The Rocky Road of Relationships

There are small groups scattered throughout the lounge, each engaged in various forms of discussion, prayer, and worship. After finishing a prayer with my own group, I glance at my watch. 10:30 pm. We "ended" the official discussion over an hour ago, and still students linger to engage in conversation with us about their struggles. Despite being overcome with pregnancy-related tiredness, I am overwhelmed with joy. These are some of the best moments in campus ministry -- the unexpected, unplanned conversations that usually extend into later hours of the night. On this particular night, we (the leaders) have come alongside the students to wrestle with self-image.

Partnering with Eastern's Office of Faith and Practice, Michael (a fellow CCO staffer), Elliott, and I have developed a series of discussion nights oriented around relationships. The first night, in February, we discussed the value of singleness in the Kingdom of God. Since the Eastern student population is somewhat relationship-obsessed, and since the students often live within this "ring-by-spring" culture day-in and day-out, we wanted to bring in a different conversation. We invited three speakers to talk about what it has been like to be single and pursuing the Lord. The feedback was great from the students. One girl in particular came up to me and thanked us. "My friends have been telling me I'm crazy to be single right now," she confesses. "The pressure has been hard, but I really want to focus on the Lord at this time in my life without the distraction of a relationship. It's good to hear that I'm NOT crazy!"

In mid-March, our next discussion night was on self-image and basing our value on being made in the image of God. Four speakers came on this night, sharing their testimonies of self-image battles as well as deliverance from the Lord. After some discussion in the larger group, we broke up into small groups and each speaker (as well as myself) led a small group discussion, as well as some much needed prayer.

About 30 students have shown up to each event, which is honestly an incredible turn out on a small college campus. We have seen the Lord's hand every step of the way and are thankful that He can use us in this way to bring hope and expose truth to these students.

Tonight is our third discussion night, where we will be talking about appropriate boundaries -- both in relationships and friendships. Two weeks from tonight, our last discussion night will focus on how social networking and the internet are affecting our relationships with one another, and how a Christian ought to respond or interact with such technology.

Please pray:

1) That the Lord will continue to draw students to these discussion nights. I pray each week that if someone is debating whether or not to come, that the Lord will tug on their hearts enough to have them finally come out. The last time, one student confessed that she really didn't want to come. "But I kept staring at the flier on my desk and I knew God was urging me to come. I'm so glad I did," she told me.

2) That each night will go smoothly, and the Lord will work through us--that our words would be His words, and that His truth would be revealed to these students. Pray that we would be mere vessels for His ministry.

3) For next year -- that we can continue to work alongside the student chaplains and RAs to prepare for these discussion nights, and that God would use us effectively.

Thank you!

-Rachel

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