First Week on Campus
With great joy I am able to report that with some additional funding that came in, I am now working on campus with students! There are so many stories that I would love to share, and will be featured in upcoming posts, but I’d like to share a few highlights about my first week on campus.
The first week on campus was January 10th-14th. I started the week by having a meeting with Student Exec President, Vanessa and visioning for what my time on campus would look like and what things we hope to do this semester. It was exciting to have this conversation and starting putting plans in place as I’d been dreaming and anticipating for my return to campus.
After Vanessa and I met, we went to the Student Executive Leaders Meeting. After spending some time catching up and sharing about our breaks, we began to plan and vision for the semester. During the summer planning meeting, we discussed the possibility of studying Romans for the winter semester. It was clear the student leaders were excited about following through with this idea. I was struck by God’s providence as we began to put this plan into motion. During the fall when I was off-campus raising support, I co-led a bible study at my church of the book of Romans. It was an interactive study that included watching a historical video series which sought to portray the context of the letter of Romans, as well as spending time studying the scripture. This study allowed me to connect with people from all walks of life within my church’s congregation and gave me an opportunity to both give back to the community and continue developing and using my leadership skills. At many times during the bible studies, I would walk about struck by the similarities between life in the Roman Empire and life on campus. I was excited to share my experiences of the book of Romans, and also learn from the interpretations and experiences of my students. We planned when we would study which sections throughout the semester, and actually developed our plan by building on the material that I worked with this fall. It was a great moment to see how God had really used my time away on campus to prepare my return as a stronger leader. It was also great to see ways in which my church community was able to tangibly be on campus with me, as I would be able to share insights into the scripture I’d learned from my church bible study group.
With great excitement we made preparations for the rest of the week in ministry. January 12th was the annual Ryerson Campus Caravan, which was very similar to the Campus Groups Day that happened in the fall. The students were excited to meet new students and invite them to be part of the many exciting things we were planning for the semester.
January 13th was the first Inter-Varsity community meeting for the semester. It also happened to be my birthday. It was a fun evening, as we spent time eating together and playing games as well as sharing the vision for what the semester was going to look like. Moses, designed a beautiful flyer for the bible study, and everyone was very excited about studying Romans this term! A few were disappointed we didn’t start the study that evening, as they were very eager to dig into the scripture! Vanessa, and a few students made cupcakes in honour of my birthday, and the students sang Happy Birthday. As they were singing to me, I reflected on God’s timing, as this was my first big re-introduction to the community and He placed it on a day already set apart for celebrating. Birthdays have often been bittersweet experiences for me, and this year, I was surrounded by the love of my students. All my fears about returning to campus and not being able to connect and build trust with students melted away as I heard them sing. We ended the evening with a rousing game of ultimate charades, and I went home excited about the things God would teach us and how He would use us for His purposes on campus this term!
The Arch 