“No guy on our campus has done a complete 180 in this way,” said Cheston Newhall, a senior at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. “I was one for partying and throwing massive parties. Then I swore off drinking until I was 21, which held true, and I no longer plan on getting drunk.”
It’s not just the drinking or how he interacts with his fraternity brother in Kapma Sigma that has changed. “Last November, I went to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. I began reevaluating what I was doing and why,” said Cheston. “I started thinking about the ultimate question—what's my purpose?”
From Darkness to Light
Cheston didn’t have answers, but he did begin going to InterVarsity with a few of his fraternity brothers who had become involved. He had been part of a church with his family before college, but faith wasn’t an active part of his life. Through InterVarsity, Cheston found a place to ask his questions and see what the Bible had to say about them.
One night in January, Cheston read Ephesians 5. “I was really wrestling with the concept of how God shines his bright light through any darkness. No matter where we are, we can find him,” said Cheston. “For some reason, I was particularly hung up on this passage and what it meant for me.”
Overwhelmed with questions, Cheston needed a break and turned on some music. That’s when the song “Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise”by the Avett Brothers came on. The lyrics captivated him.
“There was a particular line: ‘There's a darkness upon me that's flooded in light.’ I listened to it about four or five times. Then I broke down. That was me,” said Cheston. “I was in awe that this was the first song I listened to after studying the passage. I was in awe of the things God had led me through this semester.”
That night, Cheston recommitted his life to Christ.
A few weeks later in February, Cheston went to InterVarsity’s Greek Conference, where he publicly announced his decision to give up his lifestyle of drinking and follow Jesus. A month after the conference, Cheston was baptized. “I won’t say it was a completion of my journey—it’s obviously a process. But it was a completion of the first step of the journey.”
A Little More True
Since recommitting his life, Cheston’s faith has influenced his family’s spiritual journey as well. “Before InterVarsity, I attended church maybe once or twice a year with my parents,” said Cheston. Now they go more regularly, and he’s seen his sister take more leadership roles in Young Life, his mom dig into Scripture, and his dad pray more often. In May, Cheston’s church invited him to give a sermon on God’s love for Mother’s Day.
“I look at my individual journey—it's been such a whirlwind. I've done a lot of things badly,” said Cheston. “For some people there isn't one grand moment that lets them know they’re changed. They keep going, ask questions, and then one day they wake up and realize they're completely different. I've always been very friendly and outgoing. But now I'm more whole on the inside, so the outer reflection has been a little more true.”
Cheston’s fraternity brothers have also noticed the change in him, and Cheston is eager to share with them about his relationship with God. He believes God cares deeply for those in the Greek system, and Cheston is preparing for how he can reach out to his fraternity brothers this fall.
“A lot of brothers in our house are convicted in the sense they believe Jesus died on the cross for them, but they don't really live this,” said Cheston. “Hopefully this will spark a new desire in them to be true to God's Word.”
As students across the country gear up for new classes, roommates, and cafeteria food, InterVarsity students like Cheston are planning how they can share new life with them too—the 180 change that only Jesus can offer.
