Barnabas Project seeks to help students, alumni discover their purpose

According to Barna Group research, two thirds of Christians who are active in their local church still feel a strong need to understand their life’s purpose.
In the Harding community, the Barnabas Project is helping students and alumni find their purpose and intentionally live it.
“We hope to provide the opportunity for Harding students and alumni to build strong relationships based on working together to understand why God created them and what they have been called to do,” Generation HU Director Shelbi Bridges said.
The Barnabas Project program pairs students with one or two Harding alumni during the year-long course, which includes attending conferences, following a guided notebook system, and FaceTiming regularly with partners. Participants create a personal mission statement and life plan tailored to their passions, strengths and priorities.
Instead of a “one size fits all” approach to success, the program provides the tools, relationships and guidance for its participants to live their individual purpose.
For example, the Barnabas Project helps students who are considering living in northwest Arkansas to make connections with people in that area so encouraging Christian relationships will await them after graduation. This kind of forethought and intentionality is another goal the program organizers have.
“[I’m] looking ahead to the future and being realistic about what I want to get out of my life and what I want out of a job and out of my relationships,” senior Abby Coffey said. “[I’m] making a plan about how to execute those in the best way possible.”
Coffey’s partner is a new mom, who gives Coffey a glimpse into a demographic she doesn’t often encounter on campus. Through the Barnabas Project, partners seek the same objective of living toward their purpose, but while one is balancing schoolwork and activities, the other juggles raising a family and working a full-time job. This age gap between partners enhances their perspectives. Current Student Association President Michael Krupka’s partner Josh Bundy, an ‘06 alumnus, was also SA president. Around the time Krupka was considering running for the position, he met Bundy and was encouraged by his advice and success.
“The relationship is difficult to define as a mentor-mentee or partner to partner relationship,” Krupka said. “It’s a little bit of both. At times [my partner] is giving me advice because he has more experience than I do. At other times he’s asking me how I see things because I have a different perspective from him.”
Currently, the Barnabas Project leadership is privately discussing possible improvements to the program, but does not intend to change its purpose.
“We have taken steps to ask past participants what they think of the program, and some of the most consistent answers include stating that the Barnabas Project has helped them live intentionally and build Christian relationships,” Bridges said.