From dorm Bible studies to chapel services to hands-on ministry programs, you'll find all kinds of faith-stretching experiences at college. But chances are, you'll also discover that your most powerful learning experiences happen in ways and places you never expected. That's exactly what these students discovered as they stepped out in faith and took on new and exciting challenges.

Kyna Baskin
Baylor University
Waco, Texas
Class of 2006

Kyna Baskin's church in San Antonio sends missionaries to Malawi, Africa, every summer. One year, while Kyna was still in high school, God spoke to her through the missionaries' presentation to her church. "I could feel God tugging on my heart," she remembers, "And I knew that some day I would go to Africa."

A couple of years passed, and those feelings had almost faded from memory. Almost. But they were rekindled when Dr. Bruce Wilkinson—a popular speaker, and author of The Prayer of Jabez —came to speak during a chapel service at Baylor.

Wilkinson was on campus to encourage students to join their peers from across the U.S. on a month-long missions trip to South Africa.

"I felt God calling me to go," Kyna says. "I talked about it with my parents, and at first they weren't really sure, but they trusted my judgment. They became my biggest supporters."

In South Africa, Kyna, five fellow Baylor students and 200 other team members received a week of training and then broke up into smaller groups. Her group of about 70 people traveled to the eastern coast and offered HIV/AIDS and abstinence education presentations to middle schools throughout the area. They were able to incorporate a gospel message on the last day of each presentation.

Although she was in South Africa to educate young teens, Kyna felt as though she was the one learning the most. "South African culture in general is completely different from typical American culture, and we were in one of the poorest areas in the nation," she says. "To see the way they lived, with no beds, no running water or bathrooms, with 20 people to a house, it really struck me. My group adopted a family down the street and we decided to help them plant a garden. One morning, we were able to worship with them, and it was one of the most amazing experiences."

As they worshiped together, Kyna realized something important about God's love. "I learned to love people for where they are and who they are, regardless of their clothing, lifestyle, or if they know Christ. I have to love them equally, because God does."

Since coming home, Kyna feels as though her relationships have changed a lot. "I've been able to share my new views with my closest friends, and I've been able to witness to non-Christian friends with a new sense of confidence," she says. "My attitude has changed a lot, and I now feel like I really want to go into social work, working with people very different from myself."

After completing her BA in social work, Kyna wants to pursue a master's degree in international social work. Her goal is to return to Africa and apply the skills she's developed at Baylor. "God has given me a heart for Africa," she says. "I want to meet African people where they are and help them get to where they want to be, showing them God's love through action."

Sarah Dale
Hannibal-LaGrange College
Hannibal, Missouri
Class of 2006

The summer before her freshman year in college, Sarah worked with the Southern Baptist Church'sInter-national Mission Board in Germany. Given that experience, she was certain she'd spend her four years at Hannibal-LaGrange pursuing international missions. So she was surprised when she felt God calling her to join the Jerusalem Project, a ministry dedicated to serving people in the Hannibal community.

Sarah was assigned to the Hannibal Art Council's Folklife Festival, helping the organizers serve water, work booths and pick up trash. Sarah assumed her work would be mostly physical labor. But it became a lesson in building relationships.

"You can imagine what art communities are like," she says. "There are a lot of different people and different perspectives, including homosexuals, Buddhists and other lifestyles." But as she worked alongside the organizers and volunteers, she found herself developing friendships.

"People would come up to us and say, 'Wow, we couldn't have done this without you,' and I felt like I really was impacting our community. I always thought ministry was about handing people the gospel—and it is about that—but it's also about relationships and seeing how Jesus spent time with people and poured into people. I never understood that before experiencing these things."

For three years, Sarah focused on building relationships with her coworkers, including the art director. She was shocked when he asked her about arranging a Sunday morning service during her fourth festival. "I told him that if I did this, I would share the gospel of Christ," she remembers. The director answered, "OK."

"The first three years we showed them the gospel," Sarah says. "Then, they asked us to tell them the gospel." Through the simple acts of service Sarah and her fellow students performed, and the message they shared, many people came to know Christ.

For Sarah, the experience proved that her mission field can be her own backyard. "I've always wanted to serve in faraway places," she says, "but God showed me it's important to serve where he's called you, and that might be where you already are."

Cedrick Valrie
Southeastern University
Lakeland, Florida
Class of 2005

When Cedrick Valrie began attending Southeastern University, he saw school as the first step toward a successful career in ministry. During his time there, however, his understanding of "successful" ministry changed. "I used to think that great achievements or success just meant having more authority," Cedrick says. "But I learned that the leader should be the one to take on the most responsibility when it comes to making sacrifices and meeting the needs of other people."

Cedrick's experience growing up in Mobile, Alabama, made this lesson a tough one. "Having to fight for everything in the inner city, it was all about me: what I could have, what I could get, and how I could get to the top," he says. "But at Southeastern I've learned about making a difference, not only for myself, but the person beside me."

Cedrick is grateful for Sam Hemby, a professor he had during his sophomore year. Through Professor Hemby's course on Organizational Behavior and Leadership Styles, Cedrick was forced to rethink what it means to minister. "I began to understand that my job as a leader—of my home, at this university, at a future job—is to transform the lives of other people," he says.

Amy Dawson
Erskine College
Due West, South Carolina
Class of 2006

When Amy Dawson left home to spend the summer of 2005 in Washington, D.C., she was eager to learn about how faith can impact society. As a participant in the Family Research Council's Witherspoon Fellowship, she was one of 14 college students to work with the Family Research Council and to study and learn more about participation in civic life through classes, seminars and discussions.

Amy expected to be inspired and challenged in the program. But when she went to Washington, she didn't realize that she'd also develop a deeper appreciation for community life.

At first, she was nervous about opening up and getting close to a group of strangers. She was especially nervous about letting them see her weaknesses. "I've had experiences in the past where I'd been snubbed by fellow Christians and had been really hurt," she says. "But as I lived with other students in the program, God showed me that even though we are all weak and frail, we can still work together in his name."

Learning to be vulnerable with her peers was not an easy process for Amy. "The girls in my apartment were all very close," she says. "At first it was difficult to let my guard down and ask them to pray for me." Amy also had to learn to ask for advice. "I realized that I sometimes don't seek the counsel of other Christians as often as I should because I'm afraid of what they might think of me. That really challenged me."

But as she opened up to her new friends, sharing her concerns and needs, Amy discovered not only support, but also continuing friendships. As a result, she's more open to meeting others, and welcomes the interactions that once made her so nervous. She says, "Where we are weak, God is strong, so we don't have to try so hard to always be right or perfect."

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
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