Monday, March 29, 2010

The Introduction Part 1

You may be wondering if I realize that I spelled "rough" incorrectly. The fact of the matter is I did not for the meaning I am using. I am making a play on words and irony. RUF is an acronym which stands for Reformed University Fellowship. This is a Reformed campus ministry for all college students both Reformed and Fundamental, both Christian and non-Christian. The mission statement of RUF is "Reaching students for Christ and equipping them to serve." This ministry is an outreach of the Presbyterian Church in American (PCA) and was started in the early 1970's and now is staffed by over 200 ordained ministers and other full time workers who have a heart for God and students. The ministry is now on over 100 campus across the nation and is reaching thousands of students each week.

After all of that you may still be curious as to what all of this has to do with me, Rachel Ely, from a small college town in Virginia. Well to be exact everything really. The Lynchburg RUF chapter was formed in 2008, headed up by Marc and Amy Corbett and their beautiful new baby Caroline. I met Marc and Amy in the Fall of 2008 and that was the beginning of a life change journey that would lead me down paths I never thought I would be taking.

My mother had told me that a college ministry had just started that my church, Redeemer PCA, was sponsoring and she thought it would be a good place to meet some Reformed boys, wink wink. Having just gotten out of a rocky relationship I was game to find something better. Little did I know that it would be better in ways that I could never have imagined. And for you girls out there who think this is a love story, sorry to disappoint :) So I arrive at the Wingate Hotel where this RUF thing was meeting totally expecting to be bombarded by hot red heads with freckles and a sturdy build (yeah that was my weakness back then...unique I know). To my disappointment there was no such specimen. Instead there were a bunch of people in relationships with their significant other in tow and here I was alone and still getting used to the idea. No sooner had I walked in then was I greeted by a cheerful guy with messy brown hair and a South Carolina accent. This was the campus minister Marc. He was the only one that really said anything to me that night and I have to say I was a little disappointed that I left without a new guy to crush on. But the message was good and Marc was funny and nice so I thought why not keep going, you never know who might show up right? I continue going for a few weeks. I still hadn't really made friends and most times Marc was the only person I would talk to, which was nice but it would have been nice to make other friends. So most Thursday nights I would leave rather discouraged but willing to try again next week. Then one Thursday night as I was sitting "reading my Bible" so that I would look busy and perfectly content to not be talking to someone and bubbly girl from Sweet Briar interrupted me. She was exactly what I needed to keep coming to RUF. She was the one student that reached out to me and it was the push I needed to keep coming.

To be continued...