Alpha at Harvard

How lives are changing among U.S. Students
From Focus - the newspaper of Holy Trinity Brompton www.htb.org.uk

Article available: http://uk.alphacourse.org/runningacourse/news/2004/07/harvard.htm

Alpha at Harvard: what students say The Alpha course has been running at Harvard, the world-renowned American university based at Cambridge, Massachusetts, since February 2003 - and the impact on many students' lives has been profound. Here some tell their stories:

A Harvard course retreat: many of the students who went on the course describe how their lives were profoundly affected.

July 2004

Simeon Zahl, 21, studying German history and literature, started running the Alpha course at Harvard in February 2003. He writes:

In Summer 2001, I attended some sessions of the Alpha course at St Bartholomew’s Church in New York. I got a good sense of how it worked and I enjoyed it.

The following summer I was thinking of Alpha and thought how great it would be to have Alpha at Harvard.

I emailed some people I trusted and asked them if they would be willing to help lead. We started in February 2003.

We held it in one of the residential houses at Harvard and had a lot of pizza and Mexican food.We used the videos.

To start with we had 18 to 20 guests, but that went down to about seven regulars.

For the retreat, we were lent a beautiful house by the sea by the family of a friend. The Alpha retreat was a key event in the lives of everyone who went – definitely for me. After the videos I said we were going to ask the Holy Spirit to come.

After a little bit of singing, we did exactly that. I simply prayed for the Holy Spirit to come and then we were quiet. There was this lengthy silence.

I remember finally opening my eyes and seeing that three of our guests were already in tears.

Here we were in the middle of the day – the sun was shining in, little kids running around elsewhere in the house. It was very non-atmospheric, there were no candles or incense, it was a very normal time but the Holy Spirit showed up so powerfully right there.

I think all of the guests had powerful emotional experiences of the Holy Spirit. It was really cool.

After that, we were excited about starting the course again in the fall. We had slightly fewer regular guests, but the retreat went well again and several became Christians.

We started another course again in Spring 2004 and this time we got consistently 12 or 15 guests. I wasn't running the course but I was one of the group leaders.

There are a lot of people at Harvard who genuinely want to know more about Christianity but don’t have a forum. People here are very, very inquisitive and they want facts. Alpha bridges the mind and the heart very well.

This is my last year here and I think I have seen God really soften the soil at this place. Harvard is secular and humanist and nonreligious, but God is moving here.

Julie Hanover, 21, a third year student studying Maths, attended the course in September 2003. She writes:

By the time I came to Harvard I’d only ever been to church three times in my life. I called myself an atheist. In my second year of college I met four room-mates who were all Christians. I tried to hang out with them as much as I could because there was something very special about them. I didn’t ever connect it with Christianity.

I was really into philosophy and one day I was asking one of the guys, Andrew, how he believed in Christianity. We would talk a lot about Kant – my favourite philosopher.

Then I took a class on Freud and C.S.Lewis. At first my papers were very anti-Christian – but then I noticed I didn’t have much to say against Christians any more so I started advocating their side. My final paper was on how my worldview as an atheist was a potential psychological crutch.

I decided that summer I was going to have to figure it all out. I read a lot of CS Lewis and other books arguing the case for faith.

I also read a lot of books against Christianity – the Encyclopaedia of Biblical Errancy and others. The problem was that I didn’t finish any of the books against Christianity because they weren’t good.

Harvard has the second biggest library system in the world but I couldn’t find any books that had good arguments against Christianity.

When I came back in September one of these guys invited me along to Alpha but I couldn't make it because it clashed with the philosophy club I ran.

In September 2004, I e-mailed Simeon to ask him what night Alpha was going to be on because I really wanted to go.

The first night there were probably about 25 people there. During the first two weeks I had a lot of questions that they didn’t answer very well and I felt frustrated about that.

Then one day I was doing my Maths homework and all of a sudden I was absolutely certain that God was talking to me. A couple of lessons that would have taken years to learn all of a sudden made sense to me and I was like, ‘Oh.’

Soon afterwards my philosophy tutor was talking to me about philosophy but I wasn’t interested any more. Philosophy had been such a passion of mine since eighth grade. I saw that he was searching for meaning in life but realised he wasn’t going to find it in philosophy.

After talking with people on Alpha it seemed like the meaning of life wasn’t answered outside Christianity and that kind of stuck with me. That night I went back to my room and I started praying.

Then all of a sudden I knew that I was praying to God. In my chest I felt this incredible, almost sigh of relief – like an inner peace. I sat there amazed for a few seconds. After that I got really excited and prayed, ‘Jesus, let me lay down my life for you. Take my life and let me live for you’. I became a Christian that night.

I continued to go to Alpha after that. It was a place to help me grow. God gave me so much joy – I remember skipping on the way back from Alpha a lot of times.

Since then God has changed my life in many ways. I have always been a fairly happy person but now I have a much deeper happiness.

Dustin Hodges, 20, studying art, helped on the Fall 2003 Alpha course and co-led the Spring 2004 course. He writes:

I was brought up a Christian and got involved in Christian activities at Harvard straight away. I first heard about Alpha from Simeon. He asked me to help out with the course in the fall of 2003 and it was a lot of fun.

Something happened to me on the retreat. Two of the other leaders prayed for me to be filled with the Holy Spirit and I ended up crying very loudly and laughing and wailing.

That had never happened to me before. I spoke in tongues for the first time.

I felt I was spiritually opening for the first time. It was by far the most profound experience of my life. It changed everything.

When they started praying for me I felt peace but I thought nothing was going to happen. Then Simeon asked me if I had anything to pray for, and I got about half a sentence out when I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I was surprised.

Since then my desires have been completely reconfigured. My relationships with other Christians, immediately became richer and more interesting.

I pray and read the Bible more now. Jesus means something different to me every day. I guess I just felt like every existential itch was completely irrelevant at that point.

I’m now leading this Alpha [spring 2004] and it has been a very good course.

Andrea Ellwood, 20, studying economics, was brought up to disbelieve the claims of Christianity. She attended the course in February 2003. She writes:

I grew up not b e l i e v i n g a n y t h i n g about God at all. When I got to Harvard I met lots of people who were incredibly intelligent and very religious. I thought that you couldn’t be intelligent and actually believe something like that.

A friend of mine then told me that the Alpha course was starting. He said it was an introduction to Christianity and there was no pressure.

I decided to go along. I really enjoyed the course. We had wonderful conversations in exactly the forum that was good for me. As the course went on, my life started to seem different, a lot cooler and a lot more full. Even just going outside seemed a much more intense experience than it was before.

By the end of the course I had started going to church every Sunday and loved it. I still wouldn't have called myself a Christian though at that stage.

I then helped out on the next Alpha course. It wasn’t as intense and overwhelming as the first one because now I accepted much of what I heard.

By then I felt as though I was trying to live like a Christian, but not yet a Christian.

On the retreat, after a time of prayer, I remember going outside and I sat in this huge field.

There were huge mountains around me and I started singing one of the worship songs. As I was singing I started putting different words in it thanking God for everything he has given me. It was at that point that I said, ‘I’m a Christian.’ It was pretty cool – awesome.

I started praying during the first Alpha course but it felt like I was having a dialogue with myself. Now it has become something that I want to do every night before I fall asleep. I give God everything, and thank him for everything I have – and thank him for Jesus.

Since becoming a Christian I’m sure I’ve changed. Now, if I am totally overwhelmed by something, I just stop and let it go and offer it to Jesus.

Michael Edward Clear, 21, was studying Social Studies but changed his major to Psychology and Comparative Religion after going on Alpha. In an interview he said:

When I started at Harvard I met some Christians and had discussions with them and realised I didn’t really know whether I was Christian or not.

At the time I would have said I was agnostic but I realised I wanted to have conviction – whether in atheism, Christianity, Buddhism or what have you. I started reading a lot, some CS Lewis, Maimonides (a Jewish philosopher), Kierkegaard and Feuerbach.

A friend of mine then said I should try Alpha and I decided to go. This was spring 2003. During the first few weeks I would say to my small group, ‘This is what’s wrong with this, this and this.’ I went there for deep philosophical discussion and I really enjoyed debating the questions.

On the Alpha retreat I thought the stuff about the Holy Spirit was just superstition but I went up to two of the leaders and asked them if they could help me do whatever I could to let God in.

They put their hands on me and prayed. As they prayed I kind of broke down and felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It was like I couldn’t question it any more.

I felt God at that moment and it was not something I ever expected.

I started crying because I was so happy. At that moment I really knew that God existed. After that I called myself a Christian. When you have a faith in God it grounds you. I can be by myself.

Kirsten Nyborg, 20, studies Classics and did the Alpha course in September 2003. She writes:

I first heard about Alpha through a friend who invited me on the course in September 2003. My friend forwarded me a description of the course, which said it was a non-threatening introduction to Christianity. The e-mail was very funny, light-hearted and inviting.

I decided to go along because I wanted to learn more about Christianity and the way Christians live. I kind of believed that there was a God but I never supported that with anything.

I didn’t know what to expect, but the people were so friendly. The food was different every week – and it was delicious. There was always coffee and dessert after the video.

I started to participate in the conversations and ask questions. Then came the Holy Spirit retreat, which was a really amazing weekend. There were a whole lot of opportunities to say a prayer asking God into your life and every time the opportunity arose, I said that prayer.

I’m definitely a Christian now. It has made a huge impact on my life.

Alpha was an incredible help to me. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to ask the questions I had, I never would have been able to move on with a relationship with God.

Michaeleen Mason-Gale, 31, was attending the Harvard extension school when she saw an advertisement for the student course. She went along. She writes:

I was brought up going to church but when I went to university I completely separated myself from God.

After some years working with a bank, I became a yoga instructor.

In 2003 I found myself at a bit of a crossroads in life and I decided to move home to live with my mum, who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

While I was there I started taking classes at the Harvard Extension School.

At the time I didn’t have any faith but I started getting this need for something spiritual in my life.

I then saw a preacher called the Rev’d Gomes on Sixty Minutes [a TV programme] and my mother told me that he preached at Memorial Church, which is Harvard's church. I said, ‘Wow he sounded really interesting. I would like to go and meet him.’ I went to a service there and on the bulletin I saw this notice about the Alpha course. I just showed up to the first meeting in January 2004 and there were more than 20 people there.

I really liked the course. The format is relaxed and you can ask any question that you want. We would watch a video and then afterwards we would discuss the topic.

I kept going back every week – partly because everyone was so nice – and went on the retreat over Easter which was a lot of fun.

I think a lot of the prejudices I had towards Christianity were shattered. I thought, ‘Wow, these are people at Harvard and they are discussing God and they are OK with it and OK with loving Jesus.’

Now I see Jesus differently. At the moment I am reading the gospel of John and that is helping me to see Jesus as a person and as a teacher more than just a figure, which is what I thought of him before. I would call myself a Christian now. I wouldn’t have done that before.

Tim Galebach, 20, studying Computer Science, has been helping with the leadership of Alpha. He writes:

I was a Christian when I came to Harvard. In my second year I heard about Alpha, and how a lot of people had come to Christ.

It was pretty interesting and so I offered to help with the course in the fall. That course went well. I think I got more out of it than most of the guests.

I’ve seen my own life change drastically because of Alpha. I didn’t believe that God ever did things when I was in the room. Then I saw a lot of the people who were on the Holy Spirit retreat have very profound experiences and come back very different. That affected me a lot.

Now I am a lot more open with people about Christ. I pray and read my Bible more, and I’m freer. I have more of a relationship with God day to day.

Caroline Dixon, 21, studying Psychology, attended the Alpha course which began in February 2004. She writes:

As a family, we went to church every Sunday and prayed frequently. But in my freshman year at Harvard I stopped going to church (apart from very occasional visits).

I was so busy and rationalised that I didn’t need to go to church to have a relationship with God. Over time I also started to question my beliefs, and came to doubt even God’s existence.

Then I came into my senior year and wanted to re-think my priorities. I realised I had a nagging feeling that I needed to deal with the God question.

When I came into the second semester some people I met through a campus fellowship told me about the Alpha course. I had heard about the course before because they ran it at my family’s church. I thought it was just for new-believers or those who had never heard about Christianity.

Nevertheless, I was drawn it because I thought it could give me a chance to honestly deal with my doubts and perhaps build a solid foundation of faith by going back to the basics.

I started the Alpha course and the first couple of classes were great. They were about the historical validity of the Bible and things like that – things I hadn’t ever really encountered before.

I also liked the environment of being among people who were sceptical so I could express some of my questions and doubts. I went every week. Alpha gave me a forum to confront my doubts without feeling guilty about having them. I enjoyed the videos and as the course progressed I began to find my faith again.

The retreat was amazing. When we were singing I started crying and realised I really was missing God and that I was keeping him out of my life.

Two of the leaders then prayed for me and it was amazing, I could really sense God was there. I could no longer deny the truth that God is there and that he loves me. It was then I asked Jesus into my life, with real sincerity in my heart. When I got up I felt this big feeling of relief.

After that, I was totally changed. It was awesome, I had peace. Now I have a relationship with Jesus. I know God has plans for me and I’m really excited about that.

Bonnie Poon, 23, studying Psychology, had been helping to lead the Alpha courses. She writes:

My high school fellowship in Hong Kong – where I was brought up – used Youth Alpha and I thought it was very good.

So when I came to Harvard and Simeon asked me to help out with the Alpha course in September 2003, I said yes. It was really exciting to see the Spirit move – not just among the guests but among the leaders too.

Their lives were changed and their understanding of ministry was changed.

We started another course in February 2004 and that is still going on. It’s going really well. We had the retreat two weeks ago and we had 21 people. A lot of our guests know about Alpha through their Christian friends.

A lot of students here have a hard time opening up because they are used to being able to do everything by themselves. But a lot of them are actually hurting inside.

They realise that there is nothing really around them to answer the questions they have.

They then see these Christians around them who are coping better than they are and they begin to ask them questions about faith.

Alpha plays the role of answering those questions in a very clear, non-invasive and very powerful way.

It also gives an experience of God's model of community – a community centred on love and grace that is very attractive.

God has really brought the leaders together through the course as well. We meet together to pray before every Alpha and before the retreat. That prayer time really fosters a bond. It’s very powerful.

It’s so exciting to watch the guests change. It’s incredible watching people who are very doubtful in the beginning and not certain about God move to a place where God becomes real to them.

People here are very, very inquisitive and they want facts. Alpha serves that very specific function of presenting facts in a context where people can put the head knowledge with the heart knowledge.

Alpha bridges the mind and the heart.