Author: Howie Meloch (Page 4 of 29)

Longing for Justice

July 17, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

In May and June the attention of the nation once again focused on the continued systemic injustice in our country after the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, in addition to the ongoing disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black and Latino communities.

Over the last few months I have reflected often on 2014 and the work God did in my heart and in my city of St Louis after the killing of Mike Brown.

The question for me (and us) – will we maintain our focus to partner with God in seeking His shalom for all as the attention of others move elsewhere?

As a leadership community we are reading Healing Racial Trauma by Sheila Wise Rowe this summer and engaging how we can see God’s kingdom come in and through InterVarsity.

For resources to take the next steps in your journey, check out my about page, IVP’s list of resources for faithful justice, and this thought provoking reflection by Chris Rice.

New Wineskins

July 17, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

We are grateful for the ways that God moved in a very unexpected spring semester. Watch this 5 minute video to see highlights of what God did in our midst.

New Wineskins in 2020 from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Goal Reached

May 27, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Over 4,000 campuses have been prayer walked in the last 18 months. It was a blessing to take part in the live event to pray for last few together.

EveryCampus is a collaborative movement of dozens of like-minded organizations working together to do something we could never do alone, to mobilize prayer and mission on every single campus in the United States.

Would you pray that God would use the prayer for each campus to water seeds scattered on each campus and that we would see God made known on them?

Celebrate and Send

May 27, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Graduations provide the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the past while considering the future. Join InterVarsity students and friends from around the country at the Grad event on May 30th to engage together on what God might be saying in the midst of a tumultuous season.

Stepping into something new

April 15, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

In the matter of a week, so much changed for our staff across the country. They were confronted with the reality of continuing the focused engagement with students and faculty in a radically different season, while caring for family and friends around them.

As staff took steps to take ministry online, national resources were developed to partner with staff. One of these resources is InterVarsity Live!, InterVarsity’s first national large group meeting.

Our audience has comprised students, faculty, alumni, staff, and many others, as thousands of people have engaged this new venue to worship and reflect on how scripture speaks to us in this season.

Please join me in praying for the upcoming gatherings to be a place for our community to come and seek God together.

Gathering of InterVarsity Senior Leaders

Sheep and Shepherds

April 15, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

“We have tremendous unity in our need for a good shepherd.”

As we gathered leaders overseeing InterVarsity’s work across the colleges and universities in the U.S., we focused together on our call to be sheep and shepherds in this tumultuous season.

Instead of in person gathering in San Antonio, we engaged together over video conference, processing the experience of schools and InterVarsity groups moving online and called out together to God for his shepherding of us.

One of the leaders shared the quote above about our unity around need. In these days it deepened our engagement in prayer and with each other. I am so grateful for these resilient and creative leaders who press forward in their roles as sheep and shepherds.

Revival for the whole campus

February 12, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

At our National Staff conference we prepared for revival in our lives, in our organization, and in colleges and universities around the United States.

At the conference Dr. Sanford Shugart, President of Valencia College, shared a vision for revival that impacts the whole university (video of his talk below).

As an organization we long for this type of revival on our colleges and universities. Would you consider his message and join us in praying toward this end?

Not alone

February 12, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

What would be the impact if our communities saw the demonstration of the difference Christianity makes?

Jamal Morris, Associate Area Director in Tennessee, encountered student after student who had no interest in Christianity because they did not see it making a difference.

Over the last decade he has been working to demonstrate God’s kingdom through engagement of college students with local schools. Here is one story of the impact:

One of our class coordinators saw a student visibly shaking and asked her what was going on. The student said five other middle schoolers were going to gang up on her after school. The assistant principal granted us permission to walk her home.

A starting fullback for a local university, was with us along with seven of his teammates, making for a total of twenty-five college students walking her home. During the walk, I had a Bible study with the students about the attributes of God, specifically as a protector and good Father. I expressed how this young lady experienced his protection through us.

Students once far from God are now interested in a Christianity they see lived out around them. Please pray for Jamal and his students as they continue to engage the schools in their community and invite other college students to consider Jesus.

Radical Unity

January 14, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Leaders from about 30 Christian ministries joined InterVarsity’s staff conference to pray and seek God. InterVarsity and these organizations have built a collaborative initiative called EveryCampus to seek God together for revival and to establish gospel communities on every USA campus. In the past year, we have done prayer walks on almost 2/3 of these campuses. It was amazing to see all of these organizations come together in unity around a vision for God’s Kingdom and to hear how God had been giving their leaders similar messages in prayer.

Learning to Long

January 14, 2020 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

At InterVarsity’s triennial national staff conference this month, we came together to hear stories of hope: new campuses reached, students coming to Christ and leading others to faith. We also heard stories from what God is doing abroad, especially in our sister movement in Ethiopia. We rededicated ourselves to the vision of establishing a witnessing community on every campus by the year 2030. And we were reminded that revival starts with our own intimacy with Jesus. Praise God for meeting us in this gathering and join me in praying that we would take our posture of longing back with us to campuses around the United States.