“I asked God this morning to send someone who would pray for me. I can’t believe you just asked if you could pray for me.”
A student shared those words after believers near the UC Santa Barbara campus offered to pray with him. In the middle of an ordinary day, God answered his prayer through the obedience of His people.
The team handed out resources, shared the Gospel, and offered prayer near a busy student intersection. Several students expressed gratitude for a Christian, pro life presence. One young woman said she wanted to help however she could, while others expressed interest in becoming involved.
The harvest was already visible.
Seeing Students Through the Eyes of Jesus
Not every conversation was easy. One young woman responded to the team’s message with anger and profanity.
Instead of returning hostility, the team chose to see her through the eyes of Jesus. What if this encounter becomes the beginning of her testimony? What if she remembers that Christians came to her campus, spoke the truth, and still treated her with love?
These students are not our enemies. They are young men and women created in the image of God who need the hope and truth of Jesus.
Praying Over the Mission Field
The team prayer walked through the university community, stopping outside student housing to pray for women facing unexpected pregnancies. The walk ended at the UCSB Student Health Center, where abortion pills are dispensed.
They prayed that women would encounter the Church and discover real help, hope, and support before taking the pill.
Love Life University officially launches at UCSB on September 17. The campus is ripe for harvest, but a ripe harvest needs laborers.
That is why Youth for Life matters. We are calling middle school, high school, and college students to live with courage, speak truth with love, and become voices for life. We want to equip them now to carry the Gospel into mission fields like UCSB.
Through Youth for Life, we are preparing laborers. Through Love Life University, we are sending them into the field.
A $75,000 matching gift through September 30 is helping make the UCSB launch possible. Every gift will be doubled as we equip students, mobilize local believers, and establish an ongoing Gospel presence on campus.