By Jennifer Musser
Drexel University in Philadelphia
The most important thing we do for our students on campus at Drexel University is share the gospel with them and how much they are deeply loved by God. Teaching them that forgiveness is available through Christ’s work on the cross and that they can have the promise of forever with Him, if they realize their need for a Savior and say “yes” to His sacrifice, unconditional love, redemption and grace.
Something else that has been a critical part of our ministry is helping students through challenging and sometimes life-threatening mental health struggles and crises. From the outside looking in, it is easy to view the role of the campus minister as evangelizing the students, which, don’t misunderstand me, is necessary and the reason we are there, but often people overlook the fact that most of the time we need to just minister to them.
Being fully present
Our ministry at Drexel is full of moments like this — sitting down face-to-face with students, talking through real-life struggles and situations, and being present.
Within the last month, I’ve had the privilege of being able to pursue several different ministry opportunities related to exactly this.
First, I have been discipling some of the female students on campus each week. It’s a special time set aside to give them a safe space to talk with me, ask questions, grow deeper in their walk with the Lord and have accountability with me and one another that they didn’t have before.
We go through a series of topics each week that help them reflect and prioritize time with the Lord, manage finances, be mindful of their words and how they impact themselves and others. We consider relationships in which they invest their time and how they can implement Scripture in their prayer time and their daily life. It has been a blessing to begin this work with them and is a time we all look forward to.
Coping with stress
As a licensed professional counselor, addressing the needs of students regarding mental health also is something I will continue to invest my time in. It is imperative that campus ministry be infused with this component of care because students are struggling with this issue every day, whether personally or with someone they know.
They need to be equipped with ways to cope with the stressful environment (college) is, taught to reach out to someone when they are feeling this way and encouraged to know that they are not alone.
This is one way I can shine the light of Jesus on our campus, and what an immense privilege and responsibility it is to do so.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jennifer Musser is a campus missionary at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
‘Most comforting words’ in Scripture
The more I’m exposed to death the more I realize there’s no sentence, phrase or thought that prepares family and friends for what death brings. Sometimes though, words have to be shared, which means we must take care of the ones we do use because their implications are immense.
God doesn’t cause the hurt or pain or confusion that life brings. Instead, God steps into the middle of it and calms the waters and restores our soul. God leads us down the right paths. And we can fear no evil just as the psalmist sings in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me.”
Our loved ones may no longer be with us on this side of eternity, but we’re comforted in knowing they are not gone. They are with God. I treasure the imagery here.
God, the great shepherd, is leading them away from death’s sting, away from harm, and the Great Shepherd prepares a table for them in the house of God.
At least this is how the poem reads: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”
Psalm 23 may be the most comforting words in all of Scripture. They certainly remind us God is the One walking through the shadows with us. It was true for Israel, and it’s still true today.
Trey Doyle, pastor
FBC Mobile
God finds us when we’re ‘turned around’
By Meredith Flynn
Illinois Baptist
In almost nine years of parenting, neither of our daughters has ever been lost or even out of sight long enough to raise alarm. Until this summer.
On a bike ride in my parents’ neighborhood, our youngest broke away from the pack and nearly lapped us all before realizing she couldn’t see us behind her. She turned around and back again, unable to recognize her grandparents’ house. As frightening as it must have been for her, it was worse for her mother.
After a quick search on foot was unsuccessful, I jumped in my car and started praying she would be around the next corner. And then there she was, standing uncertainly on the sidewalk. I told her I had prayed we’d find her, and she said she had prayed too. As relief settled in, I tried to ease her fear. “You just got turned around. We were really close the whole time, we just couldn’t see each other.”
We didn’t use the word lost. “Turned around” is temporary. Lostness carries with it the specter of permanence. Some lost things are never found.
Finding a new path
I’ve been thinking about spiritual lostness too.
When we’re lost, we may not know it for a while — until something shakes us and we realize we don’t know where we’re going or why. Dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, Paul writes in Ephesians 2, “following the course of this world.”
“But God,” he writes a few verses later, launching into a clear explanation of the mercy required to bring us out of lostness, to turn us around from the path we were heading down toward something new.
God isn’t going to waste one bit of your hurt and hardship. Trust the process. Hold fast to God’s ways. Hang on. Redemption is coming.
A new strength is being developed in you by God for a good purpose.
This breaking of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you.
Lysa TerKeurst
@LysaTerKeurst on X
Success in evangelism is not contingent on the outcome nor rooted in the result; success is based on the obedience of the messenger. God saves, we share. When success in evangelism is measured by sharing, it liberates Christians from anxiety and frees us to be faithful witnesses.
Daniel Dickard
@DanielDickard on X
Pray for your pastor today. He may be carrying a heavy pastoral burden that is taking its toll on him. And you have no idea, despite his warm and encouraging interaction he had with you earlier in the week.
Brian Croft
@PastorCroft on X
The abundant life Jesus promises is seen both in eternal life and sustaining grace in this earthly life. Grace for today, hope for tomorrow. That’s Who Jesus is.
Daniel Ritchie
@DanielRitchie on X
God is not bewildered about what to do with your day today, he has known it was coming since the beginning of time! If you begin each morning praying over your day, you will be less inclined to fret over it.
Richard Blackaby
@richardblackaby on X
“The women who come to us, they’re looking for a lifesaver,” said Ruth Tidhar — a social worker who is the director of EFRAT’s direct support department — who has been serving as a last-minute messenger of life by contacting the pregnant wives of soldiers and urging them not to have an abortion. “They’re looking for somebody to help hold them up and give them assistance so that they can go ahead with the pregnancy and have the baby and avoid having an abortion. Our intent is to give her the strength and the backing she needs.”
“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” (Deut. 31:6).
Shame is such a powerful and primitive emotion, capable of dragging you down into the dark, cavernous depths of unworthiness and self-contempt. And it’s important to ask — are the spiritual communities I’m a part of adding to shame, or calling me to the depths of my God-given worthiness and belonging?
Chuck Degroat
@chuckdegroat on X
My Beloved finished her race 7 months ago … just short of our 50th anniversary. This entry from a 1995 journal is fresh again: “Easy to give Jesus everything until He actually wants something you love.” Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Chuck Kelley
@chuckkelleyjr on X
“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid” (Heb. 13:6).
