This is the story of Dr. Rick Brandenburg

William Neal Reynolds Professor of Distinction, North Carolina State University

I grew up on a small farm in a rural area of north central Indiana.  Where I lived everyone was the same—white, low to middle income, drove a Ford or Chevy, and most likely lived on a farm.  Most everyone also went to church on Sunday.  I went to church and my parents were very active in leadership, teaching, and service.  I was part of a church that was a warm and friendly environment and one in which we all looked out for each other.  When one farmer was sick, the others all kicked in and helped.  It was a tight-knit community. In rural areas, then as now, the church often made up the core of your family’s social fabric.   I rarely left the county, assumed my little area was the center of the universe, and thought I had a pretty good handle on global issues.

Then I went off to Purdue University.  That university had 3 times as many students as my whole home county had total people.   I went from a high school of 300 to a university of 30,000.  Suddenly I began to hear ideas and concepts that I had never heard (My faith had never really been challenged or questioned by anyone while I was in high school).  I met black people, Asian people, atheists, agnostics, pot heads, free spirits, Muslims, Buddhists, and yes even gays.  I was in shock. Not everyone agreed with my rather convenient and narrow-minded view of the world.  How could so many people be so wrong?

Upon further investigation, I determined that people who held views much different than mine often had very good reasons for why they held those views.  At this point I first came to the realization that many of my perspectives and even my faith were based on loyalty.  I’m talking loyalty to my parents, loyalty to my hometown, and loyalty to my culture.  As I was pressed further and made feel even more uncomfortable, I discovered that many people who had different religious beliefs or moral standards also had a very strong understanding for why they believed what they believed.

As you might guess, I wasn’t alone on a college campus when it came to drifting in a cultural and spiritual void and trying to discover who I was. Fortunately, I bumped into others, who like me, had been raised in a wonderful, loving, Christian home, but also somewhat blind to the world and never really given a reason to question anything about their upbringing.

I found my friends at a place called the Purdue Christian Campus House.  The campus house at Purdue was one of the innovators in campus ministry.  As I look back on it now, I am not clear on how much I grew during that time, but I do know that at that stage in my life, a stage of first questioning my faith, it brought me in contact with others who had similar questions. While my personal story of spiritual growth may not have had a big upswing when I was at Purdue, I know that the campus house at least kept me on a level path during a period I could have easily been swept away by a world that was so different to what I was accustomed that I was easily awed and swayed.

So going from my first 18 years in a setting with no minorities (and I mean zero) to now working in West Africa where I often see no other white people for a week and to where I work side by side with Muslims I am still seeking to walk closer with Jesus.  I long ago answered the questions why I believe Jesus is the Christ, the living son of God.  My life has changed so much from those early, simple days on the farm.   My understanding of God’s purpose in my life has changed as well.  I am more impressed than ever how God’s Word applies to everyone, everywhere at all times and at all stages of life.  They say that your faith is a journey. Mine has been one of ever changing scenery and new perspectives and understandings, and I was truly blessed by campus ministers and Christian friends at Purdue who helped me understand that your faith need not be blind.   Christians don’t check their brains at the door as many will claim.  Our God is awesome and learning how to grow closer to him is the greatest education one can ever obtain in college.