I grew up in a family where we never went to church or even talked about God.
Although we had Fellowship of Christian athletes at my high school and people would invite me to go, I was a little bit intimidated. I thought, what if they ask me to pray out loud or find something in the Bible? I would look stupid.
I decided not to go to FCA, but when I attended the University of Michigan to play volleyball, I told myself that if there was a similar group, I wanted to go.
A couple weeks into my first semester one of my teammates invited me to an Athletes In Action meeting and I thought, here’s my chance to learn about God. I didn’t know what to expect.
I found people there so different than other people that I had met on campus. They were authentic and it was very attractive to me. I kept going back. Bruce [Dishnow, a staff member with Athletes in Action] said he would like to get together on campus some time. He shared the Four Spiritual Laws booklet with me, and it was the first time I ever heard the gospel.
I always thought that being a Christian meant following enough rules, and if I happen to do enough good things one day the scales might tip in my favor and I would get into heaven. I learned that day what Christ had done for me.
I remember I pointed to the Four Spiritual Laws and said, “People don’t know this. We need to tell people.”
So that night I went back to my dorm room and looked it all over and thought about it some more. I decided that’s what I wanted for my life and I prayed and asked Christ to come into my life.
Before I became a Christian it was like I was driving with a dirty windshield. I could still see, but I didn’t know how much clearer it could be with Christ. It was like I pushed the “clean windshield” button. My eyes were opened to a whole new way of looking at life.
Bruce also led my husband, Colby, to the Lord, and now we both serve with Athletes in Action at Michigan.
When I came to Michigan, I was intent on going to med school and wanted to help people. After I became a Christian, it was like God said “You can help people in another way. You don’t have to help people through medicine.”
You too can discover what Sarah found out – how you can know Jesus personally and be forgiven.
What’s your story? Did you become a Christian through Cru or any ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ? If so, tell us more at stories@cru.org.
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