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

Alums in the Slums

AD-16225 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:04:45 +0000

News

Sarah Kirk

Alums in the Slums

An Egyptian slum is not typically a summer destination for college students or recent college graduates. But the slums of Cairo, Egypt, are exactly where you will find ��ñ�� alumnus Kevin Ness as an ��ñ�� Global Urban Trek volunteer.

Life in the Slums

Kevin first went to Cairo in 2007 as an ��ñ�� student from Portland State University on a Global Urban Trek. While in Cairo, Kevin and his team worked with Sudanese refugees as teachers’ aids in community schools. “Sudanese refugees are considered outcasts in Cairo and are not allowed to attend public schools. So it’s only through schools formed and funded by people within the Sudanese community where children can get an education,” says Kevin. Each summer, ��ñ�� students partner with these schools and help with sports, art, drama, English, and music classes.

While working in the Sudanese community, Kevin’s eyes were opened to the realities of poverty in our world. One of the things Kevin realized was that “God is not a God who encourages hoarding of resources or knowledge. We need to learn how to give away what we’ve been given – it’s about giving, not receiving.”

Kevin now says that “there is not a day that goes by where I don’t think about living and working in a slum community. My entire worldview was challenged, and I have become much more conscious of any decision I make. For example, after being on the Trek, having a cell phone seemed superfluous. So I got rid of it, and I am now able to use that money to help others.

Combating Complacency

After leaving Portland University, Kevin began volunteering his time as a Global Urban Trek director, leading teams of students back into the slums of Cairo. When asked why he is willing to take time away from his retail job at Best Buy for six weeks so he can live in the slums with college students, Kevin says, “I love showing students how awesome slum ministry can be. Slum ministry is primarily about us learning to be present with people. And that’s why I like directing the Global Urban Trek. I want to teach students how to live incarnationally in today’s world.”

Despite the joy of showing college students God’s heart for the poor, it’s not easy for Kevin to head back into the slums year after year. This past year, one of the bigger challenges Kevin faced was learning to remain sensitive to the hurt around him. Kevin says, “You have to fight complacency, even in the slums. I’ve found that each year I go back to Cairo, I’m not as shocked or moved by poverty as I was when a student. I’m learning that I can become jaded even in the poorest of poor places in our world, and I need God to continue softening my heart.”

With each trip to Cairo, Kevin continues to grow in his desire for seeing God’s kingdom advance in underprivileged communities. Kevin is currently continuing his education and is in the process of discerning where and in what capacity God wants him to serve long. Regardless of where God sends him, Kevin knows he will always be involved in Africa and the Global Urban Trek in some way, since that is where his heart is.

Alumni Involvement Matters

��ñ�� alumni play an important role in making ��ñ�� missions projects like the Global Urban Trek to Cairo a reality. This past year more than ten ��ñ�� alumni volunteered their time on a Global Project or Trek.

“Without ��ñ�� Alumni volunteers, we would not be able to serve the number of ��ñ�� students interested in Global Projects and the Global Urban Treks,” says Helyn Luisi-Mills, ��ñ��’s national Global Project and Urban Trek coordinator. “Volunteers make these projects possible.”

For alumni who are interested in volunteering on Trek, Kevin offers words of encouragement: “If you are thinking of volunteering with the Global Urban Trek, give it everything that you have and don’t hold back.”

For more informationabout the ��ñ�� Global Urban Trek or how to volunteer, go to globalurbantrek.intervarsity.org or contact the Global Project Department.

News Keywords

��ñ�� alumni

��ñ�� Staff

��ñ���� Staff

On the Way Home

On the Way Home

A Noticeable Faith

A Broken Heart for Others

Alums in the Slums

Alums in the Slums

��ñ�� Staff