Christians on Campus: Fellowship, the Word of God, and Prayer

Every Christian has a story. Have I ever told you mine? 

In this post, I will focus on my experience as a Christian since I arrived in college at the University of Texas in Austin, in particular my experience with a club called Christians on Campus. If you want the full version, I would be happy to tell you in person!

I moved across half the country to attend UT. When I arrived in Austin, I knew virtually nobody. One of my priorities was to get connected with other Christians. Fortunately, one of the few people I did know helped me to find a group called Christians on Campus. The first week of school, I went to Freshmen Connect, a welcome event for new students. Since then, my experience with the group has been awesome; I’ve been learning to live a normal, daily Christian life.

Christian Fellowship

My freshman year at UT, I built the habit of having Christian fellowship with other believers on a daily basis. In high school, what I considered an adequate pursuit of the Lord consisted of a weekly church meeting, an uplifting retreat every few months, and the occasional reading of a Bible verse or two. But when I arrived at UT and started meeting with Christians on Campus, I quickly discovered that these people were much more serious than that! Their pursuit of the Lord was not occasional, not weekly, but daily. During the course of my freshmen year, I began meeting and having fellowship with other believers every day of the week in Bible studies and small groups. I started to see a glimpse of the church life as described in Acts 2:46 – “day by day” and “house to house.”

Reading the Word of God

My second year at UT, I built the habit of reading the Bible on a daily basis. Some other students from Christians on Campus were doing a 90 day New Testament reading schedule, and I decided to jump in. For me, reading the Bible had always been a chore, something I knew I should do but didn’t always enjoy. Many times, I had the all-too-common experience of starting in Genesis or Matthew, only to fizzle out before reaching Numbers or Acts. This time, however, I started reading with companions. Each day, we texted each other verses that we enjoyed. Mysteriously, I started to gain a real appetite for the Word of God. I can honestly say that reading the Bible is now something I look forward to every day.

A Habit of Prayer

My third year at UT has been a year of learning to pray with others. Building an atmosphere of prayer with close Christian friends is not easy, but I have been learning to pray with others on a daily basis. This matter is a little bit harder to explain in words, but I feel like Galatians 6:2 does a pretty good job: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ completely.” Both in scheduled times of prayer and spontaneous times of prayer, I am learning to let others bear my burdens by praying with them.

Fellowship, the Word of God, and prayer are three crucial elements of our Christian life. I am thankful to the Lord that through my experience with Christians on Campus at UT, He has built these habits into my daily life.

P.S. You can also read a more detailed testimony from this past fall semester.

A Reflection on the Past Semester

Friday was the final day of class, bringing to a close my fifth semester here at UT. Of the five, this semester stands out as the best so far. Before the semester started, I made a major decision that I knew would deeply affect my life. The decision was to stop running competitively. Running had been a big part of my life since fifth grade, when I first turned out for cross country and track. Though I didn't always enjoy the training aspect of running, I always enjoyed competing and the team camaraderie. However, this past summer, I felt like it was time to move on due to some outward and inward arrangements.

Including practices, meetings, and competitions, most Division I NCAA sports take at least 20 hours out of an athlete's week. Distance running is no different. In fact, in some ways, distance running takes more time than any other sport since there is no off-season. So I knew coming into this semester that I would have a lot more time on my hands. Of course, having entered the upper division of chemical engineering, I knew that some of that extra time would be dedicated to academic work and research. However, I also knew that despite the additional school work, I would have more free time than previous semesters. Before the semester, I consecrated my free time to the Lord in a definite way. I did not want my time to be wasted with vain or idle things. I wanted to redeem the time (Colossians 4:5, Ephesians 5:16), that it would be useful to the Lord.

Well, the Lord honored my consecration in a definite way. This semester, my time was filled with bible studies, gospel preaching, appointments with other Christians on campus, and times of fellowship in the homes of the saints. I also had the privilege of getting to know quite a few new freshmen and help them grow in the Lord. Many times, these freshmen also helped me to turn to my spirit and pursue after Christ!

But most of all, what I enjoyed this semester was praying in a consistent way with a few other brothers, who I would call my companions in the Lord. I felt like all semester, we were bearing one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2). The time we spent praying to contact God and intercede for others was definitely not wasted.

Last night, Christians on Campus had our final event of the semester - a celebration banquet. I had a chance to share about my experience with the Lord this semester. Hearing testimonies from other students about their experiences with the Lord this semester was awesome, as well. The Lord is moving on the UT campus! Praise Him!