Promoting 20/20 Vision: A Q & A Ministry to Undergraduates

Abstract

A recent sermon entitled Blessings of Spiritual Vision began with the minister (Adams, 2002) sharing the fact that the most popular and widely sought surgical intervention today is laser eye surgery which is observed to be safe, relatively affordable, and capable of restoring many people's vision to the good vision standard of 20/20 eyesight. Building upon the vision metaphor, he drew our attention to the words of the Apostle Paul recorded in Acts 20:20, did not shrink from to you that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from to house (NASB). He pointed out that Paul willingly declared to his listeners anything that he considered to be for the purpose of enhancing spiritual vision and understanding. Paul did so in two venues: the public setting, which is open to all who desired to listen, and the personal setting, which occurred when he visited and interacted in private households. The minister then elaborated on three blessings to be realized through the application of such a focus. He first noted that those on the receiving end of such a spiritually focused ministry could experience a growth in their faith. Second, he observed that there was the provision of pastoral care and, third, it involved a reaching out to those who were seeking answers to their questions. It was definitely in the spirit of Acts 20:20 and the points identified above that my colleague, Marsha Schreiber (director of the Biola University Health Center), and I began a service to the undergraduate students at Biola University in April 1998. We hoped to capitalize upon the questions that we anticipated were on the hearts and in the minds of our students, declaring to [them] that was profitable for the sake of their overall welfare. As such, we viewed this outreach as a spiritual ministry, desiring to minister to the whole person, body, soul, and spirit. Marsha's primary expertise, as a Masters level registered nurse, involves care of the body. My primary focus, as a licensed psychologist, is the care of the soul. The issue of spiritual care is paramount to both of us as committed Christians, believing that only by offering a fully integrated care of the whole person could we best serve the needs of our students. At the rime Marsha and I began contemplating this service, I had been teaching at Biola University and serving as a clinical staff member at Biola's counseling center for over 20 years, and I had had the opportunity to become reasonably aware of many of the issues that students, staff members, and faculty encounter in their personal lives. This awareness began back in the mid-1970's, even before I became a member of this community, because I had the opportunity to supervise clinical psychology graduate students who provided counseling services in the university counseling center. I became aware that many of those seeking assistance from the counseling center were dealing with various sexual and relational issues. Somewhat later and as a faculty member at Biola, I began teaching the undergraduate human sexuality class in which class discussions and student papers, along with the personal consultation with individual students at their request, continued to increase my awareness of personal issues that needed to be addressed. As issues of sexually transmitted diseases were covered in my class, I began inviting Marsha to address the topic from her perspective as the campus health service director. She had developed a well informed awareness and concern for students' sexual issues because she had many opportunities to respond to students who were willing to seek help for their questions, fears, and symptoms. Within the context of our interaction regarding the issues facing our students, we discussed the possibility of offering a means by which students could ask questions in a setting of total confidentiality without having to make an office appointment with either of us. …