The challenge: call one person and ask for prayer requests.
At a Cru winter conference in North Carolina, Carson Rich and Abby Hamrick decided to dial more numbers than just one.
“Carson, we’ve got to call our cabinet,” Abby said.
So the student body president and vice president of Appalachian State University sat down in the hotel lobby and called the 13 members of their cabinet in the Student Government Association (SGA).
Many of them asked for prayers that they could be successful in 2016 or for their next steps after graduation.
The conversations were just a small part in the relationships Carson (president) and Abby (vice president) have built with fellow students. As leaders on their campus, they’ve used their positions in student government to humbly represent Christ. Carson and Abby recognize that God has put them in their roles of influence for a purpose.
The 2 have had meaningful conversations with believers and nonbelievers by going through resources like Soularium or Perspective cards with students, or just chatting in and out of the office. Carson keeps a deck of perspective cards at his desk in the SGA office. Abby has brought along some of the women she works with to her discipleship meetings.
“Being able to be a part of the first few stages of some of these people learning about Jesus and seeing some of these folks have this dependence on Jesus reignited in them was really cool,” Carson says.
One of the students Abby called at winter conference was Tori Little.
Tori was a junior who felt like she had missed out on growing in her faith in college and had heard about Cru, but never felt like she could make time for it. She eventually reached out to Carson and Abby and got involved in a Bible study. Now she attends church with them on Sundays. Today her relationship with the Lord is closer.
“I thought if the student body president has time for Cru and being involved in learning more about Jesus and growing in his faith, surely I can make the time too,” Tori says.
Balancing the busy schedule has not always been easy, and making decisions on behalf of the student body is no easy task. Tori says it has been encouraging to have others in SGA who get it.
In the challenges as president, Carson has been reminded that God doesn’t just throw him into situations but walks with him. Last year Appalachian State had protests, 9 student deaths over a matter of months and groups barging into the SGA office knocking on his door.
Carson continues to trust God and tell students who look up to him that he looks up to the Lord. When Carson and Abby might question their purpose, they encourage each other that their positions are for a reason.
“The Lord definitely has called me to this place,” Abby says. “At first I didn’t know what to do and then I realized I was given this cool ministry to be part of.”
How can you use your influence for Christ in your circles of involvement on campus?
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