Why I Work For Chi Alpha

Natalie leads the worship and missions departments at AU Chi Alpha and is passionate about taking students deeper in their relationship and love for Jesus.  She loves writing music, John Steinbeck, good coffee, and her family.

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On a humid summer day in 2009, my mom and I walked around the American University campus for the first time. I had sent in my tuition deposit blindly and first saw the school when I came for summer orientation.

After a few days of classes and activities, learning about being a new college student, I walked around our student union building, overwhelmed thinking about my future.

I had never been away from home or my family in Buffalo longer than a week at a time. I didn’t know anyone at AU or even in DC.

In that moment, walking among all the tables advertising the hundreds of student activities, I was scared and dreading coming back in a month to make this place my home. I remember choking back tears until we passed a table that said “Chi Alpha.” I very clearly remember almost walking past because I thought it was a fraternity.

The man behind the table caught me and said, “We’re not a fraternity or sorority, but if you’re looking for brothers and sisters, we have them.” It was a corny exclamation, but that man became my campus pastor all throughout college.

Chi Alpha became the community where I found life and joy and redefined my faith. It’s the place where I dove into deeper relationship with Jesus. It’s where I relearned who the Holy Spirit was and where I was encouraged to start leading worship. It’s where I went on a mission trip my freshman year that changed my life and led me to pursue vocational ministry after college. It’s the place that gave me friends and mentors who loved me, challenged me, and reminded me of God’s grace and goodness. It’s the community that helped me heal from past hurts and disappointments, and it gave me good, godly friends who will stay in my life forever.

“Chi Alpha became the community where I found life and joy and redefined my faith. It’s the place where I dove into deeper relationship with Jesus. ”

You see, I came to American University like most of the other students on my campus. I was focussed on success and pursuing everything I felt would make me great. My selfish ambitions were disguised by intellect and passion but left little room for Jesus to take control. With Chi Alpha, that changed.

The coolest part is that I’m only one of hundreds of similar stories. The truth is, Chi Alpha changes lives. It tells college students that they’re worth something, that Jesus truly loves them. Where the church has trouble reaching college campuses, Chi Alpha has found a way to be relevant and impacting. In my time in college, I watched dozens of my friends get baptized, unchurched people decide to follow Jesus, and kids who grew up in the church rededicate their lives to Him.

And these are all students who will go out and change the world. American University trains leaders and world-changers. We have future ambassadors and diplomats, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, businessmen, princes and princesses, presidents and senators. If Chi Alpha gets to reach these people and show them the love of Jesus, I’m in.

If we reach them in the three to four years they’re in college, they can go out and reach the world, in places where I don’t have access to and can’t reach. I believe the college campus is the most strategic mission field there is. And if I can impact other students the way my life was impacted as a student, then I want to do that.

That’s why I work for Chi Alpha.

Less Of Me, More Of Him

XY is a rising junior at American University. He serves on the worship team for Chi Alpha at Thursday Night Worship services.  When he's not cooking awesome meals for his small group or dorm hall, he's likely serenading someone with his ukulele.

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As a thoroughbred international student who was constantly warned not to waste my opportunities and experiences that the rest of my family never had, I arrived at American University to get into the business of changing the world.

When I became a Chi Alphan, I joined the movement to save it.

Arriving at my first Chi Alpha event with my usual lines of self-promotion tucked under my belt, I was swiftly shown through the most authentic of ways that they did not play that game.

While I initially viewed this community as a ladder of respect that I needed to climb, the Chi Alphans reached down to pick me up and put me on the top rung.

Contrary to the usual crowds of conceited individuals who made it a point to be heard by everybody, this group of strangers just wanted to listen to me, to genuinely care for me. Before I felt I earned their love, they had already given it to me for free.

I was invited to all of their events, and my small group leader constantly pushed me to attend every small group gathering. Within a year, this same community would gather around the pool to cheer me on in my baptism.

“What Chi Alpha showed me was that I was not defined by the good deeds that I performed, or by what I was still expected to do, but that I had already been defined by Jesus. ”

What Chi Alpha showed me was that I was not defined by the good deeds that I performed, or by what I was still expected to do, but that I had already been defined by Jesus.

My brothers and sisters in Christ did not love me for the things I had yet to do because of my previous successes; they loved me because of what God had already done in me, in spite of my failures.

Having come from a past where the fears of failure and irrelevance were constantly biting at my heels, keeping me frantically running after the thousands of standards for success and reverence thrown at me from all sides, I felt the most calming, emancipating peace when I discovered that God already saw the perfection of His Son in me whenever He gazed my way.

In other words, I found Chi Alpha near the breaking point of my exhaustion, and here I realized I didn’t have to run for my life anymore.

In my first couple of months leading a small group, I found myself in a whole new stage of culture shock: I was a relatively new Christian tasked with holding together a group of stronger believers, most of whom having known Jesus their whole lives. Yet as God steadily worked on my soul, He showed me that the true exemplification of Love did not come from a trumping of knowledge, or from thinking higher or lower of myself, but rather from thinking of myself less. I was to become less, and let Him become more.

So I stopped comparing myself to my members, and started to live my life with them. In time, I grew more as a soldier of Christ from my members than they did from their leader, and my faith grew exponentially through the Bible studies and the empowering brotherhood.

As an international student, I had travelled to every corner of the world, meeting every kind of person and experiencing every kind of culture that the continents had to offer before ever setting foot on American University; yet I learned so much more about life from meeting with my twelve guys every Tuesday night in my considerably smaller college dorm. I came to the revelation that Love was more about how well I was able to listen than about how much of it I had to share.

As our Chi Alpha continues to grow, I am convinced that this selfless, revolutionary Love is going to change and save the world one day.

Why Welcome Week Is The Most Exciting Time Of The Year

Bonnie graduated from Georgetown in 2013 and is the Director for Chi Alpha. She is passionate about having fun and coming up with creative ways of doing ministry here at Georgetown. Bonnie is extremely adventurous and can often be found taking students on bike rides to other states or trying to convince them to do the Tough Mudder.

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Welcome Week, as it is known in Chi Alpha world, is typically the first six weeks of classes every Fall. So kinda a misnomer, but Welcome Six Weeks sounds awkward. 

Welcome Week for me bears a lot of resemblance to graduation day.

It’s exciting, it’s fun, and it’s the culmination of something you’ve prepared so hard for while being utterly terrifying at the same time. 

When I look at the things I love most about Chi Alpha, it’s the people. It’s the students that I live life with. It’s the jokes that come when playing ridiculous games at retreats. It’s the hours of work spent setting up and tearing down.

Because ministry in a nutshell is moving heavy things long distances. And Jesus. Ministry is about Jesus and moving heavy things. 

“At our most recent Pray + Play Leader’s retreat, there was a sense of excitement that filled the air. Not solely for the people there, but in anticipation for the people who weren’t there yet. ”

And when I think about those people that make my life great, a lot of them share one thing in common: they discovered Chi Alpha during Welcome Week. Some were given a snow cone, others joined in for a late night glow-in-the-dark volleyball game. They got free burgers and bubble tea and were given an invitation to check out what we are all about.

They started as guests and became family. And I only risk sounding that cheesy when I’m stating the truth. 

When I think about the impending Welcome Week, I’m not thinking about how many students will be at our first service (though sometimes my insecurities creep up and cause anxiety), but instead I’m thinking of the people who are going to become part of my family. 

Some of my favorite memories in Chi Alpha (and there are a lot of them) happen at retreats. At our most recent Pray + Play Leader’s retreat, there was a sense of excitement that filled the air. Not solely for the people there, but in anticipation for the people who weren’t there yet. 

As I looked around the room at the people that I love and admire, I remember that at one time, they were all at Chi Alpha for the first time. And I know that next year, our retreat will have some new faces of people who we have yet to meet and some who still have no idea they will even be coming to Georgetown.

How cool is it that Jesus orchestrates things like that? 

That’s why what we work so hard during Welcome Week. All the sticky syrup situations. All the DC rush hour driving to pick up supplies. All the set up, tear down and repeats. 

We do it all not to recruit new members, but to our welcome our new family home.

What Chi Alpha Means To Me

Toby Amodeo is a rising senior at American University, studying film and media arts. This Connecticut native has done the infamous Tough Mudder five times. When he's not shooting film, you can find him drinking coffee at the best coffee shop you didn't know about yet.

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Chi Alpha often looks designed for freshmen and, in many ways, it is. Speaking from experience, new freshmen are in a desperate search for new friends and will sign up for anything, even a faith community they know nothing about.

But now, as a senior, I can look back and say both that I got a lot more than a friend group in Chi Alpha, and that I still have a place in this community even though I’m leaving it this year at graduation.

Chi Alpha is a place where I can comfortably say, “me, too.”

Just because I’m a senior doesn’t mean I have it all figured out. In fact, most freshmen I meet seem to have their lives together more than I do. But beneath the surface, everyone is struggling with something. I was struggling as a freshman, even though I’d never admit it at the time.

“There are so many people who think they have to prove themselves to find friends, who will never otherwise know that their identity can be placed in Christ if we don’t show them. What I’ve learned, I need to pass on.”

But because of some very brave and patient people, I became a part of a community that opens itself up, that recognizes that we’re not all okay. Chi Alpha invites me to take an honest look at myself and at faith, and it encourages me to open up to people I otherwise wouldn’t.

Because of this, I’ve grown to recognize that faith is not about feeling good or the absence of pain. In fact, the most difficult times in my college experience all happened after I became a Christian during my freshmen year. I’ve seen both amazing seasons of deep community as well as a few periods when it would have been very easy to walk away from Chi Alpha and from faith altogether. But because of the friends and mentors I’ve had, I stuck with it. They’ve encouraged me to seek Jesus more honestly and earnestly, and that’s what’s kept me grounded in college. And now it’s my turn to help someone else struggling like I was.

No, I’m not a small group leader, even though I’m a senior. But I am a part of this community. I’m not disqualified from caring about college students because I don’t go to the planning meetings. I’ve seen my major change three times (sorry, mom and dad), I’ve lost friends and made new ones, and I’ve made a series of good and bad decisions with my time at AU. But no matter my circumstances, I’ve always had someone in Chi Alpha supporting me, and I’m encouraged to develop my own role in the community.

How can I not offer that to someone else?

Reach the City, Update

Online fundraising for Reach the City - 2015

Freshman year, I thought that small group, church on Sundays and Thursday Night Worship were the goals. But as my faith develops and I grow in my relationship with God, I’m realizing that this is not the end. There are more students coming to American every year who look a lot like I did, not knowing that there is a God who loves them. There are so many people who think they have to prove themselves to find friends, who will never otherwise know that their identity can be placed in Christ if we don’t show them. What I’ve learned, I need to pass on.

Chi Alpha is a whole lot more than a friend group or a ministry that reaches out to new students. It’s the place that taught me that the mission field is sitting next to me in class, that there is always room for one more, because there was room for me.

The Joys and Challenges of Campus Ministry

Becca lives and works in our nation’s capital. She spent the past two years working with Chi Alpha, ministering to students at American University. She studied International Studies and Arabic language there, and is now stepping into her field professionally. In her free time, you can find her hanging out with friends, browsing Eastern Market and drinking lots of coffee. 

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Campus ministry has many joys - drinking coffee with students and talking about life and faith on a regular basis being one of them.

When I started doing campus ministry after college, I didn’t exactly know what I was getting myself into.

I had a picture of it from being a student leader in Chi Alpha at American University, but it’s completely different being on the staff team.

There’s much more responsibility, but also more opportunity to see God moving in people’s lives on campus.

One of the most joyous things about this job is seeing growth in students I’ve invested in. I’ve had a genuine, lasting impact not only on their lives, but on who they are as a person- their character and their faith has been defined in some way by my relationship with them.

All of the time, energy, love, prayer and carefully-thought-through questions and responses has not only paid off, but it has given me a relationship I’ll treasure for a lifetime. And even better - one they’ll treasure for a lifetime. The kind of gratitude that comes from these students is invaluable. It’s the best gift I could ever receive.

“On the most basic and profound level, sustainability in these relationships happens by being intentional. It’s a cycle of giving and rest that works by making intentional decisions. It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.”

The one thing I’ve found most challenging about these relationships, however, is sustainability.

Sacrificial love is the best kind - it’s the kind that Jesus shows us day in and day out. It’s the kind we’re called to give others. It can be a bit tricky to figure out how to sustain it though, while staying healthy and whole.

During my internship year, I remember trying to calculate in my head how the relationships God had laid out before me that year would work given my space-time parameters (and my love-giving parameters). The wise words Mike Godzwa gave me as I was voicing my concern were, “Well, it’s not a science, is it? It’s more of an art. Discipleship is an art, and it will never be perfect.” This both helped and scared me, because it meant I would have to figure it out as I went along and rely on the Holy Spirit. I found what Mike told me to be very true, though.

It became a discerning process. When was I going to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading to either sacrifice a little bit from my personal life in order to lean into a discipleship relationship, and when was I going to take a step back and rest? I think the most important thing is to first recognize that I need and deserve rest.

One of the biggest lessons I learned during that first year is that self-care is not selfish, and we are better able to give and love sacrificially when we are healthy and whole ourselves. Once I accept this, then I can better discern when those times are that I can give a little more.

On the most basic and profound level, sustainability in these relationships happens by being intentional. It’s a cycle of giving and rest that works by making intentional decisions. It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it. And it’s knowing the challenges and working on them that makes the joys all the more joyful.