Photo by Marcie Casas

By Melanie Mar Chow

In 1977, as a college student, the Lord had grasped my attention about what it means to “love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind…” and more.    Though I was my grandmother’s constant companion to church at a young age, I rededicated my life to Jesus in my latter high school years, and sought to serve and follow Him to the best of my capability.

During college, I participated in several campus ministry activities and went through a personal call to leave my grandmother’s church and then attend the church of my great-grandmother.  In moving from a bilingual Baptist church to an ethnic Presbyterian church with separate services for the mother tongue and English, I realized the importance of being aware of the role parachurch organizations played not only in the kingdom but in my life.

Being involved in a college parachurch group opened doors for exposure to different Christian beliefs, practices and opportunities for ministry.  No surprise, just as universities open doors to students, academia and differences in schools of thought in many different disciplines.  Time at university provides opportunities for differences, but the goal is to learn how different thoughts work together.

Extrovert that I am, I was grateful to navigate the journey of embracing differences together.  One way was learning who the members of my community were and to make sure I knew their names and a little bit about them and maintain connections, not burning bridges intentionally or unintentionally.  Though my annals of notebooks are packed away in a box in the back of my garage, I appreciated each sermon and lesson, and often found myself the recorder of minutes. (Thanks Mom — you always said “take good notes, as they are not just for you, but to share with others”).

One particular person stands out in my memories of my college journey — a young pastor at the University Presbyterian Church, hosted intercampus gatherings of student leaders and campus group leaders (chaplains, pastors, lay and clergy, etc.).   I was invited to attend and marveled at the diversity of people that came.  Though at times we began with brief teaching moments, most of the time we began with opportunities to share needs and then pray.  Having records of the prayer requests enabled us to see the power of  prayers to a powerful God.   The name of that young pastor was Steve Hayner, and our paths crossed not only when he was at the University of Washington, but also at campus minister conferences when he was the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s president.

Even as recently as last week, as I was sitting in meetings and making sure there was time to redirect the focus off of ourselves and back to God in prayer and what Jesus would do, the Holy Spirit harkens my heart back to the early years when I was a student.  We are not to forget who we are and where we came from. Furthermore, it is kingdom connections that draw us back to the ultimate mission of Jesus.  Who are the kingdom connecters in your midst and who are the people who offer cooperation and partnership to make surviving in ministry a little easier?

Take time to reflect, and then to let that person know that without their connection you might not be where you are.  The power of encouragement and prayer go well to affirm God’s work in us and fan the flames of the gift of God (I Timothy 1:6) not only in the “Timothy”s in our community, but in one another.

In this present sphere of life, many of my kingdom connectors/mentors have had tough runs.  It is my turn to slip into the role of encourager and prayer warrior.   Dr. Hayner needs them.  Now as the President of Columbia University, he is asking God to guide him and his family through a journey with pancreatic cancer, and is gracefully sharing his journey of God’s faithfulness in that.  This is the same cancer that took my dad from me.   Another mentor is recovering from a stroke.  Yet another now is back in the saddle of ministry healed in remission for her journey with cancer.  Others are journeying to do great things for 3000+ students on the missions field.  I need to be reminded that we can do so much more through our kingdom connections.

This year as I send my daughter off to college along with her friends, I’m excited for the campus ministries and how they will affect her generation.   I’m praying for campus ministries to reach out to the many daughters and sons leaving homes to begin a new exciting journey of life and to find encouragers on their college journey together.   Kingdom connectors, will you join me in encouraging and empowering the love of Jesus in the lives of others?  Would you begin to tell the stories of those who have done great things for God’s kingdom?  Let us give voice to those kingdom connectors in our spheres who need recognition, encouragement and prayers.

Rev. Melanie Mar Chow serves God through Asian American Christian Fellowship, the campus ministry division of the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS). She has been an ordained American Baptist minister since 2004. A Pacific Northwest native, she currently lives with her husband and daughter in Southern California.