When Global Scholars professor Jessica started her new job as an ecologist at a research institute, she was praying for opportunities to be open about her faith. During her postdoctoral fellowship, everyone had known her, and it had felt easy to talk about church or prayer. But the first few weeks in her new job had been intimidating.
One evening, Jessica asked her Bible study to pray specifically for opportunities to let people know she was a Christian. The next morning, her supervisor popped into her office and asked, “How was your evening? Did you do anything fun?” Jessica had to smile at God’s timing, and she had an opportunity to talk about how she went to Bible study.
She knows of only two other researchers at her institution who are believers. There are many high-pressure situations with important grants and contracts, and her colleagues have noticed how she stays calm and relates to abrasive people with grace. Jessica’s supervisor joked once about how a difficult meeting ended successfully, calling it “miraculous,” and then backtracking. Jessica responded, “Well, I have been praying about this project, so that could be part of it.”
Last year, around Easter, she went for a hike with some of the people she had known from her postdoctoral fellowship. They had lots of questions about church and what Jessica actually believed. One of them asked her, “Why is it called Good Friday? That just doesn’t make sense.” Jessica had the opportunity to explain, “Yes, what happened with the crucifixion was horrific, but through his death, Jesus made a way for us to be reconciled with God. That’s why we call it good.”
Please pray for God’s continued work in the hearts of Jessica’s colleagues. Examples like Jessica’s make me think about what Paul wrote in Colossians 4:6: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Please pray that this would be true for her and for other Global Scholars professors around the world, both this Easter and throughout the year.
For Christ and the university,
Stan
The italicized name has been changed to protect privacy.
In this episode of the College Faith podcast, I continue my sporadic series on various campus ministries. I am joined by Charles Askew and Caysie Ashton, campus ministers with Reformed University Fellowships.
In this episode of the Thinking Christianly podcast, we drill down further into how the Realist/Nominalist debate shapes our understanding of God with special guest and expert Dr. Paul Gould.
Our April prayer calendar is now posted on our website. Download the prayer calendar to pray for professors, students, and current needs in higher education.
