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Testimonies Reveal God is at Work in America's Most Influential Universities
By erin conner, writer and communications associate
Universities such as Brown, Cornell, Princeton, and Yale produce a disproportionate number of influential leaders across the nation, as these schools fall into the top ranking universities in America. In fact, almost seventy percent of America's most influential leaders graduate from just 20 of America's 3000+ undergraduate educational institutions.
Across America, many believe that these schools are too secular to see a move of God, but others believe that these schools sit at the heart of a future national revival. Despite the increase in destructive ideologies that are pervasive in these types of institutions, God is on the move to demonstrate truth, love, and the way out of a secular culture and mindset of depavity, deception, and despair.
Christian Union ministry leaders who serve students at each of the schools were asked last spring to share how they have seen God working on their respective campuses.
Providence, Rhode Island
Sheri Casali, ministry fellow for Christian Union Libertas at Brown, shared, "As this year comes to a close, I am reflecting on the steadfast faithfulness of our God. He has exceeded our expectations and answered many prayers. I remember in September, asking for prayer for full, vibrant Bible courses. This year, we have had an abundant overflow of Brown students participating in weekly Bible courses. In addition to full Bible courses, we prayed for gospel exposures and the name of Jesus to saturate the entire campus of this University. Starting with freshman campaign, where we had a string of events all throughout September to welcome students, as well as worship events on campus, tabling and handing out books and scripture tracts, and our latest campaign, CU Rise, we have had an incredible amount of gospel exposures!" Casali continued, "This year, we have had more students dive into questions about Christianity than I have ever seen in years past. It is evidence that the Lord of the harvest is on the move on our campus!"
Ithaca, New York
"We have had an incredible semester in our Christian Union Bible courses at Cornell, with new students continuing to join the community on an almost weekly basis. We celebrate the Lord’s continuing faithfulness to grow the ministry as we coach and train close to 100 future Christian leaders to seek the Lord wholeheartedly. The sense of community has also continued to grow stronger as our students have studied, worshiped, and shared the good news of Jesus throughout the spring," shared Marcus Buckley, ministry director of Christian Union Vita at Cornell University.
"Our monthly worship events have continued to grow and attract new students, and have provided a critical time of spiritual refreshing and time in the Word. The Mott Center is being filled to the point that we are in the process of securing an auditorium on campus large enough to better accommodate all for worship nights in the future!"
Princeton, New Jersey
"Our freshman men gathered together for a BBQ and firepit and reflected on their experiences this year at Princeton. Invariably, they answered that the best part about Princeton is the Christian community and the friends they’ve made in Christian Union," shared ministry director of Christian Union Nova at Princeton, Mike Vincent.
"The CU outreach team at Princeton led a campus-wide initiative called 'Doubts for Donuts' during which students were able to write in to us their doubts and questions about Christianity and receive a visit from one of our students with a donut and an answer to their question. We had many responses and wonderful conversations with many students including some lengthy conversations about faith with unbelievers, one of whom expressed interest in coming to some of our events! We also found some Christians who have been floundering in their faith and wanted to get more involved."
New Haven, Connecticut
Jeff Walsh, ministry director for Christian Union Lux at Yale, said, "I'd like to share some testimonies from our students about how the semester is wrapping up here at Yale following their massive prayer and worship night. At Christian Union Lux's final Leadership Lecture Series to close out this semester, over 50 students were in attendance. CU Lux closes out each semester with a traditional ‘Stones of Remembrance Night’ where students share their testimonies. Both segments of worship and student sharing were powerful this past week."
Walsh continued, "God is at work in these students' lives! Students shared testimonies of having wonderful breakthroughs and healing from physical ailments, fear, sexual addictions, anxiety, suicide ideation, and unbelief. The testimonies shared this night included how Christian Union has helped to empower students to hear God speak, to be built up and strengthened in community, to be enabled to walk in peace, and to learn to trust God in the midst of the demands of school and work. Students are leaving the school year filled with the living presence of the Lord. To God be all the glory."
From testimonies such as these, it is evident that God is moving in meaningful ways at some of the most secular places in America. Christian Union ministry directors, fellows, and students are living proof that there is hope in a culture of despair: His name is Jesus.
Learn more about how to join this movement to make Christ known by visiting ChristianUnion.org.
Student Leadership Ministry Equips Students to Share Christ
By erin conner, writer and communications associate
As Christians around the world prepare their hearts this Lenten season to acknowledge Christ's death and resurrection, Christian Union is preparing student leaders to boldly proclaim the gospel.
Every spring, Christian Union holds an eight-week evangelism campaign across their ten ministries at some of our nation's most secular and influential schools, equipping students to share the gospel in multiple, meaningful ways. From social media ads to initiating conversations with strangers in the street to hosting highly visible, large group events on campus, student leaders are devoted to sharing the life-giving message of Jesus Christ to all who have ears to hear.
Different types of evangelism can be found in the pages of Scripture. Sometimes, new converts gathered friends and family members to hear the good news. On other occasions, Jesus or the disciples preach openly to crowds of people, some of whom are friendly and some hostile. On other occasions, evangelism is accompanied with miraculous signs to give glory to God. Christian Union recognizes that it can be tempting to identify one particular methodology of gospel proclamation as the most important but maintains that the Biblical model of evangelism is a comprehensive approach.
This month, Christian Union Nova at Princeton University is kicking off this comprehensive outreach campaign by hosting a one-week student conference entitled CU Proclaim for students at Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Harvard Law.This conference is a powerful gathering designed to ignite students' faith, deepen their spiritual walk, and equip them to boldly and comprehensively proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ on their campuses and beyond.
At these conferences, students step into an atmosphere of unity, passion, and purpose, where they connect with other faith-driven students from influential universities across the nation to pray together, grow together, and sharpen one another in preparation to make Jesus known to their generation.
This year, Christian Union is honored to host Pastor Carter Conlon, General Overseer of Times Square Church and author of Fear Not and It’s Time to Pray. His dynamic, Spirit-led teaching is set to equip and empower students to walk in boldness, deepen their faith, and step into their calling.
At last year's conference, held at Cornell University, one student shared with Marcus Buckley, the Ministry Director of Christian Union Vita, that he wondered how he was ever going to be bold enough to share Jesus with complete strangers by just walking up to them. By the end of the week, this same student could not be stopped, asking for more opportunities to go out and share with strangers. Students, by the grace and power of God, are taking the demonstrative love of Christ into their spheres of influence.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Matt Bennett, Founder and President of Christian Union, shared that students at some of America's most influential educational institutions constitute an "unreached people group" with such a low percentage of the student body and faculty identifying as Christians. CBN's article about the interview stated, "Bennett made a sobering statement that underscores the dire state of spiritual affairs and intense lostness at many of these colleges, when he said, 'What's shocking is that, in this audience, you have fewer practicing Christians than you do, say...in mainland China or a lot of other places that we consider unreached.'"
Bennett also shared in this interview that, in his experience over the last twenty-plus years of providing ministry in some of the most spiritually dark places in our country, personal connection, not a campaign, is ultimately what inspires an individual to accept the gospel. However, it seems people need to encounter several touchpoints with the gospel before going to a trustworthy Christian in their life with their questions. Consequently, each and every Christian's role is to have the courage to be known as a Christian in their sphere of influence, so that when someone is seeking Truth, they know to whom to turn for direction to find and follow Him.
Christian Union's boldness reminds all Christians that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the hope of all the world and that followers of God are privileged and duty-bound to proclaim it far and wide in the power of the Holy Spirit. No other message on earth is more important to communicate than the opportunity of reconciliation with God by grace through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Christianity’s mission to the world is one of love. Nothing is more loving than letting people know how eager God is to wipe away all their sins and to replace death with life, ashes with beauty, and captivity with freedom through faith in Christ.
Watch a related 12-minute CBNNews interview here.
Devotional from January 2025 Christian Union National Fast
By Justin Yim, Ministry Director of Christian Union Gloria Law at Harvard Law School
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:13-14 ESV
I’ve participated in the Boston Marathon for a few years now—not as a runner, but as a volunteer, to be clear! Every year that I watch the elite runners run past the last water station towards the finish line—sweat pouring down their face, muscles burning, and exhaustion weighing heavily—I ask how they can run over 26 miles in less than 3 hours. I imagine their eyes are fixed on the tape ahead, not on the pain or the miles they’ve already covered. With every ounce of strength, that final push brings them to victory. This image echoes the message of Philippians 3:13-14: the Christian life is not a sprint but a marathon. It’s a journey of perseverance, focus, and pressing forward toward the prize.
Seeking a Spiritual Awakening in America
By christian union, first published in 2021; revised 2025
The following article by David Bryant is adapted from his essay in the 2004 updated edition of Jonathan Edwards’ influential book on prayer marked by a thirty-six word title that began with three famous words: An Humble Attempt. The modern version’s title is “A Call to United, Extraordinary Prayer…An Humble Attempt.”
Brown and Columbia Student Leaders Reflect on Worship
By Erin conner, writer and communication associate
Christian Union Universities, a Christian leadership development ministry at ten highly secular and influential educational institutions in America, aims to provide training and growth opportunities for students to lead others in devotion to God in their spheres of influence.
One area of leadership that students develop during their time with Christian Union is worship. The following thoughts from Christian Union ministry team leaders at Brown and Columbia University reveal the power of worship on their campuses and in believers' lives.
When God Woke Up Wales
By erin conner, writer and communications associate
In an article published by Desiring God, Pastor Jeremy Walker writes a brief summary and analysis of the revival that took place in Wales, England in the 1700's. Walker notably writes that “the Lord was pleased to stir the listless and lethargic to liveliness and labor during the 18th Century in various parts of the world by various human instruments. In England, God raised up George Whitefield. In America… Jonathan Edwards, and in Wales… Daniel Rowland.”
Devotional from January 2025 Christian Union National Fast
By Tim Pillsbury, Ministry Director of Christian Union Vox at Dartmouth
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."–James 1:2-4 ESV
God and the devil both recognize the incredible value and opportunity of suffering. In fact, we humans might be the only ones who do not! So many times, in the midst of suffering, our goal is simple: stop suffering. And we turn all our energy and attention to that task, desperate to be done with our trial.
But James 1:2-4 paints a different picture. “Count it all joy,” he writes, “when you meet trials of various kinds.” James does not call us to enjoy suffering—that would be masochism—but instead to count our suffering as joy. We are to view it not as something senseless, but as a trial of faith, a necessary testing ground which produces good fruit.
“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” -Psalm 119:9-16 (NIV)
Greetings from CU Libertas!
Dear CU Lumine Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Greetings from New York City!
The students are back on campus after a much-needed vacation to decompress from all the stress from the fall semester. We are back to ministering to their needs as they finish shopping for classes and settle in for the spring semester.
Dear CU Vita Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Greetings from Ithaca!
Classes are back in full swing at Cornell University, and that means that Christian Union Vita is back to work for the Lord here on campus!
Club Fest, the massive gathering of all the clubs at Cornell, took place on Sunday, February 2, and was another great opportunity to expose students to the vibrant ministry of Christian Union. We handed out 50 copies of The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, as well as dozens of flyers attached to Kit Kat candy bars to students. Several of those who stopped by our table have already engaged with us on our CU Vita Group Me, so pray that we continue to expand our reach into the Cornell student community. Our student leaders also engaged with the other groups around us, demonstrating their own personal leadership skills by interacting with others in warm, meaningful (and fun) ways.
