Groups for nursing students aren’t just for helping them cope with the stress and unique expectations of becoming professional nurses. These groups also disciple young adults in their spiritual formation. Claudia, a nursing student at at York College of Pennsylvania, attends a weekly student group. Andrew, the InterVarsity campus staff minister working with those students, continually challenges them to practice their faith. Recently, Claudia took seriously Andrew’s challenge to pray for her clinical group. Here’s her story.
“In our second week of Apprenticeship Team, the challenge was to take a risk for the sake of the Gospel. At first, my mind was flooded with possibilities of how I could do. I thought of dramatic ways such as standing up in front of a crowd and sharing my story, or even walking up to a stranger and telling the Good News of Jesus.”
“Both of those options would have been risky, but when I was doing my devotional the night before clinical, I felt the Lord lay on my heart to pray for my clinical group at the start of clinical. My heart suddenly began to pound in my chest, the way it usually does when my mind, body, and spirit are aligning with God’s heart. I could not ignore this calling placed on my heart, so I went to bed that night sure of His presence, and nervous and excited for the next day.”
“The next day at clinical, I knew I only had a short amount of time where our clinical group would be together. I quietly raised my hand and shared how I was nervous for the clinical day, and I asked to professor if I could pray for the group before we started our day.”
“I prayed a short prayer, and I am confident that the Lord was able to use my obedience to plant seeds in some of my classmates' hearts. I believe He is able to work in amazing ways, and I'm confident that He could have stirred my heart without the prompting of the Apprenticeship Team challenge, but I know that being challenged in intentional ways definitely pushed me to take a risk for the sake of Christ.”
Currently, 136 nursing student groups meet around the U.S. Jen Wojtysiak, NCF’s Student Ministries Director, is eager for more groups to launch. Nurses who want to volunteer to start or work with a group, as well as nursing faculty, are in high need. Contact Jen if you’re interested in challenging and discipling the next generation of Christian nurses.
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