Brett Butcher (BA Geology, 2002)

I've been working for Campus Crusade for Christ for the last 15 years out of Orlando.

I spent one year in Wenatchee, the last 3 1/2 in Eugene, Oregon at the University of Oregon and am currently at our world headquarters in Orlando, Florida evaluating how we do recruiting as an organization.

Crazy as it sounds, my geology experience has come in quite handy. Unfortunately, many people assume that faith in God and science are enemies. This is something I wrestled with all through college. I came to the conclusion that they are not enemies, but compatriots; each revealing the same Truth from very different viewpoints. They don't actually contradict each other, but go hand in hand to build a full picture of reality. Many college students have benefited from talking through this topic with me. If I can help them see realistic possibilities in Genesis, they become very open to hearing what more of the Bible has to say. It's hard to take the Bible seriously if you can't get past the opening chapters for empirical folk like us.

It's funny to me how often talk of geology comes up. I often talk about surviving our mapping trip to Mitchell, getting car sick looking through the microscope during Optical Mineralogy, flunking Stratigraphy (which cost me an extra year in college to retake it the following Spring), spending 12 hours doing labwork outside a 4 hour lab, having to map roadcuts next to a rotting deer up near Blewett Pass, having a classmate ask you about a rock which turned out to be ... not a rock, and more. Does Charlie still wear his pink vest?