Loss Led To Gain
Bethel University 2021 Campus Update
Loss. A perfect description of what 2020 felt like to so many of us. Wearing masks and always being six feet apart slowed going deep with students and robbed us of normal shared experiences. Yet, Habakkuk 1:5 stood out, “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”
Bethel Students during our Summer Training Project this summer
Forty students attended our spring break trip turning the tide of our year. Coming back off a week of shared experience, students were eager to attend events on campus, meet up with staff and student leaders to study the bible, and were more comfortable sharing their lives. As a result of these connections, 36 students attended our Summer Training Project in South Carolina.
Coming back this school year there is a greater “family feel” in our movement. We hope to read the Bible with 77 new students this fall. On Sunday nights we are equipping student leaders with practical tools on how to share their personal testimony, explain the gospel, and study the Bible with another student. God has redeemed a difficult year by showing us how He moves even in times of great loss. Normal life is gone, but students see the need for connection to others and for real faith in Jesus. 2020-2021 may not have been the freshmen year they hoped for, but many students have gained Christ, learned how to grow in their faith, and connected with others.
Derek and Brittany Franze
Bethel Campus Directors
Student Quote
“Campus Outreach has helped me find my confidence in Christ, deepen my faith and allow me to pursue the desire to know more about Him. Before college I didn’t truly understand any of those feelings, but thanks to the many wonderful people in my community through CO, I have been given the opportunity to step into the role of a “follower of Christ” and find the desire for myself to seek the true greatness of our God.”
—Izzy, Sophomore
Bethel Campus Staff
Harmon Squires, Brent Van Beusekom, Brittany and Derek Franze, and Alyssa Olson