How God taught me the importance of community

They say you find your people in college, and God showed me that truth in one of the most unconventional ways imaginable.

Freshman Year

Before I left for college, I remember people from my church in Omaha saying that it was important to get plugged into a church community/Christian group on campus right away. I remember before leaving for college that I discovered a campus ministry called The Navigators (which is an amazing college ministry). I figured that since it was the first one I heard about, I should settle with it. So i did. At first, it was ok. I did meet amazing people and the teachings and conferences were great, but slowly down the road, God opened my eyes to something I was missing and desperately needed: authentic biblical community.

All throughout my freshman year, I was plugged into a church. I did check out one, but didn't attend after that, mostly because of miscommunication and lack of transportation. I desperately tried searching for churches within reasonable walking distance, but to no avail, I couldn't find any. My only source of biblical community was The Navigators on Thursday nights, but God showed me that that wasn't enough.

There were times I would attend and feel alone in a sea of frendly faces. I knew I needed raw biblical community. I needed people in my life who would constantly pour into my life and point me back to Christ. I realized the lack of a biblical community caused my relationship with God to be stagnant. I remember looking on my social media feeds and seeing friends and other people enjoying their campus ministries and finding real biblical community. God began to put that desire in my heart, so, for months, I prayed and prayed that God would lead me to a close-knit church community.

Tom The Preacher, Candlewood, and The Rock

September 2017: A month into my sophomore year, I was heading to my student union to attend an event related to free speech when I noticed a huge crowd of people. I'm a naturally curious person, so I stopped, only intending to stop for a few minutes. I noticed that the crowd gathered to hear/argue with a campus preacher named Tom Short. I had seen videos of campus preachers on YouTube and never thought I would see one in person, so those "few minutes" turned into a couple hours. After Tom finished preaching, he invited people to pray with him.

At first, I was hesitant, but I joined the crowd of people who decided to step forward. Afterwords, I stayed and talked to some girls from this campus ministry called The Rock (now called Campus Fellowship), which is apart of a church called Candlewood Lincoln Church. After that, some other people from the campus ministry invited me over to their house for dinner (it was awkward at first, but nice at the same time). I decided to attend The Rock's (Campus Fellowship) meeting that week and instantly felt welcome. I then attended Candlewood's Sunday service and loved it. The first couple of times I went and hung out with people from Candlewood, it was like I had known them for years.

Later down the road, I realized that this was an answered prayer from God. He constantly reminded me of the times I was in my tiny dorm room, crying out to Him. The people at Candlewood genuinely care for one another, pray for one another, carry one another's burdens, and point each other to Christ. These people have been instrumental in my understanding and walk with Christ, and for that, I am grateful.

They say you find your people in college, and God eventually led me to mine.