Monday, June 27, 2011

My Christian College Experience Thus Far

It's already been two years.

So I just wanted to recap a little bit what has been one of my top enjoyments these past two years, especially on the corporate side. I meet with Christians on Campus, which is a sister club to Christian Students. I began meeting with Christian Students in Los Angeles during my high school years. My dad helped out here and there with the club at USC (University of Southern California), and thus I was able to meet many of the college students who were in Christian Students.

It first started out with playing basketball and table tennis with the students there. If you had asked me to go to one of the fellowships prior to playing ball with the brothers, I would have refused. But having met these older brothers in the Lord, I was less nervous to go to a Friday night college meeting they had down the street from my house.

The story goes on, and there are interesting things to point out here and there, but for the moment, I would like to fast forward to the Fall of 2009 when I first stepped into Northwestern University. Having met with Christian Students back in LA, it was a very smooth transition to meet with its sister club, Christians on Campus. Well, yes.. smooth, but only for a while. It was smooth in that I was connected with the Christians there in Chicago prior to going to college. I was able to have some sweet prayer and fellowship with some of the brothers over the phone even before I saw their faces! And I knew that Christians on Campus was very similar to Christian Students -- in their endeavoring to study the Word, their enlightening ministry to supplement the Word, and their very mutual fellowship they carried in their meetings.

The tumble came in when I stepped into campus. I was no longer a high school student who could just stand back and enjoy the flow of the riches being poured out. I don't know if you know anything about Le Tour de France, or any cycling race, but it is easy to observe that cyclists travel in packs that are in the shape of a pyramid. This is to conserve energy -- the lone cyclist in the front creates this bubble of wind shielding through aerodynamics and the cyclists behind it enjoy this kind of free boost it provides. Well, I was no longer the one standing back getting that free boost -- I was now in the position of the front cyclist.

It was a little bit hard to adjust, but the Lord really gains your heart in the times of struggle. Let's skip the struggles for now, and go straight to the enjoyment! I really enjoyed the student coordination times of Christians on Campus. Student coordination, as the title suggests, was a time we students got together to coordinate various matters of the club. There is a reason why we call it coordination instead of some organizational title. It's because during those times we enjoy the Lord! We meet every Saturday morning at 10 AM, and we sing love songs to the Lord! I have to testify, those were the meetings that I came out having fallen in love with Lord in such an intimate way. When you give up sleeping in on a Saturday morning to fellowship with other believers, the Lord is bound to respond! Anyhow, after a few songs, we like to get into the Word. Jeremiah 15:16 says that the Words were eaten. That is the very thing we do next. We take turns picking a verse we enjoyed that week and really eat it -- take it into our being. One of the best ways to do is by taking the Word by means of prayer (Eph. 6:18). I was impressed by George Muller's autobiography in this matter. But, that's another story. So after basking in this glorious enjoyment for around 30 minutes or so, we get to our earthly businesses. The upcoming bible study, the college meeting later that night, a personal need, someone who we are burdened for, etc... We open each matter up to the other members of the Body of Christ, and most importantly, we pray! We have experienced that praying every matter to the Lord is the best thing we can do. We suffered many arguments when we tried to figure things out by our own strength, only to find that our best methods are oh so short.

At approximately 11:01 AM on Saturday mornings, I head to the Plex dining hall for brunch with a heart so satisfied, I don't feeling very hungry.. well, only till I step in front of the food line.

2 comments:

  1. I really liked your comparison of cycle racing to stepping up with the Christians on Campus. It's also been my experience to take the initiative. After some time, however, I learned it's just as important to exhort other brothers who have the burden.

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  2. Thanks for sharing this, Joseph - I am so encouraged! We need such short and sweet testimonies of our learning to fellowship and coordinate. The first thing is to enjoy the Lord together, and from there we can "get to our earthly business" as you put it. I'm looking forward for some more of your enjoyment with the Christian Students on Campus :) :)

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