Randy was a good student in high school, and he knew what he wanted in life. In 1999, he was accepted into the University of California–Los Angeles, where he majored in engineering. In the evenings Randy often cooked dinner with friends who had tired of dorm food.
The engineering degree would give the six-figure income that would allow him to buy a fancy car and all video games that he wanted. The evening meals that he cooked and shared with friends gave him the experience of belonging and acceptance.
During the summers Randy worked for an engineering firm where he learned to apply the problem-solving methods he had learned in the classroom. But even as he worked as an engineer, moving toward his career goal, Randy saw more and more that money and materialism would never truly fulfill his life.
When Randy returned to UCLA in 2002, for his fourth year, he began his search for another career and a relationship with God. Early in the semester, students from the InterVarsity chapter befriended Randy. He accepted their invitation to a Bible study. As he looked seriously at the life of Jesus described in the Gospel of Mark, Randy decided to turn his life over to the Lordship of Christ.
During that year and the next, as he finished his studies, Randy became more involved in the activities of the InterVarsity chapter. He continued attend a small group Bible study and even volunteered to cook for regional and area training conferences. Randy had already learned the deeper meaning of sharing a meal with others and had fallen in love with the emotions and experiences good food can create.
Eddy Ekmekji, Randy’s InterVarsity staff member, suggested that he use his love and talent for cooking to serve the Lord. So after graduation, Randy started on the kitchen crew at Campus by the Sea, InterVarsity’s training facility on Catalina Island. He is now the head cook, a position that he sees as primarily being mentor, counselor, and leader for the kitchen crew and as a servant to those who attend the camp.
In an interview for the UCLA Alumni Association, Randy told the story of one family who had come to a week-long family camp with their daughter, who had not smiled for months. During the week this young woman was seen enjoying camp, laughing, and running around. Her parents shared with the others at the banquet on the last evening that they were overjoyed at their daughter’s response to the atmosphere of camp.
“No six-figure salary can even come close to the satisfaction and sheer joy I receive when I help families grow stronger together. Jobs come and go, cars break down, stocks fluctuate, and clothes get old quickly, but healthy families last. I’m investing in something that has more meaning that anything in this physical world,” said Randy.
As students consider their future, InterVarsity challenges them to invest in God’s work, work that produces lasting results.
