Spring Break

On the Way Home

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 20:23:40 +0000

Drew Larson

On the Way Home

When Taylor started college at the University of Rhode Island, she had one goal: to be a normal college student. She wanted to make friends, get involved on campus, and learn to impact the world after she graduated.

There was only one thing she wasn’t interested in: having anything to do with God.

“I grew up nominally, culturally Christian, and it all meant absolutely nothing to me,” Taylor said. “Faith didn’t seem relevant at all, and I had no intention of exploring it when I went to college. I considered myself done with church.”

A Noticeable Faith

That intention lasted a semester and a half, until Taylor realized she was hungry to serve others with her spring break. She agreed to go with ��ñ��, whom she had met during one of their outreaches when they knocked on her door months earlier, on their annual service trip to New Orleans to help those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

While there, she couldn’t help but notice the faith of the people she served with—and the people she served.

Taylor’s curiosity was piqued.

“I started thinking that this couldn’t just come from nowhere,” Taylor said. “I had never been given a reason to believe in God, but I wanted to know where this kind of faith came from.”

One evening of the trip, Taylor’s small group leader encouraged her to pray. She agreed and experienced the presence of Jesus in her heart for the first time.

Then, on the way home, she gave her life to Christ.

“I gave my life to Jesus,” she said with a smile, “somewhere on a bus in the middle of Georgia."

A Broken Heart for Others

After that, Taylor’s life changed dramatically. As she became more involved in her ��ñ�� chapter, she discovered a community of friends who encouraged her and invested in her relationship with God.

She had always had a passion for helping others, but as a new Christian, Taylor’s view of service changed. She began to view her whole life as an extension of Jesus’ mission, and her enthusiasm for sharing the love and patience of Christ to others on campus was ignited.

“[Because of Christ] I have felt love for people that I don’t really want to love sometimes, and I’ve had my heart broken for people and campuses that could not have possibly come from my own heart.”

Taylor eventually became a student leader of her chapter and now works on campus full time as an ��ñ�� campus minister. Her eagerness to lead others into new life in Christ has only grown since that day on the bus, and, having seen what God did in her own life, her hope of what God can do in students’ hearts is almost limitless.

“I’ve seen that when I submit myself to him and open my hands in surrender, he shows up in bigger ways than I could have imagined.”

��ñ�� chapters across the country provide spaces for students like Taylor to experience the love of Christ in community and serve others through that love. You can be a part of creating more communities on campuses without one by giving to ��ñ��'s 2030 Calling. Click below to find out more.

Give to the 2030 Calling

News Keywords

Evangelism

��ñ�� Staff

Orientation of New Staff

New England

serve

university of rhode island

serveup

Spring Break

spring break mission trip

Serious About Spring Break

AD-16225 — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:53:44 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Serious About Spring Break

For many ��ñ�� students, Spring Break means heading off to a week-long urban ministry experience in cities such as St. Louis, New Orleans, Providence, Chicago, and Oakland.

This week for instance, 18 student leaders from Shasta College and Simpson University in Redding, California, are in Oakland for an urban plunge. Their campus staff member, Rachel Kuhn, explained:

Students spend a week in an urban center learning about God’s heart for the urban poor and oppressed, racial reconciliation, justice, and Christian community. Our week in Oakland will combine service, Bible study, simulations, and teachings by servants to the disadvantaged. As students learn to follow Jesus in loving ‘the least of these,’ some may become local activists on their campuses, others might change their major, and still others may decide to pursue a life of promoting Justice for the Kingdom of God.

The University of Rhode Island newspaper published an article on New England ��ñ�� students’ trip to New Orleans.

As Christians, we believe that our faith does not allow for us to be complacent,’ said Rhode Island College senior Adam Croft. ‘We believe we are called to action to serve and come face-to-face with the brokenness of the world.

Croft said at the end of each day, the team will have a discussion time to talk about how the day went, what they did and how it affected each of them. This time will also allow students to converse about what they think the Christian faith has to say about each project and also about challenges they might face.

In the daily discussions ��ñ�� staff and students offer other team members a glimpse of the gospel that they may not have seen before, as they investigate what the Bible says about justice, compassion, hospitality, and other themes. Afterwards one student wrote a follow-up report,calling it one of the best weeks of her life.

The Tufts Daily also reported on ��ñ�� students heading to New Orleans.

[��ñ�� campus staff member Alexandra] Nesbeda, who first traveled to New Orleans as an undergraduate in 2006, applauded ��ñ��'s commitment to continuing the rebuilding efforts even after Hurricane Katrina ceased to be breaking news. She estimated that it would take an additional five to 10 years for the city to fully recover.

What I like about this trip is our commitment to go back every year,’ she said. ‘We haven't forgotten New Orleans. We want to finish what we started.

Not all college students are partying during spring break. Many have jobs and other responsibilities. And some are making life-changing discoveries about the Kingdom of God through ��ñ��’s urban plunges.

Mission Network News also carried a story on ��ñ��'s spring break urban plunges.

_{Photo: Marquette University students at Providence, Rhode Island, urban plunge.}

News Keywords

Building the Kingdom of God, Not Sand Castles

webteam@intervarsity.org — Tue, 15 Apr 2003 05:00:00 +0000

News

Kristine Whitnable

Building the Kingdom of God, Not Sand Castles

Instead of basking in the sun on an ocean beach, hundreds of ��ñ�� students spent their spring break in the service of others, across the nation and around the world. ��ñ�� students from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill went to help immigrants on London’s west side. Students from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago ministered to people in that city. University students from Louisville Kentucky traveled to St. Louis and South Carolina to build houses and share the gospel. Other ��ñ�� students made their way to the poorest neighborhoods of Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit and Boston to partner with local Christians, sharing the Gospel and their lives.

One such trip started on Saturday March 15th, as six students from University of Wisconsin-Madison were joined by five students from University of Wisconsin- Platteville for a trip to Tepic, a town of 800,000 nestled in the coastal mountains of western Mexico. They met with Andy, an ��ñ�� alumni who now has a ministry among the people there. The students were ready for a week of hard work and new experiences in the service of others.

Sunday morning they jumped into the local culture by attending church. The service was longer than they were accustomed to. It included spontaneous congregational prayer, an invitation to ask for healing, and testimony time, as well as the expected singing and preaching. And, all in a foreign language. But even without full linguistic understanding, the Spirit of God spoke to the students. One student, Annie, experienced God’s call on her life and became a Christian.

Over the next couple of days the group helped repair some hurricane damage, spent some time on the beach, and participated in outreach projects. One evening they gave a program for the children of a local village. Several students, including Annie, the new Christian, gave their testimonies.

Thursday and Friday were spent at an orphanage in Tepic, where they poured a concrete roof and spent time with the children. The roof was quite a project. They measured and cut the steel reinforcing bars, (with only one tape measure and one hack saw), mixing and laying thirty bags of concrete. And then, being young college students, they had energy left to play with the children in the afternoon.

After a week of ministry, the group returned to Madison, tired and changed. These Spring Break ministries generally have two goals: to bless others and to receive blessings from others. These goals were met during this trip to Mexico. Buildings were built, the gospel was preached, and the Spirit of God touched lives.

Such results were multiplied many times over in Milwaukee, Great Britain, and Los Angeles as ��ñ�� students gave of their time and energy during Spring Break 2003 to serve the Lord and others.

News Keywords

Spring Break