Collegiate Summer Update!
Our Collegiate Mission Director, Joey Misiaszek, teaching students.
Over the summer, we’ve had exciting things happening with Ekklesia, our Northeast Navigators Summer Training Program in Northern Vermont. The Gospel has been advancing throughout the Northeast!
Here are some highlights that followed:
24 students from seven different universities joined.
Seven Ekklesia students, so far, have taken radical steps of personal healing, such as pursuing professional mental health counseling, facilitating reconciliation amongst their family, and extending costly forgiveness, all as a result of how Christ offers them healing from the wounds of life.
Multiple friends of Ekklesia students have come to faith for the first time after Ekklesia ended because of prayer, intentional love, and boldness for Jesus Christ.
One student also came to faith for the first time from the University of Connecticut.
Here’s her story:
Joanna*, an undergraduate student, signed up for Ekklesia despite uncertainty about allowing Jesus into her personal life. With her boldness and curiosity, she opened up to different team members about the shame in her heart that prevented her from wanting to identify as a “Christian.” However, after being welcomed into a place of embrace by our staff and students, where she found people who didn’t judge her messiness, her tears, or her questions, Joanna admitted to God that she desperately needed Him. She allowed the Holy Spirit to speak to her and gave control of her life to Jesus. Joanna later shared her testimony at a dinner toast with everyone on the importance of recognizing that there are more people like her in everyone’s circle of influence and how we all need the gospel preached to us. Despite Joanna’s shame, the Lord turned that into a deep joy for preaching the gospel, which touched everyone’s hearts in that room.
*Name has been changed