Can students lead like staff? Continue reading
Category: Encourage Service (Page 7 of 10)
Encourage Service to God’s Purposes in the World
What dreams has God placed in the heart of our community for the next season of ministry in the Central Region?
This month we did a three day offsite gathering to start the process of discerning just that. It was a wonderful time of considering what fruit of this season God was calling us to savor, which areas we needed to steward, and places he was inviting us to sow.
It was a blessing to be together as a familia and dream together about what is next. Please pray and join us in this year of waiting on the Lord for his direction for the Central Region.
A team of students and staff from the Kansas area recently arrived back from two weeks of fresh fruit, amazing coffee, and learning and working along side the missionaries of Students International in Costa Rica.
The team served in the community of the “desamparados”, or forgotten ones, outside the Capital city of San Jose. This is one of the poorer communities in the area, and many people fall into drug addictions. Students International provides services in the community such as tutoring, sports camps, trade classes, bible studies, and much more free of charge. By being a positive influence in the community, and meeting their physical needs, the missionaries there are able to encourage and equip the community members to make better life choices. It is also a powerful way to share the gospel, as people who have been helped with their physical needs are drawn into community and life in Jesus Christ.
God also used this trip to greatly impact the InterVarsity students and staff who participated. Confronted with culture shock, miscommunications and the frustrations of their own limitations, God was able to reveal His powerful love to those who had gone to serve. As one student reflected, “I can see now God is so much bigger than I had ever imagined. He cannot be contained in a box or defined by the ideas in my head.”
Have you thought about the best ‘dish’ you have to share with others around you? Just like we likely have a few food specialties – things we bring to social events. Each of us has best ‘dishes’ to share with our communities.
At the Black Campus Ministries Staff Conference I shared one of my ‘dishes’ and helped six other staff do the same.
That night I encouraged the audience to:
- Reflect on an idea that has changed the way they have engaged with others or on situations around them.
- Shine that idea in a way that they can quickly and effectively communicate it to others.
- Share it with others.
How about for you? What is one of your best dishes? Would you take the time to Reflect, Shine, and Share it with those around you? If so, I would love to hear about it.
I never thought I would see myself as an older pregnant cousin Continue reading
Instead of encouraging students to leave their sorority or fraternity, InterVarsity tries to say, “Be Jesus to your sisters or brothers.” One of the student leaders at University of Northern Iowa is in a sorority and longs to see Jesus infiltrate Greek life. Earlier this semester, she and IV staff, Tate Offenburger, hosted a Greek Meet to try to connect with other Greeks who might be interested in Bible Study. They had terrific conversations with those who came and found out that one of them was already hosting a Bible Study in her sorority. She was excited to hear that there was an actual ministry who cared about Greek students and could offer resources. UNI’s goal has been to see a Bible study in every sorority and fraternity. Even though the semester is ending without a new leader in place, who knows what doors God will open next.
The University of Nebraska- Omaha athlete core group just had it’s 2nd annual fall cook-off and saw God line up some amazing ministry opportunities. The hope was to have the 17 core students take ownership, lead their fellow teammates through service, and allow God to provide at least one new student athlete from one of the five teams not yet represented. In the end, over 120 Athletes came out (half the athlete community) , six new student athletes expressed interest in starting a team ministry (two on teams with no current ministry) and 16 more were interested in joining the weekly core group. The core students completely owned the night and lived out their faith as the hands and feet of Jesus in the athlete community!
What do you get when you combine 325 students from around the world, a garage full of furniture and the largest potluck you’ve ever seen? An amazing glimpse of God’s heart for the nations! Last Saturday, Washington University’s International Friends chapter partnered with other ministries to sponsor their 11th annual Furniture Giveaway. They filled a campus parking garage with donated furniture and household items which were then raffled off to new international students and delivered to their homes by an army of truck-driving volunteers.
Many of these students arrived in the US within the last week with only a couple of suitcases. One student grinned remembering how that morning she was sad that her apartment was so empty, but after winning three chairs and a cabinet, she couldn’t wait to get home and decorate. This year, staff Brenden Graczak also had the inspiration to find volunteers to make veggie and chicken dishes for lunch since many Hindu and Muslim students haven’t been able to partake of hot dogs served in past years. Amazingly, all the students and volunteers ate from the international buffet and there was food to spare. Even more exciting, were the friendships begun that will continue to give opportunities to share God’s love with these new students throughout the year.
Recently, InterVarsity Saint Louis had the opportunity to partner with college students representing the Southern Baptist Convention at an event called For St. Louis. For several days leading up to the convention, SBC college students worked on various mission projects throughout the city. During the convention, IV staff leader Kale Uzzle, and several other local staff got the opportunity to focus these students’ missional sights back on the college campus. Teams of students set off for three local campuses: Maryville University, Fontbonne University, and St. Louis Community College-Meramec. Kale gave them a quick training on “scouting” the campus (a term we borrow from Numbers 13). These forty college students then interacted with dozens of students and administrators on each campus and spent a few hours interceding for the work of the Gospel there. Afterwards, IV staff Ashley Carter and Domenic Mendoza, debriefed the experience with them and gathered contact cards of interested students they met. They are now in the process of following up with these contacts, some of whom may just help us start a brand new InterVarsity chapter in the fall.