In 2001, Tim and Melissa Kern traveled to Helena from Dillon Montana with Curtis Cole, campus minister at University of Montana–Western (UMW) to check out Carroll College. Curtis and Delyn Freeman Cole were their XA pastors and mentors who invested years in them as students at UM-W. Tim and Melissa were 26 years old and were toting around their daughter Hannah Kern who was 1 month old. That day, God birthed in them a calling to pioneer Chi Alpha at Carroll College, a private Catholic campus. Pastors Ken Ross, Norm Christofferson and Paul Feuerstein were incredible mentors and supportive of XA along with so many other pastors in Helena and Montana that helped them start XA. Levi Mielke was their first student who transferred to Carroll to help the Kerns pioneer the ministry. Emily Roehm was their first full time associate staff and Haylee Petrusha and Haley Feuerstein were their first students to “give a year” back to XA at Carroll. Keith Elder, district youth director for Montana, challenged and appointed the Kerns to establish XA at Carroll College.
Nick & Haylee Petrusha and their team took over the ministry at Carroll College. Tim and Melissa received national missionary appointment in 2013, to relocate to South Bend, Indiana to pioneer another private Catholic University, University of Notre Dame and they have! They also began ministry at the Indiana University at South Bend and St. Mary’s College.
In 1988 Vic and Kathy started as college and youth pastors at Gresham Family Worship Center and Mount Hood Community College. Their first day on campus they met Caribbean and Central American international students and hosted them at their home to barbecue and watching the NBA finals. The Varises attended the Northwest SALT conference and knew God had called them to serve students. The state youth director, Stan Russell, invited them to become Oregon’s first district Chi Alpha directors and they relocated to Portland, Oregon.
At the beginning of 1990, the Varises left church staff ministry to serve as campus ministers to Portland State University. Family Worship Center and pastors Bob and Dona Barham assisted them in this transition from church staff to campus. In 1992 the Varises became the first nationally appointed missionaries. This would lead to new staff being added to University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Southern Oregon University, and other campuses.
They began renting the 1748 House (pictured above), a 110 year old 10 bedroom Craftsman house, and in 2004 the landlords sold the house to the Varises. Portland Christian Center assisted with a major remodel of the house. This house was a ministry center providing hospitality and housing to American and international students. The home was so often the first and only American home many international students ever visited in their time in America. The Varises hosted 150 international students and scholars from 25 nations at the 1748 Home. Their hearts for reaching international students and scholars led them to align themselves with FOCUS, an international ministry at PSU. During their decades of ministry, thousands of international students came through FOCUS with many coming to Christ.
As they reflect on their 30 years of ministry, so many lives were changed forever– through International Bible studies, one-on-ones, small groups, larger life groups and campus ministry meetings, staff retreats, and assisted with urban mission trips.
On a personal level, “Chi Alpha has simply been the very best missions and ministry experience of our lives. Kathy and I are so honored to forever be part of the Chi Alpha “tribe”. We’ve met the very best and brightest, and most committed mission staff reaching our campuses and literally the world.” The Varises resigned their missionary appointment June 30, 2021. They have moved to Hawaii and with other family members purchased a compound with a farm and large lagoon pool. They have already hosted missionaries, pastors, Christian workers, for rest and rebuilding and will continue live missions where they are represented in hospitality.
Although he uttered a “sinner’s prayer” as a Baptist youth because he feared going to hell over unconfessed transgressions, Joshua Moran rarely attended church. Parties where he got drunk and swore a lot turned out to be more frequent gathering places. But soon after he began attending college, his life turned around.
“Chi Alpha found me at the University of Virginia (UVA),” Josh says. “I felt the Holy Spirit in a way I did not have the vocabulary for at the time.” His grandmother Wanda Sears bought him a leather-bound study Bible, he joined a Chi Alpha small group on the campus in Charlottesville, and he ceased imbibing and cursing.
The self-confident Josh had lofty goals. He wanted to become a lawyer, be elected senator, and then run the free world. His Chi Alpha involvement altered his goals to other means of persuasion. He switched his major to religious studies and graduated in 2007. He responded to the Chi Alpha student missions challenge to “give a year and pray about a lifetime. The following year, Josh and Katie
Summers became the first UVA Chi Alpha Campus Missionaries-in-Training (CMIT), the nationally recognized internship program. Josh and Katie married in 2009.
“During the Chi Alpha CMIT program, I grew in ways I could never have imagined,” says Josh, 36. “It was one of the most formative years of my life in learning as I was repeatedly challenged to be a disciple-maker. I knew I wanted to do Chi Alpha forever.”
The Morans, who are both ordained AG ministers and U.S. missionaries, started the ministry on campus in 2019 and shared responsibilities. The COVID-19 pandemic hit that first school year, forcing the Morans to be creative in their outreach efforts. Gatherings had to be held outside, with participants wearing masks and staying 10 feet apart.
Josh anticipates a time of growth at JMU’s Chi Alpha in 2021-22.
“This could be our first normal year,” he says. “We will have unrestricted social events for the first time. But small groups will still be the heartbeat of who we are.”
Katie grew up in the AG and always wanted to be a part of Chi Alpha. Josh says in their first two years at JMU she discipled the majority of the staff and led the bulk of the meetings. He says the Church shouldn’t lag behind the business world when it comes to promoting women leaders.
“For years, the Assemblies of God has said we are pro-women in ministry, but that is not always the reality,” Josh says. “The task is too great for half the population to remain on the sidelines. This is biblical; we need all hands on deck”
Since 2017, in addition to the campus, Josh has served as Chi Alpha director of the Potomac Ministry Network.
This article was written by John W. Kennedy titled “Lifetime Leaders” in the AG News and has been condensed for this website.
