As part of Ratio Christi’s partnerships with seminaries, we are working on ways to develop internships and field experience for students in Apologetics programs. The first person to take advantage of this opportunity is Julie Miller, who is finishing her M.A. in Apologetics at Biola and starting a Ratio Christi chapter at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Here is her story: “I began to be interested (borderline obsessive) with apologetics about 7 years ago. I was teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to women from all over the globe. I was introducing them to English and also teaching them truths about God, the human condition, and Jesus. I found that I was not prepared to answer their questions about Christianity and I did not know enough about Hinduism, Buddhism, atheism, and Islam. Also, my sons were entering Jr. High and High School in public school, after previously attending Christian school for grade school. They were being bombarded with relativism and tolerance and atheism on a regular basis. I was trying to educate myself with good books, but it was clear that I needed ‘professional help. My husband noticed in World magazine that Biola offered a distance program in Christian Apologetics and I immediately applied. It has been the best thing that has ever happened to our family. We do not see how believers are able to function in this culture without apologetics. When I first began studying in the program, people would ask me, “What are you going to do with your Masters in Christian Apologetics?” My answer for the last 4 years has been that I use it every single day. Apologetics helps me respond to all sorts of situations: the news, to the culture in general, to the worldviews of unbelievers I know, to Bible Study issues at church, to my Science book club, to leading the mom’s group at church, and to parenting my teenage sons and to their friends. All those are very practical applications of apologetics. But, at the same time, I was also asking God to show me if He had anything specific for me to do with my training in Apologetics. In March of 2011, I heard Rick Schenker interviewed on Apologetics 315. He was sharing about the mission of Ratio Christi. It caught my attention because he was asking for trained apologists to help start apologetic clubs at large secular universities. I happen to live near Rutgers University in New Jersey and love college kids. I emailed him, explaining about my background and my training at Biola and my interest in the ministry. We met a few weeks later and I committed to be Chapter Director at the new Ratio Christi at Rutgers. God has been confirming his intentions to me by providing two student officers and also a faculty advisor. We will be registering with the University in the next few weeks. In May 2011, I contacted my academic advisor at Biola, Christy Brown, to discuss my last few classes for the Fall and Spring semesters. There were 3 elective credits that we were unsure about. I told her that I was beginning a new exciting endeavor with Ratio Christi and she urged me to talk to Dr. Scott Smith and see if an arranged course would be something that would work. After much discussion, Dr. Smith agreed that my work done for Ratio Christi at Rutgers could fulfill my 3 elective credits. I will be documenting all the hours I spend on Ratio Christi. My work will range from starting up the Ratio Christi group, preparing apologetic lessons, leading weekly training meetings, and organizing a speaker event for the whole campus. I appreciate that I can get academic credit for using my apologetic training in this way.” For more information on an internship/field experience with Ratio Christi, visit our Internships page on our web site. )