| Educational Missions in the News |
Grad Student Takes on Campus Ministry
Oct. 7, 2008 -- An Ontario graduate student has stepped in to lead the Home Missions-supported campus ministry at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, for the 2008-09 school year.
Mike Buma, a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario, will serve as the Interim CRC Chaplain at Fanshawe. Previously, Buma had been involved with the Home Missions-funded campus ministry at the University of Western Ontario and happened to be on the committee to hire a new pastor for the Fanshawe ministry.
When the committee could not find the right applicants for the Fanshawe position, this past summer a committee member suggested that Buma apply for the job himself.
“That had never really occurred to me before, and in the ensuing weeks I began to think and pray about it in earnest,” explains Buma. “As the summer went by, all the details seemed to fall into place in a way that I could only construe as providential, so, still uncertain, I offered myself as a tentative candidate for the position. A few days later I was offered the job.”
Buma will be working as the Fanshawe chaplain 20 hours a week. At the same time, he will be applying for academic jobs and teaching courses at both Western Ontario and Redeemer College.
Although such a packed schedule might seem daunting, Buma is ready to tackle the challenge. “God is good, and I’m confident that he’ll work both through me and in spite of me to further his glory at Fanshawe,” he remarks. “I’m very excited to take on this new challenge and humbled by the responsibility to which I’ve been entrusted.”
- Ben Van Houten, Christian Reformed Home Missions
http://www.crcna.org/news.cfm?newsid=827 |
CRC Students Discuss Their Faith on Campus
June 9, 2008—Once a month, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) campus ministers Neil and Virginia Lettinga entertain about a dozen students at their home for lunch. In addition to breaking bread together, the group studies the Bible and shares their experiences as students.
Normally, gatherings such as this focus on the interests and needs of students from all denominations, or simply those seeking to learn more about Christianity.
While the Lettingas do provide ministry and times of fellowship for all students, they have set aside this monthly lunch for Christian Reformed students who are members of nearby Prince George CRC. One may question the Lettingas’ approach: isn't a campus ministry supposed to minister to all seekers and non-believing students?
But the Lettingas say they have found that Christian Reformed students need this regular fellowship just as much as their non-believing counterparts at their 3,500-student university do.
Virginia Lettinga observes, “These kids need to talk about what it means to be Reformed and how they are supposed to relate to non-believers on campus and in the world in general.” During each monthly “Second Sunday” lunch at the Lettingas’ home, students discuss how to respond to the questions they receive from their secular peers at the university.
“Most of these students have been part of very tight-knit CRC communities their whole lives and have had very different experiences from those of the postmodern students they socialize with here,” Lettinga adds.
The Christian Reformed Chaplaincy at UNBC, one of twenty-three North American campus ministries funded by Christian Reformed Home Missions, is the only full-time Christian ministry at the university.
In addition to their duties ministering to students, the Lettingas report to the school’s InterFaith Coordinating Committee, chaired by a member of the local Baha’i community. The pair also helps local pastors stay abreast of campus issues and offer a Reformed perspective among Christians on campus as they seek to encourage youth to meet Jesus.
In addition to their monthly lunches with CRC students, the Lettingas host Sunday lunch discussions for up to twenty-five other students, including seekers and Christians from other denominations.
- Ben Van Houten, Christian Reformed Home Missions
http://www.crcna.org/news.cfm?newsid=606 |
Home Missions Seeks to Grow Campus Ministry
April 29, 2008—The Northeast U.S. is, in many ways, the country’s capital of higher education. Hundreds of colleges and universities dot this growing megalopolis, which includes Boston , New York , Philadelphia , and Washington , D.C.
Surprisingly, there are only two Christian Reformed campus ministries in this massive region, both located in New Jersey . That’s something Christian Reformed Home Missions is hoping to change.
Peter Schuurman, Home Missions’ Educational Mission Specialist, is on the East Coast this week in an effort to do something about the campus pastor shortage.
Schuurman is specifically speaking to a group including the Home Missions Eastern U.S. Ministry Team, regional CRC pastors, and other church representatives to explore solutions to the question: how can the denomination reach campuses and the next generation for Christ?
“We hope to spend time sharing what God is doing now and brainstorming about what he might yet do on college campuses through our East Coast churches,” says Schuurman.
The denominational philosophy, Schuurman explains, is for a campus minister to be embedded in a local Christian Reformed Church. With that in mind, he hopes the discussions on the East Coast will lead to some ideas about what future Home Missions-CRC campus ministry partnerships might look like.
Currently, more than half of the 23 Home Missions-funded campus ministries are located in Canada .
Schuurman recently conducted discussions in the Chicago area, which focused on possible ways to grow campus ministry in that region. He points out that “as a church, we need to nurture another generation of kingdom leaders, and campus is one strategic place to do this.”
Ben Van Houten, Christian Reformed Home Missions
|
http://www.crcna.org/news.cfm?newsid=549
|
