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CCO Campus Ministry

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Bea Thomas

thomas_bea.jpg“My first church experience was because of my involvement with the CCO. Although I became a Christian through another ministry in high school, I was not affiliated with a church then. In college, the CCO staff I knew were on the staff of a local church, so I began attending and got involved in the life of the church. For the first time, I was meeting Christian adults who were working out what it meant to live out their faith in every area of life.”

French-born Bea Guilleux Thomas, a 1993 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, lives with her husband Karl and their two children in Pittsburgh. Now a representative for Mary Kay Cosmetics, Bea says the CCO has made an impact on just about everything she and Karl do, from where they live to how they raise their children.

“I received excellent training during my student years because of the CCO,” Bea says. “Staff people modeled how to live under a Christian worldview, as well as how to live as Christians before those around them.”

Before becoming a Mary Kay consultant, Bea worked for Accenture, a technology consulting firm, for seven years. “I tried to model Christ there,” she says. “I had to explain my lifestyle in light of Christ. As a Mary Kay rep, I look at clients as people who need love. I try to get to know them beyond the transaction.

“We live on Rippey Street [in inner-city Pittsburgh] now because, when we were college students, former CCO staff members came and spoke to our large group fellowship about social conscience and living in community. When we moved in, it seemed scary. But together, we began to redeem abandoned lots and invited local youth to help develop a community garden. We got involved with local government. Over time, the neighborhood has improved because of the influence of good neighbors. Now we think where we live is the best-kept secret in Pittsburgh.

“A big part of what CCO staff did back then was to get us involved at church. Karl and I have been very active at Church of the Ascension over the years. As students, we served as ushers and were involved in a small group. I led the women’s Bible study for a while, Karl taught Sunday School and we took courses on marriage and finance there. We learned community from being in a small-group Bible study.

“The CCO’s influence has been interwoven with the influence of our church, and that has made all the difference for us.”