Friday, Dec. 29 pm

Susan Cho Van Riesen

On a summer mission to the Philippines, Susan Cho Van Riesen and her team found themselves in the midst of a brown out. The absence of light only served to illuminate the beauty of the stars above her. As she walked and raved to her fellow teammates, she failed to notice the sewer ditch in front of her and fell headlong into it. Susan has always been a big picture person. She has sometimes been so focused on the big picture that she overlooks the details of the present.

This big picture focus and failure to deal with the present applies as well to the Kingdom of God. She was not always filled with such a passion to glorify the Lord with her life and to serve the Kingdom of God. When she first went off to college, her heart was set on pursuing glory for herself and obtaining a better wardrobe. But the Word of God grabbed a hold of her heart and turned her life around. Her desires radically changed, "I wanted my life to make a difference for the Gospel. "

Susan became very excited about bringing the glory of God to the world. She declared to the Lord, "I will give my life to world-wide missions!" She clearly heard Jesus respond to her, "Do you love me? Feed my sheep." "Oh yes, I love you," she cried out, "I love you so much I'm going to get a PHD in feeding sheep and then give my life to worldwide missions!" Again Jesus responded to her, "Feed my lambs, tend my sheep."

Slowly Susan began to get a clue. Jesus was calling her to faithfulness in the present. She was not excited about the prospect of the present. People in the present were annoying her. They were difficult for her to love. She wanted to look excitedly to the future and to the work she would be able to do then for the Kingdom.

In Mark 10:35-37, James and John had plans for an exciting future just like Susan did. They asked Jesus if they could be seated at his right and left side in glory. Jesus turned to them and asked if they could drink from the cup he was to drink from. "Can you suffer? Will you serve?" It was here in the Word that Susan saw Jesus redefine being great: "willing to be served by Him as we endeavor to serve other people." To suffer and to serve not only in the future, but in the present is Christ's call.

As a staff worker on a college campus, she has not been blind to the many students around her that are struggling. She challenged us with the question, "Have you seen the great need of those around you on your campus?" The main point was that "how you live now will shape how you'll live in the future." If she could not trust Jesus to be enough for her on her own campuses, how could she trust him to be enough for her in a foreign country?

"Don't just live for the future!" she passionately called out to us. The campuses where we find ourselves now are an opportunity to live out our faith. She challenged the students at the convention not to squander the gift of the campus as a place to share the Gospel! She encouraged them instead to see their education as not just a chance to make money but to serve people in this needy and suffering world. "If you want to serve later, serve now." If you want to be a part of the Kingdom of God, be a part of the Kingdom of God right in front of you.

"Will you be like Jesus now? Feed His sheep."

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