GO Week kicked off Sept. 16 with a chapel series featuring guest speaker J. Ryan West, followed by chapel sessions on Wednesday and Friday featuring guest speaker Vance Pittman.
David Carothers, assistant director of student mobilization, said West and Pittman were chosen because it was believed that they would “do an excellent job expounding on the Word of God in such a way that it will help us see God’s heart for the nations.”
West serves on the North American Mission Board as a national director for LoveLoud, a ministry that assists churches in helping them to find ways to meet needs in their respective communities.
“West will help students envision more ways to utilize their calling and training to maximize gospel advance through the local church,” Carothers said.
At chapel on Monday, West encouraged students to keep in mind Colossians 1:15-23, remembering that everyone is called to serve.
West said that all are “ambassadors of Christ,” even those not called into the ministry.
Todd Brady, vice president of University Ministries, introduced West.
“West speaks to us from the perspective of being a mobilizer as well as having been a Union student,” Brady said.
West ended his message with a call to Union students.
“Will you go?” he asked. “Will you live out a life on a mission?”
Pittman is the pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, Nev. His church started with only 18 people in 2001, and now it has grown to nearly 2,000.
“With a passion for God’s kingdom, Pittman had a vision to launch a church focused on joining in God’s activity locally and globally — thus Hope Church was born in fall of 2001,” Carothers said.
Pittman fits in with GO Week as a good example of understanding that “what God is doing is bigger than one church,” Carothers said.
In chapel on Wednesday, Pittman spoke about the thousands of people groups worldwide that have never heard of the Bible.
“Coca-Cola has reached more people than Christianity,” Pittman said, raising the question, “How do we know what we know and live like we don’t?”
Pittman concluded with the reminder that “all of us are senders.”
Carothers said another goal of this year’s GO Week chapel series is to make use of many resources in order to advance the kingdom of God.
“We hope to continue sounding the call to work smarter, not just harder, for the kingdom of Christ,” Carothers said. “That means leveraging all our resources for kingdom impact — especially the vocations God has called us to.”
