A Year of Influence: 2016-17
This year we witnessed a fruitful harvest of nursing students. We thank God for Tim Lin and Bonnie Hann who are leading NCF Student Ministries in new initiatives for growth. We saw an increase in the value of NCF ministry in nursing schools. This year 20% of chapters experienced someone deciding to follow Jesus (up from 10% last year). Our staff are coaching more leaders on how to share the gospel at gatherings or in personal conversations and ask for commitments to Jesus.
One NCF member shared how she found help during a stressful time and offered to pray for a non-believing student who asked to know more. “Over the next few hours we talked, and the student accepted Christ.” Conversations like this are happening more frequently as students learn to take risks by sharing their faith with classmates.
Many chapters reported that NCF created much-needed support, describing their group as “a place where everyone belongs.” NCF provided “a forum to discuss challenges” and discuss how faith applies to their experiences in nursing school. Praise God that nursing students are learning to follow Jesus through NCF!
This year NCF continued to provide a Christian voice in nursing. Membership in the NCF professional association remained steady at approximately 1500 members. For a modest membership fee, nurses and students receive Journal of Christian Nursing, continuing education discounts, and other benefits. Local nurse groups met together to encourage each other and provide a witness to Christ in their communities. If you are a nurse, consider joining NCF, or give a gift membership to a nurse or nursing student. Learn more at www.ncf-jcn.org/membership.
For the third year in a row, Journal of Christian Nursing won awards from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors—one of only two journals to win four awards. JCN also completed a four-year project on moral distress, partnering with the American Journal of Nursing and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. You can read these highly acclaimed, free JCN articles at www.journalofchristiannursing.com.
A Year of Promise: 2017-18
God has given us an exciting strategic plan for ministry in 2017-2018. Our vision is to double the number of NCF student groups to 200 by the year 2020. Our plan for adding 30 new groups next year includes:
- providing chapter planting grants to InterVarsity staff to start NCF ministry on their campuses
- creating a team of staff “Champions” to grow and advocate for NCF ministry on more campuses
- offering leadership training for NCF faculty advisors and an online training Academy for student leaders
- developing missional resources for NCF chapters.
We also are developing strategies for keeping JCN cutting edge and hiring additional JCN editors. We want to grow NCF professional membership and ministry and we’re looking to hire a Professional Ministries Director.
Praise God for his gracious presence through NCF ministry this year and pray that 2017-2018 will be a year of even greater harvest of nursing students and nurses.
