Making a Difference at Wichita State

When the NCF leadership team at Wichita State University (KS) met to plan their meetings for the year, they were feeling overwhelmed by their busy schedules and seemed short on ideas. So they started by praying and asking God to come, to speak, to work . . .

Our prayers started with, “Help, God, we’re overwhelmed!” and moved into “How do you want us to be reaching out?” said Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, NCF staff. “We asked God to bring non-Christians into our group and prayed for 1 or 2, no . . . 10 students to meet Jesus this semester!”

Soon a plan unfolded unexpectedly before them as they discussed having a student or a few faculty members share their summer missions experiences at the September meeting. They were proposing titles when suddenly someone suggested the title, “Can I make a difference?” Then someone else said, “That could be our theme this semester!”

The first campus meeting attracted 29 students and 14 faculty members in pre-nursing, nursing, and health professions. One student who went to Haiti talked about how God opened her eyes to see that people around her need Christ. She asked the group, “What can we be doing to share Jesus Christ here and now? How can we make a difference in the school of nursing?” It was very powerful.

Students are starting Bible studies with their friends, and 8 students are already interested in attending Urbana 12. Kathy praises God for the missional momentum of the group to make a difference in the world, in their community, at their school, and within their college of health professions. And they continue to pray for God to come, to speak, to work . . .