80% of students leave faith…not if we can help it!

Statistics show (see my first post for articles) that 80% of students coming to college Christian leave their faith. Read this story below and you will see how Tyler almost became apart of that figure. Thank God for InterVarsity on campus, and great dorm leaders!

Let me tell you about my experience at Intervarsity’s weekend retreat, called Soul Food. I grew up with a Christian background. I went to church, bible classes, etc. Although I did actively participate in church activities and such, I never really felt any deep connection with God. This connection, if any, decayed even more as the years passed by. Essentially I felt little to no connection with God and for whatever reason, I didn’t feel like re-establishing it.

When I moved into the dorms here at San Diego State, I met Drew who started talking to me about Intervarsity. It sparked my interest enough for me to start checking out the meetings they were having but still, I was apprehensive about going (not because it was a religious group, but because it was just a group altogether). As I went to more and more events, I realized how much fun they were and how all the people I had met were really friendly, the first real friends I had made here at SDSU.

So then the staff as well as many other people told me about this “Soul Food” trip. Thinking this would be what I needed to reconnect with God, I decided to go on the trip. Although I did go on this trip, I still felt apathetic towards God. I felt like he had sort of given up on me or abandoned me so therefore, I was reciprocating the favor. On Saturday night I was feeling really down because I still wasn’t hearing anything from God. I just felt powerless, knowing there was nothing I could do. I had tried and well, that was enough for me. We got into our small groups after worship and I was thinking about just declaring myself an Atheist altogether. I was tired of “God” shunning me like this. As we prayed over the people who did decide to let God fill their lives, something happened.

While praying over one girl, I had this vision of her walking with Jesus. He was talking to her and telling her not to worry about her future. As soon as we finished, I told her what I saw in front of the group. Funny thing was, she was worried about what she was going to do with her life after college. This turned things around for me COMPLETELY. I KNEW right there that God had spoken to her through me. It was incredible. Right after that, I asked to be prayed over because I wanted to experience a similar feeling. It was unbelievable and completely restored my faith in God. Just when I thought I was going to say, “God you do not exist,” he gave me a sign. I suppose that’s how he works though. But I do know that he’ll always be by my side to support me.