Yesterday my church family said goodbye to our RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) campus minister and his family. RUF is the college ministry of the Presbyterian Church in America, (PCA) and seven years ago, Joey Pensak and his wife Katie came to The University of Connecticut (UConn) to begin a ministry there.
(Yes, that would be THAT UConn, home of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion Huskies—hands in the air everyone—and yes, now you know just what kind of Presbyterian I am.)
Joey and Katie recently received a call to plant a church in Burlington, Vermont, which has been identified as the most unchurched city in the most unchurched state in the U.S. (American Religious Identification Survey, 2008).
When Joey and Katie announced they were leaving, I contacted a number of RUF students, including some who had been part of its ministry at the very beginning. I asked them to share with me their stories of how Joey’s work had shaped their experiences as students. Interviews took place by phone, email, and in person and, sometimes, as Joey sat right next to a student and me at the local Starbucks. I wanted to record the stories of some of the students from UConn because I’m a firm believer in the power of story in helping us see evidence of God’s faithfulness in one another’s lives. I had the stories printed and bound and presented a copy to Joey and Katie during yesterday’s farewell ceremony.
What began as a gift for Joey and Katie turned into a gift I gave myself. Now that my son will be leaving for college in the fall, I was deeply encouraged by the stories of how God had met students at UConn and demonstrated His faithfulness to them during their college years. Some students arrived on campus bringing strong Christian convictions; others were tempted to cast a sideways glance toward the many temptations present on a large university campus. Some, through Joey’s preaching, heard the gospel for the first time and came to faith in Christ. What I saw demonstrated, over and over again as I listened to these students, was God’s loving and relentless pursuit after the hearts of his dearly beloved children.
One of the students told me he connected with Joey and the ministry of RUF by accident. He had no idea his dorm was located close to a strip of churches, so he googled churches in the area, found a link for RUF and began attending. Looking back on the accident of finding the ministry through Google, he considers it “God’s provision to hook me up with RUF.”
A friend, a former pastor who championed the effort to bring RUF to UConn, wrote a foreword for the book. Now serving as an Army chaplain in Afghanistan, he sent a message which included these words:
What Joey did was crazy. It was crazy like Simon and Andrew dropping their nets and walking off to follow Jesus. Crazy like Elijah dueling with pagan priests on a hill, daring them to call down fire from heaven. What Katie did was really crazy, trusting her husband and God’s call on their lives, trusting the passion God had given them for seeing God’s grace and love communicated to the students at UConn--all the while following him to a cold hard and potentially lonely place when Joey couldn’t clearly explain where the grocery money would come from after a few short years.
As I got to know Joey I realized there was an attractive depth to his person which led to an attractive depth to his ministry. Joey’s life and faith were real and transparent; his love for an infinitely complex God was simple. Joey showed UConn an attractive God, a God who seeks and saves that which is lost.
Now Joey and Katie are off to do something crazy again. Because of their love for an infinitely complex and attractive God who seeks and saves that which is lost, the Pensaks will be heading to a city in desperate need of the gospel. If you have friends or family in the Vermont area, especially those who need truth and grace spoken into their lives, please encourage them to look up Joey and Katie.
More information:
Joining Jen and the sisterhood:
15 comments:
God bless them and God bless you. Thanks be to God.
What a tremendous gift you've given by recording the stories of how God has used all these dear people...and you!
P.S. Now I know exactly what kind of Presbyterian you are. I've used RFP books for Bible study in our home school for years.
A Christlike bright spot on a college campus is like water in the desert.
What a gift you gave, the kind that God used to be a blessing to you as well. I love it when He does that.
I have a (Christian) cousin just outside of Burlington. May God bless your friends' efforts there.
it's about time you revealed it... been wondering. and how absolutely amazing. i already knew you were a superb lady... but you just like to prove me more and more right as time goes on.
and so fitting, my word verification is revere.
oh my gosh! YAY! I'm so excited for you. way to use your massive talents!
This sounds wonderful and I will keep Joey and Katy in my prayers.
I love how God has used the gifts that He has given you to provide such a passionate, lovely gift. Beautiful woman, you are!
What a beautiful story! I seem to remember you telling me that you were writing down the stories of others when we spoke in Pittsburgh. Is this the project you spoke of then? What an amazing gift you have given an amazing couple. Just shows your beautiful heart, Nancy.
neat idea..the book. something they can always have and look back on. to encourage them when they are starting new. there is something so contagious about real raw faith being lived out in the real world. God's love living through humans..without judgement..just loving can draw many.
xo
you rock.
and prior to my conversion to RC , or maybe rc...
I was RP, P before that, Anglican before that.
I mostly just know that I'm Christian. The religion stuff.. not so much.
peace be with your friends . love .
Having been a departing ministry couple, I know how meaningful this is. What a huge undertaking. Your friends will be taking part of you with them.
What a wonderful, wonderful way to share your writing gift. My own daughters have been blessed by the RUF fellowship (wait...that's redundant) in college.
And I come from a family of UCONN fanatics who live all the way down here in Georgia. We're transplants.
Wow. What a beautiful undertaking....for all concerned.
How very cool to so tangibly hear the stories of God at work. And this Vermont Project? I'm so intrigued. I heard of the report when it was released and my heart was pricked. Maybe partly because my husband keeps saying he wants to live in Vermont (having never visited there). Thanks for this gift. It helps me know how to pray more effectively.
Nancy, what an amazing gift you gave Joey and Katie. I can only imagine how loved they must feel by your church. Bless you.
Joey was our all-church retreat speaker a couple of years ago, and I benefited so much from his teaching. I'm so excited about their planting a church in Vermont. Your Kingdom come, Lord!
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