Our mission is to help Rowan students find Jesus, build healthy Christ-centered community, and be equipped for a lifetime of following Him.
Carl and Christine Nalbandian, Missionaries with Chi Alpha
About Us
Since 2010, Carl and Christine have been ministering to college students at Rowan University through Chi Alpha, having served as missionaries since 2017. As Rowan alumni, they carry a deep love for the students and the campus. During their own time at Rowan, God used Chi Alpha to radically transform their lives.
Now, more than 20 years after graduation, the campus is increasingly secular and often resistant to the Gospel. Carl and Christine have witnessed a noticeable decline in the number of students with a Christian background—and among those who do, a growing trend of walking away from faith. In a polarized and broken world, students are searching for hope, truth, and peace.
Now, more than 20 years after graduation, the campus is increasingly secular and often resistant to the Gospel. Carl and Christine have witnessed a noticeable decline in the number of students with a Christian background—and among those who do, a growing trend of walking away from faith. In a polarized and broken world, students are searching for hope, truth, and peace.
The Need on Campus
The college campus is one of the most strategic mission fields in the world. Students are asking big questions about identity, purpose, and truth—making this a key time for spiritual growth and Gospel impact.
On campus, we find:
- Christian students learning to own their faith as they enter adulthood. Many are deciding for themselves whether they will continue to follow Jesus.
- Students with little or no exposure to the Gospel, including international students from countries where there is minimal Christian witness.
As a center for learning and questioning, the university is an ideal place to introduce students to Jesus and help them follow Him.
Rowan Chi Alpha is committed to:
- Helping students who don’t know Jesus discover the truth of the Gospel.
- Discipling students to become lifelong followers of Christ.
- Equipping them to lead in their communities, churches, workplaces, and on mission fields around the world.
Check out a video testimony from a Chi Alpha alumni
What students and alumni are saying:
- In college there is so much temptation to stray from a Christian upbringing, but it was during my college years with Rowan Chi Alpha that I really learned how to walk with Christ. I got to lead small groups and witness to young women, while being discipled myself by the Nalbandians and other Chi Alpha leaders. Years later I know I can still go to Carl and Christine for wisdom and truth over some freshly brewed coffee.
- This past year, I really owe it to Chi Alpha for helping me grow in my relationship with the Lord. Through them, I’ve gained a ton of wisdom and saw my faith increase drastically. Having that strong community helped me through some of my struggles with life and questions about the Christian faith. Like I said, I owe it to Chi Alpha for being a stepping stone for my faith reaching new heights.
- Chi Alpha is where I heard the truth for the first time. I didn’t grow up in a Christian household, or knowing anyone who followed Christ. Coming to Rowan, I was curious about God and I found a community that met me where I was at, allowing me to question, doubt, and rejoice in knowing who Jesus is for the first time. Chi Alpha was not only where I heard the gospel for the first time, but was a community that equipped me to be a disciple that makes disciples.
Support Options
Choose from 3 support options to partner with us.
Help us minister to students today!
Help us minister to students today!
Monthly/Annual Support
This is our greatest need. Monthly/annual supporters help sustain our ministry at Rowan by providing consistent, reliable funding we can count on.
One-Time
A one-time donation is a wonderful way to bless the ministry and join us in reaching students at Rowan.
Advisory Team
The Advisory Team is a small, strategic group that helps us raise financial and prayer support for our mission at Rowan. They offer encouragement and guidance, strengthening our work to make disciples.
Find Out About Joining Our Support Team
(Without Being Pressured)
(Without Being Pressured)
Find out more about how your support can change lives. Sign up to schedule a short, 20-minute video call or face-to-face meeting.
Fill this out if you'd like us to contact you to set up a meeting and learn more about Chi Alpha—and to see if we’d be a good fit to partner together.
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Sign up to hear testimonies, get prayer requests and find out what's happening at Rowan Chi Alpha.
Support FAQs
All financial support goes through the Assemblies of God U.S. Missions, giving accountability and confidentiality.
Online/Phone:
If you can donate online, you can give by credit/debit card, electronic check, and PayPal.
You can do that through On-line Giving or call AG U.S. Missions at 877-840-4800
For a physical check:
Make check payable to: Carl Nalbandian (2970002)
Be sure to include the given account number: 2970002
Then, in the memo line write: Chi Alpha
Send check to AGUSM, 1445 N. Booneville Ave., Springfield MO, 65802.
If giving a reoccurring (monthly) gift by check please fill out the online faith promise form HERE. If giving a single gift skip this step.
Other Ways to Give:
You can donate the interest or dividends you earn, and in many cases, reduce or avoid taxes on those earnings.
Include us in your will/retirement
If you have questions about these types of alternative ways to give, please contact us at 856-889-1712 or carl@ruxa.org
If you can donate online, you can give by credit/debit card, electronic check, and PayPal.
You can do that through On-line Giving or call AG U.S. Missions at 877-840-4800
For a physical check:
Make check payable to: Carl Nalbandian (2970002)
Be sure to include the given account number: 2970002
Then, in the memo line write: Chi Alpha
Send check to AGUSM, 1445 N. Booneville Ave., Springfield MO, 65802.
If giving a reoccurring (monthly) gift by check please fill out the online faith promise form HERE. If giving a single gift skip this step.
Other Ways to Give:
You can donate the interest or dividends you earn, and in many cases, reduce or avoid taxes on those earnings.
Include us in your will/retirement
If you have questions about these types of alternative ways to give, please contact us at 856-889-1712 or carl@ruxa.org
All financial supports goes through AG U.S. Missions
Yes, you will receive a receipt from the Assemblies of God.
There are principles in the bible that show ministers of the gospel should be paid by the gospel (learn more by reading next question, Is raising support biblical?) . Two categories of people that fall under that are pastors who are paid by the people they serve and missionaries who are supported by others that aren't directly receiving service from them.
Chi Alpha workers are missionaries. We get to rally together a team of people who provide prayer support and financial support to further the proclomation of the Gospel on campus.
Chi Alpha workers are missionaries. We get to rally together a team of people who provide prayer support and financial support to further the proclomation of the Gospel on campus.
Yes! Paul says, the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel (1 Cor 9.14). There are several examples of this being practiced in Scripture. Here are some examples:
Jesus' ministry was funded by some of those who heard Him (Luke 8.1–3) and He taught the disciples to rely on others while ministering (Matthew 10.5–15).
Paul asked the Roman church to financially support Phoebe, one of the ministers at Cenchrae (Romans 16.1–2).
Paul himself received support and was grateful for it (Philippians 4.10–20).
What about Paul's tent making days?
Paul did not always support himself by making tents.That was the second‐best option for him. See Acts 18.1–5, where Paul began by making tents and quit as soon as he was in a spot financially able to do so. See 1 Corinthians 9.1–18, where Paul's whole point is that the Corinthians owed him support. He concludes the letter by telling them that he hopes to stop by and that he hopes they will provide for him to finish his journey in 1 Cor 16.5–6. In Romans 15.20–24, Paul asks a church he has never visited before to fund him on his journey to Spain.
Paul teaches in Galatians 6.6 that Christians are obligated to provide for the needs of ministers.
The apostle John encouraged his friend to support a crew of missionaries in 3 John 5–8.
The whole Levitical system in the Old Testament (the Levites were ministers) is predicated on the financial support of ministers by the rest of God's people (Numbers 18.21–24 is a representative example). See Nehemiah 13.4–11 for how outraged Nehemiah was that the Levites had to go earn wages in another fashion.
Jesus' ministry was funded by some of those who heard Him (Luke 8.1–3) and He taught the disciples to rely on others while ministering (Matthew 10.5–15).
Paul asked the Roman church to financially support Phoebe, one of the ministers at Cenchrae (Romans 16.1–2).
Paul himself received support and was grateful for it (Philippians 4.10–20).
What about Paul's tent making days?
Paul did not always support himself by making tents.That was the second‐best option for him. See Acts 18.1–5, where Paul began by making tents and quit as soon as he was in a spot financially able to do so. See 1 Corinthians 9.1–18, where Paul's whole point is that the Corinthians owed him support. He concludes the letter by telling them that he hopes to stop by and that he hopes they will provide for him to finish his journey in 1 Cor 16.5–6. In Romans 15.20–24, Paul asks a church he has never visited before to fund him on his journey to Spain.
Paul teaches in Galatians 6.6 that Christians are obligated to provide for the needs of ministers.
The apostle John encouraged his friend to support a crew of missionaries in 3 John 5–8.
The whole Levitical system in the Old Testament (the Levites were ministers) is predicated on the financial support of ministers by the rest of God's people (Numbers 18.21–24 is a representative example). See Nehemiah 13.4–11 for how outraged Nehemiah was that the Levites had to go earn wages in another fashion.
The church is people! So, by raising support the church is paying us...but really?
It's a scalable system for the denomination. Each new missionary is required to raise the funds necessary for their own ministry. We can always produce more missionaries, no matter how many we have because there's no fixed allotment that all the missionaries have to compete for.
Raising support requires that missionaries build a network of relationships which gives access to more resources and more people with different perspectives, skills, and giftings. This allows the Gospel message to go further then it ever could by just the missionary going alone.
Many missionaries have become missionaries through being in contact with another missionary. Support‐raising forces missionaries to develop relationships that ultimately result in the production of new missionaries.
It's a scalable system for the denomination. Each new missionary is required to raise the funds necessary for their own ministry. We can always produce more missionaries, no matter how many we have because there's no fixed allotment that all the missionaries have to compete for.
Raising support requires that missionaries build a network of relationships which gives access to more resources and more people with different perspectives, skills, and giftings. This allows the Gospel message to go further then it ever could by just the missionary going alone.
Many missionaries have become missionaries through being in contact with another missionary. Support‐raising forces missionaries to develop relationships that ultimately result in the production of new missionaries.
Contact Us
Contact us
- 35 Goodwin Pkwy
- Sewell, NJ 08080
- Carl: 856-889-1712
- carl@ruxa.org
- christine@ruxa.org