I recently met one of the "grandfathers" of campus ministry at UC, Ken. He has ministered at this campus for 19 years! Thinking it might be helpful to get the perspective from one who has been here so long, I asked if we could meet.
As we talked, he told me about all the new Christian ministries that had come to campus in the last 2 years. I instinctively felt disappointed by that news thinking this would make starting the two new InterVarsity ministries more challenging. But Ken's follow up comment surprised me. He said, "that's why I feel like the harvest is ripe here." His comment caught me off guard, but he went on to explain: "You know how scripture talks about the harvest being plentiful, but the workers being few? Well, I figure if so many workers are coming into this harvest field, it must be ripe for harvest."
Huh. I was struck by the fact that Ken saw the new workers on campus as a blessing, rather than a barrier to overcome. He wasn't concerned with which student was in what ministry or fearful that having more ministry groups on campus would take away from his work. Quite the contrary. I walked away feeling encouraged about working on this campus and knew I had more to learn from Ken.
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