Campus Meetings

Bryan speaking at Eastern Michigan


Abbey sharing testimony at University of Michigan


Bryan speaking at Saginaw Valley State University


Brian in a one-to-one meeting


Abbey meeting with girls at Central Michigan

When cruise time in the family van is over and we set foot on the campus for the day's meeting, we usually first meet up with the campus minister and leadership team for dinner to get to know them, and then head on to the ministry's large group meeting for the week.

We'll typically have anywhere from 20-500 students at the large group meetings where we share our 45 minute presentation. Brian Villarias kicks us off by introducing us and sharing his story of how God gave him a heart for the world, followed by 30 minutes of Bryan going Genesis to Revelation showing that God's heart for the Nations is evident beginning to end and that He desires and deserves worship from every tongue, tribe, people and nation. After Bryan shares the conclusion, Revelation 7:9, he explains the task remaining and about the almost 2 Billion unreached who have never once heard the gospel. Amber and I come up after that and each share how God used this message in our lives and how we've lived differently as a result. Bryan comes back up after us and challenges the students to embrace God's heart for the nations and be a part of what He's doing in the world by giving them practical applications and steps they can take to begin growing in what we call a 'World Christian lifestyle' (praying for the world, sending others, going yourself, welcoming Internationals and mobilizing others to be a part of what God is doing in the world).

After a meeting is over, we'll normally hang around for a while, talking to students and helping them get more resources at our book table, and invite them to meet with us 1-1 for more information if they are interested.

In the 1-1 time, we might have just one student, or a group of 5-10, and we walk them through an illustration that looks further into what a World Christian's lifestyle looks like and how they can mobilize others on their campus and home churches. We also connect them with specific opportunities to go overseas with 10 partnering mission agencies, and opportunities to get more training as well as prayer maps, books and videos to help them learn more about what God is doing in the world and how they can be a part.

Because we have such a short time on each campus, we keep in touch with students through email regularly, and by the end of a semester, we might have anywhere from 75-150 students we've met with personally. So far, I've met with 122 girls, and we still have 14 meetings left to go! We also pass the student's info on to our partnering agencies and our home office, so not only are they getting personal emails from us, but they are getting all kinds of info, resources, opportunities and personal emails from our contacts at each of our agencies as well. This is a great reminder and encouragement to them that they have a responsibility in World Evangelization, and a specific part to play in that.

We love getting to be a part of seeing students all across the nation catch this vision of what God is after, worship from among the nations, and their eyes light up and light bulbs go on as they begin to understand that they are part of something so much bigger than themselves. It is such a joy connecting with these students, we love our job!