When I came to Texas State University eight years ago, I was just hoping to go to church and not get caught up in the college lifestyle I heard Texas State was famous for. I had no idea that I would become part of a church plant that was part of a larger family of churches and campus ministries dedicated to honoring God and making disciples.

During those early years, I was able to establish biblical foundations and grow under the lordship of Christ in ways I never had before. My life was changing, and I got to be a part of changing others’ lives; first as a student and then later as a campus missionary.

It’s been five years now that I’ve been in ministry. A goal of our campus leadership team was to have sixty students at one of our campus meetings. At our Thanksgiving event, we had almost seventy. Of those seventy, we’ve had twenty students go through The Purple Book, a twelve-week study designed to build strong biblical foundations for discipleship. The momentum we are seeing is truly a work of the Holy Spirit.

An R.A. for Christ

It’s amazing to see the transforming power of the gospel impact friends and family members.  Justin Strickland is a perfect example. He surrendered to Christ and hasn’t looked back. He is one of our most passionate students, going on campus weekly with Every Nation Campus staff to share his faith.

I work on campus as a resident assistant. Early in the fall semester, my girlfriend made me go to the last place I wanted to be on a Tuesday evening—the Every Nation Campus night. To my surprise, I was immediately impacted by the message. It resonated so heavily with me that I decided to devote my life to following Christ.

Since that night I have gotten involved with Every Nation Campus and encouraged my younger sister to do the same. She’s now attending the Bible study my girlfriend helps lead. God was doing a lot of healing in our brother-sister relationship throughout the semester. He’s really transforming my heart from the inside out. My goal is to help others experience the same thing.

—Justin Strickland, student R.A. at Texas State University

Ten Years, Fifteen New Missionaries

I’m so blessed to have been here for eight of the ten years Every Nation Campus has been at Texas State University—three years to graduate and five as a member of the ENC staff.  During those ten years, Every Nation Campus at Texas State University sent fifteen students into full-time ministry. Eleven are with Every Nation, and all but four of those have been sent to other campuses to help or start new campus ministries.

I’m still at Texas State University. By God’s grace and the support of my financial partners, I am still working on getting better at what we refer to as the Four Es—engaging students for Christ, establishing them in the foundations of the faith, equipping them to share the gospel, and empowering them to serve with the help of their ministry partners as missionaries on the university campuses.