Campus Ministry and Missions:
 
It may very well be the understatement of the century, but let’s get back to the basics and understand that Christ has a worldview. One of the first verses of scripture that we’re taught as baby Christians is John 3:16, which states “God so loved the world”.... In a prayer to His Heavenly Father, Jesus prays at John 17:18, 19: “As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself entirely to you so they might also be entirely yours.” In these passages, I think that we not only find that Christ had a worldview, but that He also intended for those who follow Him to do the same. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the Great Commission. Christ says, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere,” and I believe we are to “lead a life worthy of (that) calling”...as Paul begs us to do in Ephesians 4:1. Let it be said that Christ did not hide His call upon our lives to be “world changers” in small print so that we would have to “sift” through it. 
 
In May, I accompanied the team from the CCF group at Iowa State on a short-term mission trip to Catia La Mar, Venezuela, and I must say I was impressed by their motivation to lead lives worthy of their calling. The ministry at Campus Christian Fellowship includes many incredible opportunities for college students to become passionate to live the rest of their lives as soldiers for Christ, but the one opportunity that I am personally most passionate about is that of missions because I believe it‘s only when we are willing to go out into the world that we see it as Christ sees it. Here’s something to think about: could Christ have given as He did had He stayed home in Heaven?
 
I doubt that the President of any of the land-grant universities in Iowa realizes that each year around graduation time, his university is sending out a small army of missionaries. I can say with certainty that nowhere does Iowa State, the University of Iowa or the University of Northern Iowa claim to be schools that promote Christian thought.
 
I don’t know what your “tie” to CCF is, but know this about the fabric of Campus Christian Fellowship: this ministry strives to accomplish the task Jesus set before us; that of going out into the world and proclaiming His love. Whether it be on an Indian reservation in Arizona, or in Romania where kids are starving for someone to spare even just a moment to be with them; whether it be in Mexico where they’re living in “houses” being held up by loose 2 X 4’s; in Taiwan at an orphanage; in Kansas at a children’s home; or in Venezuela where the percentage of protestant Christians reaches no more than 2%. I guess it doesn’t matter where they’re at; after all, there are people everywhere who are starving spiritually. May Christ’s love compel us to reach beyond ourselves and “live lives worthy of our calling.”
 
I want to close with the words of Romans, chapter 10, verse 14: “But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” 
 
Maybe that “someone” is you. 
 
Love in Christ, 
Jaime C. Woodburn, former CCF intern