Kurtis DePree of Midland Sharing His Faith with Atheist Student Club

2017 Oct 17

Cedarville University senior accounting major Kurtis DePree has a passion for evangelism. In his four years at Cedarville, he has enjoyed multiple gospel conversations with students at area universities, including Central State University and The Ohio State University.

While he enjoys each opportunity to talk about his Christian faith, his favorite opportunity has also been the most difficult.

For the past two school years, DePree has been a committed visitor to the Secular Student Alliance (SSA) at Ohio State. Comprised of atheists and agnostics, the alliance provides a weekly forum for debating secular topics.

Although the environment has been openly hostile at times, DePree is convinced God has him at the SSA meetings for a reason. "I give them a proper presentation of what Christians believe by asking questions that force them to think about their beliefs," he noted.

According to DePree, the SSA president emails him each meeting's topic, and he prepares and prays accordingly. He then spends Thursday evening at OSU discussing the topic with SSA members.

"If they have a time that they are questioning what they believe, and want to explore Christianity, they are comfortable coming and asking those questions," he said. But it's not only during meeting times that DePree interacts. He makes himself available other times for questions, and he pursues friendships with SSA members.

By investing in these relationships, DePree explained that he has been able to "establish trust within the group so that there is no fear of personal attack," and believes that the relationships have been mutually beneficial.

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 3,963 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 100 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.