Jan 29, 2019
By Conor Hannah
I am planning to make a major change in what I anticipate to be the next phase of my life. I am a senior at Fairmont State University in West Virginia and will be graduating in May of 2019 with a degree in Graphic Design. However, after graduation I plan to enlist with the Chi Alpha Campus Ministries missionary team full time on the FSU campus. God has led me to focus my efforts to be a part of this ministry and join Him at work here, transforming lives to live in love for Him instead of love for the world.
College is a place where people often make big decisions about who they are and what they are going to do with their lives. Consequently, it is also often a crucial battleground for the soul. Many will either solidify their faith or walk away from it. However, if they solidify their faith in Christ, they carry that wherever they go—their homes, their work, and beyond. Many students at Fairmont State are national students; however, there are quite a few international students as well—the largest number being from Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this ministry also impacts the whole world for Christ.
I have already been involved with Chi Alpha Campus Ministries for the past three and a half years. I started as a Life Group member then became a Life Group leader. These Life Groups consist of a weekly Bible study with a small group of students along with informal meetings for prayer and just spending time together throughout the week. We also have weekly worship services with all Fairmont State Life Groups on Thursday nights.
The mission of Life Groups and Chi Alpha is to disciple students for Christ. Through Life Group I was discipled and grew immensely in my walk with the Lord. I learned how to deal with problems better and how to love others more in the way that God loves them. I also learned the importance of consistent prayer and devotional time. My life was impacted so much through Chi Alpha that I wanted this for others as well. This is why I became a Life Group leader. In the past two and a half years I have regularly met with a group of five to eight young men from the university. I have been blessed to baptize two of these men and have led three of them to become Life Group leaders.
Throughout these past couple of years, I have also met regularly with a Saudi Arabian international student. We talked a great deal about the various differences in our cultures. Eventually, the conversations turned to religious topics and I was able to invite him to a Thursday night worship service. He did not really understand a lot of the service since he had little exposure to Christianity, but afterward, I was able to share the Gospel with him. He graduated this December and headed back to Saudi Arabia with plans to start a restaurant. Like many international students, he is taking the gospel of Christ with him to the other side of the world.
Working with the Chi Alpha missionary team, I will be continuing this ministry at Fairmont State University. I will still be leading a Life Group, but I will also be running outreach activities, leading annual mission trips, helping lead other Life Group leaders, helping with the Thursday night worship services, and occasionally preaching.
To carry this out I will need the support of others to fully devote myself to serve in this ministry. You can help by committing to pray for this work, share with others my calling, and/or commit to help with regular financial support through the SDB Missionary Society. Thank you for joining me in our mission to disciple others in Christ as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
