I have attended Central Michigan University (CMU) since Fall 2002. There are multicultural advisors in each dorm who put on programs to encourage diversity and tolerance of different ideas. Recently, a multicultural advisor, who I didn’t know, called to invite me to represent Seventh-day Adventists on a religious diversity panel, since she had never heard of us before. There are only ten Seventh-day Adventists at CMU in our student group.

Since I didn’t know what questions would be asked, I spent a lot of time in prayer so I would know what to say. When we met, students asked questions like, "What would you tell a student who felt like he didn’t know his place in the world?" I was able to share verses from the Bible I memorized almost two years ago. Jesus said in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit will call what He has taught us to our remembrance, but have we spent time in the School of Christ?

We talked about Heaven, hell, and why the Jewish and Christian faiths view Jesus differently. In addition to answering these kinds of questions, I was also able to present the truths of the Sabbath. I shared that Seventh-day Adventists don’t keep the Sabbath so God will bless us, we keep it because it’s what the Bible says.

Most importantly, however, I was able to say how our salvation does not depend on anything we do, but on what Christ has done and is doing for us in the heavenly sanctuary and that Jesus Christ died to free us from sin. I also had the opportunity to express that we obey God because we’re going to Heaven, not in order to get to Heaven.

There are many opportunities to witness on secular campuses. God doesn’t restrict service to the talented; He needs young men and women whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, who have a redeeming influence on their friends. Jesus is the only reason we live. The question is, are we a river of life to the people we interact with? (see John 4:14)

College campuses are spiritually hostile environments, rife with compromise and temptation. College has been a trying time spiritually for me. Without the help of the Lord, spiritual friends, and involvement with the local church, I might get caught up in the secular lifestyle.

Do God's work to stay awake. I have led Bible studies, talked about Jesus with college professors on several occasions, spoken at different events, and given literature to co-workers at the right time—not because I’m particularly talented, but because I want to do what God has for me to do. Pray that God will give you opportunities to share the Gospel, but furthermore that He equips you with Bible study, memorization, and courage. God is smart; He has a million avenues to reach the lost through us. Will we put God to the test and risk our comfort for His kingdom?

Bill Blond is pursuing a degree at Central Michigan University, majoring in English with a minor in Speech. Upon graduation, he intends to teach English in Japan at an Adventist language academy as a missionary.