Cool Cat: Andrew Venneberg
Q&A and photos by Blake Kjellesvik
Andrew Venneberg is a creative writing major in his senior year and the club president of Chi Alpha—a Christian club and ministry at CWU. Chi Alpha’s job is to spread the word of Jesus and here’s what he had to say about it and himself.
Q: What is Chi Alpha and what is it all about?
A: Chi Alpha is a Christian club on campus that… specifically go to secular campuses, secular being campuses that are non Christian, with the hopes of finding students and introducing them to the living gospel…. We're trying to create disciples of Jesus, who will go on to make more disciples, who will impact the marketplace, the world and the campuses.
Q: What is your specific role as club president, and what are your specific goals in that role?
A: As club president, my only role is to book the rooms that we use for Chi Alpha… I am kind of the face of the club side of Chi Alpha, but in the actual ministry, I'm a student leader…. I meet with students one on one to either explore the Bible with them or… to get to know them better. I lead a core group Bible study on Thursdays [which is] a group of genuine friends, trying to get to know each other better and trying to get to know Jesus better.
Q: Where did you grow up, and how has that affected your views on religion?
A: I grew up in Xi'An China, which is in the Shannxi Province…. My parents were English teachers… [and] were also Christian…. It was very interesting watching them navigate their faith in a culture where Christianity is just very different…. Faith is less spoken about. [I saw] how they decided to model their beliefs, not through trying to shove it down people's throats, but by trying to be genuinely good people and love on people well…. I didn't feel like I was pressured into believing… and decided that's something that I wanted to try.
Q: What is your favorite thing about being a part of Chi Alpha?
A: The community is incredibly well bonded…. When I look back at my time in college, I don't think about the late night study sessions. I think about the friends I made in my community—the conversations we had…. Everyone loves each other really well, and that's something I'll remember my entire life.
Q: What's the most important thing you think you've learned being a part of Chi Alpha?
A: I had a friend call me out on a really bad habit I had, and up to that point, I thought friends were people who… ignored your flaws and loved you for who you are. And that's true to some extent, but this guy loved me so much that he refused to let me keep damaging myself by acting a certain way… and it forced me to look at my life in a different way…. Meeting these people who helped me find purpose, especially in Jesus, has changed my life so much. It's how I view friendships and how I view other people.
Q: When you're not doing ministry stuff, what hobbies fill your time?
A: I've been doing a lot of thrifting, that's been my favorite hobby, and making cool new outfits and making necklaces. That's been just really fun. I heard this… silly quote: “Fashion is just character customization.”
Q: What's the plan after college?
A: I'm actually going to continue staying on campus and do a ministry internship through Chi Alpha to be a campus minister in training…. I'm hoping that internship will teach me more tools about how to understand the Bible, how to share that good news with other people and then also be something that I could take in the rest of my life with my dream at the end of it being to become an English teacher in Japan, like my parents were English teachers in China.
Q: Is there anything interesting you'd like to add that I haven't asked about?
A: There's a quote by C.S. Lewis…: "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important." I think that the way the Bible teaches about meaning and purpose is not good deeds earn you a good place, but rather, there's an invitation of grace that motivates you to want to make the world a better place.
Interview has been edited for clarity and length.