Saying Yes to Jesus: From Andrew

The Beginning

During Fredonia Chapter Times at Basileia, God broke down walls with a spiritual hammer as I (Andrew, the President) call it.  Altogether, the e-board and other students began to Stop Faking It and to be honest and real with each other beyond just a simple, “How are you?” “Good” or “Tired” response.  We were honest and some people confessed stuff like pride, anger, and unforgiveness toward parents.  I confessed my deep fear of others criticizing me for what I do, whether it’s big or small.  It would dominate my thoughts frequently.

The second night I believe, Jason Gaboury the Regional Director, allowed students to respond to God after the message he gave from the Sermon on the Mount.  He talked about on how disciples of Jesus treat others differently and how Jesus changes everything, before allowing students to accept Christ for the first time.  Five students got saved!  From that, God put it on my heart to hold a call to faith as I led our Chapter Time right after.  When I started to question whether God put it on my heart to do this, at the end a woman said, “When God is speaking, don’t change the topic.”  I knew this was from God! Though I was nervous, I trusted God to give me the words to say and I prayed just that.  

Once the Chapter Time started I said that “When God is speaking, don’t change the topic” and that God put something heavy on my heart to share about our salvation and I wanted to allow us to recommit to Jesus whereas Jason allowed first time commitments.  God has everything flow perfectly!! (better than what is written down here)  I asked everyone to close their eyes, and I spoke about God’s love and freedom that He offers through Jesus, and asked them to raise their hand if they wanted to recommit to living for Him.  As I waited, God eventually gave me scriptures to recite that I memorized like 1 John 1:8-9, Romans 3:26, and the verse in Romans about how whomsoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  In all, 4 people raised their hands!!!!! That could only be God!!

The Rest of the Story

Right after chapter time, I felt God calling me to go to the Club Room, and then Prospect Point (book store) to find Jason and tell him about what God lead me to do to encourage him!  I walked with Andrea, and when she asked what if he isn’t there, I said we must walk by faith and not by sight.  He wasn’t at the club room, but then we easily found him in the book store! #GodRocks!  Andrea and I sat down with him on a couch in the back of the room and I told him what happened and it went great! I also shared that the thought from scripture connecting why I should tell him came from how when Jesus healed some people with leprosy, he told them to go show themselves to the priest to show that they are cleansed.  Jason shared with us that he reads Psalm 100 and 95 regularly.  He pointed out where it says that when you heed God’s voice to not harden your heart.  He also said that he is happy that I am going to be President at Fredonia, which was super encouraging and made me happy.  He then prayed for us before heading off for the night.  What a great testimony of God’s faithfulness when we listen to him. 

Medical Story and Work Crew at Basileia 2014

My first Basileia turned out to be a lot different than I expected. When I arrived the first day, I was suffering from an infection that would need antibiotics. I had been trying to treat it on my own and was going to wait until the next week day to go to the doctor, but by the end of the first day of Basileia I was in too much pain to wait another few days. That was when I met the nurse, who turned out to be the only new friend I made during the week. Looking back it is kind of weird that we bonded over me having a really bad infection that required two visits to the ER and a trip to a surgeon, but I am grateful to have met her either way. Every time that I returned to camp after visiting the fancy Adirondack Medical Center I would check in with her and give her an update on how things went. For example, I told her about the antibiotics that I was put on, and later she hunted me down after lunch to warn me that the amount of drugs I was taking was pretty toxic and that I should be very careful about when I took them. I ended up visiting the nurse so much that Kathryn joked that we had become best friends. From this experience I learned that friends can be made through almost any situation. I think that God had the right idea in mind for me to make one close friend rather than a bunch of acquaintances that I would not keep in contact with after Basileia was over. That being said, go to Basileia! God will be sure to surprise and bless you with the people you meet. During track week I didn't make many new friends, but there is a great opportunity to get to know new people during meals and free time. I made one new friend and that was enough for me.

Overall, Basileia is a wonderful experience where you can spend a week in the beautiful Adirondacks surrounded by other Christian students who would love to talk with you about anything and everything. It is a great learning experience and I left Basileia feeling much better equipped to evangelize and share my faith with other people.

Work Crew: After a wonderful week in track week, I had the opportunity to spend another week at Basileia on work crew. I volunteered for housekeeping, where I cleaned bathrooms three times a day and did laundry in between that. There were a lot of sheets, tablecloths, and towels to fold, but it was fun. Being on work crew allowed me to get to know a smaller group of people a lot better than just meeting people during meals during track week. The work kept me busy and it was an awesome experience to help out around the camp and see what goes on behind the scenes to make sure the people in tracks are having a great time. Work crew is a great way to both give back to people around you and to help pay for a track week. I loved working with housekeeping, and I plan to do work crew every year that I attend Basileia.


Check out what the work crew does behind the scenes by clicking the picture.

Picture/Video of Work Crew Week 3 courtesy of Tim Peterson

What is InterVarsity at Fredonia

What is InterVarsity at Fredonia?  2014 Graduates Alex and Aaron recorded this video two years ago and the chapter is continuing to grow and change the lives of students.  Today, these students are changing the world as they serve and work vocationally or continue their education.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI82qcl5bWc&feature=youtu.be

Andrew is serving as the chapter President at Fredonia leading the chapter of 60 students to establish and advance witnessing communities on campus after deciding to extend his education so he could follow God's calling to teach.
Kathryn joined staff with InterVarsity and works to transform lives, change Fredonia, and develop world changers full time at Fredonia.
Erin just served as the Outreach Coordinator, heading up the Winter Service Trip and beginning the change in the Fredonia chapter's evangelism culture.  She will graduate in December from Fredonia.
Derek just graduated from Fredonia and is serving as a Christian camp counselor
Christine just finished her Masters at Roberts Wesleyan College
Darren just graduated from Fredonia and will be looking to teach HS Biology.
Danica is continuing her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology at Ithaca College.
Lindsay is continuing her education in to teach English as a Second Language at Nazareth College.
Josh is serving as a campus intern with Campus Ambassadors after transferring colleges and will join as a full time missionary staff after he graduates.
Jonn is using his Film degree to create films and advertisements in Atlanta with a Christian mindset.

*Recent updates on all students are not available.