“The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe” (John 1:7).

Campus Ministry International (CMI), a branch of the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI), is a ministry that focuses on evangelizing college campuses everywhere with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We encourage the mindset that Apostolic students are not just to attend class, study hard, and successfully graduate with a degree, but they are also sent to their campuses as a witness “to bear witness of the Light, that all men through [them] might believe” (John 1:7).

We see Bible characters like Daniel, Joseph, and Esther transplanted by God into a strategic place at a strategic time for strategic ends. Understanding that university campuses today are filled with souls seeking truth, CMI aims to inspire the driving burden in Apostolic college students to introduce these individuals to the one true, living God whose Spirit promises to lead and guide us into all truth.

CMI also understands the daunting venture of beginning a Bible group on campus can so we work hard to equip students each step of the way. Since 1990 when CMI was first established, we have compiled a library of resources to aid in the undertaking. We have an active Facebook community (search Campus Ministry International) where members of the approximately 75 active CMI chapters scattered across North America share praise reports, prayer requests, and ask for advice. Additionally, we have our own website, www.campusnow.org. Of particular interest at this site is the “Getting Started” tab which has a variety of tools, advice, testimonies, and encouragement from those who have started successful CMI chapters.

The academic year of 2010-2011 saw many souls introduced to the gospel and filled with the Holy Ghost. For example, Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland held a campus service which saw 86 in attendance and ten receive the Holy Ghost. The University of Maryland Baltimore County finally saw the number of newcomers exceed the number of club members, and Penn State’s High Praise events continually see individuals filled with God’s Spirit–adding to the weekly attendance of the local Apostolic church.

Already in the first semester of the 2011-2012 school year, the weekly Bible study at United States Air Force Academy in Colorado has resulted in the midnight baptism of a cadet third class in an adjacent reservoir. Bowie State in Maryland has seen three students baptized after united prayer and fasting, and the University of Illinois just baptized an engineering student from Taiwan.

The amount of international students who are receiving their very first Bibles and learning the Christian significance behind such holidays as Easter is just as noteworthy. All of these inspiring stories and more can be found on our Facebook page.

The university was originally a Christian institution created solely for the purpose of training young men as ministers of the gospel. We can hardly say that these days. With the Christian God as a virtual taboo topic in most classrooms, students are “ever learning, [but they are] never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 3:7). CMI works, prays, and hopes tirelessly toward this end. The first part of our motto says, “As goes the campus, so goes the culture.” In other words, the university dominates the world. Imagine what would happen if Holy Ghost-filled young people finally assumed their Apostolic identity and authority and began dominating their campuses. We would be a force to be reckoned with and the entire world would have to take note.

We pray this vision and burden spreads and intensifies in the coming school year to see students saved and wonders performed as promised in the book of Acts.

Next Steps
Visit www.campusnow.org
Visit www.facebook.com/campusministryinternational

Ashley T. Chew earned her bachelor’s degree in English at Ohio University in 2005. She got her master’s degree in Literature from the University of Essex in England in 2009. She enjoys working with the youth and young adults at The Calvary Church in Cincinnati and is a co-director of Hyphen/CMI Coordinator for Ohio