By Celeste Morales

CSUSM student org. Priority Christian Challenge offers a safe environment where students can

come together and participate in shared prayer along with other events within the community.

The organization is spiritually-based and promotes connections and fellowship among students.

Their main focus is to help one another stay on the spiritual path through mentorship.

CSUSM student Karrl Vitor, president of Priority Christian Challenge, wants to put the

organization on CSUSM’s radar as a good organization to join for those students who want to

build strong relationships with each other as well as help others in the community.

One unique feature of Priority Christian Challenge is that they interact with a large part of the

international student population.

“There is something like forty-two different countries represented at this school who are looking

for a way to connect,” Vitor said. “We try to help with that.”

The faculty advisor for the org., Karno Ng, administers the International Coffee Hour where the

organization comes together to assist these international students with transitioning into CSUSM.

Many of these students are looking to find a sense of cohesive community.

Priority Christian Challenge creates this community during meetings where students come

together and participate in Bible study and fellowship. Vitor defines fellowship as means of

communication that brings students closer to one another and to God.

“Its a type of Bible study that is concerned with the connection with Jesus,” Vitor said. “We hold

each other accountable.”

One of the major events they have coming up this November is called Operation Christmas

Child. Operation Christmas Child allows students within the organization to gather donated

clothes and food from around campus and put them in shoe boxes. Once they have them all

packaged, organized teams will ship the donations to countries in need.

The org. also recently had an event called “See you at the Pole” where they organized a public

prayer by the flag poles. The group prayed for the campus, the community and the rest of the

world. Some of the students from Intervarsity, another spiritual based organization on campus,

joined the org. in prayer.

Priority Christian Challenge hosts such events in hopes to help strengthen the faith of those

students who attend. The org. wants to provide the new members a bit of encouragement in

continuing to follow their faith and to help students realize that there are others who are willing

to pray with them.

Vitor also believes that providing a place for students to pray gives people a sense of

camaraderie.

“This also inspires some of our members to be more aware of the concerns of others and the

community that we are in, since we think about them as well when we are praying,” Vitor said.

Priority Christian Challenge is open to all students on campus, and for those interested in joining,

the org. meets from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday in the USU 2310-A.