Hope Despite the Hard Year

This year has been tough. We’re Zoomed out, stressed out, and ready for summer! This time of year, we in Student Ministries are always filled with hope! Hope for better weather, hope for summer break, and this year, hope that in spite of a hard ministry year we can trust God has been and is still working.

Here are some ways God has shown himself active and powerful among nursing students this year:

• Bethany is an NCF staff in Virginia. After a rough fall semester, Bethany got scrappy in outreach to students and posted a story on Instagram inviting her connections to engage with her around the idea of self-care and eating right, and then inviting them to know more about NCF and Jesus. Six new nursing students engaged with her story all the way through the last post. Four of those students kept coming regularly to her NCF Bible study through the spring. One was even in tears a few weeks back, having encountered Jesus in the Scripture! 
• After COVID-19 hit, the newly planted student group at Lansing Community College (Michigan) moved its NCF programming to Instagram. They engaged each day with a different aspect of worship. Monday was musical worship, Tuesday was a written prayer, Wednesday was Scripture, Thursday was off for clinicals, and Friday was prayer requests. The leader posted or asked the group to share something that was on their hearts that week. The students were able to stay connected over the school year and they committed to inviting a friend to follow along on Instagram and almost doubled their group through those invitations!

The power and work of God is so evident among students who are seeking God and those who are living to honor and serve him. Nursing school is very challenging; students need resilience and encouragement. As we at NCF continue working with faculty advisors and student leaders on campuses all over the U.S., we are hugely uplifted by what God is doing.

Jen Wojtysiak and Katharine Provost work as NCF staff with Christian nursing faculty advisors and student leaders all over the U.S.

They’re always looking for more faculty, students, and practicing nurses to volunteer with NCF Student Ministries so more nursing students can learn of Jesus and be strengthened spiritually and relationally during their academic experience. Find out more on the NCF website.