While reading John Teter’s new book, Get the Word Out, one day last fall, Jesus began to speak to me about all the ways that I had not been living as one who is sent by him. I had been struggling all semester to feel motivated for almost any kind of ministry and especially evangelism. My heart had grown dry and void of any life or laboring in the harvest fields at U. of Iowa.

As Jesus revealed the condition of my heart, I cried out and asked him to once again breathe his Spirit on me and send me into the harvest fields. Then I resolved to go to campus that night to wherever Jesus would send me.

I asked my wife Ali to pray with me and discern where Jesus would send me. The thought of “Rienow,” one of the dorms on campus, suddenly entered my mind. As I opened my mouth to speak, Ali said, “I think God is saying ‘Rienow.’” With that confirmation, I went to Rienow. I felt nervous and excited with anticipation at what the Holy Spirit was going to do. As I walked into the twelve-story tower, I had a strong feeling that I should go to the fifth floor. Trusting that this sensation was God speaking to me, I went where he sent me.

Anxiously, I walked down the hall, asking God for open doors. Because the dorm had no restricted access to the public (remember, this is Iowa!), I was free to roam the halls. Still, I wanted to honor the students’ living space and security as much as possible by approaching only the open doors which welcomed anyone. As I came upon the first open door, my faith and courage began to fail. Fearful thoughts began to overwhelm me: Did God really speak to me and send me here? What am I going to do when I walk in the room? What am I going to say? There’s no way God really spoke to me and sent me here. I can’t really discern his voice anyway! In the midst of my fears, I prayed, “God, I’m really afraid. Help!”

Taking deep breaths, my heart pounding, I slowly entered the room. There, to my astonishment, sat one student reading out loud from the book of Genesis to another student! It was just like Philip finding the eunuch reading out loud in Acts 8. I stood there absolutely dumbstruck, knowing that God was cracking up at this hilarious moment.

Trying not to laugh out loud at God’s humor, I stood listening as he read the story about incest between Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19). He finished reading, looked up at me, and said, ”Hey.” Not knowing what to say, I replied, “Uh . . . hi. Is that the Bible you’re reading?”

“Yeah, I found this really weird story as I was writing a paper for a class.”

At this point, the other student left the room with a “See you later.” Only the two of us remained.

“What do you think about the story?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Every time I read the Bible I just get more confused. I have a hard time figuring out how anybody makes sense of anything in it.”

“I feel the same way sometimes,” I said smiling. And for the next thirty minutes, we sat and talked about the Bible, God, and religion. I learned that he had little church experience and considered the Bible an “interesting story book” but nothing more. He questioned whether God exists and disliked institutionalized religion because of its supposed corruption.

Noticing that he wanted to continue writing his paper, I said, “Well, I’ll let you get back to your paper. My name’s Dave, by the way. I’m a college pastor.” (Some students grasp that more easily than my taking time to explain that I’m on staff with InterVarsity.)

He was surprised and said, “You’re a pastor? Wow! Thanks a lot for talking. I’ll see you around.”

Encouraged and confident that Jesus had in fact sent me to Rienow, I walked up to the next floor to find some more open doors. Still fearful, I kept praying and asking God for boldness. When I came to another open door, I looked in and found two women sitting on the floor studying. They looked up at me with expressions that said, “Who are you and why are you standing in our doorway?”

I smiled and said, “Hi. My name is Dave, and I’m a college pastor. I’m walking around asking people about their religious beliefs. Do you have a minute?”

After a shared glance, one said cautiously, “Uh . . . sure?” So I sat down nervously and began asking them some questions about their religious beliefs and experiences. After a couple minutes, however, I could tell from their fidgeting and bored expressions that I should go.

“I think that’s about all,” I said, wrapping up the conversation. “Thanks for your time.”

“No problem.” As I was leaving, they warned me not to go next door because the student there was very sick. “It’s like death in that room,” they said.

But the door was open.

Looking through the doorway of the “death” room, I found one very sick woman lying on a futon with blankets and pillows scattered all around. Her roommate sat at her desk studying. The sick woman looked up inquisitively, but the other didn’t even acknowledge me. “I heard that you’re sick,” I said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m all right,” she said weakly. “I’m recovering from mono. What are you doing?” It took her a lot of energy just to speak.

“My name’s Dave, and I’m a college pastor. I’m going around asking people about their religious beliefs.”

“Well, come on in. Fire away!” She was happy to have company even if it was with a pastor. I began asking her questions, and she eagerly responded despite her illness. As we talked, a friend of the sick woman came in and interrupted, “Hey, what are you talking about? Can I join?”

“Sure,” I said. “We’re talking about our church experiences, both good and bad. What’s your church experience been like?”

Hesitantly, she answered, “You know, on second thought, I think I’m going to go have a cigarette. I’ll be back.”

“No problem,” I replied, “but before you go, can I tell you a story about God and smoking?” Intrigued, she sat down and listened to my story.

I had first encountered Jesus in a real way as a high school senior and a smoker. I described to her the night when I went for a walk and found myself lying on a frozen lake. As I lay there praying, looking at the stars, and smoking a cigarette, God came near to me. I sensed his grace and great love comforting and reassuring me. Cold tears fell down my face as I opened up my heart to him. That night, I experienced his presence in a real and powerful way for the first time.

As I shared my story with her, she began to cry. She finally turned to her friend and said, “We have got to go to church!”

And her friend, to my amazement, replied, “I know! We were just talking about that the other day.”

Seizing the opportunity, I said, “You know, going to church would be great. Can I offer you something in addition to church that you may want to try? I do this thing called a ‘GIG,’ or ‘Group Investigating God.’ It’s a group of people who get together, look at a story from the life of Jesus, and talk about what the story might mean for their lives. Would you like to do that with me?” Her eyes lit up, and she said that she would love to do it.

We set up a time for the following week, and I told her that she could invite her friends if she wanted. The next week I showed up, and six people came to the GIG! We had our GIG four times last semester with as many as ten students attending.

Now, as I find myself responding more promptly and boldly to God’s promptings each week, he continues to teach me how to live as one sent by Jesus, a joyful laborer in his harvest fields.

—David Borger Germann graduated from the U. of Iowa with a BA in Religion. He serves there as InterVarsity staff with his wife, Ali. They’re both vegetarians, they love to read together and have a cat named Phoebe.