For His Name Sake
My name is Jeff Beckett. I work for Campus Outreach along with many other staff at Western Michigan University as an official ministry of Christ Church for about 4 years now. Our ministry exists to glorify God by building laborers on the campus for the lost world (Matthew 9:33). The way we seek to accomplish this mission is to build relationships with some of the most influential places on campus, share the gospel broadly in these dark places, make disciples of those who respond to gospel by helping them establish a proper relationship with God, self, and others in the context of the local church, and equip students to do the same (evangelize and establish) with others in their immediate context as well as in their future context (work, family, neighborhood, etc.).
Over the course of the last few years, ministry has been hard and slow as we have tried to make inroads to these dark but influential places on campus. God, however, has been faithful to his promises though and now we have:
- A chapter wide fraternity evangelistic bible studies in the 4 biggest houses on campus (with potential for more)
- We have an assistant Champlain on the football team at Western (and chaplain at Calvin University) with over 30 athletes having made a profession of faith and evangelistic or discipleship bible studies in football, baseball, soccer, and volleyball.
- We have independent students who are organizing their schedules and prioritizing their lives in such a way to befriend other students and share the gospel personally with them.
O the wondrous works of God!!
Psalm 145:4-7 captures this work in so many ways, "One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.” Would you please pray that we would continue to declare the Lord’s greatness and not be tempted to declare our own? Would you pray that many athletes, greeks, and independent students would be so captivated the Lord and his goodness that they would orient their whole lives around him and commend his works to another generation?
Specifically, would you pray that over the next year we would see:
- A wave of students in the fraternity and sorority systems be brought from darkness to light (15-20)
- Athletes would grow to walk in this new found light (30-40) and as a result show forth the beauty of the gospel to their teammates.
- Our independent students leading other students to Christ without a staff involvement (that we would literally hear stories of people coming to Christ through the people we are discipling on campus!)
Truly, God’s goodness is worth meditating on, singing about, and speaking to others about!!