Urbana 18

Going First—Keeping Step with Christ & Community

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 20:49:58 +0000

Nathan Peterson

Going First—Keeping Step with Christ & Community

First in her family to go to college. First to earn a bachelor’s degree. First to earn a master’s. Ruth Castro has a history of going first.

Throughout her childhood, going to college wasn’t ever really discussed. “Everyone’s expected to work right after high school,” Ruth said. “That’s been the mentality culturally. It’s kind of the stereotypical Mexican American family.”

But college readiness courses in high school sparked Ruth’s desire to pursue higher education. Just a few weeks after graduating from the University of Chicago (UChicago) with her MA in Social Work Administration, Ruth reflected, “It’s empowering to pave my own path and set the example for future Mexican American leaders. It’s been a really good journey so far.”

Putting Faith First

Though it’s empowering, going first is harder than billboards and bumper stickers let on. As she began applying for colleges, Ruth discovered one of the many challenges that confront an aspiring first-generation college student: a need for guidance. “I don’t have the luxury of going to family members and asking them for advice like, ‘What do you think of this career path?’” she said. “I’ve had to scramble for resources on my own.”

Fortunately, mentors and high school teachers came alongside Ruth to help her navigate this process. After earning her BA in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2015, an even bigger challenge awaited Ruth: making the cross-country move from California to Illinois for graduate school.

Exchanging balmy afternoons on the beach in Santa Monica for the Windy City’s blustery winters would have been challenge enough. But Ruth faced even greater obstacles. “I missed my family,” she said. “We’re very united, so it was very, very hard on me mentally and emotionally to start from scratch and build a new community. A lot of the time, to be honest, it felt lonely.”

In those still moments of sitting alone in her apartment, Ruth sensed that she needed something beyond just a new set of friends. She needed God. “I grew up going to church, but it was more of a chore,” she said. “It felt like I needed to do it because my parents made me. I never felt it internally.”

With these things on her mind, Ruth began her first quarter at UChicago. Receiving an invitation to a Friendsgiving and then a Bible study with ��ñ��’s Graduate Christian Fellowship chapter, she went, a little nervous to meet so many new people. Looking back on those first moments, Ruth is grateful she took the risk.

From evening bonfires on the shore of Lake Michigan—helping Ruth feel a bit closer to the beaches of Santa Monica—to final exam study sessions and regular home meetings, the UChicago Graduate Christian Fellowship was exactly what she needed. “We’re able to empower and uplift each other during hard times in graduate programs,” she said. “We create an environment of trust, where we’re able to be inclusive and nonjudgmental, where we’re able to create long-lasting friendships with each other and with members in the community.”

Ruth’s perspective on her faith has completely changed as well. “The difference now is that I feel it in my heart to go to church,” she said. “I feel it in my heart to praise God. I feel it in my heart to read the Bible and pray. That’s the huge difference. It’s the drive, the motivation, the passion to commit and live a Christlike life. Being part of ��ñ�� has given me an opportunity to connect more with God.”

First for a Reason

As Ruth continued in her studies at UChicago, going first just for the sake of going first wasn’t enough anymore. There needed to be something more, a purpose behind it. Attending Urbana 18 with three other friends from her chapter, Ruth discovered a key part of that purpose.

Of the many insightful Urbana seminars she heard, Ruth particularly resonated with Women of Color in Urban Ministry. After it was over, she talked with one of the speakers, Janet Singleterry, who shared more about her ministry with Servant Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to community transformation by walking alongside the urban poor.

Returning to UChicago, Ruth stayed in touch with Janet and began looking into an internship with Servant Partners. Through these programs, interns join Servant Partners in gathering and equipping leaders and also identifying other ways to partner with local communities. “I told God I wanted to work in a faith-based organization and work in church planting and community organizing. That’s exactly what Servant Partners does,” Ruth said.

This summer, she will begin a two-year internship in San José, California, with the nonprofit. She looks forward to moving to the inner city and helping to serve the Latino immigrant community—a community close to her heart, being a child of Mexican immigrants. “I want to do everything and anything I can to help that community just because it hits close to home,” she said.

Reflecting on her journey of firsts, Ruth said, “I always feel like God has been guiding me ever since I was a little girl.” And even as she looks ahead to possibly being the first in her family to earn a PhD after her internship, her focus has never strayed far from them: “I think that I would want to further my studies as a way of combining my educational skills and personal disadvantaged struggle to create broader social change in my own community. One of my long-term goals is to create a nonprofit that assists low-income students struggling with academics. I hope to encourage them to find their passions while also taking pride in their own identities.”

Are you starting graduate school this fall or know someone who is? ��ñ�� ministers to not only undergraduate college students, but graduate students, like Ruth, and faculty as well. Find out more about Graduate and Faculty Ministry (GFM) and find a community at your campus by clicking the button below.

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Urbana 18

University of Chicago

Pastor René Breuel Named Urbana 18 Expositor

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 14:00:04 +0000

Press Room

Pastor René Breuel Named Urbana 18 Expositor

(Madison, WI) — René Breuel will be the Bible expositor at Urbana 18, ��ñ��’s 25th student missions conference, held December 27-31, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the pastor of Hopera, an evangelical church in Rome, Italy.

“With his winsome but courageous confidence, René's deep commitment to proclaim the Gospel of hope in word and deed makes him a great choice for Urbana 18’s expositor as we study the book of Revelation,” said Ruth Hubbard, ��ñ�� Vice President and Urbana Director.

Urbana 18 will focus on passages from the book of Revelation during general sessions and manuscript Bible studies. “Revelation is unique and so powerful,” Breuel said. “I’m dedicating the whole year to studying Revelation, the prophetic literature of the Old Testament, and commentaries. I trust that the Word is rich and God will speak.”

Breuel has served as a student leader in International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) movements in Brazil, Germany, Canada, and Italy. He and his wife Sarah attended Urbana 06 as participants and returned in 2012 when Sarah shared her testimony.

“René’s ministry, which is both local and international, closely aligns with Urbana’s commitment to learn from global voices,” said Úna Lucey-Lee, Urbana Program Director. “His life is a crucial model for this generation of giving your whole self to God’s global mission. I’m incredibly excited René will be our expositor. He’s a faithful minister in the Gospel.”

Breuel joins the many notable expositors from past Urbanas, including A. W. Tozer (Urbana 54), John Stott (Urbana 64, 67, 70, 73, 76, and 79), Ajith Fernando (Urbana 87, 90, 93, and 06), Ramez Atallah (Urbana 09), Calisto Odede (Urbana 12), and Patrick Fung (Urbana 15).

Urbana brings together a diverse group of participants from across North America and challenges them to give their whole lives for God’s global mission. Through five days of multicultural worship, Bible exposition, and teaching from global voices, participants have unique opportunities to hear from God and discern their calling.

Urbana 18 is sponsored by ��ñ��, an interdenominational ministry with over 1,000 chapters on 687 campuses nationwide, and also by Inter-Varsity Canada and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collégiaux du Canada.

For more information:
Joyce Hiendarto
urbana.communication@intervarsity.org
608.274.9001

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The Book of Revelation Will Shape Urbana 18

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 22:07:36 +0000

Press Room

The Book of Revelation Will Shape Urbana 18

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) --- The leadership team for ��ñ��’s Urbana Student Missions Conference has chosen the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, as the focus of the next Urbana, which will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, December 27-31, 2018.

“We are praying that God will give this generation fresh eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, in all his power and glory,” said Úna Lucey-Lee, Urbana Program Director. “We are eager for God to use this biblical vision to compel Urbana 18 participants into deeper trust, wholehearted discipleship, and enthusiastic involvement in global missions.”

With this selection, Urbana renews its commitment to making Scripture the foundation and framework integrated into every aspect of Urbana. “In the development of the Urbana program, we select Scripture first and build the program out of it rather than pick topics and find Scripture to support them,” said Lindsay Olesberg, ��ñ�� Scripture Engagement Director and Urbana 18 Scripture Consultant.“This approach is an expression of our belief that the Holy Spirit is orchestrating God’s global mission of redemption and of our desire to cooperate with the Spirit.”

Since ��ñ��’s first student missions conference in 1946, more than 285,000 Urbana participants have heard the call to join God’s global mission. Billy Graham has said that half of American missionaries can trace their vocational call, at least in part, to Urbana.

“This generation of North American students may be more globally aware and connected than any before them. They long for justice as they carry the hurt of a world in crisis in their pockets,” said Ruth Hubbard, Director of Urbana. “Our desire is to provide a space for as many students, recent graduates, and faculty as possible to find or renew hope as they grow in their love of God, God’s Word, God’s people of every ethnicity and culture, and God’s purposes in the world.

��ñ�� is an interdenominational ministry working with more than 40,000 students and faculty on 667 campuses nationwide. ��ñ�� is a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, which advances Christian student work in over 160 countries.

Urbana 18 is ��ñ��’s 25^th student missions conference, co-hosted by ��ñ��, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada, and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collégiaux du Canada.

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