Student Testimony (Jenna Little)

Ever since I came to San Diego State and joined Pi Beta Phi, God has been tugging on my heart to reach the girls in the chapter and start a study. Right after I received my bid to join Pi Phi, I was unsure about my decision and began seriously thinking about dropping. Before I made that decision, I spoke and prayed with Matt- the head pastor at Flood church. He shared with me the fact that as believers, we are not called to live in “christian bubbles” or only be surrounded by Christians at all times, but we are called to be in the world and reach non-believers in our everyday lives. He let me know that he strongly felt I was being called to this house, and I knew right then and there I was.

Between Fall 2007 (when I joined) and now, I had come up with every excuse in the book not to start an in-house bible study and became complacent with where things were and with not reaching out to the ladies in my house. Finally, over the summer of 2009, God worked on me and my heart in so many different ways. After meeting with Kristina at the end of the Spring 2009 semester, I joined Greek IV leadership and began to embark on the journey that God had called me to two years earlier. I spent the summer praying for courage and boldness and seeking wise counsel from my family. When fall came around the butterflies in my stomach began to multiply, but so did God’s faithfulness. I have seen God work in so many tangible ways during my college experience, but this fall He has shown himself to me in powerful ways. Every semester, I ask the Lord to show me a verse that I can call my “semester verse” that I will apply to that semester. As I started praying about that, the scripture that came to mind was Phil. 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I started to think that that was such a prevalent verse and didn’t have the depth that I wanted, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that that scripture was about as deep as it gets- I can do ALL things.

After that, God confirmed this verse to me in two ways- through my boyfriend Josh who suggested that I meditate on that verse, and through Kristina who brought it up at our first Greek IV leader meeting… He is so good! He showed me the depth and meaning of this verse and its application to my life this semester. Every time I let those thoughts of fear and disbelief about my starting my study in pi phi, I was reminded of that verse. I finally took the plunge at our first meeting of the semester. I asked just about everyone that I could for prayer that day- I needed it, I was so nervous! I stood up at our meeting, and announced to the chapter that I would be starting a faith group- a safe, non-judgmental place to come, ask questions, create meaningful relationships and explore who God is in our everyday lives as Greeks. My biggest fear was that after I passed around a sign up sheet that I would receive it back blank. Ten names were on it when I got it back!! All I could think was, “God, you are so faithful.” That next night, five young women came to my study and we had an amazing time of sharing together about their hopes for the study and how we could invite other chapter members to join. I know that God is going to use this in the Pi Phi house and the lives of its members, and I am continually praying for His guidance to be ever-present in my life as I lead these young woman.