In the Beginning

Contrary to popular belief, I have in fact been keeping a mostly accurate memoir of my first three weeks traveling with Tom Short. However, as I lack any technologically advanced contraptions in which I can access the internet upon every whim, as is the cultural trend at this time, I am at the mercy of my dearly beloved teammate, Megan, and whoever else might grant me a few minutes with their laptop at whatever moment they feel desireable. Okay, okay, enough with the drama...So, on Labor day, I happened to be hitchhiking and was picked up by this guy named Tom Short and his three interns...actually, that's not even true either. To be totally serious, this summer I'd been praying for God to show me what a 'next step' could be in my relationship with Him as well as serving my church and taking more steps in sharing the gospel. Tom Short is a pastor who lives in Ohio but spends most of the school year traveling to many large university campuses as he shares the gospel of God's grace with students. He has been doing this for nearly 30 years and has seen many people come to Christ and reverse athistic, agnostic, and evolutionary ideas as they realize through logical and scientific discussions that God not only exists, but desires a personal relationship with individuals through repentance and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. This summer, Tom invited young people to apply to travel with him over the fall semester. I jumped at the chance, as this would be a wonderful way of learning more about answering questions about my faith, leading people to Christ, as well as learning from someone who's been involved in college ministry for a while. On Labor day, Tom and the rest of the interns, David, Duncan, and Megan picked me up in Davenport. We traveled to Ames, IA where we would spend the rest of the week on the campus of IA State. I got to stay with my sister in the apartment she shares with three other girls who attend the church she is a part of. The next morning, we all assembled at campus, unloaded the van, and began setting up the displays we would be using. These displays are very large and will easily catch the eye of anyone walking by. In the past, Tom usually would stand in the quad on campus and preach for about 4-5 hours a day, inviting questions and dialoguing with students about questions concerning God. Now, with these displays, more dialogue is able to happen between all of us with different students, rather than just Tom talking to a large group all at once. Tom really likes this method, because not only are we learning from our discussions one-on-one with students, but more students are willing to open up and ask real questions when fewer people are listening.