Making Campus a Place Where People Encounter God and Find Joy

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 13:00:31 +0000

Nathan Peterson

Making Campus a Place Where People Encounter God and Find Joy

“Jocin means joy,” Jocin Thomas said, and it’s pronounced JOE-sn. And if it wasn’t for ��ñ�� there would have been a lot less joy during her days as a student at Baruch College in New York City.

“��ñ�� is what made my college experience and where I grew the most, spiritually, professionally, and in leadership,” she said. She commuted to Baruch each day from her home in Long Island and, without an ��ñ�� community, Baruch would’ve been just another thing to do. “It would have felt like high school all over again.”

Someone in her church recommended ��ñ�� to her, so she connected with the chapter early in her freshman year. It was a dissonant connection at first. People were seeking God, experiencing God, and studying the Bible differently than what she knew from her church. But since their love for God was unmistakable, she stayed with it.

“I didn’t realize what the gospel was, and how to share it,” she said, describing her spiritual life before college. “Starting to see my faith outside of the four walls of the church and developing an authentic relationship with God was huge.”

��ñ�� gave her college years purpose, something she missed after she graduated with her Human Resource Management degree and worked in retail for two years. When she switched jobs and began working at a church, she found a mission but she wasn’t sure that was God’s purpose for her.

“I was sitting by the pier in Bay Ridge, saying, ‘God what do you want me to do next?’” She thought of ��ñ�� and how campus ministry had changed her life. She had been helping as a volunteer but joining staff seemed too challenging. Her parents had emigrated to the US to seek a better life for their family and it was shameful in their culture to ask for financial assistance.

And yet, she didn’t see any other option. “My life changed through campus ministry. I wanted to be a part of that and see that happen for other students, and faculty,” she said.

She wrestled with the decision for months before finally plunging ahead. She found a way to present her ministry challenges that resonated with potential partners and overcame some of the cultural barriers.

“The way the Lord worked was so great because now it is the most favorite part of my work.” She said. “I love being able to tell people about the work that God is doing. I thought my culture would have rejected me but to see 80 percent of my network being the ones who are supporting me, that has been such a blessing.”

Jocin started in an administrative role, as Operations Director for ��ñ��’s New York City Area. Then she became an Associate Area Director, and is now an Area Director.

She loves working with her fellow New York City Area Directors, and is constantly thinking about her time as a student at Baruch. “What helps me in my role as Area Director has been having a healthy example of what a chapter can look like,” she said. “That has really helped.”

As a student, Jocin knew little about ��ñ�� beyond her campus. Now she has the bigger picture and a bigger purpose.

Over the decades, ��ñ�� has typically ministered on about 15-16 New York City campuses. Today that number has grown to 25. But all five boroughs of New York have 85 campuses, with 600,000 students. Jocin is always looking to see where to go next, where to have the biggest impact.

“This is a place where I can see people encountering God,” she said. “I see God at work in all these different areas. And being able to work with people to make it happen, seeing God at work, it never gets old." That’s joy for Jocin today.

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Why I Went on Staff

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 20:34:29 +0000

News

Amy Hauptman

Why I Went on Staff

Marie Rodriguez joined ��ñ�� staff because she prayed with a Chinese woman and an Indian man at the first ��ñ�� meeting that she ever attended.

Marie grew up in a small, Spanish-speaking Pentecostal church and thought that only Puerto Ricans were going to heaven. It wasn’t until her encounter with ��ñ��’s multiethnic community on the campus of Baruch College (The City University of New York) that she understood that the kingdom of God was larger than the church she had grown up in.

A Glimpse of God’s Kingdom

“Through ��ñ��, I caught a glimpse of God’s kingdom that was bigger than I had ever known. I had no idea that a Chinese Methodist woman could know Jesus!” said Marie. “After my first ��ñ�� meeting, I walked on campus and the streets of New York City imagining so many more different people being affected by the gospel.”

Marie decided to join staff to be a part of a growing multiethnic community and to invite students to grow as disciples of Jesus.

“My efforts on campus take place as students are learning about themselves, their own walk with God, and their desires for the future. They graduate with a lot of these questions undiscovered,” she shared. “But joy floods my heart when I see students who become alumni practicing the leadership skills they learned as student leaders and moving forward in faith with their co-workers, family, and church members.”

Celebrating God’s Faithfulness

Recently, Marie reconnected with a couple ��ñ�� alumni from the New York City metro area and they celebrated God’s faithfulness in their lives and their times with ��ñ��. They remembered the times of simple brown bag lunches and deep invitations to see the Kingdom of God, times of inductive Bible studies, and multiethnic chapters.

Another part of Marie’s ministry that she really enjoys is seeing other ��ñ�� staff workers grow in their leadership. “I get pumped when I see staff grow in their experiences and overcome obstacles,” Marie said. “This work is hard to master—mainly because of who our Master is. Seeing staff take risks and their willingness to keep learning at every turn fuels me to serve them better. I am thankful to partner with God and witness His amazing work in the lives of students, faculty and staff.”

Today Marie serves as a Regional Fund Development Coach for ��ñ��, to help place more staff on more campuses, so that more students are reached with the Gospel. Marie and other ��ñ�� staff are dedicated to building witnessing multiethnic communities across the nation. These multiethnic communities may be diverse but they are dedicated to the same goal—to see lives transformed, the campus renewed, and world changers developed.

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Rutgers University Newark

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Essex County College Newark

Baruch College