Reaching Brilliant Students

Author Info: Blane has served on staff at AU Chi Alpha for several years and became the Director in the Fall of 2014. This New Mexico native is a proud graduate of the University of Alabama but has fallen in love with the big city. He and his wife (Hannah) moved to DC to complete the DC Chi Alpha CMIT Program under Mike & Jen Godzwa. They are parents to a pretty amazing toddler, Jeremiah. You'll find him biking around DC in search of a coffee by day and pouring over a book by night. You can find him at www.blaneyoung.com, and connect with him via our AU Chi Alpha Staff Page.

The running joke at American University for several years went as follows:

Student A: Wait, you speak four languages fluently?

Student B: Yep.

Student A: How are you ever going to get the job you want?

Student B: I know, there are at least three people in my classes that are fluent in six languages. And they’ve declared double-majors already.

Student A: (sigh)

Student B: (sigh)

This is also personal for me. During my first year serving Chi Alpha at American University, I was part of the CMIT Training Program, and I was asked to lead a Small Group. It ended up being pretty small and mostly filled with freshmen that I met during Welcome Weeks. Well, here’s a summary: one of the young men owned an international film company, another interned for Wolf Blitzer, another ran an international NGO promoting disability awareness and lastly, one was working at the White House.

Let’s just say that the idea that ‘we have the chance to influence the influencers’ became very real, very quickly.

At first, I didn’t know what I had to offer. Like, I guess I could give them marriage advice but none of them were interested in dating. I was always taught to find a need and fill it, to find a hurt and heal it (to borrow language from Matthew Barnett and the Dream Center Movement).

Yet, for a few weeks, I believed that these guys didn’t have any needs. They were on their way to successful careers, were attending an elite university, had more financial resources that I did as a student (or as I did at that moment, as a first-year Chi Alpha Intern!).

Online fundraising for Reach the City - 2016

But then I realized, with the help of a few mentors, that everyone is looking for something. Everyone is both hungry and hurting. The language and framework of Ignatian Spirituality gave words to this that I didn’t realize I needed. The concept of our sins and mistakes being ‘disordered attachments’ reminded me of the beautiful idea of imago dei (that we are made in the image of God).

I also realized that, as Craig Groeschel says, “Everyone is fighting something.”

So, although my ministry to these guys (which was likely awkward at times) didn’t look like provided for physical needs (as it had in my previous context) but instead, building relationships and looking for the soft or fuzzy needs. They are just as real, yet harder to define.

Purpose.

Community.

To Be Heard.

To Be Known.

I didn’t do this perfectly (and at times, I still struggle) but I think that in order to reach those who are materially fulfilled or successful, we have to dig deeper and have a much clearer missiological set of goals.

So, how do you reach brilliant students? Just like you reach anyone, with love.

It’s just that love, the approach we take, must be different. We must be all things to all people (within the context of the cross, of course).

Not everyone needs a bag of groceries, although some do.

Not everyone needs a friend, although most might.

“May we see people as Jesus does and realize that we are already equipped to meet needs and to make a difference.”

But everyone needs something and by the grace of God, He wants to use you and I to be the answer to their prayers, even if their prayers have never been said aloud. Or even thought of as prayers.

May we see people as Jesus does and realize that we are already equipped to meet needs and to make a difference. One at a time. Slowly, at times painfully. But realizing that God is so big and majestic, no one has a need that He is unwilling to care for and meet. 

Published on July 22, 2016 • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29PdXKE

Reach the City: Our Big Fundraiser

What is Reach the City? Our annual, ten-day fundraising campaign to raise $10,000 which well help us connect with 400+ students during Welcome Weeks (also called Fall Startup).

The Story & Details via Blane Young:

Update (July 21, 2016 at 3:31pm): We are on Day 2 of 10 and we've already raised $1,400. Help us reach our goal, whether it's a small gift or a big one, it's going to take a team of people to make this a reality! (Give Now)

Let me tell you where that money goes. That money doesn't go to staff salaries or anything that. All of us, we raise our own funds through our personal support raising; donors, and churches, but this is a chance for you to invest directly into our ministry because between August through October we call it Welcome Weeks or Fall Startup.

We host almost two dozen events on two strategic campuses in Washington D.C., American University & Georgetown University, We're able to host those events and personally connect our current students and our staff with over 400 incoming students because of the funds raised from Reach the City that put on and allow us to host those events.

You have an opportunity to impact a freshman, an international student, a transfer student that you may never personally meet. A student like Greg. Have you met Greg yet? (read more)

And many others, like XY and Beatrice. And so many more. 

Ways to Give:

On Razoo via: https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Reach-The-City-2016. 

*** For other ways, especially for churches, please visit dcchialpha.com/invest

My Unlikely Journey To Chi Alpha In The City

Author Info: Josh is passionate about studying the Bible and having deep conversations with college students at American University and Georgetown University. In his spare time, he can be found with a book, a video game, or outdoors in a hammock, normally fueled by caffeine. You can connect with him via our AU Chi Alpha Staff Page.

July 29th will be one year since my life changed. If you would have told me just two years ago that I would be here in Washington D.C., serving at American University Chi Alpha, you would have probably been laughed out of the room! 

You see, I had a plan. And Chi Alpha, big cities, studio apartment living, and support raising were not a part of that plan! However, God does amazing things, and he has a way of getting you right where he wants you. 

Two years ago, my wife Brittney and I had just celebrated our two year anniversary. I had just wrapped up my graduate degree, and for the first time in our relationship, neither one of us was in class, or preparing to turn in the next assignment. We were living in Georgia, right down the road from family and friends, involved in a local church, and serving as the makeshift “directors” of their college ministry, which was really just a very small group of 1-5 college students who would meet in our living room every Tuesday night. We loved where we were. Yes, we knew we had both been called to serve the Lord in full-time ministry, but we had not found where that was…yet. 

Online fundraising for Reach the City - 2016

Up to this point, we had worked jobs in the marketplace, ones that we enjoyed, but ones that were not totally fulfilling. After graduating from grad school, we decided to start applying for the jobs we would want to be our careers. For a few months we applied to ministry positions wherever we could, to no avail. We even submitted an application to be full-time missionaries overseas, of which we never heard a response back. But God was working things behind the scenes. 

After a rough season of personal and family loss, I received a tweet from Blane Young at American University Chi Alpha one day in early September: “Hey man, check your email!” That was it. Now, this may seem strange, but Blane and I have known each other now for about ten years. (My senior year of high school, Blane was an intern at the church I found Jesus at in Brunswick, GA.) We kept in touch through college, hung out when we could in person, and even met for a while in a virtual small-group/Bible study through Google Hangouts. Normally, Blane would have texted me to check my email, but getting a tweet was just a little odd. I opened up my email, and in it was a invite to come check out the ministry that he was a part of in Washington D.C. There were two openings in staff the next year, and he wanted Brittney and I to come up and dream about joining the team. 

Honestly, Brittney and I had no intention of joining the Chi Alpha team at AU. We were smack in the middle of the roughest season of life either of us had walked through to that point, and we just wanted a vacation. We took Blane up on the offer to travel to DC in October, and a month later we made the 9 1/2 hour drive to the nation’s capital. 

To say that God grabbed our hearts for college students and for the city of DC while we were there that weekend is an understatement. I vividly remember sitting outside the National Archives Museum with Brittney on the Monday after attending DC Chi Alpha’s Fall Retreat, and just knowing that we would be back. Over the course of three days, God allowed us to dream about the potential in Washington D.C. We would not return to Georgia the same. 

“When things seem unlikely to us, we must remember that God specializes in the unlikely. ”

Over the next few months, Brittney and I would seek God in prayer, seek advice from our mentors and family. In early December, we announced to the students at American University that we would be joining the team in August. For the next six months, we went through the grueling process of building a team of supporters that would back us financially and through prayer as we followed God’s call. At the end of June, last summer, I quit my job with under half of our support raised, and one month to go until the move. Within the next four weeks, God opened up doors like never before and all of our financial support came in. We sold one of our cars, packed up what stuff in our house we didn't sell into a UHAUL, and left small town Georgia for the big city of Washington, D.C. 

The past year has been challenging. Brittney and I have grown in ways that we could have never foreseen. We have transitioned into full-time ministry and full-time city life. And any day now, we will be welcoming our daughter into the world of ministry in the city with us. We would not have it any other way. God has been so good. When things seem unlikely to us, we must remember that God specializes in the unlikely. 

Thank you for letting us serve in the greatest city. Thanks for letting us be a part of what God is doing through DC Chi Alpha. 

Published on July 21, 2016 • Short Link: http://bit.ly/2asp7GJ

What XA Means To Me

Beatrice Hociota is a sophomore in the business school at Georgetown University. She's spending the summer working with GU Impacts in Nicaragua and will start her first year as a Lifegroup leader and Georgetown's Welcome Week coordinator this Fall. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram at @hnbeatrice.

Honestly, I don’t know where to begin. How am I supposed to explain what Chi Alpha means to me in a mere 400 words, in a mere blog post? I could go on and on about what it means to me. I could tell you about the first time I was introduced to Chi Alpha at a Protestant Service, days into the confusion of freshman year, where I instantly knew I wouldn’t be alone at college. I could tell you about going to a Life Group where week after week my leaders poured life into me and showed me God’s unconditional love or about my pastor who is quick to listen and serves her students selflessly. I could tell you about Fall Retreat, Winter Retreat, or nearly every Wednesday Open Table where I am increasingly amazed and inspired by how my peers praise God with everything they have. I could tell you about all of that and still not tell you enough. 

“...I firmly know I could not have done it without the support of Chi Alpha.”

Chi Alpha is more than just an organization, more than just a gathering of people. It is a community, a community of people that supports, challenges, inspires, motivates, and leads each other closer to Christ. This summer, I have understood that better than ever. I have spent the past 10 weeks interning for a social enterprise in Nicaragua and as I am reflecting on my experience, I firmly know I could not have done it without the support of Chi Alpha. In moments where I cut my self short in my ability to communicate and live in a different culture, felt I did not have the skills to finish my assignments, and failed to recognize God’s purpose, it was people from Chi Alpha who lifted my weary sole and reminded me I wasn’t carrying my heavy heart alone. Even from thousands of miles away, I have felt supported beyond anything I could have ever imagined or begin to deserve.

Reach the City Update

Online fundraising for Reach the City - 2016

To me, Georgetown Chi Alpha is a body of believers who continuously strive to uphold 1 Peter 3:8 in the most beautiful way. They are sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble. This is not only evident in how they treat each other, but also in how they care for others on campus and in DC, stand apart from negative societal pressures, and surrender their lives daily. Truth is, I could never accurately articulate everything that Chi Alpha means to me because it means so much. Have you ever walked into a room and felt immediate peace and comfort? I have and do every time I have the privilege of being surrounded by the loving community of Chi Alpha. 

Published on July 20, 2016 • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29KsMSZ

 

 

 

Thoughts on Discipleship (Part 2 of 2)

GUEST POST From time to time, we have special guests whose voices we totally love sharing with you. This is a post from Seth Collins, he is a bearded man with a heart of gold who currently serves on staff at Yale Chi Alpha. HIs wonderful wife Brooke, used to live in DC and work with Chi Alpha, so even as we root her on, we miss her deeply! You can follow him on Twitter and Medium.

Find Part 1 here: http://bit.ly/29Gm91o

It was late November and around 11pm on a Friday night. I was getting ready for bed after an exhausting week of study and ministry. Scrolling through Facebook to get one last glimpse of what my Facebook friends were up to, I received a group message notification from my small group. One of the guys decided that it would be a terrific idea to go hiking up a mountain to catch a meteor shower... 

At 11pm. In November.

Being an introvert, my initial reaction was to say, "You guys have fun; I'm calling it a night." But, then I recognized that it would be my co-leader's birthday, and I didn't want to be that guy who bailed out when everyone else didn't. 

So, I put my warm clothes on and got in the car to go on this nocturnal adventure. Even though the hike to the top was just over a mile, it was much harder to get there because 1.) it was dark and we had to use our phones to see where we were putting our feet, and 2.) there was ice on the rocks that we would be walking across. 

What was I getting myself into?

Several minutes later, we're at the top and the wind was just ripping through us. It was so cold. We all clung to the rocks as best we could, trying to find some kind of shielding from the wind. At first, I thought to myself, this is crazy; I could be home right now in my warm bed. 

But then I looked up and saw the stars. 

The night firmament was incredible. I'd never seen so many stars in my life!

We started counting how many shooting stars we saw as we watched them race across the night sky. I think we lost count at around 15.

Before we made the trek back down to warmth and security, a couple of the guys from the group had hiked up the mountain with provisions: one guy had a grill strapped to his back. Another had a bag of charcoal and a dozen eggs. They were on a mission to scramble some eggs and enjoy the co-leader's birthday before heading back down!

We ate, traveled back down, and drove home.

I could have missed all of that if I'd chose to stay at home. I could've missed the memory, the laughs, the frozen chatter, the blanket of stars, and the eggs! But I went because God sometimes reveals His character and nature in such a way that reading a textbook can't fully convey. You have to get out and engage people! Engage the world around! The disciples were role models in such endeavors and, because of their companionship with Jesus and their actions, they helped change the world we live in.

The third aspect of being a small group leader is actually my second point.

2. Mentorship

I don't know if I can say enough about one-on-one discipleship (or sometimes referred to as mentorship). I love it. If there were one aspect of ministry that I could do for the rest of my days, it would be this. 

Through mentorship, I learned how to process life with students on an individual basis. The space and meeting would create an atmosphere that would allow them to ask more personal questions that they might not feel comfortable with asking in a small group setting. 

They would often ask questions about my life or how I handled a certain situation. This would create inner-reflection on my part and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the graces that I'd forgotten about or didn't appreciate as much. A perk for being in a mentoring relationship! 

Again, being an introvert, it's tough to engage a crowd, but a one-on-one setting is entirely different. Sure, there's always small talk to get through, but when you get to the deep stuff, then it gets exciting!

Mentorship created a deeper need to be vulnerable with the young men I was meeting with. By modeling vulnerability, I allowed the student to be as vulnerable as I was allowing myself to go. I couldn't ask them to do something that I wasn't willing to do myself. (Note: you should have wisdom in what you're willing to share. No need to air all your dirty laundry, but having something on the clothesline helps build rapport with your mentoring relationship.)

Mentorship also created deeper friendships. Five years later, I'm still good friends with the co-leaders I led my first small group with. I'm still friends with some of those guys that were in the group. I've been in one of their weddings, I've had a weekly home when I served as Interim Director for VCU Chi Alpha from one of them, and nearly all of them have been so impacted by my involvement with Chi Alpha that they have supported me financially.

You can go down the street and ask someone else what discipleship means to them and they could give you a totally different answer than what I just did. But, for me, small groups and mentorship are the key elements of building a discipleship culture: a culture that invites both insiders and outsiders to engage in the God-man, Jesus Christ, and to follow His teachings and lifestyle.

Published on July 14, 2016. • Short Link: http://bit.ly/29KZKsd