We reconcile students to Christ, equipping them through spirit-filled communities of prayer, worship, fellowship, discipleship and mission to transform the university, the marketplace and the world.
We have had the privilege of pursuing this vision in New Orleans since 2003. Our first NOLA chapter was chartered at Tulane in Oct, 2003. Loyola followed in early 2005 with UNO launching shortly thereafter (though delayed by Katrina). Over the past four years, we have focused on building a lasting foundation at each of these universities and beginning a city-wide missionary team to help us reach them.
Now, it is time to expand, and we are thrilled to welcome Deanna Ceasar to our team this year. Our goal is to launch Chi Alpha at Xavier University (one of the USA’s premier HBCUs) in Fall 2012. This year, we will be laying the groundwork.
Why Reach the Campuses?
Their future is our future.
The social, scientific, and spiritual theories of today's campuses will become the accepted norm for tomorrow's grade schools, businesses and television programs. What America is and what it will become is directly related to what happens on its university campuses. As a nation's campuses go, so goes the future of the nation.
The future of our culture is being shaped on campus, today!
The world at our front door.
There are ~ 700,000 international students studying in the United States. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. They speak English, want to make American friends, and want to learn about our culture and our religion. These students are at our doorstep, and many of them come from nations closed to the Gospel.
There were more than 50 nations represented at UNO’s commencement this May!
Our young people are important.
80-90% of Christian young adults leave the church. We are on campus to help Christian students navigate university life. We equip them to not just survive, but to thrive on the university campus. We train and empower students to reach their universities with the Good News - to reach international students, and American students. More and more American children are growing up with no accurate knowledge of the Gospel.
Students are unreached, but not for long!
Meet Team NOLA.
Over the pat two years, the missionary role for Jen and I has grown to include leading this amazing new team of missionaries. We are, first and foremost, missionaries to students, but we would be remiss not to introduce you to these wonderful people, and this side of our ministry.
Josh and Rachel Harvey are music graduates from LSU, class of 2007. They completed the Diversity Project training at UL-Lafayette in 2008-09, and then moved to New Orleans at God’s direction to become the directors of the Loyola Chi Alpha movement. They have seen supernatural favor from God at Loyola, and are a perfect fit for the culture there. They are also proud parents of a baby boy, Ellington, born May 2011!
Christine Thrower is a 2008 LSU graduate from New Mexico. She completed the Diversity Project training at LSU in 2009-10. and moved to New Orleans last summer to take primary leadership of the UNO chapter of Chi Alpha as a full-time missionary. We are grateful for her energetic and creative leadership that has taken UNO XA to a whole new level of influence on campus.
Ashley Brown graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2010 and has just completed the Diversity Project at Tulane University. She is on staff this year at Tulane, helping to grow the international student ministry, and at UNO to assist the development of small group ministry. Additionally, Ashley will be assisting the whole team through much needed administrative support in the office.
Deanna Ceasar graduated from LSU in May 2010 and completed an campus missionary training through the Diversity Project this year at UL in Lafayette. She is following God’s passion in her heart to reach out to students in the African-American community at Loyola and to pioneer a new campus group at Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically black college/university.
Also each year, our team is joined by full-time Campus Missionaries in Training through Louisiana’s Diversity Project.
Each team member is a missionary appointed by the Assemblies of God. Their income is dependent upon the generosity of God’s people, people like you! You might be interested in joining the support team of one or more of our missionaries. They depend upon the regular giving of their support teams.
If you would like to learn more about supporting one or more of these missionaries, please fill out this online form.
Thank you for your support and prayers!
Matt DeGier
