Tuesdays with Jesus is an informal, interactive Bible study group. Friday Night Vespers is a more structured Bible study. Both, located on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., are sponsored by the new Campus Hope Adventist Club and are led by freshman Michelle Lee, from Turlock, Calif.

“It was hard at first,” Lee explains. “I didn’t know what I was doing, what this was about. Through this [ministry] I finally found God.” Lee describes her former self as a cultural Adventist “kinda doing my own thing.” In public high school, she was in the International Baccalaureate honors program. Like her friends, she was caught up in getting into the “good” east-coast schools, which she did.

During a summer class at Harvard University, she met an Adventist student involved in campus ministries who invited Lee to the Korean Adventist Church in Boston, Mass.

“I was so surprised to meet young adults excited about Jesus and sharing Him. I wanted that,” Lee recalls.

She also heard about Maya Mackey, an experienced campus ministries leader who was in California. They found each other on Facebook. Mackey is the leader of a young adult ministries evangelism initiative for Central California Conference since November 2007. A graduate from Bakersfield Adventist Academy and Pacific Union College, she got involved in Adventist campus ministries while attending Michigan State University for her master's degree in psychology.

When Mackey shared the vision of campus ministries, Lee was hooked. Mackey knew who to call.

Spring Break Missionaries

Twenty-two students from University of Michigan came for 10 days in February to help. Mountain View Academy provided lodging. How-to training for campus outreaches included: small groups, giving Bible studies, religious surveys and massage.

(Michigan Missionaries are part of the Campus Outreach program sponsored by the Center for Adventist Ministry to Public University Students (campushope.com). Students take a year off from school to learn ministry in public universities. Training includes class and field work.)

A weekend training hosted by the Milpitas church kicked off the 10 days. A booth on Stanford’s campus provided hands-on training opportunities — the $500 Bible question day and free massages brought crowds. The second Sabbath, students spread the word about campus ministries in the area's churches, followed by an afternoon of testimonies hosted by the Mountain View Japanese church.

“Stanford is a model,” Mackey explains. “I can definitely see this happening at other colleges and universities. The Fresno City and State groups are beginning to grow.” Anew Campus Ministries, a training weekend held May 2-4, drew 50 interested young adults.

There are so many Bible study interests and students wanting pastoral visits that Lee is a bit overwhelmed, but fulfilled. “My goal is to double the membership every year, to see people revived in a spiritual life and not just floating around as cultural Christians,” she says. “I can honestly say that God gives us ministries for us. It is not just a social thing. It is a lifestyle.”