Regent University’s Campus Ministries Volunteers Serves Local Community

Regent University’s Campus Ministries team is all about giving College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) students one more reason to love Fridays.

Throughout the semester, on Fridays, a team of students branches out into the Hampton Roads community to offer aid to various volunteer organizations throughout the area. An initiative aptly named, “Good Fridays.”

Every week throughout the semester, students have the opportunity to assist with organizations such as the Great Exchange, a partnership with Bridge Christian Fellowship, and United in Him, serving and building relationships with children in the Twin Canal Village.

“For Regent’s students to be involved with the community allows them to get a better sense of the needs of the world,” said Campus Ministries director, Jason Peaks. “Community involvement allows students to evaluate their ability to influence and set forth change in the context they find themselves.”

For him, it’s all about “championing students” to see the needs of others and to learn that when his students are serving “the least of these” they are serving unto Christ.

“How else can we know we are growing unless those who see us in the culture recognize ‘the Jesus’ in us?” asked Peaks. “We see service as a bridge between the natural and spiritual needs of every human. We’ve been able to see many students start to serve out of expectation or opportunity, but then we see a transformation in them.”

He says his favorite part of the ministry is watching his students grow from volunteers, along for the service ride, to real, impactful leaders. One of his students began a ministry called “Love Light,” a homeless ministry begun through Campus Ministries.

Three years later, the ministry is in full swing. And some 50 students from Regent continue to serve homeless individuals in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach areas.

“It’s important to me, because it gives me an opportunity to get past my own wants and desires and instead serve others,” said Joshua Liotta ’16 (CAS), service coordinator for Campus Ministries. “It’s something that Jesus did, and I want to be like Him.”

Liotta said that aside from serving, his favorite part of being involved with the Good Fridays service projects is establishing relationships with the students who come in each week to serve.

“Each student has a unique story. Being able to serve with them is huge for me,” said Liotta. “Overall, my passion for Good Fridays is to give the students on this campus ways to cultivate a desire to serve others and develop an attitude for service that will be constant even after graduation.”

Learn more about Regent University’s Campus Ministries.