How to be a Missionary on Campus
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved coming home from school and telling my parents all about my day. In high school, I would give them every last detail - from gushing about how delicious lunch was to complaining about the number of hours my homework would take. Now that I’ve graduated college, I still love calling them to tell them good news about a job opportunity or finding a beautiful budget-friendly wedding dress.
If you think about it, we are all good messengers. We love to share the latest news with our friends and we want to tell our families when great things happen. As a Christian, it is an amazing privilege to be a messenger of the greatest news ever -- the Good News of Christ!
We are called to be messengers to those around us -- to share our faith and to lift up God’s powerful name. The importance of being a messenger is provided in Jesus’ Great Commission:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20
College is such a wonderful opportunity to reach out to those who do not know God because everyone is trying to figure out who they really are, what they are passionate about, and what their next few years of school and adulthood will look like.
Being a missionary on campus is both exciting and challenging as you step outside your comfort zone and reach out to new people. It is also rewarding for you and even more so for God, as His name is glorified through the sharing of your faith.
Today, I would like to share practical ways to be an on-campus missionary, drawn from my personal experience in college.
Be fully committed to Christ in your daily life.
When you are completely giving everything you have to God every day, others will notice. People will see a spark in you that is so uncommon in the world, especially in the college-age scene. Your devotion to your King will cause curiosity as others seek to know your reason for always being joyful regardless of the circumstances in your life.
Plus, being committed to your faith allows you to stay humble and to continue learning more about Jesus every day. You will be more able and willing to focus on others if your own relationship with Christ comes before anything else, because you will view others from His perspective rather than from a limited human perspective.
Be a missionary on campus through relationships with others.
Obviously it’s college and you will probably have a bunch of new friends within the first few weeks as you test out what college is all about. But having shallow relationships instead of meaningful, Christ-centered ones will not draw others closer to God.
Evangelism begins through genuine relationship building. If you are able to share your story of how you met Christ or be open and honest about your struggles through your journey with Christianity, others will be able to open up to you and trust you with their thoughts and questions.
Genuine relationships start with honesty and trust. My suggestion is to be involved at your school: join a bible study and share your faith with the group, arrive to class a few minutes early and make small talk with your classmates, join a field hockey team or women’s club basketball or curling (Is that even a sport in college…?). You never know when a simple “Hello!” can turn into a deeper relationship with someone who needs Jesus in his/her life.
Most of your classmates probably do not know what a healthy relationship looks like.
Some of them may have never heard of Jesus Christ, while others may have forgotten about Him. That’s one reason why it’s extremely important to find ways to be a blessing to others. Simply sitting by a girl who is alone in the dining hall or helping a friend on crutches make it to class on time can make a world of difference. Helping and loving others is our calling. If you can find ways to be like Jesus to people, the more likely they will desire the kind of relationship you have with your Savior.
Being a blessing can come in so many different forms. I’d like to encourage you to find a volunteer position around your school or draw encouraging verses on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. It’s an incredible faith-builder knowing you can make someone’s day without even realizing it.
Making sure you’re committed to Christ, building genuine relationships, and being a blessing to people are just a few of the many ways to be a missionary on campus.
My prayer for you is that this school year will be a period of spiritual growth that will cause you to fall even deeper in love with Christ. I pray that you find encouragement in pouring into others by imitating God’s love for you. Remember that we are part of the greatest story ever told, and that our role is to be Christ’s ambassadors! Be blessed!