The conversation took place yesterday as planned, and can I say if I prayed this much about everything I do, I can't imagine what that would lead to! But I digress.

The young man and his wife came to breakfast as planned, and since we only had an hour, I jumped right in.

"What went well this year?" They answered. "What was disappointing?" (I knew the Holy Spirit would work in all of this!)

"Well," they replied, "In some ways it doesn't have anything to do with the university...it's just that we've seen a lot of students that started with us in the Fall that have fallen away this Spring, and we are wondering why."

And so I said, "Well, I did have some students talk to me about what they heard..." and I went on to talk about the university being evil and yada yada yada.

I have to admit, they were shocked. They were genuinely upset that anyone heard that from their devotional, and then they began asking each other how they could have gotten those messages.

I, still the skeptic, asked, "Did you talk about things being evil at all?" Truthfully, I was wondering if they were putting me on. I mean, I don't remember everything I say but I do remember when it's enough for someone to get up and leave!

The young man got this look on his face - an a-ha if you will - and said, "One of the things we believe strongly in is mentoring young people in leadership. We have this young man, Brandon, who, well, gets a bit zealous when he leads and gets very passionate when he prays. He did pray against the "evil" at the university, but it was in the context of the evils of addictions, promiscuity, temptation, immorality, etc...So maybe they heard that and were taken aback, and I actually stepped in when he crossed that line. But what I don't understand is how they heard the message about different denominations being evil, because we actually prayed for all the ministry groups on campus and for the work they've been doing." Then he and his wife went on to say how it broke their hearts that the students got that message, and we had a really good conversation about being mindful about "loaded" words and realizing that many of our students don't speak the same faith vocabulary, so you can't say something and assume it means the same thing to everyone.

I then went on to affirm the ecumenical/interfaith nature of our ministry, and they asked some great questions about how they can be more respectful and encouraging of the other ministry that takes place on campus.

The other two things that spoke to me as much as their words did were this:

1. They saw a young man who is involved in their group, and they were encouraging of him and real in their conversation with him about school/finals/etc... I saw a genuine care for him and an authentic outreach that may have been a bit zealous (we really miss you, man!) in some ways but came out of true caring.

2. We have a couple that met through CM this past Fall, whose first date was actually to this couples Bible study, who are, shall we say, having to get married this May. (Baby is due in October) They asked if I had spoken to this couple and I said yes, and they said, "Please tell them that we miss them and that we just want them to know we love them and want to support them in any way we can. This must be a very hard time for them, and they won't call us back for us to tell them that. So please tell them if they need anything they can call us."

I don't know about you, but at my alma mater, when a young woman got pregnant, she was basically asked to leave school or expected to get married to stay. The large, conservative ministry on campus would have shunned both the woman and the man, and would have publicly made an example of their sinfulness as a morality tale for others.

Is this couple, and their church, more conservative than I? Yes. Are they zealous - excited even! - about what the Lord is doing in their lives? Yes, absolutely. Can that feel a bit intrusive to our students? Yes, and we are working on that. But the fact that they not only love this young couple, but want to provide care and support for them as they get married and have a baby, speaks volumes to me.

I said, "Maybe they haven't called you back because they are worried about being judged." The wife said, "I can understand that, but that is the last thing we want to do. They have enough going on to add that to their plate. We just want to tell them we love them and we are here for them."

Now, I am wise enough to know that there will be plenty of other conversations with the more conservative - politically and theologically- minded folks in this community that I am not off the hook in never having to deal with this issue again. (One of our board members continues to push for the large, Christian entity to come on campus.) However, I must admit my own projection and assumptions here in writing, and this young man and his wife and their church are not of that ilk.

I am both grateful they are not, and ashamed that I assumed they were.