Utah County

UI Connections has a conversation with Aaron Marshall, Ratio Christi Chapter Director at UVU

OREM, UT – Ratio Christi is an apologetics & evangelism organization that equips students with the tools and skills to defend their faith and share it with others. In Utah Valley, Aaron Marshall uses the platform of Ratio Christi to encounter students attending Utah Valley University in Orem, UT. He ministers in one of the most unreached counties in North America. Aaron remarks about 2024 as he recently shared with UI Connections his year in review. “This has been an amazing year for our ministry here in Utah. We are so grateful for what God is doing in and through us here in Utah County where the Evangelical Christian population is around .5%!” Here is a brief summary of the work they did in 2024 and their vision for what the future of our ministry will hopefully look like in the years to come. Hear Aaron’s heart in his own words as he seeks to bring biblical truth to Utah Valley.

Our Ratio Christi ministry at Utah Valley University (UVU) really began to take off in 2024. UVU has about 45,000 students but probably only about 250 – 300 of them are Christians (based on the percentages).  So starting a Christian ministry at UVU has been incredibly tough. But God has blessed our efforts. We are averaging about 20 – 25 people per meeting as we close out our second year on campus full-time. That is better than even I was expecting.  We have had numerous non-Christians that have come to our meetings and are finding out more about Biblical Christianity.  This year we were able to bring on one full-time intern (Morgan) and one part-time intern (Meagan) to join up with me and Matt who was our intern last year and is now on staff with us full-time. The Chapter continues to grow, and we are praying for a handful of students that we think are very close to giving their life to the Biblical Jesus. 

This year, we were able to host four different mission teams for a week of evangelism here in Utah.  Those trips are always memorable and can be life changing for the students. One student said that the mission trip week was the most important week of his Christian life! During the summer, we took one of our teams to a Fundamentalist Mormon’s house and we ate with them and dialogued for hours. Three of their missionaries even came to one of our Ratio Christi meetings and to our church one Sunday to worship with us.

This summer, we were able to officially launch our church – Mosaic Church Vineyard. I am one of the Elders and it has been an awesome time as we are getting the church off the ground. We are preaching through the book of Galatians verse by verse. We have a small congregation, but it has become a tight family of believers. Every week we have at least one guest who is not a believer that gets to hear the Gospel.  You can listen to our sermons on any podcast app under our church name.

In addition to those things, I was also able to teach a class on evangelism at Ecola Bible College in January. I was able to speak at a conference in February. I helped to lead an evangelism class at another church the month of May. I was able to help lead our Bible study through the book of Acts with our church team before we launched in September. I am taking a Biblical Counseling class this Fall to better learn how to help counsel those in our church and student ministry.  I was also able to continue to do podcasts and other projects throughout the year.  It was a busy – but very fruitful year!!

What does the future hold? When we moved down to Utah County two years ago, we prayed that we would have a healthy Ratio Christi chapter at UVU, a local church, and a Coffee Shop/Study Center that would be able to house our ministries.  We have hit on two out of those three goals. Our vision is that in the next few years we will be able to buy a property (or build one) that will house our church worship services on Sunday and will be an outreach coffee shop Monday – Saturday. Please take a look at a video I made outlining the vision here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ba4QHBe7EY 

Please pray for Utah. Pray that God would cause a revival in this state and that we would see thousands come to know the Lord in a saving way. Thank you for your prayers and your support! Happy New Year!
In Christ,

Aaron Marshall
Utah Valley University Ratio Christi Chapter Director 
Pastor-Elder Candidate Mosaic Church Vineyard 

If you or your church would like to know more about how you can pray for and support the work of Aaron Marshall through the ministry of Ratio Christi, visit his website. https://give.ratiochristi.org/missionary/aaron-marshall

All the funds we use to support collegiate ministry in Utah and Idaho comes from the State Missions Offering. To help our volunteer leaders reach campuses around Utah and Idaho and to help them tell stories of transformation, encourage your church to give to the York-Dillman State Missions Offering.