#ReflectCampusMissions - Introducing the Standerfers

Hey all, my name is Shane Standerfer. I work on the campus of the University of Oklahoma as a Campus Missionary alongside the Sooners for Christ. We are in the thick of support raising, but we are hoping to be fully funded by the start of the Spring semester, January 18th.

My wife, Bekah, and I met, married and had our first child, Phoebe, while we were students here at OU. So this campus holds a very special place in our hearts. Phoebe is almost 3 and our son, Ezra is 10 months old.

We started support raising in mid-September - a time when many churches have been experiencing lower giving - a time when many missions are being cut from church budgets - a time of financial anxiety for many.

For my family and me, going into self-supported campus missions was a step of faith. We felt called to partner with God in this type of Kingdom work, but could we trust him to come through as we gathered a team of financial partners to support our vision at The University of Oklahoma during a moment of economic uncertainty? Is generosity enough to rest my families well-being on?

One of the first things we learn about our God in Genesis is that He makes Good things and He pronounces blessing - an invocation of life. He is a God who makes a way for life in the midst of chaos and confusion.

As we follow the narrative of God we see that He continually calls His people to leave their places of certainty and abundance to wander in the desert. It is in those wasteland moments that God shows His people that He is a god of abundance and generosity and He is inviting us to live in the Kingdom of Enough.

This journey in support raising has been a similar experience. We left the traditional ministry model to pursue self-supported campus missions. As we witness the abundant generosity of God’s people it is like staring directly in the face of the God who turns deserts into flowing streams of water. God is using this time to reframe how I view the world, including our own resources, to see everything as a gift from a God who makes Good things.

For those of you who support mission work - thank you. Thank you for being the vehicle for God’s abundant generosity in the midst of a world that often looks like a desert wasteland.