When Mariana Costa BS ’25 arrived at North Park, she began a journey that would test her resilience in ways most students don’t anticipate.

Costa came to the United States from Lisbon, Portugal, leaving behind a father with a terminal illness and a family struggling with the costs and circumstances of caring for him. She promised her father she would do her best to attend college and build a better life for her whole family.

Having never even visited the US before, Costa moved in with an uncle in Chicago, leading her to North Park as a first-year track and field student-athlete. She brought an already strong faith but found a deeper grounding in a community that helped support her through her father’s death in her first semester. “The beautiful community we have at North Park got me through it,” she said. For Costa and many other students, that community has formed through connections in faith.

University Ministries (UMin) is the cornerstone of the undergraduate campus faith community, offering chapel on Wednesdays, a Sunday-night CollegeLife service, small groups, service opportunities at home and abroad, and many standalone events each year.

With its home in the Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life, UMin has also become a space where students gather to be physically in community.

More than 60 students regularly crowd into the offices following chapel to continue their fellowship. Students of all backgrounds and faiths bring their homework to UMin throughout the week, finding space to hang out where it is safe to ask hard questions and simply enjoy each other’s company.

“In my eight years at North Park, this has been one of the most impactful; we have built so many meaningful connections with our students,” said Campus Pastor and Athletic Chaplain Rev. Dr. Terence Gadsden DMin ’23, “Students come to our space, events, and services because we show them the love of Christ.”

In reflecting on students’ resilience—many navigating post-pandemic life, global uncertainties, and balancing academics, work, and family time—Gadsden said, “The world we live in is challenging. We have honest discussions with our students about what real faith in God looks like in turbulent times and what it means to love God and our neighbors in the most difficult moments of life we each face.”

I believe all the challenges I have gone through happened to shape me into an empathetic person, a person of faith who will help others as they have helped me.

—MARIANA COSTA

“Our students are brilliant,” he added. “They have taught me so much—I’m learning what resilience looks like through them.”

UMin’s staff, student leaders, and programs demonstrate how Jesus engages the realities of life and how faith makes a real difference in people’s well-being. Students who serve in programs like Urban Outreach, Friday Night Street Ministries, and Global Partnerships—no matter their background—build a foundation for understanding the world through community and connection.

Chapel, CollegeLife, LifeGroups, and Prayer Ministry invite students to build on their experiential learning and service, rooting that practice in personal faith to move throughout the world with resilience, compassion, and empathy.

“Faith is not separate from our mental health, relationships, career, or civic life and engagement,” said CollegeLife and Spiritual Formation Coordinator Pete Anderson BA ’08, MDiv ’13. “Rather, faith is central to all life and a driving force for students as they move through college and beyond.”

“You build resilience by diving deeper into who you are and what you care about. What is your life anchored in? What is the foundation of your life? What drives you? People need to discover for themselves what or who that something is. Until then, it’s difficult to face hardship,” said Director of University Ministries Anthony Zamble.

Faith is not separate from our mental health, relationships, career, or civic life and engagement. Rather, faith is central to all life and a driving force for students as they move through college and beyond.

—PETE ANDERSON

Returning to school for her sophomore year, Costa’s journey took an unexpected turn as she faced housing loss, a challenge that would follow her into her junior year. She held deeply to her faith, certain that God would help her overcome these challenges. And within her North Park community, she found encouragement and tangible help from her friends.

Living out faith in noticeable ways is what Anderson hopes to inspire in students through North Park’s spiritual formation opportunities.

“As we engage with the real lives of students, they have the opportunity to connect their faith and physical lives,” Anderson said. “These moments within the faith community can give a larger sense of purpose; there can be visions of hope in times of hopelessness.”

Now an intern with Transform Capital—a local nonprofit that aims to ignite generational wealth for families marginalized by traditional financial systems—Costa hopes her story encourages others to stay the course through the hardships they will face.

“No matter what you’re going through, God loves you, and there’s a community that loves God and loves you,” she said. “I believe all the challenges I have gone through happened to shape me into an empathetic person, a person of faith who will help others as they have helped me.”