Collegiate Ministry at work
My name is Kale Booher. I’m twenty-two years old and a recent graduate from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. Although my major was in History and my minor in Spanish, I received the call to full-time ministry during my junior year of college while working closely with Adam Pursel and LifePoint Church. In preparation for full-time ministry after college, I worked as Adam’s intern during the summer before and throughout my senior year, I made plans to attend seminary through either The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary or Liberty University Online and I served with NAMB as a Semester Missionary at my university.
In working with LifePoint Church, I also met and developed a relationship with Brian Frye, who serves as the Collegiate Strategist at the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. Through this relationship, during this past June I had the opportunity to work with a collegiate evangelism team called Invigorate. Myself included, the team consisted of eight college students from around the country. The team stayed in Ohio for a month visiting college campuses, sharing the gospel with summer school students and meeting with students and staff of collegiate churches and Baptist Collegiate Ministries.
Although I was able to serve with the group for only part of June, the experience was incredible. We shared the gospel with students on Ohio State’s campus, at Toledo University, Bowling Green University, Kent State University, the University of Akron and Stark State College. Each day had its own set of challenging circumstances that God used to stretch us out of our comfort zones and help us to grow. For me, one of the best moments came when we were sharing the gospel and serving with a collegiate church plant at Toledo University.
During our time at Toledo, I had the privilege of leading Eric a Chinese college student to Christ! I have to admit, during the entirety of our conversation, I had serious doubts about what was happening. Eric didn't speak English all that well, and so running through my mind were these questions of "does he understand what is going on?" and "am I somehow taking advantage of the situation?" After praying the prayer of salvation with him, I introduced him to the pastor on campus and asked if we could get him plugged into a group as soon as possible. That's when God showed up and laid my doubts to rest. Eric said the best time for him would be on Saturday evenings. Pastor Matt made a phone call to a friend who was starting up a Chinese Bible study that week, scheduled for Saturday evening.
This awesome moment, however, is only one of many in the story of God’s incredible faithfulness to me since I answered the call to ministry. For nearly two years now, God has continually provided, shown me mercy and the plans that He has for my life. In the latest development, He’s invited me to join in the work of church planting. This fall, LifePoint will be launching a new campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, as the next step in its hope and vision of reaching as many people as possible for Christ in the mid-Ohio area. Adam will be serving as the lead pastor, and he has asked me to serve as the student pastor. I will be working with middle school and high school students as well as with college students at Kenyon University and Mount Vernon Nazarene University. I knew two years ago that I was called to work with Adam and LifePoint Church, but God has once again gone far above and beyond what I could have hoped for or thought up for myself. I am humbled and excited that I get to be part of God’s plan for reaching the lost, and that I’ll be working to advance His Kingdom in Mount Vernon, Ohio!
