01.22.10
God on Campus: Patten University
by Dave Konkol and Justin Gottuso
Andrea, a junior at Patten University (in the San Francisco Bay area) leads student prayer meetings called “The Rumble.” When she got back to her campus she said she was more excited than ever to launch 24-7 prayer, but felt alone. She contacted the Campus America office and asked there was anyone near her who had a desire to pray.
“I just thought there might be one or two students at other local schools who feel as alone as I do,” Andrea said.
The Campus America team was able to connect her to two women at nearby campuses who were also gathering students to pray. Back on campus, Andrea felt the Lord asking her to organize nightly teachings on prayer and evangelism for a core group of students during the first week of this semester. She kept in touch with the Campus America team as things developed.
“I have already come up against a slew of roadblocks concerning this,” Andrea said. “I am trusting that God will address them, as He always does. I am just praying that God would give me favor with leaders and departments that I have to get approval from in order to have 24-7 prayer on campus.”
Andrea continued to prayer and said she was given an “eerie amount of favor,” which included sitting in the university president’s office and sharing her heart for 24-7 prayer on campus. He gave her an open door to do as much prayer whenever and wherever possible on campus. Shortly after, Patten students came together and prayed every night during the first week of school during the spring 2010 semester and are seeking God about where to go from here.
Last semester, Andrea was also put in charge of a discipleship component for students who are ministry majors. She suggested that they read God On Campus, and the book is now required reading for all ministry majors at Patten.
Andrea recently wrote an e-mail to the Campus America team and asked for prayer for protection and favor as they continue to gather and pray.
“Pray for us!” Andrea wrote. “The Holy Spirit is really moving in freedom and deliverance for a lot of students. We are also literally being attacked. My two closest housemates were robbed at gunpoint on the front steps of our house just a few hours before the prayer meeting was to begin. Security was the number one reason faculty did not want the prayer meetings to happen. God saved their lives, no one was hurt and they did not have anything of value with them. And rather than shut down the prayer meetings, the head of security decided it was all the more reason to pray.”
[As the Year of Prayer continues to gain momentum, be sure to keep the Campus America team up to date with your latest stories! We would love to share them with others via the website and our Facebook fan page. E-mail us at stories@campusamerica.org if you would like to share your story!]