Paul Adams

Media & Design, Resource Staff

       Twenty-two years ago, I was born to two parents who were committed to raising children in a God-centered home.  I grew up going to church, attending sunday school and youth group, and was baptized at the end of a nine-week “life class” in 8th grade.  Entering college, I felt comfortable in my faith.  In college, I got plugged into the Campus Outreach ministry fairly quick, and at first it felt like youth group for college students.  It wasn’t until the summer after freshman year, and then again after junior year, that I began to see how fruitless my faith was.  I believed that Christ had died to save my soul, but the reality of how truly sinful I was and how desperately I needed to be saved had yet to become apparent.  Through my time at Summer Project, I was forced to address my sin head on: I realized that my relationships with others were primarily based on whether or not they improved my social appearance, that my spiritual gifts were given to me to glorify God and not myself, and that my fear of sharing the Gospel wasn’t something that I could just accept as a character flaw.

       Thanks to the discipling I’ve received, especially this past summer, my appreciation for grace and the Gospel is greater than at any other point in my walk with Christ, and my love for scripture has reached a point where I don’t need an explicit Bible study in order to get in the Word.  Now, I try to treat my friends as brothers and sisters in Christ, and not as rungs on a ladder, and I have a new attitude towards serving our community of believers with my gifts of design and music.

Blake & Liza Buckman

Campus Staff, Eastern Kentucky University

       Blake spent 21 years of his life unaware that he was running away from God.   It took a friend’s tragic suicide to finally leave him broken and in desperate need of surrendering his life to the Lord.  After accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, there was no looking back.  Through Campus Outreach he began to attend Bible studies, conferences, and became part of an encouraging Discipleship group.  This helped Blake to really grow in light of the Gospel and in turn he felt compelled to share his life with other students at Georgetown College.

       Blake and Liza met through a Campus Outreach ski retreat where they shared their excitement about Jesus Christ with each other.  Earlier in her college career, Liza also came to realize what the world had to offer her would never be enough, but only Jesus Christ would satisfy.  She came to understand that He desired a personal relationship with her every single day! Blake and Liza are both passionate about students who are lost and don’t know the joy and satisfaction of living their lives for Christ.   They  will be spending the next few years at Eastern Kentucky University where they will share their life with college students.  The Gospel has radically impacted their lives and they hope to share the love of Christ wherever they go for the rest of their lives.

Josh & Jessica Duncan

Area Director, Centre College

& Eastern Kentucky University

       Jessica and Josh were married on September 14, 2002. They currently live in Richmond, Kentucky. They both grew up in Newnan, Georgia and attended East Coweta High School.  Jessica became a Christian her senior year of high school. She had heard the gospel many times, but never really saw her need for Christ until her senior year. She realized for the first time that her best works were filthy rags before a Holy God, so she repented and put her faith in Jesus Christ and in His righteousness. Jessica got involved with Campus Outreach at West Georgia, and she was able to participate in several Christmas Conferences and Summer Beach Projects.

       Josh graduated from East Coweta High School and attended West Georgia.  He became a Christian when he was in high school.  It was between his sophomore and junior year when he came to realize that he had been trusting in his “works” to try and earn favor before God and only the righteousness of Jesus Christ could bring him into a relationship with God.  When he went to college, he met a guy in his dorm who was involved with Campus Outreach.  He was asked if he would like to start studying the Bible, something Josh had never done on his own.  God used His word to begin to shape convictions in Josh’s life.  One of those convictions was to go and make disciples of all nations. 

       Now God is giving Josh and his wife Jessica the opportunity to do this at Eastern Kentucky University. They are apart of a full time staff at EKU Building Laborers on the Campus for the Lost World to the Glory of God.

Andy & Monica Hardin

Area Director, Georgetown College

& University of Kentucky

       Having grown up in a great family, Andy accepted Christ at an early age.  During the middle and high school years only small development took place.  As college began, his growing question became "How can I deepen my relationship with God so that I can make disciples of all nations?"  The question was forever answered in the most spiritually formative years of his life.  A few things became clear as future options were being made.  First, Andy, knew he wanted to make disciples for the rest of his life.  Secondly, he knew that he had a great desire and vision for that process to happen much like it did for him.  Thirdly, he knew that he wanted to impact students, athletes, fellow teachers, and coaches.  After graduation, Andy was a teacher and coach in south Georgia for seven years before answer the call to go on staff with Campus Outreach Lexington.

       Andy and Monica truly feel that it is such a privilege to serve the Lord on the college campus and to make disciples that will impact the world!

Matt & Courtney Murray

Campus Director, Eastern Kentucky University

       While in high school I attempted to satisfy myself with popularity, relationships, and worldly achievements.  Soon after graduating high school I came to find out that the things I tried to find hope in were full of emptiness and just a longing for a sense of purpose.  From past exposure of hearing the gospel of Christ, I became broken of the life I was living.  The Lord exposed my life of sin and bought me back, by the power in the blood of Christ.   His mercy and grace has lead my life ever since.  The Lord led me to Georgetown College, where I would play football for three years.  Along with football the Lord led me to meet a man named Casey Willis, who was on staff with Campus Outreach.   God used this man to mature me in my relationship with Christ.  Casey would expose me to such growth from the Bible, prayer, evangelism, and fellowship.  Spending several years with him and Campus Outreach the Lord began to give me a heart for college students.  And now the Lord has called me to further His kingdom by coming on staff with Campus Outreach.

        Along with this calling the Lord has provided me a partner, Courtney.  Courtney has the same desire to make Christ known on the college campus and I am so thankful to have her in my life to partner in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  As the Lord continues to lead my life, I cling to Jeremiah 9:23-24, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the LORD.”

Joe & Laura Oliver

Campus Staff, Georgetown College

     “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). This was not always the case in my life. For the first 18 years of my life, I was a criminal in the eyes of God; I had broken His Law, the 10 commandments. Therefore, I deserved to be sentenced to His eternal prison called Hell. However, God did not give me what I deserved - eternal death; but, rather He gave what I did not deserve - eternal life! This happened during my freshman year of college while attending a Bible study on Romans 6:23. During that study, God opened up my eyes to the fact that Jesus had already paid my death sentence over 2,000 years ago! I realized that all I needed to do was repent of my sin and put my faith in Jesus Christ alone in order to be saved from God’s just wrath. By God’s grace, I did just that and God changed my life forever. I am now committed to living my life to the glory of God by telling others the good news: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

- Joe -

      I was raised in the church my whole childhood, but it was not until my sophomore year of college that I understood what it meant to come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I was living for myself for 19 years of my life, which continuously lead to emptiness. I was blessed to have God use Campus Outreach to show me the true meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to invest in my walk with God. If you would have asked me 5 years ago what I would be doing with my life, I would have never thought it would be talking to college students about God. However, God has changed my life and it is the best thing that has ever happened to me!

- Laura -

Bobby & Carrie Pepiot

Director of Operations

        Carrie and I both graduated from the University of West Georgia in 1999. It was during our college years that we realized we were seeking satisfaction in things other than the Lord. Through conversations, bible studies, and other events with Campus Outreach we heard the Gospel and put our faith in Jesus Christ. We were married in January 2000 and came on staff with Campus Outreach that summer. Over that past 9 years, it has been a privilege to build laborers through life on life discipleship and send them out to the world for the glory of God. Our campus time with students is filled with bible studies, evangelism, prayer, lunches, having students in our home, retreats, and summer projects. These times allow us to invest personally in the students, and it begins to help them build their vision for laboring and reaching the lost after college.

       In 2003, we moved to Kentucky with a team to start a new region, Campus Outreach Lexington. Since then I have labored at Eastern Kentucky University and filled the role of Director of Operations for our Lexington region. We now live in Lexington Kentucky and are laboring at the University of Kentucky.

Sean & Emily Schweickhardt

Campus Director, Centre College

       I had been a Christian for a couple of years when I first came to Georgetown College.  I was excited then about walking with the Lord and had an idea that following Christ probably came with an important calling, but I could never have imagined what the Lord had in store for me over the next few years.  Not long after coming on campus I developed a relationship with a guy named Michael.  Really, I say that he was developing a relationship with me.  Looking back, I am amazed at how the Lord used Michael to push me forward in my development as a Christian.  This is a work that the Lord had begun long before I came into the picture.  There was a man on staff with Campus Outreach who was committed to spurring Michael on toward knowing God more, proclaiming the Gospel, and working to build up other believers to do the work of the Kingdom.  After Michael graduated, Casey, another man on staff with Campus Outreach, was committed to doing the same thing with me and a handful of other guys.  These became the most influential relationships I ever had as we were brought together to run after the Lord and learn more about what it means to serve Him.

       What I desire most in my own life is to work to see this happen in the lives of others—specifically people on the college campus.  In Matthew 9:37, Jesus says the harvest is plentiful, implying that there are many in the world who will come to know Him.  I trust that college students make up a portion of this harvest that will be in a position to influence various types of people throughout the world, and I am confident that the work of Campus Outreach contributes to making this happen.

Eric & Addie Shrimpton

Campus Co-Director, University of Kentucky

       I came to EKU thinking that I had everything figured out.  I was in a serious five-year relationship, I had the opportunity to play collegiate baseball, and I was pursuing the career of my dreams.  However, God had different plans for my life.  My sophomore year at EKU, I was cut from the baseball team, went through a hard break up, and I didn’t like the major that I had originally choose.  Everything that I had trusted in for joy was gone in the blink of an eye.  During that time I meet a guy named Jason who was on staff with Campus Outreach, and he was continuously reaching out to me and telling me about the joy that is Christ.  My sophomore year at a conference that Campus Outreach puts on for college students called New Years Conference, God showed me that joy and my life was changed.  Since then, God has used Campus Outreach to impact my life.

       For the remainder of my college life I learned how to share my faith and lead others, study the bible, pray, fellowship with other believers, and how to walk with God on a daily basis.  God has now given me the opportunity to reach out to college students through Campus Outreach and help students grow in their relationship with Christ.  My hope and prayer is that God would use me through Campus Outreach to impact the lives of students, just like God has impacted my life.

Travis & Emily Stephens

Campus Co-Director, University of Kentucky

        If someone had told me I would come to Centre College, play football, become a Christian and then going into College-aged ministry I would have told them they were crazy.  God has shown me in the last year that he is completely sovereign over my life. I came to Centre 3 1/2 years ago so I could be close to home and play football.  I had grown up in a Christian family but God had not revealed the gospel to me. Up until the New Years Conference half-way through my junior year I was a lost person.  I'd tried to fill my life with numerous things that I had thought would satisfy my empty heart.  It was when Shane Terrell shared with me the gospel of Jesus Christ at that conference that I discovered what my heart longed for.  Shane had been meeting with me in the weeks prior and I had thought that because I was a religion major and went to a few Bible studies I was a Christian.

       What I've discovered in the last year is a joy that I cannot explain and a heart that has been transformed.  It blows my mind that God would choose to use a person like me to be a light unto this world for him.  I would love the opportunity to share the good news God has illuminated my heart with to other college students through this organization.

-Travis

Tony & Liz Wells

Campus Director, Georgetown College

       USA Today reports that 7 out of 10 first year college students who grew up in youth group will walk away from the church! Needless to say the college campus is a very broken and deceiving place. I too as a college student was lost in the mix of brokenness and deceit. The temptation and life that was offered on the college campus was a big problem, but a much more significant problem was my own view of God.

       The Gospel to me was being better than half of the people in the world to earn my acceptance before God. This led to a false love for God and a real love for sin. A Campus Outreach Staff at Eastern Kentucky University began to expose me to the Bible’s view of God and challenging me to examine my own heart. Through Church, Campus Meetings, Bible Studies, events, and many 1 on 1’s, I began to see the Good News of Christ as really Good News! God allowed me to see that it is only through Jesus Christ’s life and resurrection that I could ever stand before God. Not only did I see the gospel as a means of salvation, but also I saw and continue to see how the gospel affects every area of my life.

        Over the years of being involved with Campus Outreach I have been challenged to be a Godly man and live as a laborer for the good news of Jesus Christ. The majority of men and women on the college campus today are just as broken and deceived as I once was in college. Our heart is for the good news of Jesus Christ to radically change the lives of students on the college campus. We are praying and working toward the end that these students would not live a life for themselves, but as laborers for the glory of God!

Laboring with you,

Tony and Liz Wells

Austin Willard

Resource Staff & Campus Staff,

University of Kentucky

       I graduated from Georgetown College in 2008.  It was during my college years that I realized my purpose in life.  Through conversations, bible studies, and other events with Campus Outreach, I heard the gospel and caught a vision for life on life discipleship.  Over the past couple of summers, through Campus Outreach, I have had opportunities to serve the Lord in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.  God has continued to put me in situations that have allowed me to give my life away to others knowing Jesus Christ.  He has pressed upon my heart the desire to help others walk with Christ full time.  I am extremely excited about being on staff with Campus Outreach in Lexington, Ky.

       My time on campus with students will be filled with bible studies, evangelism, prayer, lunches, having students in my home, retreats, and summer projects.  These times will allow me to invest personally in the students, and it will begin to help build their vision for laboring and reaching the lost after college.  Along with serving on the campus I will be mobilizing our students around the Lexington region and helping them transition as they go through the next phase of life.

Will Witherington

Franchise Director

       After experiencing an upbringing mixed with joy and difficulty, I went to play basketball at Berry College.  At Berry God did a definitive work in my life.  I came to know Christ in a very real and powerful way.  Though I had grown up hearing about Christ from my mother, my family, my home church and others, it wasn’t until my junior year of college that I began to trust in Christ for my own faith!

       After seeing God work mightily on the campus at Berry through many people, God gave me the opportunity to come on staff with Campus Outreach at the University of West GA.  I married Danielle the same year that I came on staff, 1996, and we began ministering to college students together.  As a result of our time and opportunities at West GA, God raised up a team that we were able to take to Central Kentucky to start a new ministry on the campuses in the Lexington area.

Ali Hamilton

Campus Staff, University of Kentucky;

Assistant to the Director

       I came to Centre College as a young Christian in the fall of 2004 and like many college students I struggled with my identity, my purpose in life, and my faith.  I became involved with a campus ministry that took me to Santa Cruz, CA for a summer project in 2005. It was there that I experienced great growth as a believer as I learned about community, discipleship, how to share the Gospel, and how to read the Bible and apply it to my life. I returned anxious to share these things with others at Centre and to find a spiritual mentor. I met Brittany Terrell, with Campus Outreach, in the fall of 2005 and she has been discipling me since then. With her, my understanding of the Gospel grew deeper, and my burden for the lost grew heavier.  My time at Centre was filled with discipleship, retreats, summer projects, evangelism, Bible studies, and great fellowship.

       I graduated from Centre in 2008 and continued to be involved with Campus Outreach while working as an admission counselor for Centre.  I have come to realize that I am called to full time ministry on the college campus and I will soon be serving as Campus Outreach staff at the University of Kentucky. Campus Outreach allows me to invest in people spiritually and help build in them a vision for reaching the lost world after college. I am so grateful and blessed to be a part of God’s work on the college campus and in the world.