I came back to Appalachian State U. in the fall thinking that God would never use me. I’d had a hard summer spiritually and didn’t believe I was ready to lead others, yet I was supposed to head up the chapter’s outreach team. I can remember sitting in the student union at the beginning of the semester telling our staff worker, John Hanna, “I’m just not sure who I am anymore.” Today I can hardly begin to tell you about the most amazing semester of my life. I’ve learned more in the past four months than in all my previous years combined.

I’ve had a heart for racial reconciliation since high school, and looking back I can see how God was working to prepare me for this as I built relationships with those of different races and learned about their culture. However, I never expected what the Lord had in mind for this semester.

At the beginning of the semester, John Hanna and Adam Gilbert, our two InterVarsity staff, invited me to join them at the Black Student Association (BSA) meeting to show a video promoting Urbana. At the meeting I was asked to share about InterVarsity, and tell briefly what it was. I did, but was I ever nervous!

After leaving the meeting I felt that the Lord wanted me to join BSA. I ­didn’t know what would ever come of it, but I chose to be obedient. Most meetings I am the only white person, and for a while I suffered through those meetings where no one talked to me or really acknowledged my presence. I used to hate Mondays because I knew that I would have to go to BSA that night and sit in a room where I wasn’t included. Later in the semester I began to realize that I was experiencing some of what it’s like to be black on the campus of ASU. Now I’m enjoying the meetings. It’s a place where I find some of my friends and many acquaintances. It’s not as awkward anymore and I’ve expanded my knowledge of the black culture.

The Lord has laid the foundation this semester for many years to come. Many of us involved in reconciliation are just stepping stones for what the Lord has in store for the future of InterVarsity here at ASU. Just this semester he has opened so many doors. I now have three close friendships with girls of other ethnicities. My friend Sharonda heads up PCF (a black campus ministry), and we meet as often as possible to share and learn from each other. She is a basketball player, which opens up another door for a part of InterVarsity’s outreach team that focuses on ministry to athletes.

Through this friendship with Sharonda, we actually staged a “riot” at an InterVarsity large-group meeting. We had blacks and whites portraying segregation and hatred towards each other. The point of the riot was to promote a conference called Love One Another and to tell the body of believers at InterVarsity that racism exists—whether it directly affects us or not.

A lot of other good thing are happening, too. The gospel choir came and sang at InterVarsity one week. I’ve been able to invite many of the people from the choir to small-group Bible studies. Some students in InterVarsity are now attending the Mennonite Brethren Church, a predominantly black church in town. Adam Gilbert joined the gospel choir at the beginning of the semester and is building relationships with many students there [see the sidebar below]. InterVarsity also helped sponsor a campus ministry dance that included PCF and the gospel choir.

I can see this spirit of reconciliation starting to become contagious with members of InterVarsity. There is a new attitude in the air and a new heart for people of all races. Today, I can’t even read a book on racial reconciliation without crying, and I can hardly talk about this issue without becoming emotional. The Lord has given me a new heart and opened my eyes to the truth, and for that I am ever thankful.

—Charity Potts is a junior at Appalachian State University, majoring in applied communications and minoring in marketing.