Christian University Speakers: Faith That Holds Under Pressure
College students are not short on information. They are short on examples of faith that has been tested and held. Brian and JoAnna Dickinson bring Christian universities a story that has been tested at the highest altitude on earth — and a counselor’s honest guidance for the healing that comes after hard things.
Brian is a former Navy rescue swimmer who solo-summited Everest, went blind at the summit, and descended alone for seven hours. JoAnna is a Christian counselor (MSW). Together they speak to students who are forming their faith while carrying real weight: pressure, anxiety, loss, and callings that will put them in hard places.
Chapel and convocation
A chapel talk has one job: give students something true to carry into the week. Brian and JoAnna’s chapel session follows the Everest descent — a man who could not see the path, trusting his training and his God one step at a time — and opens it up with JoAnna’s counselor perspective on fear, anxiety, and trusting God when outcomes aren’t visible. It is a testimony, not a lecture, and it lands with students who have never set foot on a mountain because the descent is a picture of every season they can’t see through.
Themes available for chapel series: trusting God in the dark; letting go of control; resilience as a spiritual discipline; faith after disappointment.
Student life and leadership
For residence life, student leadership, and campus-ministry sessions, Brian and JoAnna run a more conversational format: the story, then the application. How do you keep moving when the plan changes? How do you carry a friend who is struggling? What does it look like to build a life — and a marriage, and a faith — that holds under pressure? JoAnna’s background in mental health and spiritual recovery gives student-life staff a credible voice on the questions students are actually asking, including anxiety and trauma.
For schools of nursing and healthcare students
Nursing students at Christian universities are preparing for work that will put them next to suffering daily — patient loss, compassion fatigue, and anxiety about whether they can carry it. It is the audience Brian and JoAnna’s message fits most precisely: one speaker who made his living going after people in danger, and one who helps people process what that work costs.
Brian and JoAnna recently brought this session to the School of Nursing at SAU, speaking on faith, resilience, and caring for others without losing yourself.
Session themes for nursing and healthcare programs:
- Resilience for caregivers — staying whole in work that hurts
- Faith at the bedside — trusting God in rooms where outcomes are out of your hands
- Compassion fatigue and healing after loss
- The rescuer’s creed — “so others may live” as a sustainable calling, not a path to burnout
Why campuses bring Brian & JoAnna back
- A story students actually lean into. A veteran and Everest survivor gets a hearing from students who tune out generic motivation — including students who don’t yet share the faith.
- Two voices, both credible. The survivor and the counselor. Students hear the crisis and the recovery, the mountain and the months after.
- Faith integrated naturally. Scripture and trust in God are woven through the story, not bolted on — appropriate for chapel and for mixed audiences in student-life settings.
- Adult themes, handled with care. Trauma, fear, and loss are addressed honestly and pastorally, with a counselor on the platform.
Brian and JoAnna have spoken together at Christian universities across the United States and Canada, including Grace College, SAU, Cedarville University, and Redeemer University.
Booking notes for universities
Brian and JoAnna speak together for chapel, convocation, student-life, and school-of-nursing sessions. Speaking engagements are customized based on the event, audience, format, and location. Contact Brian’s team to discuss availability and receive a personalized proposal.