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Hello friends! I'm Jonan Wilkin, a rising Junior pursuing a bachelors in Pastoral Ministry. God has called me, for the time being, to serve in the area of Blacksburg, as Part Time Field Staff at Cru Virginia Tech. As of now, I am trusting him to provide individuals and churches who can supply the financial and prayer support I need to be able to serve in this capacity. Here is a breakdown of the situation on the ground here at Tech, and how you can participate in advancing the Kingdom in the hearts of the college students who attend this school:

The Need

We estimate that of the 30,000+ undergraduate students who attend Virginia Tech, only about 5% are involved in any kind of Christian community — if we’re being generous. In addition, there is the well-known statistic that roughly 70% of Christian-raised high school students leave the church upon entering college, a demographic which, I can tell you from frequent personal encounters with such people, we have in abundance at this university. And all of the students are at a pivotal point in their lives, where they are living on their own for the first time and trying to decide for themselves what view of the world they will adopt and cling to for the rest of their lives. There are many hearts here who are ready to hear the gospel, and desert from the Domain of Darkness to enter into the Kingdom of the Son. Truly, the crops are ripe for harvest — but oh, the laborers in comparison are very few!

The Mission and The Goal

At Cru, our aspiration is to be a community where the gospel captures hearts, transforms lives and launches men and women into a lifelong adventure with Jesus. The primary component to this community is our 30+ guys’ and girls small group bible studies, which meet at various times throughout the week. In this context, young men and women have the opportunity to engage with the word personally, with others, be vulnerable with their peers, encourage and build one another up, and point them to the Lord. These small groups all come together in one place on Thursday night in one of the buildings on campus for worship – about three or four hundred people in all. In addition to these, we also have lots of discipleship – staff and student-leaders coming alongside younger students for regular one-on-one meetings to help them grow in their faith and love for God. Finally, we do lots of outreach in the form of social events and evangelism to get the broader student body interested in Christian community and experiencing the freeing power of the gospel. All of this is done with Jesus as our focus, that he might be glorified as Lord and Savior on the campus of Virginia Tech. We want every student and faculty member at Virginia Tech to know somebody who knows Jesus, so that the gospel might be proclaimed to them, and by the grace of God they might come to know him themselves.

My Role

As Part Time Field Staff at VT, I will be involved primarily in ministering in the areas of evangelism and discipleship. This means, among other things, going out on campus to share the gospel with non-believers, meeting one-on–one with younger men in Cru to mentor them in the faith, helping to lead small group Bible studies, and connecting with students through outreach events. This is a line of work that I feel God has been equipping me to do for years, even as he has been growing my desire for my peers to come to rejoice in the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. As I grew in these ways, I began to wonder how God might plan to use me for the upbuilding of his kingdom. At last, he has revealed that to me by opening this door for me to do these things as a part-time minister, while I pursue my college education to be a full-time minister in whatever capacity he calls me to in the long term. As you can probably tell, I am so excited about how God has provided for me and all that he has in store for me in this labor with Cru.

My Request

Lord willing, I will report to my position with Cru on August 1st, which is coming up very quickly. As I step into this role as a vocational minister of the gospel, I highly covet your prayers for me, that God would go before me to soften the hearts of those whom I will cross paths with to be receptive to the gospel, that he would give me the words to proclaim that good news boldly and winsomely, and that I would have the perseverance to persist in this work that God has given me, even when it gets difficult.In addition, like every other individual on staff with Cru, I have to raise my own support, so that I may be able to devote 20-25 hours a week to this ministry. I am looking to raise a grand total of $2,654 in monthly donations, of which, as of July 8th, I still have to raise about half within the next 3 weeks. For that reason, if you have not already decided to join me through finances and prayer, would you please prayerfully consider joining my team of support partners at $100 per month, or some other amount that is significant to you? Your contributions can have a big effect on the growth of the Kingdom! For those of you who already are supporting me, please pray that God would continue to raise up a team of ministry partners who are eager to support the advance of the gospel on the campus of Virginia Tech. Please feel free to reach out to me for any reason! I would love to know how I can be praying for you, and to meet up with you for lunch or coffee anytime! Thank you all so much for your help and encouragement. May God richly reward you and supply your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus! 

Website: cruvirginiatech.org