Christian organizations welcome students

The future leaders of society are the college and university students that today are seated in classrooms across the nation.However, many of the students who now pass through the hallowed halls of academia are not equipped for the challenges they face. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control reports that one in 12 U.S. college students makes a suicide plan. Every 21 hours there is a rape on a college campus, according to USA Today. It has also been reported that an estimated 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from unintentional alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes. Another sad fact reveals that one out of every four college students has a sexually-transmitted disease. Several Christian organizations on the campus of WSSU are attempting to help students avoid the kinds of risky behavior, circumstances and problems that could derail not only a student’s academic career, but his or her long-term goals as well. Among the more prominent groups on campus are L.O.V.E. (Leaders of Virtue and Excellence), Impact, Christian Life Center, Inspirational Voices of WSSU (Gospel Choir), and United Christian Campus Ministry. “The purpose of L.O.V.E. is to spread God’s word through service,” Sabrina Gilchrist, a member, said. “We emphasize community service and volunteerism and just basically try to help other people the best way we can. Our biggest event on campus is an undergraduate Christian conference.” “At least once a year we host this conference where we invite everybody, not just on our campus, but other schools,” she added. “We’ve done workshops in these conferences, and we even had a night of prayer at the last conference where whomever wanted to pray could pray. We accept anyone with open arms if you start coming to the meetings and say you want to join. Dues are $10.” Gilchrist teaches bible studies every Wednesday night in the Rams Commons Community Center at 9 p.m. “You can preach from a pulpit, you can have bible studies, you can pray all day long, but when you do all these things you still have to have love,” Gilchrist said.According to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” It defends everyone’s right to practice the religion of their choice, which makes it legal for organizations such as L.O.V.E. to operate openly on the campus of a public university.Reportedly, more than 90 percent of all people who become Christians do so before the age of 25. And, historically, it’s been noted that most world-mission movements have started on college campuses, which is noteworthy given that there are less than 5,000 campus missionaries to reach more than 10 million students in North America, according to statistics published on the website of the Greensboro-based Piedmont International Church.Maame Yaa Ofori-Anfah, a member of Impact, explained that “the purpose of Impact is to take students who are living on campus, not just Christian students, but specifically students who are not Christians, and turn them into people who are centered around Christ or educate them more about Christ and the Christian walk.”She added that “our motto is turning lost students into Christ centered laborers.” Ofori-Anfah said that Impact does not just hold Bible studies but has socials and open- microphone nights. She added that Impact is open to everyone. Impact meets for Bible studies every Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Coltrane room 215. It is their constitutional right.