Rejoice with me for the many decisions at Urbana 18 and pray for these students and faculty as they take next steps back on campus.
Category: Teach Students (Page 2 of 7)
Teach Students and Faculty to Respond to God’s Word
Do you remember when you really began to understand God’s word for yourself? Across the country InterVarsity Bible Studies are starting over the next couple of weeks.
One of the Senior student leaders of Nurses Christian Fellowship at Pittsburg State began a Bible study over the book of Acts on Friday mornings last semester. It began small but grew rapidly to 20 students each week. Some students even came to Bible Study even when they had a test that day! Through this study we have seen a growing excitement for God’s word in the chapter.
Please pray for students and faculty to grow more deeply in love with God’s word this semester. If you would like resources on how to study the Bible on your own or in groups click here.
Tonight over 10,000 students and staff will join together to consider Jesus, the Faithful Witness, through the book of Revelation.
The vision of the Urbana 18 Student Missions Conference is: To compel this generation to give their whole lives for God’s global mission.
Please join us online at https://urbana.org/ to stream the sessions and go here for specific ways you can be praying each day.
God used Urbana 1996 to call me to join InterVarsity staff. Over the the last 70+ years Urbana has challenged 300,000 students to join God’s global mission. It is my privilege to serve at Urbana 18. Do you know a student who could come? Would you like to give so more students can attend?
Please pray as our staff team prepares to encounter God together with 16,000 others December 27-31, 2018.
At the beginning of this semester, Tim, Area Ministry Director, challenged Ryan, first-year staff, to start ministry at a new campus. “Where should I go?”, he asked. Tim suggested Avila University, a four-year Catholic university in south Kansas City.
Amazingly, the first week Ryan visited Avila, he met a student who enthusiastically said that she would love to help him start a Bible study. And a few weeks later, the first InterVarsity Bible study at Avila was born!
This student invited all her friends, and six of them started coming. During that initial gathering, as they shared their hopes and vision for this group, one of the students said, “I think that this should be a place for everyone to attend, even those who are not religious.” Wouldn’t it be fantastic if InterVarsity could become that sort of a space on campus?
Please be praying for Ryan as he leads this group forward in outreach to the rest of Avila!
Ever feel like you or groups you are a part of are just scratching the surface of scripture as you study it?
For 75+ years InterVarsity has cultivated methods for studying scripture, particularly in community, that lead to deep insights and life transformation. Check out this new resource, http://howto.bible/, to learn these methods yourself or for groups you are a part of.
An exciting opportunity on college campuses are the chance for interfaith dialogue.
One staff in our region does an event called Peace Feast three times a semester where students look at texts from each other’s Holy Books. It gives students a new found appreciation for the Bible and the realization how central Jesus is in the Christian Faith.
Here is his report of the most recent one:
We looked at the birth and importance of Jesus with 11 Christians and 11 students of other faiths. The Peace Feast is a time where no evangelism is allowed and relationship building is central. We looked at the birth story from Luke and Surah 2 in the Qur’an. Many students were amazed hearing how Jesus is a sign from God, and we are called to obey what he says. A lot of new relationships were built so that more Bible discussions can occur in the future. One student exclaimed how interesting and in depth the Bible was. He loved the detail, and asked me to meet up more with him to look at the Bible.
This weekend over 300 students, staff, and volunteers will be joining us in Kansas City for Corners Conference 2018.
At this conference students will learn about God-centered ethnic identity and their call into mission. We are focusing on Ephesians 2 and our call to “Pursue Peace Together”. I am so grateful for the five tracks we have. They are focused on serving Asian, Black, Latino, White, and International students.
Please pray for us: for God’s protection over the weekend, that students would encounter God in life-transforming ways, and that the students would be mobilized to partner with God in the work of His kingdom.
If you would like to connect with our prayer team throughout the weekend, let me know.
Sometimes allowing student leaders to really lead can feel like a big risk. That’s exactly what Danny Poon, InterVarsity staff at the University of Missouri, discovered this semester.
Beginning the year, Danny felt that the students were struggling with insecurities and relying a lot on him to take charge when it came to planning their large group meetings. Danny decided to set them up with a skeleton of what their meetings could look like and step back from the planning process to give them space to take full ownership.
Not only did the leadership team begin running their regular meetings, Danny was overjoyed when the time came for them to plan the final large group of the semester. The once timid leaders decided to share their testimonies and invite over 30 of their peers to faith in Jesus. The group responded incredibly well and Danny saw that empowering students to reach their campus can lead to truly life changing moments.
“I was ready to give up on God. But during the evening session, the speaker said exactly what I needed to hear—it was as if God was reaching out to me. I am ready to follow God again!” These were the excited words of a sophomore from Rockhurst College at their recent Fall Conference.
Other students at Rockhurst are exhibiting a remarkable level of spiritual openness as well. One student recently told InterVarsity Kansas Area Director, Tim Lin: “I didn’t grow up in a religious home, but in the past year, I’ve realized that I wanted to find answers to my spiritual questions. So here I am at Rockhurst—I have no clue where to begin.” Another said, “I went to a Young Life camp this past summer and gave my life to Jesus. But I have no idea how to have a relationship with him.”
Praise God that there is an InterVarsity group on this campus ready to meet and help these students seek Him.