According to USA TODAY:
Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.
Thankfully, Beth Arnott is not one of those. I wanted to introduce you to a young lady who made the leap from high school to college AND stayed connected to her church.
She’s the exception. And she’s stepping it up this summer by serving even more (read below, you may want to support her).
Here’s my interview with her:
- How did you get from there to here (give us a little of your background)? I was a part of the youth group at Grace Church in Powell and after following God’s call to attend The Ohio State University last year I knew I wanted to be a part of Christian movement on campus. After getting off to a rough start last year I have found my place in Campus Crusade for Christ and have been blown away by how God is moving. Currently, I am serving as a bible study leader in a freshman dorm and following God’s call to take part in a summer project in France for six weeks this summer.
- The stats of young adults who leave the local church are upwards of 50%. What made you want to keep attending church, even while attending college and a large one at that (OSU)? Hebrews 10:24-45 says “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” Community has been such an important part of my walk with God and the church is an exceptional place to see that grow.
- Why did you decide to take the next step and serve overseas this summer? I was at a retreat this fall and a couple students were talking about their trip to Nantes, France last summer and how most of the people there have no concept of God or knowledge of Jesus and the majority will go through life without meeting a single Christian. My heart just broke. There is such a need over there, I just couldn’t ignore it.
- How can our readers support you and your cause this summer? Prayer! Pray for the people we will be in contact with in Nantes, pray for their hearts, pray for the students and myself that are on the team (there are about 24 of us), pray that we would be able to raise all our support ($4,900) and pray that God would just use us in amazing ways. I have raised almost 70% of my support, but I am still looking for people to join my team. If that is something that would interest you please join my support group on Facebook or shoot me an email (arnott.13 “at” osu.edu).
- What’s a big God-sized dream that he’s given you for the future? I want to see God completely transform Ohio State. I pray that each student would be presented with the gospel at some point during their career and have a chance to choose eternal life. Ohio State may be the largest campus in the country, but I believe this is possible. I pray that it will cause such a commotion that other universities would want to know how this God is and how He is transforming so many lives.
