Each Tuesday night, I spend the night in a fraternity. Almost every week this semester, I have crashed at a different house. It’s only been 2 years since I, myself, have lived in a fraternity, but these past few weeks of “re-immersing” myself into Frat-life have been “eye-opening” to say the least. Sticky floors from the parties the weekend before, music bumping till 4am on the week nights, random fraternity brothers roaming the halls popping their heads in each door telling their most recent story… Christians and non-Christians sharing their lives together. This is why I love this ministry.

Fraternities are random. Each night that I crash in one comes with its own blessings and challenges. Each night is different. Who I meet, the conversations I have, the challenges and questions I face, and the excitement that follows. Sometimes I hang out with just my House Ministry Leader (HML), and others I hang out with him and his non-Christian brothers and friends. And of course, each night I am bound to get only a few hours of sleep.

I have a whole load of stories that I could share from each of these nights… but for now, I will share just one. I was crashing Delta Tau Delta one particular night and the Delt HML and I hung out for a while, getting to go beyond the typical “coffee shop” conversations. Soon however, his room was invaded by 4 of his fraternity brothers, all coming in from campus, and each excited to put their academic worries behind them and play a few hours of the video game “Super Smash Brothers”. As they took turns playing and shouting at each other and laughing, I soaked it in. This time was priceless. I got to support my student leader who is doing ministry in a challenging place… from HIS turf. I noticed that his brothers know him, love him, and trust him… and each “Super Smash Brothers” hour is another hour of friendship built with him. Not only that, but his brothers got to know me apart from my “Greek IV Staff role”. For me personally, I got to see and experience our ministry from the front lines and be refreshed in the challenges and the beauty of what God is doing in houses. This time was priceless… for everyone in the room.

Nobody shared the Gospel that night. Nobody came to faith in Jesus for the first time that night. But it is times like those that are what God uses to build relationships of trust, respect, and love. And when the Good News of Jesus Christ is finally shared and discussed… faith barriers are down so that maybe, just maybe, they might finally “hear” it for the first time.

The Greek IV story was shared by Tyler Riffe Author Website: http://www.facebook.com/purduegreekiv Author Email: Contact Author Author Bio: Tyler is a campus staff with Greek InterVarsity at Purdue University. More Stories by Tyler Riffe

This post is tagged Evangelism, Fraternity, House Ministry