My Adventure to Brown University
During UVA's Spring Break, I had the privilege of leading 14 students up to Rhode Island to spend time reaching out to the students of Brown University, partnering with Chi Alpha at Brown University, and getting them plugged in to The Branch (the Chi Alpha ministry at Brown).
The team!
We had an awesome time as spent mornings and afternoons working a table and giving away free hot chocolate to the students and asking them what they thought of our "Question of the Day"
Mark, Annie, and Jake working the table
Each day for the week, we would be out on campus from 10a-3p giving away hot chocolate and talking with students on the subject of peace. Students were very receptive to our questions (and our hot chocolate on those cold days!) and spent time chatting with us. On one occasion, a student from Brown University ran up before we had our table set-up and hot cocoa out and said, "I know you don't have your table set up yet or hot cocoa, but I just want to talk to you guys about faith!"
That's pretty awesome that there are students that are spiritually hungry on this campus.
We also spent time going out and talking to individuals on what they thought about matters of faith and peace in their lives. While most weren't as receptive to us as they were at our tables, they at least got to hear us share briefly about who Jesus is and what He has done personally in our lives!
Our evenings were spent debriefing from the day and giving one another encouragement. Honestly, this was probably my favorite time on the whole trip. It was cool to see the students minister to one another and lift each other up through prayer and through words of affirmation. We cooked meals together and played games afterwards and had some meaningful conversations.
Marina, Linda, Annie, and our stacks of pancakes for one of our dinners
We had a free day to go and explore Boston, which was great!
After our free day, we were back on campus to prepare for Thursday Night's event, "Text-a-Toastie." Students from Brown could text a question about faith, God, and spiritual matters as well as their choice of either Grilled Cheese or Nutella and Marshmallow Creme sandwich and we would bring them their sandwich as well as our best attempt at answering their question. We gave out almost 100 sandwiches that night!
Mmmmmm...nourishment
Friday saw us doing more tabling and encouraging people to come out for The Branch's large group meeting that happens in Wilson Hall every Friday night. We were able to attend the meeting and one of the students on my trip got to share his testimony. One of the things he said really struck me; something that I've noticed not just at Brown, but on the universities that I have been on for an extended period of time...
“Don’t just build your resume. Build relationships.”
Though we were only there for a week, the trip made a lasting impact on the team. Many said that this was their first experience doing a missions trip and wanted to go on another one next year. Many were encouraged and saw the Lord do some amazing things both in them and through them while we were there.
I can't express enough how thankful I am that the Lord brought these people together to do His work on His campus.
We all realized that this work was not just meant for Brown University and the week we had there, but this work was meant to be shared with everyone, everywhere.
The team on Friday night!
