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Simon Huff

Huff-Simon.jpg“What the CCO really did for my life was to change my perspective to what I like to think of as the ‘Seven Day Jesus,’” says Simon Huff. “I realized that faith cannot be disconnected from my daily life; it must be directing my every decision, otherwise, do I really trust in GOD and his plan for my life?”

Simon first connected to the CCO’s ministry when he transferred to Point Park University his junior year. “New to campus, I sought out Christian groups or organizations and became aware of the Body Christian Fellowship at the clubs and organizations fair. The personal relationships that were fostered early on kicked off a chain reaction. I not only became more and more involved in CCO events, but more importantly, more in tune with God’s purpose for my life at a time when the compass of life can be swinging madly from one quick fix and false idea to the next.”

Simon began playing piano for the weekly fellowship meetings and attended spring break trips, to Florida where he helped build houses for low-income families, and to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. His senior year, Simon became a student leader, more involved with the week-to-week planning of meetings. He also attended the Jubilee conference, which left a lasting impression.

“Perhaps the most important thing I learned during my undergraduate days with the CCO is that our faith calls us to be connected to humanity and to the world, loving them and helping them turn to GOD, building up the Kingdom,” says Simon. “I don’t care how strong your faith is, seeing thousands of college students coming together from all walks of life all over the country to worship GOD and seek his will—that’s gonna move you. Getting to talk with teachers and scientists and social activists who are all seeking to fulfill what Christ meant when he said, ‘on Earth as it is in Heaven,’ and more importantly, to see firsthand how you can be a part of this Kingdom-plan, might be the most important concept that a student can learn in his college days. Jubilee is the event of the year. I can’t speak enough about it.”

Today, Simon is a graduate research assistant at the University of Rochester, where he is involved in Bethel Christian Fellowship. “As a high school kid, I hated school and didn’t even show up a lot of times,” he says. “When I graduated, I hadn’t even applied to college. But then I felt God’s call to do Bible translation across the world, and here I am in graduate school. I do not take credit for where I am by my own account, but only by the One who sends me. GOD has opened the door for me, and I know that this is only because I said ‘Yes’ and stepped out in faith.”

In addition to hosting a young adult Bible study in his home, Simon is committed to serving others, both locally and globally. “I am involved in the organization World Gospel Mission, and recently spent the majority of my summer teaching English and music to underprivileged boys in Honduras. I love to return and share my experiences with my community, exposing them to a life beyond their own, filled not only with injustices, as we may tend to focus on too much, but filled with people who are beautifully and wonderfully made, children of GOD.”

Simon remains grateful for the influence the CCO’s ministry had on him during his undergraduate years. “I will always look back fondly on my days with the CCO and The Body Christian Fellowship. I entered college a young, naïve, selfish boy and left it a man of GOD, prepared for what He has for me to do in this life. I like to think not that my faith made a difference, but that my faith is the difference; that it is the lens through which I view the totality of being: my life, my career, my family, my love, even my relationship with GOD. And I will always be thankful to the CCO for being an important step along the way of the journey to that realization.”