Pizzeria Alpha

by Dave Short, Alpha USA Campus and Young Adult Director

I am often challenged by the sheer enormity of the need on colleges across the country. On a recent visit to Wayne State University in downtown Detroit, I parked my car and started looking for a place to grab a cup of coffee before my next appointment. I quickly realized nothing was open, so I stopped a female student and asked if she knew why the restaurants were closed so early. It was then that I noticed her wipe a tear from her eye. When I asked if she was o.k., she explained that she had just arrived from India and didn’t know anyone. She was in a strange land and all alone. She hopped into a waiting taxi before I could even react.

Andy and Paula Draper, both automotive engineers, were surprised when one campus ministry group after another kept coming by their newly opened pizzeria on the Wayne State campus to introduce themselves. It turns out that all of these groups had the same thing in mind - reaching international students with the Gospel. The Drapers started seeing a pattern and it didn't take long to recognize it was the Father at work giving them the opportunity to host an Alpha course on Sunday evenings for students.

Their restaurant is on the bottom floor of a campus residence hall and meal services have just been discontinued weekends. The Drapers, new believers and recent Alpha graduates themselves, say they finally understand why they bought the restaurant in the first place. The interdenominational effort involves Inter Varsity, Christian Challenge, Campus Crusade, the Chinese Christian Alliance Church and Grosse Pointe Baptist Church. The Wayne State course will start this fall. The team is praying that the young Indian woman who jumped into the taxi before I had time to get her name, will walk through the door for dinner on the opening night when we begin to ask the question, "Is there more to life than this?" and find a community that will impact her life forever.

(Editors Note:  On September 7, after Dave sent in this article, the Wayne State "pizzeria" course had its first session.  So many students showed up (more than 144) they max'd out the building and some had to be turned away!)