Campus Ministries recently began a YouTube/social media initiative to raise awareness of what they offer for students. The project is headed up by Nathalia Levterova, a sophomore marketing major, who is also the social media coordinator for Campus Ministries.
“Our vision for this year is to use all the social media platforms to create a place where students on and off Southern’s campus can come to find the spiritual tools they need to go build a relationship with God,.” Levterova said.
Levtevora also saidbelieves that because people use so much social media, there is a need for online ministry; and Campus Ministries is determined to fulfill that need, by building a platform that spiritually feeds people.
The YouTube channel already has three videos posted, and, as it grows, they plan to upload once or twice weekly. Each month has a theme or topic for the content of the videos. February was about relationships and black history month.
According to Levterova, all of this is intended to foster an atmosphere where students know they aren’t alone in their walk, where the “God moments” are shared to encourage others.
“Sometimes it’s easy to feel like we’re alone in our journey, even at a Christian school,” Levterova said. “ Aand creating a place where I go online and I see my peers and classmates talking about God openly and sharing their testimony, then it makes me feel like I’m not alone.”
Levterova feels passionate about the initiative and credits her personal experience with developing some of that passion; growing up there were few young role models around her, and so she was mainly impacted by online Christian influencers.
“They weren’t ashamed to talk about the Gospel of Christ, and that really impacted the person who I became; I didn’t have that [community] in person and I found that community online, and I guess giving to someone else what I needed to hear when I was younger is important to me.”
There are many other aspects of the whole initiative, including Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, and even Christian Spotify playlists. Nicole Sabot, a freshman film and french major, especially loves the playlists.
“I like to go through their playlists; listening to songs, adding them to my own playlists, and mixing them into my everyday life and walks to class.”
In the future, Campus Ministries wants to get even more students involved, and Levterova invites anyone who wants to help to come by the Campus Ministries office. If anyone is interested in this initiative, they can check out the various social media accounts below.
