Category: Engage People (Page 12 of 15)

Engage People of All Cultures and Ethnicities

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A place where the paths cross

June 30, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Last week I attended the Sojourner’s Summit to explore the intersection of Jesus, campus, and justice.

While I found many connection points, one pressed deeply as I listened to a college student brought to America by her parents who spoke of the impact of the Supreme Court ruling in the immigration case, U.S. vs. Texas.

For many on our campuses the lack of action on immigration reform is not a passing news story but one that brings fear for them and their families every day. As a follower of Jesus and a grandson of an undocumented immigrant, I see how immigration reform intersects my pursuit of Jesus on campuses throughout the Central Region.

Many followers of Jesus, including leaders in InterVarsity, are praying, working, and asking for immigration reform from our political leaders. Will you join in?

Abundance

June 28, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

God is doing amazing things in the Central Region. It is one of the most fruitful seasons in the history of InterVarsity in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Praise God with me for his work and for each of the numbers in the graphic above that represents a student and groups of students saying yes to Jesus!

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Crossing point?

June 22, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

What is the intersection of Jesus, the campus, and justice? I’m spending the next three days engaging seminars and speakers with this question on my mind at the Sojourners Summit. Would you pray for clarity and divine appointments? Check out the live stream to join in.

New workers

June 21, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Last week we gathered with an expanded team to praise God for what he has done in this past year and set the course for the year ahead.

We are blessed by an excellent set of directors for the Central U.S. (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska) and in having four new associates appointed this spring.

One of the most powerful moments in our meeting was a morning session where we applied part of the passage we studied the previous day to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn” Romans 12:15. One by one we walked through each corner of campus and spent time rejoicing and mourning in prayer. It was a deep time of connection with our campus and with each other as we become familia.

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What a year!

June 21, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

When is the last time you stopped to map out the previous twelve months – notable times, places of sorrow, blessings, etc.? As I prepared my yearly report last week I started with a spiritual reflection of the previous year.

In this reflection I was amazed at all that happened in the last 12 months. Places of great joy, like the Special Olympics experience for my son; times of pain, like missteps I made with my colleagues; new partnerships formed, like with a close prayer partner; and deep ministry to students, like the Harvest Conference.

Praise God for his presence and guidance in these last twelve months. What a blessing to stop and reflect. What might you see if you charted out your last 12 months?

Would Jesus Eat Frybread?

June 7, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

18 months ago we had one chapter among Native Hawaiian students in Nebraska but no other focused work with Native students.

After a profound prayer experience January 2015, one of our staff began to pray and build relationships at Haskell Indian Nations University, which now has a chapter on campus. Last week I wrote a story about another Native Hawaiian student reaching out to friends on campus in Nebraska.

After discernment of national leaders for the best location for the next National Native Ministries conference, Would Jesus Eat Frybread?, we’ve be asked to host it at Haskell. What an unbelievable honor and an opportunity to see more Native students reached on our campuses.

Would you join me in praying for God to work in and through this upcoming conference to powerfully impact our region and students from around the country?

A New Season for InterVarsity

May 17, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Tom Lin is InterVarsity’s next president, our first non-White President and also the first President to begin working with InterVarsity as a student.

I am so grateful for Tom and Nancy Lin‘s impact in my life, my family, InterVarsity’s Central Region (where he served from 2006-2010) and far beyond. It was a gift to be led by Tom as a regional staff and see how he consistently and humbly says yes to Jesus. Please join me in praying for this next step for Tom and Nancy and for our InterVarsity movement. To God be the Glory.

Here is a great article from InterVarsity’s website and an article from Christianity Today to read more.

It’s starting

May 9, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Over the next 10 days 130+ students will come together to reflect on Jesus’ offer of full life and consider their response at Catalyst 2016.

Please pray for:

Safe travel for students and staff from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Students and staff to encounter the full life that Jesus offers.
Our chapters to be empowered to reach the corners of their campus and the campuses next door.
Wisdom and close connection to God as I direct this event.

Thanks!

Fruitful

May 6, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

Remanente, the U Nebraska Kearney LaFe (Latino focus) chapter, had a BBQ outreach and it was a huge success. They grilled carne asada in a park near campus and had 40-50 Latino students come out! Praise God with us for an incredibly fruitful first year at UN Kearney!

In the final weeks

April 29, 2016 / Howie Meloch / 0 Comments

God is opening doors at community colleges. Here is a story about recent fruitfulness at Florissant Valley CC (St Louis area) from Kale Uzzle:

In my few hours on campus each week, it has felt so difficult to know if we were ever going to have the momentum to get a chapter off the ground. Through an answer to prayer, a few other local staff and I had the chance to run some proxe stations at Flo Valley CC at the beginning of April. We met about 20 people who were somewhat interested in learning more about IV. We invited them to our gathering last Thursday and I asked God to bring five Christians to help us launch this new chapter. That morning, I went and bought donuts, set up the room, and prayerfully waited to see what would happen.

By the time the meeting began, eight Christian students had come, all of whom seem very interested in seeing this group get off the ground, and at least a few of whom seem interested in going to Catalyst!

We ate donuts, studied Jesus’ words in Matthew 9 (“The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few…”), and dreamed together about a community on campus where the “harassed and helpless” could encounter the compassion of Jesus. We ended our time asking the Lord of the Harvest to raise up workers (us!) to send into his harvest fields. This week 15 people showed up and 8 people joined me for a prayer walk on campus. It is such a fulfilling way to end what felt like a year filled with lots of tilling the soil with very little fruit to show.