Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY190029A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:23 Lord, let my words 00:29 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:45 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 - Hello and welcome to another 3ABN Today 01:12 program! I'm Jason Bradley, and I'm excited about the 01:15 discussion we are going to have today about CAMPUS 01:19 Ministry. And here with me to discuss this very 01:22 important topic is Pastor Jermaine Gayle! He is the 01:27 assistant director with CAMPUS Ministries. We 01:30 have Julianna Dunn. She's a CAMPUS missionary; 01:34 and we have Miranda Lentz, who is a CAMPUS missionary, 01:38 as well. It's great to have you guys here. 01:40 - Thank you for having me. - Oh, man-I can't wait to 01:42 jump into this discussion about CAMPUS Ministry, 01:44 because it seems like a very challenging task to 01:49 reach individuals that are on campuses when 01:52 we're living in such a secular society. But 01:56 before we jump into the meat of the interview, 01:59 we're going to be blessed in song by Naomi Jackson, 02:03 who will be singing "Then They Will Know." 02:21 I will speak 02:25 I will wait 02:29 I will send prophets among them 02:35 That they might hear 02:39 That they might see 02:42 And understand how much I love them 02:49 Then they will know that I am Father 02:56 Then they will know I am Lord 03:02 They'll walk with Me 03:06 And be My people 03:09 I'll walk with them as their God 03:15 As their God 03:23 I will strike 03:26 I will scourge 03:29 And carry out vengeance upon them 03:36 But I will heal the wounds I make 03:42 And tenderly take them back to me 03:49 Then they will know that I am Father 03:56 Then they will know I am Lord 04:03 They'll walk with Me 04:06 And be My people 04:09 I'll walk with them as their God 04:16 This is heaven 04:19 This is salvation 04:23 This is their great hope and Mine 04:44 He will come 04:48 My own Son 04:52 A Word faithful hearts can't help hearing 04:58 And by His death 05:02 With His last breath 05:05 A Father's forgiveness comes flowing 05:12 Then they will know 05:15 That I am Savior 05:19 I am Redeemer and Friend 05:25 Immanuel 05:28 The God who is with them 05:32 The God who gives all He can 05:38 He is salvation 05:42 He is the kingdom 05:45 To know Him is paradise 05:52 Then they will know that I am Father 05:59 They will know I am Lord 06:05 I am Lord 06:24 - Thank you for that beautiful song, Naomi. 06:27 Now, okay-we gotta jump into the meat of this. Tell 06:30 me a little bit about your background. - Thank you 06:34 for asking that question, Jason. I originally grew 06:39 up in Jamaica; that's where I'm from. I lived there, I 06:42 spent most of my life there...I think I left 06:44 Jamaica when I was about 18 and came to the US; 06:47 lived with my mom in Philadelphia and then 06:49 went to Virginia to study, and then from there to 06:54 Michigan (where I am now). I'm there living now, and... 06:57 - Okay! - But yeah. For now, I'll go with that, and I'll 07:01 share a little bit more later. [laughter] - Okay, 07:03 sounds good. And what about you? - Well, I was 07:06 born in Tennessee, and then I moved into Ohio 07:08 for a few years, and now I'm in Michigan. I grew 07:12 up in an Adventist family, and I've still been in the 07:16 church since then. - Nice! So you've always been 07:18 Adventist? - Yes. - Okay. You were raised in the 07:20 church, stayed in the church... That's a powerful 07:22 testimony in and of itself. A lot of times, people think 07:25 that, "Oh, yeah, I have to leave and do this, 07:28 that, and a third to have a powerful testimony," but 07:30 no. You have a very powerful testimony in the fact that 07:32 you stood firm and you stayed in the faith, and 07:35 that's awesome. Tell me about YOUR background. 07:38 - Well, I was raised in a small town in Northern 07:41 Michigan-Oscoda, Michigan- and while I was growing up, 07:45 we went to church together till I was in early middle 07:49 school...around 3rd grade. I guess elementary school. 07:52 And at that time, my family stopped going to 07:55 church because of a falling out with our pastor. - Mhm. 07:58 - But my grandma, she still wanted me and my 08:00 twin brother to go to church. She's a faithful 08:03 grandma, so she took us with her to a Baptist church 08:06 for a while. When I was a little bit older in high 08:10 school, I kind of... I started going to a youth 08:12 group, but then I drifted away from church... 08:13 But when I decided to go to Michigan State University 08:16 after my senior year of high school, that's when 08:18 I met the Public Campus Ministries group, which 08:21 I can talk about later... But that's when I found 08:23 God. - Wow. Awesome. Now Jermaine, tell me a little bit 08:28 about CAMPUS. Tell me about the history of 08:31 CAMPUS. - So, CAMPUS is an acronym. It's called 08:34 the Center for Adventist Ministry to Public University 08:37 Students. We're blessed to be in Michigan. The 08:40 Michigan Conference in 1998 became the first conference 08:44 in the North American Division to have a department that 08:47 was solely dedicated to doing ministry on the public secular 08:52 university campus. And in 1999, the center was 08:56 born, and the Center for Adventist Ministry to Public 08:59 University Students is where we do several things, but 09:03 more primarily we do ministry on the public 09:06 university campus. At the center, we have a house 09:09 that is dedicated towards meeting the needs of not 09:14 only students but also our missionaries, and 09:16 we have programs that we do there, as well. So 09:19 throughout the years, since 1999 to now, CAMPUS has 09:23 been a huge benefit- not only to the church 09:27 but also to the public university. We started 09:30 first in Ann Arbor by University of Michigan, 09:33 which has over 40,000 students. - 40 thousand 09:36 students! - Over 40,000 students. - Wow! - And 09:39 then we moved from Ann Arbor to East Lancing, 09:42 Michigan, which is where we are now, and Michigan 09:44 State has over 50,000 students. - Wow! - The 09:49 center is about a block away from Michigan State 09:52 University. We're very blessed, because we're 09:54 not only surrounded by a great, vast mission 09:57 field, but we also have a local church there: 10:00 the University church, which is where I serve 10:03 as one of the pastors. So we have the University 10:06 church, we have the CAMPUS house, which is the center, 10:09 and then we have the University which is our 10:12 mission field. So, a lot of work that needs to 10:14 be done. - Yes! Sounds like a huge task, a huge 10:18 undertaking. - It is. - How did you join CAMPUS? 10:22 - You know, it's interesting for me, 'cause I feel... 10:26 A part of my experience has been- the Lord has 10:28 led me on a journey. And something that I didn't 10:31 share at the beginning was I didn't grow up in the 10:35 church. When I was in Jamaica, I was very... 10:38 I was somewhat antagonistic towards God-very rebellious 10:41 against Him because I felt like growing up in 10:44 my home, I felt God didn't really care about me 10:47 because of some situation that had taken place in 10:49 my house. My dad left when I was about 11, 10:52 and I haven't seen him since that time-so it's 10:55 been 19 years since I've seen my father. And this 10:59 fall, in the fall, I'll be able to see him. 11:02 - Yeah. - But nonetheless, from that experience, I 11:06 literally just turned my back on the idea of God, 11:09 I became more atheistic in my mindset, and just 11:13 whatever I could to get away from the idea of 11:15 God was what I did. I remember the first time 11:21 I actually prayed and asked God, and my prayer was 11:23 very simple. I said, "God, if You exist, show me. 11:26 And if You care, show me, as well," and He 11:29 answered that prayer by leading me to working 11:32 at a pharmacy where every single person was a Seventh-day 11:34 Adventist. - You have got to be kidding me. 11:37 - Nope! - Every single person? - Every single 11:39 person was a Seventh-day Adventist-from the manager 11:41 to the supervisor going all the way down, and 11:44 I remember walking into this pharmacy where you 11:47 had Bible verses on every wall...and that's where 11:50 I received my first Bible. It's crazy to think, 11:53 because I received that Bible for my birthday, 11:56 so it was a birthday gift on January 8th...and at 11:59 first, I thought it was an insult. You know?-someone 12:01 who didn't believe in God but received the Bible as 12:04 a birthday gift. - Uh-huh. - That Bible became the 12:06 place that I went for answers to my many 12:09 questions that I had for God, and so I began reading 12:11 it. I remember spending all night reading, and that's 12:15 how I came into the church. - That is awesome. - So the 12:18 Lord has led me on that journey; and since that 12:22 time, I remember committing myself and saying, "Lord, 12:24 wherever you want to take me, I'll go." And that was 12:27 the beginning of that journey. And so when I 12:29 left Jamaica to come to the United States, I was 12:34 living with my mom, and then I felt the Lord was 12:36 calling me to the ministry, and ministry full-time. 12:39 Of course, I wasn't very willing at the time, but 12:42 nonetheless I surrendered, and the Lord led me to 12:45 pastoral ministry. I came to campus, and I remember 12:52 the first time I arrived, it was actually an interesting 12:55 experience, because I got a phone call. And 12:58 on the phone call, someone was telling me that there 13:00 was an opportunity to work and to be a part 13:03 of CAMPUS Ministries in Michigan. Never heard 13:05 of it at that time... Before that time, I 13:07 should say. And when I finally came... When I 13:13 got the call, actually, I was told that I had 13:15 one week to get a car, to drive to Michigan, 13:19 and I had no money at all. And so I knelt and 13:22 prayed, and in about two hours, I was able to raise 13:25 $4,000, was able to buy a car. - In t... Whoa, whoa, 13:28 whoa, hold on... [laughter] Hold on. In two hours, you 13:32 raised $4,000? - $4,000. The Lord provided, and 13:35 I was able to buy a car, and I drove to Michigan. 13:40 It's interesting, because Jason, there was a time 13:42 where I actually prayed and I said, "Lord, I would 13:44 never go to work where it's cold, or too cold." 13:48 - Uh-huh. - And the Lord sent me to Michigan. 13:49 - Oh, it's definitely cold in Michigan. [laughter] 13:52 - And January of 2015, I was sent to the Upper 13:55 Peninsula of Michigan, which is even colder. 13:58 - Like, Camp Au Sable area, or...? - No, actually, 14:00 beyond that! This was in Houghton, so close 14:03 to Michigan Tech. That year was a bitter... It 14:07 was a really tough year; but nonetheless, I enjoyed 14:10 it. Just imagine a Jamaican skiing and doing those kinds 14:14 of winter sports. - Yeah, yeah, yeah! - But it was 14:17 an amazing experience, and since then the Lord 14:19 has been blessing us tremendously. - Praise 14:21 the Lord. What about you, Julianna? How did you come 14:25 to CAMPUS? - Like I said, I grew up in the Adventist 14:29 church, went to Adventist schools, went to an Adventist 14:32 high school... After high school, I was planning 14:35 to go to a public university. I was working at a summer 14:39 camp the summer after I graduated, and that's 14:41 how I found out about CAMPUS. The director 14:43 was there, also, at the summer camp, and so 14:45 that kind of put into my head, "Maybe I should 14:47 get some training about how I can reach out to 14:49 people because I'm planning to go to a public university," 14:52 so that's how I ended up at CAMPUS. I took the 14:54 year off after high school and became a missionary. 14:56 - Wow. What about you, Miranda? - Well... [giggles] 15:00 When I started off on my freshman year at Michigan 15:05 State University, that's when-like I said earlier- 15:09 I met the CAMPUS group. I was surrounded in a 15:12 lot of different influences when I first got there. 15:13 I was a freshman who was 17 years old, living on a 15:17 transfer floor of a bunch of 21, 22-year-olds who 15:21 loved to drink and smoke and do all those things. 15:24 And when I first got there, I was heavily 15:26 surrounded with those influences. They were 15:28 my friends, so they pressured me to do different things 15:30 that I didn't really want to do... So after 15:33 a little while, I decided to break off from those 15:35 friends, because I knew I wanted something better 15:37 for my life. And at that time, I didn't really know 15:42 who God was. Growing up, I had different... 15:44 I didn't have an understanding of who He was; I viewed 15:47 Him as Someone who didn't truly care about 15:50 me, based off-kind of like Pastor Jermaine was saying- 15:52 based off of different situations, I thought that 15:56 God was distant; He didn't care about my family 15:58 because of what we were going through, and so 16:00 when I got to college and I was going through a 16:03 difficult situation, I decided that I wanted 16:06 to give God a chance and I wanted to pray. And I 16:09 did pray, and I asked Him for at least one 16:12 good Christian friend, because I had a lot of 16:14 friends that weren't really good influences, so... 16:17 I was praying for one good Christian friend. 16:20 And so one day, I was walking on campus back 16:24 to my dorm, and Michigan State's campus is pretty 16:26 big. It takes about 30 minutes to walk across 16:29 the whole campus. - Oh, wow. - And I went to 16:33 a cafe on the other side of campus that I'd never 16:37 been to, so I had to use my GPS to get there. 16:41 But on the way back, I decided that I wanted to 16:43 just... - You had to- whoa, you had to use your GPS 16:45 to get to the cafeteria on the other side of 16:48 campus? [laughter] - Yeah. I didn't have to use the GPS 16:53 for the closer cafeterias, but that was really far, 16:56 so... On the way back, though, I decided that I 16:59 wanted to turn it off and just figure out my way 17:01 back to my dorm room. And so I was walking 17:05 around campus, and I actually found a quicker 17:06 way to get there-that the GPS had taken me the longer 17:09 way but I found a quicker way. And so as I was 17:11 walking down the different sidewalks... It was almost 17:14 like, looking back now, it was like God was leading 17:16 me to a tent. So, there was a tent set up on 17:20 campus, and it was actually an event that CAMPUS 17:23 Ministries was putting on called, "Creative 17:25 Tour." And when I got there, I just saw like, 17:30 free massages, there was free food, live music, 17:33 messages from a pastor, and... I kind of wasn't 17:37 interested in any of that stuff, but I kept walking; 17:40 and as I kept walking, I saw a big prayer wall 17:42 on the other side of the sidewalk. And I was like, 17:45 "Oh, you know, this is a Christian group," 17:46 and I realized that I had a prayer request that I 17:49 wanted people to be praying for, so I walked up to the 17:52 prayer wall and I started writing my prayer requests 17:54 to find one good Christian friend. And it's crazy, 17:57 because while I was doing that, God literally answered 18:00 my prayer; and Julianna, she actually walked up 18:02 to me and started a conversation, and we 18:05 started talking. I was a little intimidated at first, 18:08 because I was a little freshman, and I didn't 18:11 know how old Julianna was. We found out after we 18:13 started talking that we were almost the same 18:15 age, but I thought she was, like, way older than 18:17 me, and I was super nervous to talk to her! Because back 18:20 then, I was a lot more introverted than I am 18:22 now. Praise the Lord He's made me a little bit more 18:25 extroverted, but...[giggles] I was really introverted. 18:27 And so, we started talking, and she invited me inside 18:30 the tent just to listen to the music and the messages. 18:33 And so, we sat down, and we talked a little bit before 18:36 it started. And then afterwards, she handed me a card that had 18:39 different small group Bible studies on it. At the time, 18:42 they were doing four small groups-one every day, 18:45 Monday to Thursday. And so, she was explaining to 18:48 me the different topics, and she told me about 18:50 Monday night which was my most free night, and 18:52 she told me it was called Pillars of the Bible. It 18:54 sounded really interesting to me, and she was going 18:56 to be there, so I decided to go. I remember that 19:01 first Bible study I went to. We studied Daniel 19:04 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and I had never heard anything 19:09 about Bible prophecy, growing up, and I especially hadn't 19:13 seen how closely history is related to the Bible. 19:15 So while we were going through the texts, it 19:17 completely blew my mind- and Pastor Jermaine was 19:19 actually the small group leader. And so, we were 19:25 going through them-every single verse and question 19:28 that... It was the It Is Written Bible study packet. 19:31 Every little question we were going through, I 19:32 was like, "Whoa, this is so crazy how related 19:36 history is to the Bible." And so, I ended up going; 19:40 I kept going after that, because I was so interested, 19:44 and I had that thirst to learn more about the 19:46 Bible after that. And so, I kept studying with them, 19:50 and everyone was so different from anyone 19:52 I'd met-any young people I'd ever met. I could tell 19:55 that they were so set apart from God and that 19:58 they wanted to truly serve Him. And after 20:01 I got to know them a little bit better, they 20:02 told me that they took a whole year off to serve 20:04 God-off of school and off of work-and when 20:07 they told me that, I realized that if they 20:10 love God that much, then there's something about 20:12 Him I was missing; so I really wanted to learn 20:14 who He was and learn why these young people 20:17 wanted to serve Him and didn't do what other young 20:20 people were doing. So, I kept studying with them, 20:23 and we became really good friends. They're my family. 20:26 [giggles] And so after the semester, I 20:31 decided to be baptized. - Praise the Lord. - Yeah. 20:34 And so after that, I was involved with our center 20:37 group at Michigan State. I was praying about what 20:41 I should do to the next year, 'cause I was planning 20:43 on going back to school... but I had a thought: what 20:46 about doing CAMPUS? What about reaching out to students 20:49 like I was reached out to? So I started praying about 20:52 it...and it was kind of a hard decision for me, 20:54 because I'm a first-generation college student, and I didn't 20:59 know how my parents would react to me taking a year 21:01 off. They kind of reacted negatively towards 21:03 me becoming an Adventist, so I was scared to even 21:06 think about that! But also, I just... I was kind 21:11 of scared to take time off of school, because 21:13 I didn't know what would happen after I took the 21:16 year off. But I really prayed about it, and I 21:18 really thought about it, because I knew if I could 21:21 just impact one person like I was impacted that 21:23 year, then it was all worth it. So, I decided 21:26 to become a CAMPUS missionary. - That's awesome. You know, 21:30 it's very interesting that, I mean, you said a prayer, 21:32 and your prayer was answered almost instantly. You were 21:35 surrounded by, you know, a circle of bad influences 21:38 at first; and then here comes Julianna, introduces 21:43 you to this program, and also studies with you. 21:48 You studied Daniel chapter 2, and Pastor was leading 21:52 out on the studies. And then, you saw something 21:57 in them that they had that love for God that was just 22:01 contagious; and you realized that there was something 22:04 that you were missing about the God that they serve. 22:08 And then, you started serving God, too! [laughter] 22:12 - Amen. - And you found out what it was that you were 22:14 missing. And as a result of that, too, and the Holy 22:19 Spirit working on you, you wanted to share 22:21 that with somebody else. That is beautiful. That's 22:25 a powerful testimony. Pastor, why don't you 22:28 tell us about some of the program details, 22:31 like what programs do you offer, and what are 22:34 the details of those? - Definitely. So, there 22:38 are several programs that we do at CAMPUS; and 22:40 Miranda just mentioned she took a year off to 22:42 become a missionary. That program, we call 22:45 the internship program; so we invite students 22:48 that are studying on public university campuses, 22:52 or a student that is in between high school 22:55 and college to take a year off to get back 22:57 to God, to give some time to the Lord, to do 23:00 missionary work-and that's the internship program. 23:03 We also have three other programs that we do. 23:05 And my year, I did the residency program-the 23:08 CAMPUS residency program- and that one is designed 23:11 for pastoral/evangelism major students who are 23:15 young people who feel like they're called to the ministry 23:18 and they want to test that call and see how 23:20 they would line up with it. So, that's a wonderful 23:23 program, 'cause you get to work with the local 23:25 church, you get to work in fields of ministry... But 23:28 with the more specifically- aligned towards doing 23:32 ministry on the public university campus. 23:34 And then we have the scholarship program, 23:36 which Miranda has done that program this year; 23:39 so she not only became an intern, a missionary, 23:42 but then she continued on being a scholar. 23:45 The scholarship program is designed for students 23:47 who are still in school but want to do ministry 23:50 while they're at school- so it's not just getting 23:53 an education which is... For CAMPUS, for us at 23:57 CAMPUS, it's very important for our students to excel 23:59 in the academics, in the areas of academics; 24:04 but also, we want them to excel spiritually. - Yes. 24:07 - And I believe, personally, that it's spiritual suicide 24:10 to not do ministry on a public university campus, 24:12 or to not do ministry at all. - Unpack that 24:15 a little bit. - It- I... You know, the thing 24:18 that you learn when you're doing ministry, for example, 24:20 is that you learn how much you don't know. 24:23 - Yes, yes. - That for some reason, when you're 24:27 ministering to someone else, you begin to learn 24:29 how much God wants to teach you-and there are 24:32 some things that God teaches you only when 24:34 you're actually doing ministry with someone 24:36 else. For example, recently... I'll just- this one story: 24:41 recently, I got up one morning, and I was about 24:45 to leave home for work, 'cause I do work at the 24:48 center. I go to the CAMPUS house. I was leaving my 24:51 house. I got up that morning, and I prayed; 24:53 I said, "Lord, if there is someone that you 24:55 would like me to reach today, please give me 24:57 that opportunity." I walked out of my apartment 25:00 building, came downstairs, and opened my car door; 25:05 turned the key, and my car wouldn't start. My 25:08 car was dead. It was a problem with my car battery... 25:12 and I prayed. I said, "Lord, I can't- I need 25:14 to be at work on time," and there's another young 25:17 man coming out. It was so embarrassing, 'cause 25:19 I was walking out with my cereal in my hand, and... 25:21 [laughter] I was eating breakfast on my way 25:25 out, and this young man was coming out. I said, 25:28 "Hey, my car doesn't start. Can you help me?" Turns 25:31 out he is a professor at the same university at 25:34 Michigan State. And so, we had an exchange. 25:38 He pulled his car up, helped me out, and gave 25:42 me a jump-start. And that very person, we did lunch 25:45 later that week, and we're now doing Bible studies 25:49 together. - Wow. - So, it's interesting. - Wow, 25:52 yeah. - And it's one of those things where, 25:55 to me, when you're doing ministry, your relationship 25:57 with God is revived. It's just on fire. I mean, there's 26:00 so much that you learn. God teaches you a lot. 26:03 And Ellen White, she made a statement once that I 26:07 read once; and she says, "Those who begin with 26:10 the little they know, those who share the little they 26:13 know"-just paraphrasing- "will find the storehouse 26:17 of heaven open to their searching." You know, 26:21 along those lines. So, it's like when you start 26:24 out with just a little that you know to reach 26:26 out to someone else who is in need, you begin to 26:28 see that heaven opens up to you. - Mhm. - So, 26:31 that's what I mean by, "It's spiritual suicide to 26:34 not do ministry." [laughter] - Gotcha, Gotcha. And 26:37 the beautiful thing is, too, is they start asking 26:38 questions, and you might not have the answers 26:41 for those questions, so you have to go find 26:43 the answers for the questions and then come back to them, 26:45 and that's one more thing that you learn. - And it 26:47 revives your spiritual life. - Absolutely. - One 26:50 thing that we believe at CAMPUS is we are a 26:53 Bible-based revival movement in which every single student 26:56 is a missionary, so we inspire them to be 26:59 missionaries. And we are missionaries ourselves! 27:02 I cannot say, "You are a missionary," if I'm not 27:05 myself a missionary, doing the ministry that God has 27:09 called me to do. And so, going back to the programs: 27:12 we do have the internship, we have the scholarship 27:15 and the residency, and then the last one, we 27:17 have the fellowship program, which is young people who 27:20 decide to serve further. They become volunteers, 27:23 and they work with the organization, and try 27:26 to do ministry even more, so... - That's awesome. 27:28 Now, you also have retreats and events, correct? - We 27:31 do. - What are some- what do these 27:33 retreats look like, and what do some of the 27:34 events look like? - You know, I think Julianna 27:37 and Miranda can attest to this, but the college life 27:41 can be very stressful. I mean, it's just intense. 27:44 You go throughout the entire year; you're doing 27:46 your classes and exams, you know. It's a very 27:50 stressful environment, and the influences, not 27:53 to mention... The CAMPUS house is surrounded by- 27:56 what are they called?- fraternities and sororities, 28:01 and we have this big blue house on the block, you 28:04 know? So really, everyone knows the CAMPUS house. 28:08 But nonetheless... So, we try to do retreats 28:11 throughout the year. In every fall, for example, 28:17 we have our high school and college retreat up at 28:19 Camp Au Sable. We invite our students to come away 28:22 for a little bit, and we spend some time together 28:24 studying the Bible, fellowshipping together. 28:27 And then in the winter, we have our CAMPUS 28:30 winter retreat, which is more geared towards our... 28:33 - I hope you go to Florida for that. [laughter] 28:40 - Yeah. Unfortunately, we don't go to Florida 28:42 for that...but Michigan is just as good [laughter] 28:45 in the winter. So, we go back up again to Camp 28:49 Au Sable; and what's amazing about our retreat... Something 28:53 that I didn't mention is that at CAMPUS, we teach something 28:55 that we call Cross-platform Ministry-and what that 28:59 means is we don't hide anything about what we 29:02 do and about who we are. We are very upfront: we are Seventh-day 29:05 Adventists, we believe in the seventh-day Sabbath, 29:07 we believe the Bible and all that it teaches... And so 29:11 whenever we have our retreat- in fact, if I 29:13 recall, most of our retreats have been either between 29:17 40% and 50% non-Adventist. - Really! - Yup. - Oh, that's 29:22 beautiful. - So people come up to our retreats, 29:25 and they get to taste Vegi-Links for the first 29:27 time. [laughs] - Wow. Wow. - It's always an 29:31 interesting experience to see the responses, you know? 29:33 But when it's really, really good food, and 29:36 it's... "I'm so happy you didn't tell me this 29:38 was vegan before!" [laughs] And they really enjoy it. 29:42 We invite them into that space, into that experience, 29:47 because we want them to know we are authentic 29:50 Christians; we don't hide anything from people. This 29:53 is who we are. You know? Being a Seventh-day Adventist 29:55 is not something that we do; it's who we are. - Yes. 29:58 - Being a missionary is not something that we do; 30:00 it's who we are. And so when they begin to see 30:03 that from us, they ask questions, like Miranda 30:07 and like others-that they say, "There's something 30:10 different about this person." And so, that's a few of the 30:13 things that we do. We also have our Collegiate Sabbath 30:17 that happens at our public universities around the 30:20 state of Michigan. And we have also throughout 30:25 the week, we have our small groups that go on. And then 30:28 on the weekends, we have some special Sabbaths 30:31 where we invite our students into our church, and we go 30:34 from there. - And you also have Bible boot camps, too, 30:36 right? - Yeah. Jason, thank you so much for 30:38 asking about Bible Boot Camp. So, Bible Boot Camp is our 30:41 one-week intensive training that we use to begin the 30:45 program, and our students get to interact with the 30:49 Word of God. So, there are two goals that we 30:51 have during Bible Boot Camp: how to study the 30:54 Bible, then also how to teach the Bible to others. 30:57 So, that two-fold mission during that week-so it's 31:00 a very intense one-week training. So, we talk about 31:02 how to do Bible studies and how to study the Bible 31:06 on your own, and things like that. So, it's a really 31:09 good week. We get to have different presenters 31:12 that talk about different topics regarding ministry, 31:16 so... - Nice. Yeah, that sounds crucial; so, it's 31:18 not just... You're teaching them how to rely on the 31:22 Word of God and how to study the Word of God. 31:24 - 'Cause, again, we're a Bible-based revival 31:26 movement, so the Bible has to be at the center 31:29 of everything we do, so... - Absolutely... Absolutely. 31:31 Well, how do you recommend going about-and this is for 31:34 anyone who wants to answer this question-how do you go, 31:37 or how would you recommend going about starting somebody 31:41 on a Bible study? Like, let's say somebody at 31:44 home wants to give their friend or their neighbor 31:47 a Bible study, and they don't even know how to 31:50 approach the subject. How would you go about 31:53 that? - Well, that is a good place to start, too-finding 31:56 people that you know and have a connection with. 31:59 You could try having a spiritual conversation 32:01 with them, finding out where they are, and then leading 32:04 in that way. A good study to start with is trying to 32:09 put their faith in the Word of God. So, a study that 32:13 we use to start with is the Daniel 2 study to 32:15 establish that God's Word has predicted things and 32:19 it has come true, so we can put our faith into 32:20 that. - Ah, gotcha. - So essentially, the Bible 32:24 can be trusted. - Mhm. - And I guess one of the 32:28 challenges that people may have, 'cause I know 32:30 I've had this challenge, Jason, where it's like you're 32:33 sitting down, you have your Bible, there's a 32:35 friend of yours, and you want to get to the point 32:36 where you want that person to also have an interest in 32:39 the Word of God. And it's hard, but the best recommendation 32:45 that I've received is, "Just ask." You know? - Yeah. 32:48 - In the sense that you never know what will happen-what 32:51 the Holy Spirit will do with those words if 32:52 you were to say, "Hey! You know, it will be cool 32:55 if we study the Bible together; what do you 32:57 think?" - Yeah. - You know? "Would you be interested in 32:59 us spending some time, reading the Bible together?" 33:02 And it's interesting, because the gentleman 33:05 that I talked about before, now-the guy who jump-started 33:09 my car-it was really... I was talking with him, 33:13 I shared my testimony (which is also a good 33:15 recommendation; share your testimony, too), and 33:18 I shared my story with him. And then afterward, 33:19 I told him, "I read the Bible as an observer. 33:22 I read to learn." He is a science professor, and 33:26 he is an atheist. - Wow, yeah. - And we're having 33:28 that conversation, and I said, "Hey, would you like 33:30 to observe the Bible with me?" And that was a good 33:34 segue into him studying the Bible with me, so there's 33:37 that transition there that you could use. - So you 33:39 used the buzzword-basically, a scientific buzzword- 33:42 "observation"; "observe the Bible with me." And 33:46 so you were able to transition into that, so he started 33:49 studying with you? - Yeah! We started having spiritual 33:52 conversations. And then after a while... In fact, 33:54 it's interesting, because I bought him a Bible as 33:56 a gift. I gave the Bible to him, and he started... 33:59 because, of course, he doesn't really believe 34:02 in God, so I gave him the Bible, and I told him- 34:05 he asked me, "What's the best place to start 34:06 for someone who doesn't believe?" And I said, "The 34:09 best place to start, for me, would be the book 34:11 of John, because John discloses Jesus Christ 34:14 in a very powerful way." He discloses Jesus Christ 34:17 as more than just a man, but divine. And so, he 34:21 started reading the book of John, and we had a 34:23 meeting. We got back, we were walking together 34:26 when we were talking, and he said to me, "Man, 34:28 the book of John is so powerful. There are so 34:32 many things that I'm learning there." And he's 34:34 like, "Why does John keep repeating the theme, 34:36 'everlasting life'? What does that mean?" And 34:39 so, we were able to get into unpacking what it 34:41 means to have eternal life. He thought it was 34:44 a spiritual? little thing; but nonetheless, 34:47 we were able to get back to the Bible, and I told 34:50 him to keep searching. So, he is still studying 34:52 the Bible! - That is awesome. And he was an atheist. 34:55 - He was an atheist. - Wow. That's amazing. - His 34:58 life is slowly changing. I don't know where he 35:01 is at on the spectrum as far as from atheism 35:04 going to believing. He still says, "I don't know 35:09 how to describe myself at this point," so I won't 35:11 give him a description; but he's learning, so... 35:14 - Yes, yes. And as he continues to study the 35:17 Word of God, he'll just continue to uncover 35:20 truth. - Correct. - Now, you guys are big, clearly, 35:24 on campuses-college campuses-so that means 35:29 you deal with a lot of young people. Now, has 35:33 anybody been to GYC? - Yeah. - Yeah, GYC is 35:37 a youth conference that happens in December, at 35:40 the end of the year. And generally, CAMPUS will take 35:43 a caravan down there. We'll bring students that 35:45 we've been having studies with, and the missionaries 35:48 will go together, and we'll spend time. It's a long 35:50 drive usually, so you have a lot of time together 35:52 in the car; lots of opportunities for 35:55 conversations and getting to know each other on a 35:57 deeper level, and a lot of people give their lives 36:00 to Jesus there at GYC. They make decisions for 36:02 Him, so that's a big blessing for us and 36:06 for them. - I usually go to GYC like, almost 36:09 every year, and it's such an awesome, awesome 36:13 conference, because people ask, "Well, where are the 36:15 young people in the church?" Well if you go to GYC... 36:18 - You will see. - Yeah. You'll see all these 36:20 young people that are on fire for Christ. And wherever 36:25 GYC goes, it's like the city's never left the same 36:27 'cause the outreach, which is, again, why what you 36:32 guys do is so important and so crucial: going on 36:35 these public campuses and trying to reach these students- 36:40 students that may be atheist just like the 36:42 professor-you know. What challenges have you guys 36:46 faced in trying to reach out to students on campus? 36:52 - Well, I know a big challenge for me is 36:53 I'm an introvert, so it's hard when you have all 36:56 these people-50,000 students- and you're going out and trying 36:59 to reach people. It's kind of like, "Ahh! How do I 37:02 do this?" So, it can be intimidating; but one thing 37:05 that I learned through my CAMPUS year and as 37:08 I've been growing as a Christian is that when Jesus 37:11 is in your heart, you do things that you wouldn't 37:14 normally do-and that's crazy to me, because I 37:18 never would've seen myself going out and giving Bible 37:20 studies or speaking upfront, sharing my testimony and 37:22 things like that. But Jesus changes the way that you 37:25 look at people, and you want to help them. And so, 37:28 that was just a way that I overcame the challenge 37:31 of being introverted and being shy. - And you're 37:34 doing a television interview! [laughter] I mean... - That 37:37 is true. - And you're doing a television interview, 37:40 so...yeah. That's proof right there. - Something 37:43 that I also thought about while Julianna was talking 37:46 was the challenge of failure. You know, when you do 37:49 ministry, there are times where you feel like, "Is 37:52 this going to be successful? Is this going to actually work?" 37:55 I remember the first Bible study that I ever did, we 37:58 got to the Sabbath, the conversation surrounding 38:01 it, and that was my last study with that person. 38:03 They literally just closed the door on me, and it 38:05 was a really tough spot for them. I mean, it's 38:09 attesting truth. And so, the challenge of failure 38:12 is a real challenge. One of the encouraging 38:16 quotes that I remember from Christian Service, 38:17 page 100, where Ellen White says, "If you fail 38:21 99 times out of 100 but succeed in bringing one 38:25 soul to Christ, you've done a noble deed for 38:27 the Master's cause. - Mm. - So, I always remember 38:29 that, you know? So, the challenge of failure. We 38:32 must also remember that there is that one person 38:35 out of 100, even though we might fail 99 times 38:39 that the Lord is bringing us to. - Amen. Amen. And 38:43 when you think about Christ and the sacrifice that He made, 38:47 if it were just you on this earth, He would've 38:50 done it. - Exactly. - If it was you, He would've 38:52 done it. If it were just you, He would've done it. 38:53 And if it were just me, He would've done it. 38:55 And if it were just you at home, He would've 38:58 come and died for you because He loves you 39:00 that much...and that's an amazing amount of 39:05 love. What can we talk about with the spring break 39:10 trip? - Yeah, so... - It looks like that's Miranda's 39:14 steal there. [laughter] - So basically, every year, 39:18 the CAMPUS missionaries, they take a spring break 39:21 trip somewhere. They decide where they can 39:23 go, where they can make an impact... And during my 39:25 CAMPUS year, we actually decided to go to Texas to 39:30 help some Cambodian refugees during the hurricane recovery. 39:36 What we ended up doing there was we helped tear 39:38 down houses, and we also helped to build some houses, 39:41 paint some houses, and we really got to reach 39:43 out to the community, pray with the people 39:44 there... A lot of them are from Cambodia, and 39:47 they don't know who God is, and they are new to 39:50 America. So, we were able to pray with them 39:53 and talk with them and just get to know them and show 39:55 them who Jesus is. And one cool thing about that 39:58 trip was that we all got a shirt, and on the front 40:01 it said, "Jesus Army" in big letters, so there 40:04 was... During our week there, I think there was 40:06 about 300 people from different college campuses 40:09 that took time off of their spring breaks to 40:11 come and serve. And so, we would walk down the 40:14 streets-like 300 of us- and we all had "Jesus 40:16 Army" on our shirt. So, when we would go into 40:19 people's homes or when we'd go to help people, 40:21 they would ask, "Who is Jesus? What is Jesus Army?" 40:24 And we really got to make a big impact there. We got 40:27 to help make an impact, so it was a blessing. - Nice. 40:30 What are some other stories in addition to 40:34 that where you've seen lives transformed as a 40:37 result of your ministry? - Something I would like 40:39 to mention: there are some stories that we 40:41 cannot share, but there's one that I thought about, 40:44 because obviously we're kind of still in the process 40:46 of leading people to Christ-so those into 40:50 a closer relationship with Him. Sometime ago, I was 40:55 walking on campus, and I was just meeting people 40:59 and I was doing some flyers. It was a Sabbath afternoon, 41:01 and I ran into someone. I was praying. I was 41:04 reading this book that said something along the 41:07 lines of, "The reason why most revivals on 41:10 public universities failed"- way back in history, there 41:14 were some revivals on college campuses-and 41:17 the author had suggested that the reason was that 41:19 people were reaching the students, but no one was 41:22 reaching the faculty. And so I prayed and I 41:25 said, "Lord, I need to find a faculty that I can 41:27 talk to.' The professor became one, and then 41:31 I started talking with someone else who was 41:33 also in a position there, and I realized from that 41:39 initial meeting that this person does believe in God 41:43 and does believe in prayer, and I never actually thought 41:46 about it. But recently, I was able to go in, 41:48 and I sat down with this person-someone who's 41:51 a vice president for a department. I sat down, 41:55 and I had no agenda for the meeting; I just walked 41:57 in and I said, "I have something to share with 41:59 you from the Bible." The person said, "Go ahead." 42:02 So I felt that was encouraging. - Uh-huh. - So I sat down, 42:05 opened up the Word of God, and began to- I talked about 42:09 some principles from the Bible that leaders need, 42:11 especially in such high positions. And after the 42:15 Bible study, she cried. She broke down and she 42:19 said, "God has sent you here for a reason, and 42:22 I'm so very happy that He brought you into my 42:25 life for example and has allowed us to be 42:29 able to sit together in my office and study 42:31 the Bible." - Yes. - And so, God is doing amazing 42:34 things, and I think Miranda, you could tell us, as well, 42:37 about what happened to you your year. - Yeah. 42:41 Well, as we've already talked about, Julianna, 42:42 she decided to take a year off to do the CAMPUS missionary 42:45 program. And during her year, I was reached out 42:50 to, and that's how I ended up joining the 42:52 church and when I decided to take the year off for CAMPUS. 42:55 Every year, we meet a lot of people and we're 42:57 able to do a lot of Bible studies and really reach 43:00 the community. But during my year, I was able to meet 43:02 a guy named Ahmad. He was a senior at Michigan 43:05 State University, and... pretty much the same 43:09 thing that happened to me when I was a student. We 43:11 reached out to him, and he became part of our 43:13 family. He would come over almost every day and do 43:17 Bible studies with us, and just hang out with us and 43:19 see how we live as Christians. He ended up giving his life 43:24 to Jesus, as well, after studying. And so, it's just 43:27 cool to see the chain reaction, even that 43:30 God talks about in the Bible-how when we win 43:34 souls, those souls go out and they can win other 43:36 souls. It's just powerful to reflect upon, see, how much 43:40 God changed my life through CAMPUS Ministries and then 43:43 how I was able to reach Ahmad. And Ahmad this 43:46 year, he's actually a CAMPUS missionary, too. 43:49 - Wow. - He took HIS year off. He was about to finish 43:52 school, actually. He had two classes left, and he 43:55 decided to take the year off to do Public Campus 43:57 Ministries. And during his year this year, he 44:00 was able to reach out to a lot of people, as well, 44:02 so... - And Ahmad's god sister also got 44:05 baptized, too. - Mhm. - As result of Ahmad standing 44:08 up for Christ. - Wow. - So, he got baptized, and then 44:11 his god sister got baptized, as well. - Wow. So you never 44:14 really realize the impact that spreading the gospel 44:16 has. I can't wait till we get to heaven so 44:19 we can really see... - I have so many questions. 44:22 - Yeah. [laughter] Me too. - So many questions for God. 44:25 - Absolutely. Well, we've got one more song, and we're gonna 44:28 be blessed again by Naomi Jackson. This song is 44:32 entitled, "There Is Hope." 44:49 There is a hope that burns within my heart 44:56 That gives me strength for every passing day 45:03 A glimpse of glory now revealed in meagre part 45:11 Yet drives all doubt away: 45:18 I stand in Christ with sins forgiven 45:26 And Christ in me, the hope of heaven! 45:32 My highest calling and my deepest joy 45:40 To make His will my home 45:47 There is a hope that lifts my weary head 45:54 A consolation strong against despair 46:01 That when this world has plunged me in its deepest pit 46:09 I find the Savior there 46:16 Through present sufferings, future's fears 46:24 He whispers 'courage' in my ear 46:30 For I am safe in everlasting arms 46:38 And they will lead me home 47:11 There is a hope that stands the test of time 47:18 That lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave 47:25 To see the matchless beauty of a day divine 47:32 When I behold His face! 47:39 When sufferings cease and sorrows die 47:47 And every longing satisfied 47:53 Then joy unspeakable will flood my soul 48:00 For I am truly home 48:07 When sufferings cease and sorrows die 48:15 And every longing satisfied 48:21 Then joy unspeakable will flood my soul 48:31 For I am truly home 48:54 - Thank you for blessing us with another beautiful 48:56 song, Naomi. I can't believe our time is 48:59 almost over. - Went by too fast. - It did! Time 49:04 has been flying by, and you guys are doing an 49:06 amazing work for the Lord. You know, it's interesting, 49:10 because today, it's like society has... It's like 49:15 morality has gone out the window-and especially on 49:18 these college campuses of public universities 49:21 and all of that stuff. You guys are taking 49:24 the gospel to these public universities and to these 49:28 students, and that is amazing, because I can 49:33 only imagine, like, how much opposition that you 49:36 face on a day-to-day basis. Well, what are 49:39 some of your needs? - You know, I think the 49:42 primary need for us is prayer. We solicit the 49:46 prayers of our friends and our families within 49:49 our church circles, wherever they are-wherever you are- 49:54 we would love to have your prayers. Additionally, we 49:57 want our parents to encourage our young 50:01 people to be faithful to Christ on our public 50:04 universities. But not only that, also we need 50:08 young people: young people who are faithful to Christ, 50:11 young people who want to give their lives to Him 50:13 in a, I guess you could say, a powerful, mighty 50:19 way - want to be used by Him to impact the world 50:22 around them. So, if you're a young person who's 50:25 thinking about taking a year off to do missionary 50:28 work on the public university, we would love to hear from 50:30 you. You could visit us online: CampusHope.com. 50:33 And then the last one is financially. If we can have 50:38 people support financially, that will be a blessing, 50:41 too. Every little bit counts, and that also 50:44 helps, as well. But most importantly, again, prayer 50:49 is what's keeping us. I think it's because we 50:51 have good friends and family members who are 50:54 praying for us that's what is causing the many 50:57 miracles around us, some of which we've shared 50:59 today. - Amen. Yeah. It's gotta take a lot to 51:03 sustain that, and you can never have enough people, 51:07 you can never have enough prayers, and you can never 51:09 have enough financial support, because as we 51:13 continue to come to the close of Earth's history, 51:16 we gotta make sure this Word is getting out rapidly, 51:20 and we want it to be as accessible as possible. 51:22 And so, you guys are doing an amazing job, 51:26 by the grace of God. Well, we want people to know 51:29 how to get in touch with you, how to get in contact 51:31 with you, how to support you, and we're going to 51:33 go to a quick address roll and the news break, and 51:36 we'll be right back. 51:40 - If you would like to find out more about 51:42 CAMPUS and their Bible-based, mission-driven classes that 51:45 prepare students to share Jesus on secular campuses, 51:48 visit their website: CampusHope.com 51:52 There, you will find information about their 51:54 classes, internships, events, or how to become 51:58 a sponsor for a missionary or a missionary project. 52:01 That website, again, is CampusHope.com. 52:05 You may call them at (517) 316-1569, 52:10 or write to them at CAMPUS 52:12 520 Ann Street East Lansing, Michigan 48823. |
Revised 2019-08-12