Why I Love NSO

Over this last summer, looking ahead to NSO at Susquehanna U. (PA), I thought about what the freshmen on our campus experience, and it reminded me of my own freshman year.

When I first came to college, I thought I knew myself and the world around me pretty well. I felt confident (or so I thought) about my ability to impact the world with my wit and intelligence. In a lot of ways, I was self-assured after being accepted into a prestigious university and confident about the degree I would be receiving from such a school. While I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, I was resting on my ability to give myself the life I desired.

I thought my knowledge of God was at an all-time high. All my years in church had convinced me that I knew enough about God, and I declared myself an expert on the Bible, proving it by my ability to recite the books of the Bible in under 25 seconds. My plan was to join some Christian club to include in my endless list of college activities. To me, God was another activity to check off my to-do list.

But after four years of experiencing God's reshaping power through InterVarsity, I realized what I had been receiving:

• A true understanding of myself in relation to God and others, learning that I am a valued creation, not because of what I do, but because of who I am.
• A value for others reflected in a desire for deep relationships across gender and racial lines.
• A value for God’s Word and its ability to speak truth into my life.
• A better understanding of financial stewardship.
• An awareness that my choices and actions need to revolve around God’s will, not my own.

I long to see the first-year students on our campus grow into mature adult followers of Christ. Though their experiences may differ from mine, I want them to have a real and true understanding of themselves, God and their world. I want them to leave school, not with InterVarsity as another club listed on their résumé, but with life-long values in place—to love God and his people, and to be people who are change agents in the world. And it all begins with NSO.

—Erin Stine is on staff with InterVarsity at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA. When Erin isn’t doing ministry she enjoys being artsy, talking with friends and spending time with her husband, Andrew.