2/5/25

Today was wild! Nick and I were only able to minister at CSUF for about an hour, but, boy, did God provide!

We began our time set up with our whiteboard to receive the thoughts and experiences of the students who engage with us. This has been an amazingly affective method of engaging with students about their beliefs and perspectives without creating excessive feelings of intrusion and prying. All we do is invite students to add their tally to the board and then ask if they would be willing to elaborate as to why they answered as they did. Almost everyone who makes a mark is willing to thoroughly explain why they believe that way! 

This was already going well, but we soon heard a large commotion from another area on campus. We decided to take our sign and check out what was going on, and we discovered a group of potent street preachers and a rivaling student playing guitar. The preachers shouted many things to the growing crowd, some true, some questionable, but all certainly accompanied by a fierce and harsh presentation. The student guitarist, whom Nick and I have previously had great conversations with about religion, was quite intensely expressing his distaste for this group of preachers and their message. It is hard to capture the scene for you, but it fit the stereotype I would have imagined prior.

Nick and I decided to set our sign up off to the side, and we changed the question to, "What was Jesus' main message?". It didn't take long for students to notice us and take interest in our question. One student, *Nyla, approached us to answer our question. After dialoging with *Nyla, she pointed out the extreme distinction between our presentation and the street preachers. She told us that she was comfortable engaging us in conversation because we were clearly peaceable! How powerful!

Under further reflection, I am amazed to experience such a vibrant contrast between the ministry done in love and that of the contrary. Not long ago, Nick and I had a beautiful dialogue with this student guitarist who is now violently rejecting and opposing these preachers. Even the other Christian ministers and students that we know were repelled by these words lacking love. People are not ignorant of the heart of our engagement, especially for these preachers who shouted at them. I ache for the damage these preachers have done and the walls they have erected in the hearts of these students towards Jesus.