“God told me to come here,” said Nicole Schutte while discussing her reason for coming to America. Since becoming a Christian 10 years ago in South Africa, Schutte said she has been listening to God’s voice.
A student mentor at VCU through Victory Campus Ministry for five years, Schutte left South Africa for America with the pastor who spoke at her church in Johannesburg while on a mission trip with college students in summer 1998. She first worked in North Carolina at the Agape Christian Group Home for abused children where she taught and served as a live-in mom.
Since then Schutte, who speaks Afrikaans and English with an African accent, said she has been helping bring peace to people through God’s word. As an adviser at VCU she works with the two campus groups: the Finger Painters and the Champions for Christ.
“That is my passion. It’s what I live and sleep for,” Schutte said of being a mentor. “It’s not just doing a job, I love doing what I do.”
Anna Irby, president of the Finger Painters, started the group when she was a sophomore at VCU. This performing arts group shares its ministry through improvisations on the corner of Harrison and Grace streets. As a dancer, Schutte said she believes Christian artists should display God in the arts.
Irby, a theater performance senior, said she has known Schutte since Irby’s sophomore year when they attended a women’s retreat at Harvest Renewal Church.
“She’s been like a spiritual mom to me,” Irby said of the two becoming fast friends. “I know I can turn to her whenever I need her.”
Students who work with Schutte at VCU said she brings them comfort, prayer and directs them to the Bible.
“Her relationship with God is so real and so connected,” Irby said of Schutte. “When she hears the word of God she speaks it and the heavens open up.”
Crafts senior Angelina Shaw, VCM’s president, met Schutte at a separate women’s retreat through the same church. To her, Schutte became someone with a different perspective on life.
“(She) keep(s) me focused on God and on growing,” Shaw said of her mentor.
Shaw, who specializes in textiles and ceramics, said Schutte attracts people because of her South African perspective and direct way of connecting with them.
Schutte said she believes that everyone is made for a purpose and she is fulfilling hers by coming to America and sharing her experiences in God with others.