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WHY CAMPUS MISSION?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Rom 1:16 NIV)

Introduction

Today I stand not to preach the message but as your friend and fellow coworker and partner in Christ to appeal to you that we should remain faithful to campus mission.

The world is changing rapidly. The campus mission filed is no exception. We feel like we are getting nowhere when we think about the campus ministry. It is a great challenge to serve campus students in the post-Christian era. Should we give up campus ministry and turn to the main stream church ministry? I would like to find some answers to this question using Stephen Lutz’s book titled “College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture” and Dr. Moses Chung’s book titled “The history of Christian student movement.” Korean students were like sheep without a shepherd in 1960s after the devastating Korean Civil War which divided the Korean peninsula into two nations-North and South Korea.  In the darkest times of Korean history God began the campus mission in the South Korea using late Dr. Samuel Lee and Mother Sarah Barry by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. All living things are born with a unique DNA. They adapt to a changing environment to survive but they never change their DNA. They die if they change their DNA. UBF was born with a special DNA which is University. It is unthinkable to think about UBF ministry without campus mission. UBF minus campus mission is like changing DNA. It is like eating salads without a dressing and it is like eating cereals without milk. UBF without campus students is like a fish without water.  So my answer is crystal clear. UBF should remain in campus ministry. The question is why?

PART I.  WE ARE UNIVERSITY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP

We all agree that the campus mission is at the core of our ministry. It is in our DNA. We are the gospel-centered college ministry. What is in the name? It means a lot. My name is Jacob Lee. My name represents everything-my first name, my family name, credit cards, school transcripts, airplane tickets, etc. including my character. I did not like Jacob first deceiver but I liked it now because he was fruitful. UBF represents campus mission.  KIMNET assigns us campus ministry track in the conference presentations because we represent University mission. They recognize that we are University experts. Indeed that’s what we are. Many church leaders requested our help how to do the campus ministry and especially campus fishing and 1 to 1 ministry and discipleship and the world mission. We are University people. The campus mission is our soul. We visit campus to find students for 1 to 1 ministry and disciple-making. Our women’s beautiful feet team goes to campus fishing every Wednesday and College Park Nine every Saturday. If there was no UBF campus mission, I would not have an opportunity to meet Jesus through 1 to 1 Bible study. I would have become the object of God’s wrath heading to eternal condemnation. Most of us met Christ during our college days through UBF campus ministry. When did you meet Jesus? Of course, we met Christ during college years. Amen!

I ask again, “should we continue to focus on college mission?” If you agree with me, say “Amen” Yes, we should stick to our college mission. Steve Lutz says, “College students are the most strategic ministry people group in the world today”

PART II WHY WE NEED MISSIONAL COLLEGE MINISTRY ACCORDING TO LUTZ

Lutz listed several reasons why college ministry is important as follows:

First, college students are in their formative years. Lutz says, “The college years powerfully shape the lives of men and women, setting the trajectory of their entire lives.” During college years, they make many important decisions about their identity, beliefs, and ethics. They make decisions about what to study and who to marry. And we can help them to make right decisions by studying the world of God with them and praying for them. Each year, many freshmen students come to college with excitement and expectations about future. Soon, however, many of them are swept away by the pleasure-seeking and unbelieving culture of the campus. Without the firm foundation based God’s word, they become like tumble weeds that move around by the wind. They are like sheep without a shepherd. They need someone who can help them to meet Jesus as their Lord. They need the biblical foundation on which they can build their value system.

Second, college students are future leaders of the world. There were about 20.4 million students enrolled in colleges in 2011 according to census figures. This was only about 6.6% of the total U.S. population. “But because these people grow to be leaders in every sphere, the impact they have on the world far exceeds their numbers” (p. 41).

Third, college is a strategic mission field because it is “a place devoted to the exchange of ideas and figuring out what to believe” (p. 42). Lutz says that if St. Paul were here today, he would make the college campus as his main mission field. College campuses are also Satan’s playground. It is the cradle of many liberal ideas. We need to keep the lamp of God burning in 561 USA campuses and 333 Canadian campuses.

Fourth, “The college campus is also significant from a global mission perspective.” Many international students from all over the world come to the U.S. (about 820,000 students in 2012) to get their education (and many to Canada as well). Students from nearly every nation of the world are among us for a few crucial years. We can reach out to the whole world by helping them to come to know Christ while they are here. We can even reach out to the Muslim world by studying the word of God with students who come to study here. According to Lutz, the campus will be next spiritual battle ground to advance the gospel message of Christ to many young students in America and all nations who are waiting for the good shepherds who can provide hope and vision. This is a clear reason that we should remain in the campus mission depending on the power of God.

PART III HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE FROM CHRISTIAN STUDENT MOVEMENT

Dr.  Moses Chung mentioned in his book that the long-term growth of the church hinges upon raising up many young trained spiritual leaders.  University campuses can be a fertile ground to find out many potential leaders.  Dr. Moses Chung listed spiritual leaders in the OT who received God’s training in their young ages. They are Joseph, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, King David, and Daniel. In the NT Jesus raised up his young disciples to send them out to preach the gospel. They became Jesus’ witnesses to the end of the earth starting from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Apostle Paul raised young Timothy as his successor for the Ephesus church.

Various Christian student volunteer movements enabled to raise missionaries who devoted their lives for the Great Commission of Jesus. In the 1700s, a group of young men gathered together to study the Bible and to pray on the campus of Oxford University in England. Among them were George Whitefield and John Wesley. God used them greatly to expand his kingdom in Europe and America. In August 1806, five students from Williams College in Massachusetts including Samuel J. Mills, Jr. got together to pray for a spiritual revival of their campus. A sudden thunderstorm forced them to take shelter in a haystack. This “Haystack Prayer Meeting” inspired many missionary movements. Historians believe that it was a beginning of the Second Great Awakening. It also led to the “Student Volunteer Movement” (SVM) that sent out 20,000 college students as missionaries with the vision, “the evangelization of the world in this generation.” Missionary Mother Barry said that she signed a missionary pledge through the SVM. God used Mother Sarah Barry as a young missionary to Korea. These are only a few examples of how God has used college ministries to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. No one can deny that God used UBF campus mission to send out over 1500 missionaries to 87 nations. Korean UBF sent one third of their members as missionaries. They sent 900 missionaries to North America. Now North America’s Sunday worship attendance number is about 2200 and we should send 700 missionaries which is one third of our Sunday worship numbers to the ends of the earth. This is our future vision. This is possible when we have well trained college students.

PART III MY OWN STORY

I lost my parents during the Korean War when I was 5 years old boy. I grew up as a Korean War orphan fatalistic and broken and wounded. I was a young man in need of healing and life direction. Jesus came to me when I needed him most in my college days. When I entered college, I was an able sinner who did not know the gospel. I was in spiritual darkness but M. Esther Lee invited me to UBF Bible study. I was born again into the kingdom of God through John 3:3, Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."  (John 3:3 NIV) Jesus found me when I was lost in darkness in college days. God forgave my sins through the death of Jesus on the cross and gave me to live as a child of God. I met Christ in my college year when I was fresh and had a desire to search for the truth. If I missed college days for my spiritual life, I would have become the most miserable sinner in the world. But by the grace of God I was saved from my sins. Later I married with M. Esther who invited me to UBF. Campus mission brought double blessings-campus mission and marriage problem solved. I received a missionary call and came to Washington the nation’s capital. University of Maryland became my mission land. Maryland campus became my Promised Land that flowed milk and honey. God provided school job and I worked for UMCP campus for 22 years and raised three sons through UMCP free education. Because of campus mission, God blessed me abundantly. Campus mission made all God’s blessings possible. College mission is possible. I love campus mission. I gave my youth and life for campus mission. God blessed us to build the Bible center next to the University and our student ministry is the backbone of our ministry. Many students received missionary training and were sent out to mission fields like M. Wynelle Nett in Germany, Dr. Steve Haga in Taiwan, Philip Brown in X nation, Bob Von Moss in Mongolia, James Ocita in Uganda, and Abe Lee in V nation. Many students experienced God’s calling for campus mission as short term missionaries. God built a strong youth ministry ranging from CBF, JBF, and HBF.  YDJ (young disciples of Jesus) are growing as spiritual leaders through team trainings and Bible studies and volunteer works like the early morning prayer participation and Bible testimony symposium and singing groups for Sunday Worship Service. College ministry provides international exposures to all nations like Nepal, India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Germany. We can preach the gospel to all nations by serving college ministry. The world mission is possible here and now through international students who came to USA for education. To me college ministry is possible by the power of the gospel. Though it is a great challenge to pioneer college campuses in these turbulent times, the gospel has power to save all people who believe in Jesus.  It is universal truth that the gospel is the power of salvation for everyone who believes. The gospel has a transforming power to change young college students into the army of God who change the world history. Praise God! Historian Arnold Toynbee said, “History belongs to those who respond to the challenges.” I believe that God can help us to meet the challenges of campus mission in North America. Are ready for God’s call for campus mission? 

In conclusion, we know that our college ministry is in crisis as we embrace the post Christian culture. But crisis presents also a great opportunity for a successful campus ministry because “God intervenes through Jesus Christ.”  (Lutz p. 27) The gospel will transform our college campuses into our fruitful mission fields in the 21st century because students are looking for the gospel message of hope. There is no retreat in campus mission. We must progress towards the goal of campus evangelism and the world mission by the power of the gospel.

One word: CAMPUS MISSION IS UBF DNA