For
almost a decade, after the last students of the small campus ministry at
Princeton University graduated in 2008, we struggled to build a community of
disciples on that campus. However, God is always moving and it has been a
faith-building experience to reflect on how he has worked in Princeton the last
two years.

When
I moved to Princeton in New Jersey in the fall of 2015, I started as the only campus disciple with the local church in the
region only just beginning to meet on its own, still without any full-time staff. I joined the campus bible talk
at a different university and grew alongside them for the first two years, but
I definitely had my challenges as the only disciple in my school. I had to
sacrifice a lot of time and money to travel much further than everyone else for
campus events. I struggled with feeling lonely and isolated from the other
disciples, and I faced persecutions for my faith on campus without a fall-back
of a group of other students behind me. Although I struggled many times with
staying obedient, committed, and hopeful, I kept dreaming and praying that God
would build a ministry in my own campus.

These
prayers were answered quickly the summer of 2017. Paris and Zainabu Cunningham
moved from New York City to lead the local church full time; a teen sister —
Jamie — committed to starting Princeton that fall; a current student, Caton,
was baptised in Virginia while he was home for the summer; and yet another
student, Jason, started studying the bible with our sister church in California.
It was truly a miraculous summer!

Our
first year as a small and very new campus ministry helped establish our
presence on campus through bible talks and drew us closer together as brothers
and sisters fighting for God on campus. We kept dreaming and praying, and the
next year we gained another sister who started graduate school at Princeton. We
baptised five current students and
saw many lives changed. In such a small ministry, it was evident that God
needed and used each person’s strengths to build the group to where it is today
through reaching out, leading bible studies, serving at church, and being a
light on campus.

He
showed us that the scripture saying “the harvest is plentiful but the workers
are few” is true and is true everywhere, even on college campuses that are
historically sceptical of faith. Being on the other side of these last four
years, I never could have foreseen graduating
with a ministry of 9 strong disciples or even how God would come to change
me, humble me, teach me, and use me in so many ways. Now I am looking
 forward to the coming year, as I continue working at Princeton and being
a part of the ministry here. I’m excited for what God will continue to do
through faith despite the fears and limitations of myself and my circumstances.

Renee Louis