In 1993, God began leading two college
students toward a team ministry before they knew each other. Shawn Galyen,
graduating from North Central University in Minneapolis, felt burdened
to touch the lives of international students. Jacqueline Pack sensed
God directing her to transfer from the University of Toledo in Ohio
to Zion Bible Institute in Providence, R.I.
Jacqueline Pack (second
from left) and Shawn Galyen (right) with students from Japan, Germany
and Zimbabwe are part of the reason Chi Alpha has a global impact.
At Zion, Pack heard Chi Alpha missionary
David Owens describe a plan to establish Chi Alpha in Washington, D.C.
She joined that effort in 1997, and began the Chi Alpha ministry on
the campus of Georgetown University.
"When we came to Washington,"
Pack says, "we took the approach of a citywide team ministry. We
want to work together among the schools." Currently, Chi Alpha
has established chapters at five universities in the city. Pack began
a Bible study with several women at Georgetown from which the Chi Alpha
chapter was started. A miraculous turn of events came about when the
university invited Chi Alpha to oversee the hospitality program for
international students.
"We have more than 100 international
students involved in our American Friends program each year now,"
Pack says. "We work directly with Georgetown in a nonreligious
fashion, but many of these students also come to Chi Alpha activities."
Galyen and his wife, Deborah, arrived
in Washington in 1999 and began itinerating as Chi Alpha missionaries.
God sharpened Galyen’s evangelistic focus.
"‘God, where do You want
us in this world of missions?’ I would pray," he says. "So
often, in my mind I had pigeonholed who lost people are. They had to
be poor or from a Third World culture. God was directing me to reach
future leaders of the world."
Georgetown University has an environment
that nurtures international leadership. About 100 countries are represented
at the university, with students who are at the top of their classes
from their own countries. Many will become government officials and
community leaders.
"We want to see international
students raised up, discipled and prepared to return home with a Christian
testimony," Pack says.
"Our motto is ‘Reaching
students, training leaders, influencing nations,’" Galyen
says.
The third element in that motto
took on additional meaning when Galyen and Pack led a team of Chi Alpha
students from Georgetown to Malawi this summer. The June expedition
resulted in the first Chi Alpha chapter being established in Africa.
Galyen, who had ministered in Malawi with his parents, says the outreach
at Blantyre’s Polytechnic University reached hundreds of students
besides establishing the Chi Alpha chapter.
Shortly after the Malawi trip, Pack
flew to Japan to visit Japanese alumni of Georgetown as well as students
who were scheduled to attend the university this year.
"One of the most exciting testimonies
was from Izumi," Pack says. "We helped place her with a Christian
host family. She did not become a Christian before graduating, but gave
her heart to the Lord after returning to Japan. She’s attending
a church in Tokyo, and I was able to connect her with some Assemblies
of God friends during my visit."
Pack and Galyen are excited about
a new ministry opportunity this year. Three Christian Chi Alpha participants
have been given resident advisor status. Their increased interaction
with students in their halls will open doors for evangelism.
"This is not an accident,"
Pack says. "We believe God put this together."
"Jacqueline and I can’t
get into the buildings unless a student takes us there," Galyen
says. "We don’t have an office and we can’t even park
on campus for more than two hours. But we know that the opportunity
God has given us through the American Friends hospitality service is
truly miraculous. We have to walk a fine line, using wisdom as to when
we can share our faith."
