Encourage Service to God’s Purposes in the World
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?
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.
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.
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.
There is something compelling about finding puzzle pieces align and putting them together.
Last week I led a team of 10 staff through findings from our discovery interviews to identify practices and principles of leading movements that impact every corner of a campus.
During our time we put pieces together that we can pilot with ministers around the country. Pray for our continued work of clarifying these groupings and identifying campuses to partner with in the next season.
InterVarsity’s 2030 Calling directs us to see our campus mission field with fresh eyes, focusing on unreached corners and campuses. This calling is compelled by a holy discontent—thousands of students and faculty have little or no gospel-centered witnessing community on their campuses. It also is fueled by a holy longing—a yearning for campuses to experience a season of breakthroughs in word, deed, and power that usher in a new normal of kingdom experience and fruitfulness.
This is longing for revival.
At InterVarsity’s Staff Conference 20 in January we will seek the Lord for kingdom breakthroughs in our own lives and every corner of every campus. We will give our attention to preparing for revival, renewing our calling, and thriving together. We will meet the Lord in Scripture through John 13–17, Jesus’ Upper Room Discourse. And we will worship with our brothers and sisters gathered from across the fellowship.
Would you pray for the final preparations for this conference, God’s protection over our gathering, and that God would meet us in profound ways as a community? Thank you!
Have you ever looked at a person doing something excellently and wondered how they do it?
In our pursuit of the 2030 calling, a team I am leading is identifing the critical elements done by our staff teams that have chapters that reach many corners of a campus.
We have interviewed these teams to identify the pieces of the puzzle to see a multi-corner work be developed and sustained.
Please pray as we work over the next month to refine our learning so that we can begin to utilize the pieces to enable others to develop this kind of work.
Our 2030 calling is compelling staff across the country to continue to lift up their eyes to the ‘field’ God has placed before them.
This summer Kristin Wright, Area Director in Montana (on the left in picture above), joined with her staff to prayer walk on yet to be reached campuses around the state.
On her 3290 mile trip she experienced God’s presence through scripture, images, divine appointments, engaging in prayer around challenges students are facing, the joy of students as they engaged in prayer for their campus, and insights into particular ways to partner with Him in ministry on campus.
Praise God for leaders like Kristin in our movement that are seeking to meet God on every corner of every campus and catalyze movements that call students and faculty to follow Jesus…and are willing to drive 3,290 miles to do it! Please pray for the ‘seeds’ that were planted on this trip would end up bearing fruit across Montana.
As a part of InterVarsity/USA, I have the privilege of serving with sisters and brothers around the world inviting students and faculty to follow Jesus through the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
Watch this short video to see the story of the development of this movement.
Recently a delegation of staff and students from the USA went to the IFES World Assembly. Click here to read one staff’s reflections from the time.
Over spring break, Jessica Marotte, staff in Sacramento, CA, hosted a student conference in a rental house to study the Gospel of Mark. She was told there were not many stairs, but when they got there they found a huge flight of stairs.
Jessica says, “One student who came to Mark Camp was wheelchair bound and required two people to her carry up and down 20 stairs each day. It took a lot of bravery for her to trust us not to drop her! Each time we carried her, I could only think, this is a living parable of Mark 2, when the four friends removed the roof of a house and carried their paralyzed friend down into to crowd to meet Jesus.
In the passage it says that when Jesus saw the four friends faith he forgave the paralyzed man and heals him. When we studied this passage at the conference, one of our students made an insightful comment that felt symbolic of this school year, ‘Each of us is the paralytic who needs Jesus’ healing, and each of us is a friend who has faith that helps us carry one-another to Jesus!’
Throughout this year, Jesus has been showing us–students, faculty and staff–that power of faithful community in our healing process. The year was full of miraculous healings that Jesus performed.
Through the power of prayer and intercession we saw God bring breakthrough in the ministry and in student’s lives! We ended the year with 5 students making first time decisions to follow Jesus, and 6 students making re-commitments to follow Jesus!”
Praise God with me for the work of God on campus and let’s consider with these students who God is inviting us to carry to Jesus.
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