a message some of them had never seriously considered before ‹ that the God of the Bible is alive and active in the world today."

Local Assemblies of God churches underwrote nearly one-third of the forum's cost. Light for the Lost provided 120 copies of the book "Mere Christianity" that were distributed after the talk.

Following the Veritas Forum, DeGier says attendees requested 50 New Testaments and 280 books explaining faith in Christ. The event also generated discussion about the connection between faith and science in classrooms across Tulane's campus. A few forum attendees also came to a follow-up event that was an adaption of the Alpha course, which is a practical introduction to Christianity.

"This is just the beginning of an amazing work of God at Tulane," DeGier says. "[It] is building credibility for the gospel, uniting God's people from many traditions and organizations for His glory, emboldening students and faculty who follow Christ with the reality of the message they have to share, and opening exciting new doors for witness."

Students filled with the Holy Spirit at Stanford University

Stanford University Chi Alpha students led the worship at the Northern California/Nevada District Retreat in January. Glen Davis, campus missionary, reports that “Ever since then, we’ve had students being filled with the Holy Spirit. One student’s story stands out to me. Peng, who came to Christ in our ministry as a freshmen, was worshiping at the retreat when he heard the Lord speak clearly to him, ‘You will be baptized in the Holy Spirit tonight.’ Peng prayed, ‘I am not sure what that means, God. Is that a metaphor for something?’ His puzzlement soon turned to joy as that very evening he was overwhelmed by the Spirit and began to speak in tongues.” Peng shared his testimony at the first service back on campus, and 3 more students asked for prayer and were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Later in the dorm room another student received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

As reported by Glen Davis in his Chi Alpha newsletter, Feb 09.

Behind the Scenes at The World Missions Summit 2

Dale Crall, pastor, Calvary Campus Church and Southern Illinois U XA led seven “Experience the Holy Spirit” sessions at TWMS2 and hundreds came. Sessions went over the 50 minutes planned, and students desiring the Holy Spirit spilled out into the hallways. 140 students were baptized in the Holy Spirit and another 10 students gave their lives to Christ during the sessions!

A 24-hour prayer room in the Millennium Hotel with banners and posters was the place to be to intercede on behalf of TWMS2. Worship leaders and prayer leaders from a dozen campuses nationwide each took 2-hour sets from 6:00 pm, December 30 to midnight, January 1. Derek Kistner, one of the organizers said, “What we did over the course of the Summit had an eternal impact and was integral in releasing the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the commissioning of many young adult saints into their callings as missionaries!”

Trends Among College Students

Networked--The cell phone is an appendage; occasionally used for calls, but it is constantly in use for texting, taking pictures, and accessing the internet.

Bringing their families to campus--Moms and dads hover over their student’s lives, leaving little room for them to make choices and take responsible action. The cell phone is an umbilical cord. 70% of all college students call home multiple times a week, with more than 1/3 saying they call home daily.

A Passion for Justice--Ministries leading hurricane relief teams were inundated with students-many of them not Christians. They want to stand up for the rights of HIV/AIDS victims and the victims of human trafficking. For many, they embrace Kingdom virtues, without knowing the King.

Today’s Student’s Relationship with Technology

97% own a computer

97% have downloaded music and other media using peer to peer file sharing

94% have a cell phone

76% use instant messaging and social networking sites

75% of college students have a Facebook account

60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod

49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to peer file sharing

34% use web sites as the primary source of news

28% author a blog and 44% read blogs

15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week

Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today’s Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa, 2007 (surveyed 7,705 college students)

More College Students Walking Away from Christianity

Allison Lynn grew up attending an Assemblies of God church with her family. But when she moved from home to go to Texas State University in San Marcos, she walked away from her faith.

“I wanted to experience college life and all that went with it,” Lynn says. “I knew in my heart I couldn’t do some of the things [other college students] were doing and still call myself a Christian. So I just decided I didn’t want anything to do with God.”

The binge drinking, drugs and relationships Lynn pursued didn’t bring her the freedom she craved. Instead, she spent much of her college career feeling as though something was missing.

At the urging of her younger sister, Lynn started attending Chi Alpha her junior year and eventually rededicated her life to Christ. Now a senior at TSU, Lynn hopes to become a youth pastor and help other young people avoid the mistakes she made.

“I see a lot of students doing the same things,” she says. “They have a void in their lives that they’re trying to fill with the wrong things. I drank alcohol until I threw up. What I really needed was God in my life.”

Lynn’s story is not unusual. An alarming number of college students are severing ties with the church. Some, such as Lynn, later return to the faith. Others walk away permanently.

More than two-thirds of Protestant young adults exit the church between the ages of 18 and 22, according to a recent report by LifeWay Research, a branch of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Among the chief reasons young adults gave for quitting church - one in four mentioned the transition to college, while 22 percent said they moved too far from church to keep attending and 27 percent said they just wanted a break. Another 23 percent named work responsibilities as the primary factor.

“The years immediately following high school graduation often determine the course of a person’s life as decisions are made about careers, lifestyles and spouses,” says George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. “It’s a tragic loss when a young person walks away from the body of believers during this crucial time. We must pray and do our best to not let that happen.”

Wood says approximately 60,000 AG youth are expected to graduate from high school next spring. National statistics indicate 50 to 70 percent will leave the faith within four years. Among those who attend evangelical colleges, however, the percentage is only about 5 percent.

“The temptations [on a secular campus] can be so strong during the college years,” says Dennis Gaylor, national director of Chi Alpha campus ministries. “It’s easy to fall away if you don’t connect with other Christians early.”

Gaylor says the relationships that first-year college students form during the initial weeks of school are often the ones that continue to influence them during their entire four-year stay. Those who are part of Chi Alpha try to make connections quickly, even offering to carry students’ luggage as soon as they arrive on campus.

But those efforts aren’t always enough to keep students involved in church life, according to Dick Herman, Lynn’s Chi Alpha pastor at TSU.

“There are students who check out our campus ministry once or twice and then we never see them again,” Herman says. “Ultimately, they’re pulled away by other things and other relationships.”

To address the challenge, Chi Alpha is partnering with a new organization designed to help students develop Christian relationships on campus long before the school year begins.

Youth Transition Network operates a comprehensive Web site, LiveAbove.com, that links students to campus ministries and local churches as well as potential Christian roommates and friends before they set foot on campus. Registered users can peruse the database and Web links by entering a zip code or the name of a city or university. The site includes information on more than 4,300 campuses, including community colleges.

“Our goal is to get them connected with people who can be godly influences on their lives - before they ever leave home,” says Jeff Schadt, a former Campus Crusade for Christ pastor and founder of YTN. “When they arrive on campus, they could be met on the curb by a friend so they’re not alone that first day.”

The organization operates a second Web site as well, YouthTransitionNetwork.org. This site is designed to help parents and ministry leaders equip students for the college transition.

YTN is a coalition of numerous campus and youth ministries, including Chi Alpha, Campus Crusade, The Navigators, Josh McDowell Ministry, Baptist Collegiate Ministry, National Network of Youth Ministries, and Youth for Christ.

Gaylor says the crisis of churches losing young people on America’s campuses has sparked the first time all the major players in university ministry have cooperated to address an overarching need.

“We’ve been very evangelistic when it comes to reaching the non-Christians on campus,” Gaylor says. “Now, with so many of our own falling away, we’re recognizing we have to be more deliberate about reaching the church kids.”

—Christina Quick, (originally appeared in Today’s Pentecostal Evangel)

Reach the U 2007 Tracks

Intern Prep Track (June 18–28, Depart June 29)

This is a 10-day interactive learning experience staffed by proven campus missionaries and top-level spiritual leaders. It is the essential beginning for a full-time vocational missionary getting ready to engage on today's secular university campus.

Church Staff Track (June 18–21, Depart June 22)

If you are on a church staff or have a heart to reach college students through a local church and you have limited time, this is your track. You will gain understanding of campus ministry, while developing specific training for your unique setting.

Student Leaders Track (June 21–24, Depart 25)

Learn to maximize your potential as a student leader! You will be instructed in everything from leading a small group, leading a Bible discussion, one-on-one discipleship, prayer, leading others in salvation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Be ready to be stretched! There will be a Student Leader Track B that will take you further than last year, too.

Group Growth Track (June 21—24, Depart June 25)

Perhaps you have been directing a Chi Alpha group for a bit, and would like to get some fresh insight for group growth. If so, this is your track. You will have the opportunity to hear from and interact with proven campus missionaries and glean from their experience. You will also have the opportunity to get a basic evaluation of your current program. Sign up early so you will have time for the pre-track assignments—this will be well worth your investment!

Pioneering Track (June 21–24, Depart June 25)

If you are in the midst of pioneering a new campus ministry, considering pioneering a new campus ministry or will be pioneering a campus ministry, these four days are a must. Through prayer, discuss and exercises you will discover the keys to unlock your campus, how to start health ministries and how to build a team. Be sure to sign up early and begin the 20 hours of pre-course work so we can hit the road running when you arrive.