The Bible as required college reading
This year on the campus of Grand Rapids Community College there has been an unprecedented demand for Bibles. From talking to the students, there seems to be some growing frustration with a cultural environment that is increasingly composed of extreme opinions and a lack of objectivity.
We’re frequently asked questions like these:
“What’s your personal philosophy for life?
“Nothing seems to work for me”
“Does God love me?” “Why?”
“I’ve (autism, ADHD, etc.) how can I live happy?”
“How can I deal with Trauma, does God care?”
“I want to go back to church” or “I feel the need to read the Bible again, can you help me?”
These examples are merely scraping the surface.
Some students have stated that they seemed to have been taught, either directly or indirectly, from the political left or the right, to question everything and never be satisfied with the answers. They are encouraged to see authority as always suspect, there are always hidden agendas, and that the “other side” is always complicit. The end result is that it has fractured the souls of young people.
Many of these students who were raised in a Christian home, and have “deconstructed” or are in the process of “deconstructing” their faith. Others have said they were from homes that did not have any Scripture, or if they did, they never read it.
Some are “remixing” their faith. In short, this means that they’re picking and choosing from various religious and non religious traditions and coming up with a “God we can live with.” Two students have mentioned this past semester using Tarot cards and Ouija boards as spiritual aids.
While the overall state of affairs regarding the faith life of the students that is described here, which is disconcerting, it’s not without hope. There’s also a growing curiosity, as one can see, for something more that is revealed in the students questions.
We see evidence that God is working, through this ministry, to fill the spiritual voids left by this post modern, post Christian world. Students have been requesting Bibles and Bible studies.
The results have been tremendous spiritually.
We’re seeing students becoming involved and reaching out to their fellow students in providing Bibles and leading in studies.
One of the things we stress in our ministry is to consider Bible reading as a form of prayer. There are young people who are learning that the Bible is more than just ink and paper. It’s alive and shows us a God we can’t live without. Please prayerfully consider this testimony from scripture:
Isaiah 55:11 ESV
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
The Holy Word is going out from the mouth of God to the students at Grand Rapids Community College. And true to our mission statement, it’s persons with disabilities who are in the forefront of this endeavor.
Any financial support so that we can continue to serve this need is greatly appreciated.
Please pray that the momentum started this school year continues in the next, and pray for our students over the summer months.
> In case anyone was wondering, we’ve handed out approximately 40 Bibles, 85 journal Bibles on Romans, and 35 journal Bibles on the Sermon on the Mount this semester alone. The Sermon on the Mount journal Bible served as the material for this semester’s Bible study where we had up to 8 students in attendance twice a week.
Thank you and Blessings!
Pete
