Our ‘No Lunch Alone’ challenge was partly inspired by a class research study that revealed a lot about the way students interact with food, technology, and community. Many students reported using technology to distract themselves from the loneliness of eating alone, and themes of anxiety, depression, social disconnect, and insecurity all influenced satiety and satisfaction during and after meals.

As people who have been radically and relationally transformed by the necessary community of the Gospel, our team desired to become the most hospitable place on campus by encouraging students to boldly move past the awkwardness of sharing a meal with someone you don’t know very well.

The challenge lasted two weeks during winter quarter, which can be a dark and dreary time on our campus. Each day we would update the leaderboard, adding one point per meal a student shared with new friends. We did have a winner at the end, but we wanted to emphasize that the real prize of this challenge was learning how to build community in the mundane routines of life, so everyone who participated got a fun sticker!

I was continually impressed by the boldness of new and seasoned RUF-ers who invited strangers to lunch and made meeting someone new a regular goal over those two weeks.

Praise God that we have such a profound example of the ministry of food and fellowship through Christ Jesus; our Brother consistently shared meals with people who didn’t know him. What a gift it is to know that we are welcome at his table.

Emily
RUF Student