College Profs Openly Sharing Their Faith

WHAT I CAN’T SAY IN THE CLASSROOM

Oh me of little faith. I confess that I did not really know what to expect. Would anybody show up? Would the content be good?

Four professors involved with Faculty Commons (Campus Crusade’s ministry to faculty) at Stephen F. Austin University wanted to do an outreach to professors and students. (They got the idea from professors at another university who did a similar event.) I (Cindy) flew to Dallas and drove to Nacogdoches, Texas. The idea was to capture the event on film so we could show it to other professors and replicate it across the country.

As I walked into the room I saw a professor-ish looking man – a bit older and wearing a tie. I introduced myself wondering if he was one of the speakers, but he quickly set me straight saying he wasn’t with ‘those people’. His boss was speaking and he wanted to hear what she had to say. Hmmm. That is the way it’s supposed to work, but I still wasn’t convinced.

By 7:00pm the room had filled with about 100 students and 15 professors. Four profs shared their spiritual journey, and did an excellent job explaining what their faith in Christ means to them – both in and out of the classroom. The audience was spellbound, but what the professors did next was even better. They sat down on the edge of the stage and took questions from the audience.

Picture these professors – the power brokers of the classroom – physically taking a lower seat to put them at eye level with the audience. It was very moving.

They’ve already decided to do this same event again next semester.

God granted many of our requests concerning this outreach, and we’d really appreciate your prayers for the professors and students who came. I cannot wait to see what God does through this strategy on other campuses!

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. Sometimes this job is more fun than it should be. (The Texas State Fair was okay too.)

Helping Leaders Reach Leaders,

John and Cindy Peterson