“Zephaniah 3:17 says that God utterly delights in His people. ‘He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing.’ At long last, I do not need to strive. I do not need to work for God to be happy with me. He doesn’t just tolerate me; He delights in me. I am the apple of His eye and His treasure. And it’s all because of who He is.”
Two weeks ago, a senior at Shippensburg University stood before 150 of her classmates and shared this as the culmination of her testimony. After coming into college with an intense struggle with scrupulosity, no understanding of grace, and a deeply broken church background, her life is now a trophy of God’s grace.
After she shared, our large-group meeting on campus proceeded with worship, teaching from Luke, and small-group discussion – but I missed most of it.
Right after she spoke, I caught sight of another girl in tears in the hallway. I had met her only once before, but I sat down next to her and asked what was wrong. She said, “I thought I was the only one.” She began describing the condemning thoughts that constantly filled her mind, shaped by a family background where church wasn’t part of life, yet God’s judgment was often used as a threat to enforce good behavior. As the tears poured, we opened the Scriptures together. We read about God’s heart in sending Jesus to save His people, not condemn them. I drew out the gospel for her, and we talked through what the good news truly is.
About an hour passed. She told me, “A couple days ago, I was at the end of my rope. And I prayed and asked God for help.” She had almost bailed, but decided to come to our large-group meeting for the first time in a year. And in God’s perfect timing, the testimony of a classmate made her feel less alone.
One of this girl’s good friends is a sophomore in our fellowship. He came into college as an atheist, but through consistently being pursued by students in our fellowship, regularly reading the Bible 1-on-1 with another student and attending Bible study, he came to know the Lord. As she watched her friend’s life transform, she was astounded. His transformation reignited a hope in her own heart. Maybe, just maybe, the thing she was missing could be found with God.
As we continued to look at the Scriptures, she expressed how difficult it was to know what is true about God and what is a distortion of His Word. I reassured her that the best way to know Him was to just read His Word, something she’d never done before. “Is there someone who could help me do that?” she asked.
Immediately following large-group, I connected her with two seniors, one of which just shared her testimony. The second girl came from a Catholic background with no understanding of the gospel. Two years ago, I sat on the floor of another hallway at our annual fall conference as she prayed and gave her life to Jesus. Now, both girls are actively following Jesus, reaching out to non-believing friends, and reading the bible 1-on-1 with younger girls to help them understand God’s Word for themselves. As I introduced these girls, the seniors eagerly took the lead in the conversation. They immediately exchanged numbers, eager to get to know her and start reading the Word together.
I’ve been working with DiscipleMakers at Shippensburg and Gettysburg Colleges for the past 5 years, and it’s stories like this that drive what I do. Every day on campus, I come across students from every background imaginable. Some students grew up in church, while others have never opened a Bible. Some come from just down the road, and some from the other side of the world. There are students who are confident in their relationship with the Lord, and those who are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, worshipping pagan gods, or practicing witchcraft. And yet, every one of them is an image-bearer of God. It is my heart that before they graduate, they’d all be pursued, loved, clearly hear the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed, and be given an opportunity to respond to Him.
How does DiscipleMakers accomplish that?
We meet students, we build relationships, and we open the Scriptures together. It’s not fancy programs that win souls for Christ, but patient prayer and the power of God’s Word. Once a week, we hold a large-group meeting where we are teaching through Luke, but we also facilitate over a dozen student-led bible studies that happen throughout the week. We have a leadership team of students who are eagerly seeking more training on how to share their faith, and partnering with our staff team to disciple younger students.
Every day, I sit down with girls for individual discipleship, helping them to know, love, and obey Jesus. I love getting a front row seat into their lives as they navigate college, relationships, conflict, budgeting, church membership, and so much more. The best part, however, is teaching them how to read God’s Word and talk about it with others. As I do this, it is incredibly encouraging to watch these students take bold steps of faith in community. Many of them are young Christians, yet they are taking God at His Word and seeing the need their friends have for the gospel around them.
Most of the girls I meet with for discipleship have at least one younger student that they connect with regularly to study the Bible together. Many of them are nervous, unsure if they know enough. They take a lot of comfort from Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 when he decides to “know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Paul was fearful and his words were plain, yet it was all, “so that [their] faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
Semester after semester, students are coming to faith in Jesus. And they are in turn becoming people who are actively taking up the call to make disciples. They challenge and encourage me daily with their pursuit of the Lord. I love them deeply, and I’m so eager to see the ways that He will continue to use them beyond graduation to share the gospel wherever they are sent.
I ask that you pray for these students – and if you want to hear more about how you can partner with me to reach these students or be added to my newsletter list for stories and prayer updates, please reach out to me at enestvedtm@dm.org. It’s a privilege to be your sister in Christ and to serve the Lord alongside you all.
Meet the Author
Maggie Enestvedt has worked with DiscipleMakers for 5 years, and is blessed to partner with West Shore in ministry. In her free time, Maggie loves playing volleyball, fiddle, and convincing everyone to go visit her home state of Minnesota.