Christine: Tears of Joy

When I first met Christine, it was in a nice air-conditioned Starbucks on a hot summer day after her freshman year.  I had first heard of her through my staff partner, Emery, as Christine had an incredibly transformative experience at Greek Conference.  We chatted as she was taking care of a child for a program for the summer, and thought to myself that this was a down-to-earth woman who had seen a lot of the world even for someone so young, yet was privileged to have the clear work of God’s healing in her life.

Christine, our Greek IV president this past year.

Christine started a house ministry in Alpha Phi the next year. Her leadership was evident in it’s fast growth, and by the end of the year, Alpha Phi had become a strong sorority ministry.

The next summer, Christine and I would not be in much air conditioning as I would spend a summer with her in Cairo serving among the poor.  A poignant moment etched permanently in my memory was when we served an elderly widow who had been rejected by her family, lost everything to robbers, and had no one but God to provide for her.  Christine and I were both moved by her faith in Jesus, as she would be so thankful to have her needs met every day. We walked out together and tears were in our eyes and we realized that we had deeply experienced the presence of God.

Christine would continue to see God’s power realized around her as she faithfully prayed and witnessed to one of her closest sisters in the sorority who was clearly far from God.  At Greek Conference, she and I and two other student leaders prayed together for this woman who was clearly wrestling with God.  As we prayed, the tears flowed from our eyes as the Holy Spirit was revealing to us the depth of her pain and we prayed that God would deliver her.

Christine’s sorority sister became a Christian that day, a true miracle as we saw God’s saving power on display for us to see firsthand.

It was a unanimous decision by the leadership selection team that Christine would become president of Greek IV her senior year. As we worked together, the potential that so many had seen became realized in full throughout the year.  My favorite moments as a staff are when I see students leading and I can step into the background and celebrate them becoming the disciples and leaders Jesus calls them to be.  Christine was leading and discipling women, as well as bringing a new emphasis on prayer to the Greek ministry at NU.  Her presence will not be easily forgotten.

Christine and I were sitting reflecting on our friendship over the years, and she said to me, “Andy, you believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself.” As tears welled in my eyes as I heard her words, I paused and how much greater God is to have believed in us when were weren’t worth believing in because of the sin that kept us from him and continues to destroy our world.

The privilege of ministry to students is walking alongside them as they become what they never dreamed they could be, believing in them as God believes that broken people can be healed to change the world.

Would you pray for more students to believe and walk in obedience the path of following Jesus?