God Humbles Us with Love
Matt & Megan Girdner | Cru/Bridges International
It was a normal Friday for our staff team. We periodically took a break from leading at our respective universities across the city and gathered together in one place for the purpose of going out to do evangelism. As I got out of my car, I was feeling exhausted from the week, frustrated at the amount of work I still needed to do, and hopeless that anything positive would happen this time. Over the past few weeks, I could barely get a student to even entertain the idea of just talking with me, a stranger, let alone having a spiritual conversation in which I could share the Good News of Jesus. After having dozens of conversations over the past few months, this strategy just felt pointless. Internally, I just kept thinking, “I don’t want to be here.” “We should be trying something else.” “These students don’t even care anymore,” “Why am I wasting my time?”
So, you get the point. I was going in with a “great attitude.” Actually, I was in a bad place, and here I was, a campus missionary. This was my job. I should love what we were about to participate in, but nope, I simply wasn’t feeling it today.
We paired off in twos and began to spread out across the campus of Buffalo State for the next three hours, hoping to talk with students. My co-worker Autumn and I started outside. We couldn’t find anyone, so we started making our way to the dining hall. It was 10am and no one was there . . . except for one girl. I’ll call her Jane. So up we went, introducing ourselves, asking her if she had time, and if she wanted to do a spiritual interest survey. With a huge welcoming smile on her face, Jane told us she’d love to chat, and that she was just waiting for her next class to start in a few hours. I immediately thought, “Hmmm this is weird. No one ever responds this positively.” We began asking her questions to get to know her better – about her life, her major, and interests. After a while, we began asking questions about her spiritual background, her beliefs and spiritual leanings. She immediately confessed that she didn’t really have much exposure to many spiritual things, didn’t know much about God, but was currently searching to find out more about who He is. She mentioned how her whole world had been shaken up the past few years. She hadn’t had the “normal” end of a high school experience, or the “normal” start to a college experience, either. It was leaving her unsettled and searching for the purpose of life, but she didn’t know where to turn.
My co-worker Autumn and I looked at each other excitedly. We began to share with her who we were and that we worked with Cru, a campus ministry trying to help people answer the exact questions she was asking. So we began conversationally sharing the gospel with her. She was hooked. Soon after, her boyfriend (who I’ll call Sam) showed up. In my experience, this is always the worst. I thought to myself, “Conversation over. He's going to steer this away.” But as we asked him similar questions, we found that he too was searching and asking the same exact questions! Unlike Jane though, Sam had grown up in and out of church. He’d switch churches every few years and was left confused. Each church spoke differently, some prioritized different values. Many times, Sam just felt distant from the people in his church, as in his mind, they all seemed to have it figured out.
We texted a Cru student leader, Grace, from Buffalo State to come join us. The five of us engaged in one of the most beautiful conversations I’ve ever participated in. Both Jane and Sam professed faith in Jesus that day! Grace then invited them to Buffalo State’s weekly meeting. They made plans to go to the weekly meeting together, and Grace would introduce them to the community there. How cool!?
After the encounter, I was left amazed. God used a broken sinner, who was exhausted, hopeless, and frustrated that I even had to be there. But God used this experience to change me. How humbling. I work in campus ministry. I'm supposed to have all this figured out right? Wrong!
I’m just one broken sinner trying to lead others to the Redeemer, to the Creator, to the only One who will love them fully and completely.
Cru and Bridges International are two different college ministries in the City of Buffalo. We aim to connect with college students, share the gospel of Jesus, and raise up disciples who will walk with Jesus for a lifetime, impacting those around them.
