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Kristi Kratzer

Kratzer-Kristi.jpg“The Jubilee conference was one of the first times that I realized I didn’t need to be in ministry in order to do ministry,” says Kristi Kratzer. “Jubilee helped me understand that faith is an everyday, 24-hour thing, and is not just about going to church and studying the Bible. I need to live out my faith in everything I do.”

Kristi connected to the CCO during her sophomore year at Ohio Dominican University, when she met her doppelganger, CCO staff member Jana Miller, at an activities fair on campus. “Jana and I look very much alike, and people kept confusing us with each other,” Kristi remembers. “We finally started spending time together, going to the gym three times a week, and then studying the Bible together. Jana became my mentor.”

Kristi spent a lot of time with both Jana and CCO staff member, Austina McFarland, during her student years, and she is grateful for the influence of both women in her life.

“Jana and Austina were very much anchors in my life during college,” Kristi says. “During my freshman year, before the CCO arrived on campus, I felt a void. I knew I wanted to stay connected with my faith, but I wasn’t sure how. I even thought about transferring to a different school, but then I met Austina and found out she’d be working at ODU in campus ministry the next year. I was so excited. Having the CCO on campus made me love college. The ministry connected me with other Christians whom I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise, because they were so different than me. Jana and Austina helped me figure out how to make a difference on campus. They made college a holistic experience for me.”

Kristi also credits Jana and Austina with helping her get involved in a church community near campus. “I resisted at first,” Kristi confesses. “But then I started to worship with Austina, and I got connected to a small group at the church, which I absolutely loved.”

Today, Kristi lives in Florida, where she works in marketing for the Walt Disney Company. She is actively involved in City Church Orlando, where she is part of a small group, helps with the children’s ministry and has also led worship. She participates in Rescue Mission, a ministry to the homeless, and she has a heart for Africa, particularly for rescuing women and children from the sex trade industry and extreme poverty.

Twice, Kristi has almost come on CCO staff herself, and she loves the idea of doing college ministry someday. But for now, she is convinced that she is where God can use her best.

“Because of the CCO, I know that I don’t have be in ministry to do ministry,” she says. “As I work in the corporate world, every day I have opportunities to make a difference, to act in ways that are Christ-like, and I know my co-workers who are not believers notice that there’s something different about me. They ask me why I do missions, why I go to church all the time, and if I really sing songs about Jesus. I think my presence there makes Christianity more real to them. I live where they live, work in the same job they do, go to lunch with them. I’m a normal person, but there’s something different about me, and that seems to fascinate them.”

“I was a nominal Christian when I arrived at college,” Kristi says. “I figured I was a Christian, and so I would go to church, because that’s what Christians do. It’s hard to picture what college would have been like without Jana and Austina, and even now I email them and call them for advice. They are still so important to me. They helped me think about things more deeply, to ask good questions. They helped me seek truth.”