XA Spring Break Outreaches

In high school, I became a Jesus follower. I joined Young Life and was encouraged by the leader, John Hartle, to grow in my faith. John’s roommate was Brady Bobbink. So, when I graduated, John passed me off to Brady, who put me into his XA leadership training group at Western Washington University.

            I spent the next 5 years living in residence halls learning to share the gospel where I lived. I studied history and poly sci in preparation to be a high school teacher and coach. But God had other ideas.

            Brady asked me to pray about becoming a campus minister. After praying over the next year, I knew how the Lord wanted me to serve Him. I grew a passionate love for Scripture under Brady’s teachings. I also grew a love for missions, and got to lead a XA student missions team to reach First Nations people in British Columbia.

            My calling to XA was immediately tested by being offered a job as the assistant to the JV coach for the basketball team. Jesus had already directed me to train to be a campus minister where I could coach university students how to serve Him.

            There were four interns my year, and I was privileged to be mentored by Greg Smith (Brady’s first intern). Greg had graduated from Regent College and set about to give me a seminary education. He challenged me to study the entire New Testament and teach an 8-week class on it.

            My favorite training was when another intern (Reid Johnson) and I went door to door in Highland Hall, sharing the gospel. Two men became Christ followers, and I led a weekly bible study for them. Reid pioneered the XA ministry at the University of British Columbia, and I pioneered the XA ministry at the University of Missouri at Columbia. Jerry Thomas, a fellow XA, accompanied me.

            After a year of being on staff at Christian Chapel Assembly and establishing a XA group of a dozen students, Jerry and I moved back to Washington to marry our sweethearts.

            Next, Jerry went to make disciples in the workplace, while Carol and I took over the XA group at Central Washington University. We’ve been there since 1981. It’s been so satisfying watching students become disciples who make more disciples (Mt. 28:18-20; 2 Cor. 5:14-21).

            Obeying Jesus is where it is at. Being a XA campus minister is a front row seat, watching Him change and direct students’ lives to transform our world. He gets glory by the alumni serving Him in their local churches; making disciples in the marketplace and around the world.

It’s great knowing that this same story is repeated all over XA Nation as students come to university, become active in XA, find Jesus, and are trained to obey the Great Commission in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Scott Barnett just completed his 20th year on staff with Chi Alpha. In August 2001, Scott moved back to Missoula, MT to serve as a campus minister at the University of Montana while finishing up three classes he needed to complete a teaching certificate. He had just migrated from Milwaukee, where he had helped plant a church for the Assemblies of God in the suburb of Germantown. Scott only planned to work with Chi Alpha for one year, then he would probably go back into church ministry or perhaps teach high school history and coach basketball…but God had other plans for Scott’s life!

The first few months on Chi Alpha staff were a bit disorienting, as the values and strategies of Chi Alpha seemed quite different than his church ministry experience; especially the practice of weekly 1-1 discipleship with key leaders.

During that first year, two things about Chi Alpha really captured Scott’s heart. First, Scott met the Chi Alpha staff from around Montana. They had an incredible unity and comradery, lived simple, yet devoted, missional lives, and prayed passionately for each other needs.

Second, Scott discovered the incredible variety of university ministry: from teaching deep theological truths, to writing silly dorm skits about healthy relationships; from helping students encounter God’s power at a retreat, to organizing a Luau in the middle of the snow-covered campus in January. Half way through that first year, God led Scott to commit to working with Chi Alpha for “just a few more years.”

Scott became the UM Chi Alpha Director in July of 2002, led the Big Sky Missions Expeditions from 2008-2010, and in 2013, he was elected to be the MT District Director, overseeing the seven Chi Alpha campus ministries in Montana. Scott is married to Anna, who he met in Poland in 2005, while on a Chi Alpha missions trip.

They had their first child, Kuba, in 2014. Kuba was born twelve weeks pre-mature and weighed only 2.2lbs at birth. He had to stay in the NICU for seventy days before finally being able to come home. Their second child, Maya, was born in 2018.

Scott stepped down as UM Chi Alpha Director in July of 2018, in order to devote his time fully to the role of MT Chi Alpha District Director, providing training, strategic direction and personal ministry for the 30+ Chi Alpha Staff in Montana. In this role, Scott gets to now perpetuate the same ministry values that inspired him to serve with Chi Alpha two decades ago. Scott states, “I am amazed at God’s leading and provision over the past twenty years: thousands of students impacted for Christ, hundreds of students experiencing salvation and water baptism, and more than thirty students going into devoted ministry after graduation.” Scott hopes to continue to expand Chi Alpha ministry across Montana so that every four-year and two-year college in the state has a viable outreach, including the seven tribal colleges.