Reconciling Students to Christ

"Less than one percent of the world’s population completes their college education. That one percent then goes on to positions of power,” U.S. missionary with Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, U.S.A., Duncan Chance says. “We have a mandate to reach those who are going to rule the world.”

While he was raised in a Christian household, by the time Duncan began college in Huntsville, Texas, he considered himself a firm agnostic. During his time in school, Duncan met a group of men on campus that encouraged him to attend a men’s small group with them. It was due to the ministry of this small group that Duncan rededicated his life to Jesus and began feeling called to missions.

Duncan spent a few years after college on volunteer staff at Sam Houston State University Chi Alpha, followed by a one-year internship with Chi Alpha. In 2009, he felt called to join a team of ten people who were involved in Chi Alpha in Texas and moved to Colorado to pioneer Chi Alpha programs across the state. With 28 public universities across Colorado, only six have active Chi Alpha programs. Duncan has been pioneering a Chi Alpha group at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley for the past four years in an effort to expand their presence.

When the UNC group began, only four percent of on-campus students claimed to be Christian. That translated into over 11,500 students openly denying Christ. Duncan knew that he and his staff of twelve had a lot of work to do. 

“College campuses are often portrayed as out-of-control bastions of secularism,” Duncan says. “The truth is, students are really hungry for truth and the meaning of life.” He explains that many students he encounters are pursuing degrees in order to find purpose in life. When they graduate and finally have their degree, they discover they are still missing something. 

“We are constantly asking God to lead us to reach the right students,” Duncan says.

William was a foreign exchange student from Northern Ireland. While he identified as a Christian, he defined that as “not Catholic.” Soon after meeting Duncan and his team, William began coming to a Chi Alpha small group. “He did not know anyone on campus,” Duncan explains. “We were his only friends.”

Through his search for friendship, William gave his life to Christ and was water baptized during the Chi Alpha group’s fall retreat. Duncan was speaking on the importance of the Holy Spirit a month later. After a time of prayer, William approached him. “I think I just spoke in tongues,” William enthused. “I was praying and, suddenly, I started praying in another language!”

“It was so cool to see the change in his life,” Duncan says. “He went back to Ireland, became deeply involved in church, started a Bible study, and began leading others to Christ.”

While Duncan is fervent about reaching students, he is equally passionate about equipping students to reach their peers. “The most effective person to reach a college student is another college student,” he explains. One way Duncan and his team motivate students to begin discipling is through small group leadership. Students are encouraged to begin leading a small group and entrusted with the responsibility of studying for, teaching and inviting students to join their group. “Responsibility is the Miracle-Gro® in a person’s faith,” Duncan says. “When you give a student responsibility in the kingdom of God, they grow like crazy.”

Chi Alpha also encourages responsibility in young adults through a Campus Missionary-in-Training (CMIT) internship. A CMIT internship, available in 38 Chi Alpha groups, is an intensive 10-month training program for graduated students who feel a call to ministry. “The goal is to prepare interns to be sent out to do ministry somewhere in the world,” Duncan explains. In addition to learning to raise a budget, working as Chi Alpha staff, and taking accelerated theological and ministerial classes, the internship program fast-tracks students to receive their first level of credentialing through the Assemblies of God.

“When we initially met one of our current interns, Samantha, she was not a Christian,” Duncan says. She started attending Chi Alpha small groups while going through a hard breakup and “we were the only people she thought to reach out to during that time,” he explains. “She knew that we cared about her deeply.” Duncan’s wife, Lorie, began meeting with her and sharing the gospel with her. A few weeks later, Samantha told Lorie that she had accepted Christ as her Savior and wanted to be baptized. 

Duncan, Lorie and 20 other students took Samantha to a local couple’s home and baptized her in their hot tub. She then went on to become a small group leader as a student and, after graduation, became one of the first three Chi Alpha interns at UNC.

Since pioneering Chi Alpha at UNC in 2018, Duncan and his team have seen over 30 students accept Christ and approximately the same number be water baptized, including William and Samantha. “The ultimate goal is to reconcile these students to Christ,” Duncan says. “Moving forward, we want to see more young people come to know Jesus and then go into the world in relationship with the Savior.”