A Challenge to Students from Leslie Nichols

A Challenge to Students from Leslie Nichols

There are many things I like about my job but my favorite is when I get to sit down with our students and hear about how the Lord used them overseas.

For ETEAM, this looks like sitting down with eight to ten exhausted high school students (and their leaders) after they spent most of the day before traveling back to the States from their different fields. We look into their tired, excited eyes and ask them various questions as to what their past two weeks have looked like. There are often smiles, sometimes tears, and always a movement in their heart.

For College Missions Program (CMP), this looks like sitting across a table or on FaceTime talking with a college student who is trying to adjust back to the U.S. after spending the past several weeks (sometimes months) in a foreign land they sometimes have left their heart in.

 

In both settings, we ask questions like…

Whom did you meet?

What did you do?

What was a conversation that you had that stuck out to you?

What was the culture like?

Were there any difficult times?

But, we end all of our debriefs by asking the same question – what now? We get all sorts of responses to this question.

 

Pick up the plates off the table.

Not what you were expecting, huh? This response was from one of our high school students who realized that the world is your mission field – even your own home. When we go overseas, we often look for opportunities to show Christ to others in the ordinary routines of life. Sometimes that looks like clearing the table after a meal. This student realized that if they were going to do that overseas then they also need to look for opportunities to show Christ in his own home as well.

 

I will never forget the feeling of walking into a store and realizing the likelihood that I am the only believer there.

Many of our students have come back with similar feelings to this one. Some of our CMP students recall looking down four busy streets in Europe. The missionary they were with told them studies would show that out of everyone they were around in those four streets, they were the only Christians. This is a hard reality to truly grasp in the States. I would make the assumption that not everyone at your school/work is a Christian but is it safe to also assume that everyone has heard the name of Jesus? The difference for many overseas is they’re walking shoulder to shoulder with people who will go their entire lives without hearing the Name that gives us the hope of glory.

 

I prayed about it while I was there and the Lord gave me a peace that I am not called to be a missionary.

Not everyone who goes on an ETEAM or CMP comes back feeling called to be the one to go. Some students feel the Lord is calling them to send or to pray. All of these things are vastly important in the Kingdom of God! It takes all of us doing our part to spread the Gospel.

 

Hold me accountable. I know God has big plans for me to go overseas and I know Satan is going to do everything in his power to keep that from happening.  

When I tell you I had CHILLS when I heard this from one of our recent college students I mean it! This, or something similar, is something that we hear often from our students, and every time I hear it I whisper a prayer for protection and uncomfortableness for the student. Protection for the student to not get distracted from what the Lord is doing in their life and uncomfortableness that they will always be wrecked for the ordinary moving forward.

 

These are just a few of the many different responses to the questions we ask our students. But I can’t end without asking you the same question we ask our students – what now?

You have the information for ETEAM and College Missions Program.

You have the Gospel.

What will you do with it?

Don’t miss your opportunity.

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Leslie joined the IM family in January of 2019 serving as the assistant to the Director of Mobilization. In January of 2021, she transitioned into her current role as College Missions Program (CMP) Coordinator. Beginning January 2023, Leslie will move into the role of Director of Mobilization. Leslie is a 2016 graduate of Welch College where she received her BA in Exercise Science and Theological Studies. Between Leslie’s current job as CMP Coordinator and her two degrees you can learn a lot about what she is passionate about – Christ, college students, and exercise/staying active. She was born and raised in Nashville, TN. She enjoys finding a good “hole in the wall” restaurant, a road trip anywhere and everywhere, or just simply spending time with her friends, family, and her dog, Luna.

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