91福利社鈥檚 Associate Vice President of Student Development and Dean of Students Jonathan Gropp and Assistant Director of Campus Ministries Kaitlyn Jenkins co-led a trip to London with a group of students.听

The students were able to observe the lives of Londoners, going beyond the usual tourist attractions and into the city, traveling primarily by public transportation.听

According to Gropp, the focus of the trip was working with a local church and International Mission Board staff members who are focused on sharing the Gospel with university students. 鈥�

鈥淥ur group worked on two campuses, Kings College and The London School of Economics. We went to the campus each day and set up a table and whiteboard in what would be considered the 鈥渜uad鈥� area of the university. The Anderson students engaged those at these London institutions with questions like, ‘What brings you joy?’ seeking to move the conversation toward spiritual matters,” Gropp said. 鈥淢any students were willing to share their beliefs and allowed us to share what we believed and why we have placed our faith in Jesus. We also used a spiritual survey to engage students that didn鈥檛 come to our table. The survey asked questions about how important the spiritual area of their life was and if they would like it to become more important. We closed the survey by asking if we could share what we believed and if they agreed we were able to share the gospel with them. We also let them know about the student ministry that that was hosted by the church we were working with and invited them to attend.鈥�

While the mission team didn鈥檛 see anyone commiting to following Jesus, they felt that God used them to plant seeds in people鈥檚 hearts.听

鈥淲e were grateful to play a part in what the Lord is doing in London,鈥� Gropp said.听

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The 91福利社 Title IX Office through an intentional partnership with the Counseling Department and Campus Ministries Office, is rapidly deploying the funds to strengthen a series of initiatives that have already experienced high rates of adoption among AU students.

鈥淲ith this grant we are fostering the development of healthy relationship skills,鈥� said Anderson Associate Vice President for Student Development & Title IX Coordinator Robyn Sanderson.

鈥淪tudents that participated in the book study and By-Stander training developed valuable skills that will allow them to prevent unhealthy aspects of their own relationships and equip them with the ability to stand up for themselves and others. As a Christian institution, it is extremely important that we help our students develop skills needed for Christ-centered relationships that value respect and dignity of all.鈥�

Those initiatives include

• Workshops/Training: an ongoing intensive study and book discussion focused on women; the program helps female students define healthy relationships. Since its inception, attendance has almost doubled. In the fall there will be a male focused study group developed.
• Sexual Assault Awareness: with the implementation of Denim Day, students, faculty and staff wear denim to demonstrate support for those who鈥檝e experienced sexual assault; highlight its long-term impact on victims; and raise awareness of its dangers. Denim Day served as a fundraiser in which the funds were donated to First Light, a local non-profit in Anderson that supports women and children who have experienced sexual trauma and violence; AU faculty and staff donate money for the privilege of wearing jeans.
• Bystander Intervention Training: training opportunities help privileged communities recognize the signs of harassment and assault while equipping them with tools to protect those in danger.
• Trauma-Informed Training for Title IX Staff: this initiative is a deeper dive by helping frontline AU faculty and staff understand the physical, emotional and physiological trauma associated with interpersonal violence while working intentionally and lovingly with those who鈥檝e experienced it.

鈥淲e are grateful for the support of the South Carolina Institute on the Prevention of Sexual Violence on College Campuses that has allowed up to enhance our programs on campus,鈥� said Sanderson, who serves also as dean of student involvement and the 91福利社 coordinator for Title IX.

91福利社 is a 鈥渕ore selective,鈥� comprehensive Christian university offering bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees on campus and online. It is South Carolina鈥檚 largest private university. 91福利社 is the #2 private university in South Carolina, according to Niche.com, is among U.S. News and World Report鈥檚 鈥淏est Regional Universities South,鈥� and is on the publication鈥檚 鈥淏est Value,鈥� 鈥淏est Schools for Veterans,鈥� 鈥淏est First-Year Experience鈥� and 鈥淏est Online Programs鈥� lists. Anderson is a five-time Apple Distinguished School and on the honor roll of the prestigious Great Colleges to Work For庐 program.

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Van Ness was honored recently by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) as Athlete of the Year in Orange County, California.

Van Ness, who plays as an outfielder for the Trojans Baseball Team, is a senior majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Homeland Security. He accepted Christ as his savior at a young age, then in high school he became involved in FCA.

FCA camps were an integral part of growing up for Van Ness. While in high school, Van Ness got the chance to pay it forward through a ministry role, coaching at FCA baseball camps and leading in ministry. He also became president of FCA for all of the high schools in Orange County, a populous county located just south of Los Angeles.

During high school, Van Ness started looking at college options. His mom encouraged him to think beyond colleges that might recruit him to play baseball, check out a few Christian colleges and consider where God might be leading him.听

鈥淚n obedience to mom, I started doing some research on my own and that’s actually how I found AU鈥μ� simply through just Google search and looking for some schools that that have the values that I have and good community and things like that,鈥� said Van Ness, who was also seeking a good Criminal Justice program. 鈥淭hrough that process, I ended up qualifying for the Presidential Fellows scholarship that we have here. Once I qualified for that, it was kind of a no brainer, 鈥榟ey, I might as well go through the steps鈥� and apply for that and send in the resum茅 and the essays and whatnot鈥�. And then spring rolled around, I ended up being a finalist for that, so I flew out here for a visit, spent a whole weekend here on campus, and I loved it. I love the people I met. It was an incredible experience going through the competition.鈥�

鈥淚t was right when COVID hit. I was a high school senior in 2020, they shut down my baseball season and I was still uncommitted. I was like 鈥榤an, I don’t know what I’m going to do now,鈥� and I got a letter in the mail from Anderson saying hey, congratulations, here’s the Presidential Fellows scholarship鈥攁t that point it was like a no brainer. God closed many doors and then opened up this really big one to give me the opportunity to play baseball here and then also add on the full ride scholarship.鈥�

Since coming to 91福利社, Van Ness has been involved in leadership for FCA on campus. He has a burden for student-athletes recruited to don the Trojan black and gold.

鈥淭here’s this mission field of students right here at AU. I want to reach these athletes,鈥� Van Ness said. 鈥淲e got to redesign how FCA looked at AU and got a full leadership team to be involved with the spiritual leaders from each team… We鈥檝e got an FCA director on campus.鈥�

Nate Norwood, FCA representative for 91福利社 and chaplain for male student-athletes, says Van Ness is all about making sure others come to know Jesus.

鈥淔or me, the thing with Jackson鈥� He鈥檚 phenomenal with what we do,鈥� Norwood said. 鈥淗e helps lead small groups we have after our gatherings each month this past year, but more importantly the example he sets for guys on his team, the heart he has and his ability to connect. He leads campus visits. Him reaching out to guys and being willing to go out of his way to connect with other athletes.鈥澨�

During the summer, Van Ness would go home and engage in ministry, working with kids young enough to be putting on their first cleats and into their teen years. While the young players enjoy playing baseball, they learn how much more rewarding it is to make Christ Lord in their lives.听

Isaac Friesen, director of Operations for the Summer FCA ministry team in La Mirada, California, first got to know Van Ness as a high school student and watched him grow in his FCA leadership roles. Friesen has seen Van Ness using his God-given gifts to engage with young players.

鈥淗is ability to speak and communicate is really up there as far as guys that we’ve seen,鈥� Friesen said. 鈥淚 love how passionate he is and he鈥檚 well spoken, very biblically focused. He also has a great ability to connect with people. He just finds connecting points and is able to bridge that gap of stranger to friend pretty quickly鈥攖hat means a whole lot.鈥澨�

鈥淭hree of my four summers here, I’ve gone back to work full time ministry for FCA in California. We do mission work in Mexico and inner LA and then we also do like eight weeks of summer camps,鈥� Van Ness said. 鈥淎thletic summer camps are our big thing we do. We get over a little over 1,500 campers and stuff. And so we’re in full ministry and then also bringing FCA here on campus at AU.鈥�

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Amidst all the revelry, there鈥檚 some soul searching going on among students. That鈥檚 why a team of 91福利社 students joined more than 1,500 students from different colleges and universities for BeachReach, three weeks of outreach organized by Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) to help others realize they can fill that void with Jesus鈥� love.

鈥淭his is one of my favorite events of the year because it is taking the Gospel where college students are,鈥� said 91福利社 Assistant Vice President of Christian Life James Hanson. 鈥淓very year, this year included, I see students grow confident in sharing their faith and walk with them as their hearts are broken for their peers who are lost. This ministry has been going on continuously since 1996 with only a one year break for Covid. This is my fifth time going, and it never disappoints.鈥�

Student Josh Tofel described their trip as a combination of retreat and mission trip. Most days, according to Tofel, consisted of blocks of prayer time as well as some free time, and then from about 8 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. was devoted to ministry.

鈥淲hen you go up to talk to people, the challenge is not starting to talk to them, but it’s transitioning from small talk to spiritual questions, because as soon as you make that transition, if you’re not careful, they’ll stop listening,鈥� said Abigail Locke, a sophomore majoring in Music Performance.听

This was also the first year BeachReach organized late night pancakes at Church at the Beach, where students from the teams sat alongside others who came for free pancakes, sharing conversation and a message of hope.

鈥淭here was a guy who came with his girlfriend, and me and some other people on our team were able to just sit with him and talk for a really long time,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淗e made a profession of faith that night鈥� I think definitely the good encounters were what impacted us more than the bad encounters.鈥澨�

For Gabe Lindner, a senior Homeland Security major, this was his second Beach Reach.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a good opportunity to get outside your comfort zone and evangelize, get down to the nitty gritty and ask if people know who Jesus is,鈥� Lindner said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of good conversations.鈥� Lindner and others from 91福利社 joined students from various colleges and universities preparing pancakes for the hungry crowds.听

鈥淧eople are actually hungry for the gospel, they鈥檙e hungry for something more,鈥� Tofel said. 鈥淎ll it takes is asking the right questions and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and then you鈥檝e got somebody that sees their brokenness and perfect transition to the love of Christ and the victory He鈥檚 brought us.鈥澨�

Hanson noted that during the three weeks of Beach Reach 2024, student teams transported 18,972 shuttle riders, served 1,662 plates of pancakes, prayed for and had Gospel conversations with 10,697 people, 310 of whom prayed to receive Christ.听

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