Campus Ministry – Helping parents one worry at a time

My wife and I are blessed with three daughters. They are all in college this year! They attend Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., and Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Ind. And while my wife and I are enjoying our new-found freedom of being “empty nesters,” we still worry about the kids. Who wouldn’t, right? Life outside of the nest can be exciting, but so challenging and spiritually dangerous at the same time.

That’s why I have always appreciated our WELS Campus Ministry program. For all of the worries that I have as a Christian parent as I send my kids off to “foreign lands” in the world of academia, I have found a partner in WELS Campus Ministry that calms my worried heart. Here’s a few of them to show you what I mean:

Worry #1 – My kids could lose their faith on a secular campus

I won’t lie. For all of the training that my kids have gone through with a Lutheran Elementary School, and Catechism classes and teen Bible studies and even the benefit of a WELS high school. . . I still worry that a secular institution could wipe all that out with some slick talk and well-placed peer pressure and what “experts” are now saying in their field of study. Mix in a little “new found freedom” of being on their own and it’s a recipe for disaster. (A dad’s mind tends to go to the worst case scenario!)

Enter WELS Campus Ministry. It was a group of all of four people that first year for our oldest daughter. But it was like gold for making connections, having a support group, and even having a real, live pastor in town to have as a sounding board and spiritual advisor when things came up. They would study relevant topics, books of the Bible and all sorts of other things that “popped up” during their week. It was a safe place to vent, get answers to difficult spiritual questions that may have come up in class that challenged their faith and to cultivate some friendships with some great students, some of whom had already been through the challenges that my daughter was seeing in class.

What a blessing for my kids! I don’t worry as much, just knowing that they have a spiritual support system in place that they can engage in while they are there.

Worry #2 – My kids could lose out on using their gifts and talents to serve God’s Church

I don’t know if this is true of every WELS Campus Ministry, but one of the things that had me pleasantly surprised was how they connected my kids to a local WELS/ELS congregation for worship opportunities and service opportunities. One of my kids plays the flute. Another plays the oboe. One sang in the traveling choir for high school and regularly sang solos and led singing in our worship services at home. I was worried that their gifts of service would get buried on a campus far, far away.

Enter WELS Campus Ministry. They connected my kids with local churches. One plays her flute for worship. Another has helped with hanging flyers on doors with their evangelism program. Another will be collaborating with the organist in the near future about solos and the music program at the church. It warms my heart as a parent to know that, not only will my kids be fed in their faith, but they also get to exercise their faith through our Campus Ministry as well.

May God continue to bless our WELS Campus Ministry as they serve our students. . . and their parents.

Written by Mark Kom, a WELS Campus Ministry students’ parent

Learn more about WELS Campus Ministry and sign students up at wels.net/campusministry.

 

[fbcomments num=”5″]