For junior men’s cross country runner Jimmy Stevenson, it’s just part of who he is. He can’t ignore the message he says has given him joy.
That’s why, with fellow junior runner Ben Perron, Stevenson is leading a Bible study with members of his team.
“The guys on the team are some of my best buddies. I’m close to them, we spend so much time together. So I have a heart for those guys and I want them to experience the same joy that I experienced in Christ,” Stevenson said.
Meeting once every week for 30-45 minutes, the Bible study normally draws five or six guys on the team. It was started by senior Tim Garber, a former runner.
“I was going to start it my freshman year, I guess I just wasn’t as bold back then,” Garber said. “Sophomore year, I learned more and more the joy that Christ would have given me in himself. I wanted that to be shown to my teammates, I wanted them to feel that joy. If there were Christians on the team, I wanted to grow with them. That’s when Jimmy Stevenson and I started getting together and started the Bible study.”
When Garber quit the team before the 2011 season, Stevenson took the reins of the study.
“I just really had a fire to continue just sharing the Bible and the gospel with others,” he said. “The cross country team, they’re some of my best buddies...So why not study the scriptures with some of your best buddies and grow on a level that is more than just running as friends?”
Perron shares the same “fire” as his teammate and roommate.
“I love it because it’s just another opportunity to hang out with my teammates and really grow with them at a deeper level,” Perron said. “Me personally, I pursue my faith in God and Jesus Christ, my Savior, and to do that with fellow teammates, fellow brothers, it’s something that I love to do.”
Stevenson said his teammates were not surprised by the Bible study happening because of the way Stevenson lives his faith among his teammates.
“Some guys on the team were excited to get it going, and, once it did get going, they came back week after week,” he said. “And I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise to the team because my faith with Christ is the most important thing in my life, so I don’t try to hide that and put on a front and pretend like I’m not, I guess, in love with the Lord.”
Perron points to the difficulties of living as a Christian in college as a motivation to have the Bible study.
“It’s something that the Bible calls us to do,” he said. “Digging into the truth of the Bible, the fact that Jesus Christ, our savior, took away the sins of the world. Especially in a place here like college, in an environment like this, just looking at what it means to follow him and to be a Christian in this environment and on a day-to-day basis.”