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Committed in Friendship: How Jesus Transforms Through Relationship

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 20:22:50 +0000

Drew Larson

Committed in Friendship: How Jesus Transforms Through Relationship

“I wouldn’t be a Christian today if it weren’t for you and ��ñ��.”

When Lara Archibald clicked on the new email she had just received from her former student Hannah, she expected a quick life update or maybe a short prayer request. Hannah was one of the first students Lara worked with when she started as a Campus Staff Minister with ��ñ�� in 2011 at the College of Lake County (CLC), a large community college in north Chicago.

Instead, Lara read one of the most encouraging compliments a campus staff can get.

In 2011, Hannah was one of 19,000 students studying at CLC, a school where campus ministries had often struggled to gain any long-term traction. Lara connected with Hannah through mutual friends during her first week of planting a new ��ñ�� chapter there, and Hannah quickly became a staple of the fledgling chapter, attending almost every group meeting and activity.

Despite that, her relationship with Lara grew slowly. Hannah was like many community college students, juggling a number of commitments in addition to her studies, such as family obligations and jobs. She also struggled with outreach and cultural conflict. “[At first] she had a very hard time with our missional focus as a ministry,” recalled Lara. “She didn’t always know how to engage outside of her Christian bubble. We did a lot of conflict mediation and butted heads a lot.”

But Hannah stayed committed to her ��ñ�� community, and Lara and Hannah stayed committed to each other. “We spent a lot of our time together talking about how to love people across differences, suspending judgment in favor of love, and pursuing reconciliation,” said Lara. “Our community loved her through many seasons of life, and she stayed with us even when it was uncomfortable and unpredictable. I still laugh when I think about how one of her best friends today was one of her worst enemies when they were student leaders together.”

Over time, Lara watched as Jesus began to transform Hannah’s heart. In 2015 she attended Soul Surf, a spring break evangelism trip in Florida, and returned to campus with such a newfound passion for reaching students with the gospel that she became the chapter’s evangelism and outreach coordinator. Later that year she survived a catastrophic car accident, an event that profoundly altered her spiritual maturity. “I’m not sure she was ever able to name what changed. But [after that] myself and our faculty advisor both noticed a substantial transformation in her pursuit of God and her witness to others,” Lara said.

It was the interpersonal connection between Hannah and Lara, however, that yielded the most transformational fruit. “Our mutual commitment to one another, despite great conflict, is what impacted Hannah the most,” said Lara. “One of the things she said to me was how meaningful it was that I never stopped pursuing her as part of the community, even when we didn’t see eye-to-eye.”

Since graduating, Hannah has not stopped asking God, “What’s next?” Her spiritual growth continues to be evident, and Lara has seen her settle, commit, and invest in God’s kingdom in ways that she wasn’t doing when they first met. “She’s pursuing Christlikeness even when it’s uncomfortable,” said Lara. “[Following Jesus] wasn’t just talk with Hannah. I learned just as much working with her as she says she did with us.”

Across the country, there are opportunities to be a part of transformative ��ñ�� communities, like the one Hannah was so committed to. Find an ��ñ�� chapter at your college by clicking the button below.

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Seen like Israel: More Than a Middle Child

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 20:27:58 +0000

Emily Baez

Seen like Israel: More Than a Middle Child

Israel always felt like God’s middle child. Being the fifth eldest in a family of nine children makes him an actual middle child, but with how he felt towards God, the title cut deeper. He struggled to feel seen. “I wondered if I really mattered to God,” Israel said.

But then Israel met Jon, an ��ñ�� small group leader at his school, Hillsborough Community College. While Israel grew up in a Christian home, he felt connected to God only through his parents’ relationship. So he jumped on the chance to go to Jon’s bible study to figure out how to know God himself.

Overcoming Anxieties

When he was invited to attend Focus Week, a regional camp at the end of the school year, a few months later however, Israel was more hesitant to go and had no idea what to expect. On top of that, he was intimidated since he had yet to meet everyone in his ��ñ�� chapter, much less students from other Florida schools. “Social anxiety is real” he said. But some of the leaders of his ��ñ�� chapter told Israel how transformative their Focus Week experiences were, so he decided to give it a chance.

“I went into Focus Week feeling heavy and burdened. I wanted God to fix everything, but I didn’t really believe he could do that in just one week,” he said.

The first few days of Focus Week eased some of Israel’s anxieties. He noticed the intentionality of everyone there and valued the diverse group of people around him. It didn't take long for him to feel a part of the community and to feel at home. Israel loved the multilingual worship, conquered his fears on the screamer (a giant swing on the campground), and enjoyed playing volleyball with other students.

Delivered from Doubt

But Israel still hadn't started experiencing the spiritual breakthrough he was wanting. Did he actually matter to God? And if so, could he be honest about where his heart was and what he struggled with?

Finally, during a retreat of silence, Israel addressed all the doubt that weighed on him throughout the semester. He went to the chapel, and instead of saying his prayers out loud, wrote them down. Holding nothing back, he confronted the tension he had long felt between him and God. “I thought, It’s just you and me, God, and I told him my fears, what I wanted in life, and why I was angry at him,” he said. It was in that space that Israel felt the burden being lifted.

He spent the last thirty minutes of the silent retreat reading Psalm 25. The last verse of the Psalm, “Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles,” really hit him. He saw that the nation of Israel was cared for by God and felt in that moment that he—Israel—was also cared for by God. He knew now that his life mattered and he no longer felt like an overlooked child, but one whose troubles were of deep importance to his creator. Israel took refuge in that truth.

After over a month since Focus Week, Israel remains trustful in Jesus. He’s grateful for the community at Hillsborough Community College that he’s grown close to and wants to stay connected to them through their summer Bible studies. He knows he has people who care for him, and he can now be himself with them and with God. “I never really had community outside of my family,” he said. “It’s good for me to have a group of people to relate to and keep me accountable.”

Israel is excited about his future. He hopes to eventually become a leader with his chapter and even someday do missions. “I know God has good plans for me,” Israel said. “And I’m not afraid to be who he made me to be.

Throughout May and June, ��ñ�� students across the country attend end-of-the-year Chapter Camps--times of fun, worship, and deep Bible study away from campus. For being such a brief part of our ministry year, Chapter Camps play a powerful role transforming students' lives, catalyzing new relationships with Jesus, and propelling students for ministry on campus in the coming fall semester. Please pray that Chapter Camp experiences would have lasting impact for students like Israel. And to receive email updates with other ways to pray for ��ñ�� students, sign up for the Intercessor by clicking the button below.

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Good Gifts: Emily’s Story

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 22:23:45 +0000

Emily Baez

Good Gifts: Emily’s Story

I sat down at a table in the dining hall and texted an old friend from high school. “Are you at orientation?” it read. Waiting for a response, I looked around the room to see groups of people sitting together and joking about their dorms, majors, and what they did last summer. I wondered how they connected so quickly. Was there a team-building exercise I missed? Did everyone coordinate with their childhood pals to go to the same college? Lunch ended, and I decided my goal that weekend would be to make a few lasting friendships, people who could accompany me on smoothie runs or free movie viewings on campus. But I left orientation with that goal unfulfilled.

A week later, someone stopped me before entering the student center. She asked if I heard about ��ñ��—which I had because my brother was a part of it—and handed me a list of small groups. “Thanks,” I said, but no thanks, I thought. I didn’t come to college to go to church. Plus, growing up in church meant I already knew Jesus. Why would joining some group further establish that? I left her with an “I’ll try to make it,” but knew it wasn’t going anywhere near my calendar.

Instead I spent the next two years joining and quitting student clubs, dodging invitations from my brother to come to Bible study, and applying to transfer to another university because I thought it had “better student life.” It became apparent that nothing was fulfilling me. Instead, I envied those who were having the coveted college experience, the years that were supposed to be the best of my life. They weren’t—they were boring and lonely.

When I moved into a student apartment my junior year, I thought I found the remedy. But then, a toxic sense of pride and independence started to consume me. I was convinced I didn’t need anyone else to be content and that happiness was as easy as living closer to campus and going to parties.

But when the novelty of all that wore off, I couldn’t ignore the fact that something was still missing. I couldn’t admit it, but I wanted to connect—to others, to something or someone greater than me.

Making New Discoveries

It was in that place of desperation and failure that I finally gave in to going to an ��ñ�� conference (called “Sonburst” at the time). Even though I didn’t want to go—considering how uncomfortable it would be to hang out with a bunch of strangers for a weekend—I pressed that register button and felt a strange mix of urgency and confusion. Isn’t this what I wanted? Friendship? People to grab smoothies with? But I didn’t want it in a faith-based context. I know about Jesus and don’t need this, I thought. I really did think I knew him—even without prayer, without being challenged or studying who he is and why it matters. But at Sonburst, for the first time, I realized how wrong I was.

That weekend, I discovered a community I never knew I needed: a group of people that genuinely cared for me and wanted to understand who I was. We gathered in small groups one morning and someone made a confession with complete vulnerability. The way others responded made me realize I could be honest and vulnerable too. I didn’t need to hide any part of me. For the first time since starting college, I was connecting in a way that surpassed small talk and group projects.

I also discovered a new knowledge of who Jesus is. I realized that the gospel was this radical, redemptive truth, and I was excited about it. I wanted to find out what it meant to be “missional.” I wanted to dig into scripture and learn as much as I could. I wanted to know Jesus and to have the closest of bonds with him. Because as it turned out, there was more to Jesus than what I thought I knew—more that needed to replace whatever I settled for before.

Saying Yes

On the last day of the conference, a feeling of peace and belonging overwhelmed me as we met in campus groups to make “I will…” statements. In that moment, I was ready to erase the boundaries I spent years drawing between myself and others. I was ready to surrender my overzealous need for independence. I was ready to accept the love I was experiencing and reject the notion that a superficial relationship with my maker, and with everyone else, was somehow enough.

When it was my turn, the words “I will commit to Bible study and embrace this new group of friends” spilled out. The room cheered. I was saying yes to community. More importantly, I was saying yes to Jesus.

Committing

The commitment I made four years ago meant I had to adjust my schedule to go to small groups. But sometimes, committing to Jesus meant living in places or cities outside my comfort zone. Other times, it meant staying put when I really wanted to go or leading a small group when I didn’t feel equipped. Last year, it meant volunteering to lead another chapter in my hometown. It’s meant and continues to mean trusting Jesus in every decision and every step I take post-college.

Now, I’m reminded constantly that we have a good Father who wants to give us good gifts. The gifts of understanding, community, and a promise between a Savior and his people, were offered to me time and again. For too long, I said no to those gifts. Finally accepting them meant finding what I was missing. It meant I wasn’t alone.

There are many students just like me who enter college thinking they know who Jesus is but pursue other things over him. But ��ñ�� wants every college student to have the opportunity to experience God's good gifts of community and a deep walk with him. Find an ��ñ�� chapter near you by clicking the button below.

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Angel’s Story

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 17:05:11 +0000

Ashlye Vanderworp

Angel’s Story

Angel, from Hawaii, had a difficult childhood and grew up in a broken home. Eventually, she was taken from her family by Child Protective Services and became a foster child, moving from home to home, constantly running away from abuse.

“I prayed every single night, waiting for a better day,” Angel said. “Why am I suffering? A better day didn’t come, so I left God’s side and accepted a world of pain and darkness—a world where I had to survive by myself.”

At only 17, Angel graduated from high school and had to leave her foster home at the time. She hopelessly searched for a place to live, fearing she would become homeless.

“I had already experienced years of stealing and selling myself to survive financially, and I didn’t want to go back to that life,” Angel said.

A Huge Risk

That’s when her social worker took a huge risk. She told Angel about Brenda Wong, an ��ñ�� Area Director who owned a Christian community house. Angel hesitantly accepted an offer to move into the house, not having any other choice but to be on the streets.

For months, Brenda persistently invited Angel to ��ñ�� events. Angel consistently said no because, to her, it sounded like “a place for nerds.”

Finally, Angel came up with a plan one night when Brenda invited her to an ��ñ�� event again. “I’ll go just once, tell her I didn’t like it, and never go back again,” she said, hoping Brenda would stop asking her.

That night though, the ��ñ�� staff minister who was speaking taught on Matthew 14 when Jesus calls Peter to walk on water toward him, reaching out his hand. He asked the students listening if they would take Jesus’ hand as well. Angel understood that Jesus was calling her to him.

“I felt something warm, I wept, and I cried so hard,” Angel said. “That one night I went to ��ñ��, I gave my life to Jesus!”

A New Family

Now a part of the ��ñ�� community, Angel has a family for the first time—one that loves her unconditionally. She spends her time with them, serves with them, and helps lead worship with them.

“When I first went to ��ñ��, people genuinely wanted to know about my life. That was something that was so foreign to me—this kid that was pushed to the side, no one wanted to know about me, and yet everyone was asking me, ‘Where are you from?,’ ‘What’s your background?,’ ‘Who are you?’—I felt important,” Angel said.

More than that though, Angel decided to take a risk just like the one her social worker took that changed her life. Having once dropped out, Angel decided to not only return to Honolulu Community College, but to also plant an ��ñ�� chapter there. She wants to start a small group where anyone can experience God’s love.

Already, God has used Angel to initiate spiritual conversations with classmates, helping them connect what’s going on in their lives to the life of Jesus. Her vision is to speak love to those who are hurting like she was and to see her community transformed through her own transformed life.

“Because I said yes to Jesus, God is putting my old self to death and has brought me new life. He is giving me back what was taken from me. He has prepared the fattened calf and wrapped me in his finest cloth. I am the prodigal that came home!”

Just like Angel at Honolulu Community College, ��ñ�� students and staff are living out our 2030 Calling to plant on campuses currently without a Christian witnessing community. Will you be a part of making our 2030 Calling happen so that more college students across the country, like Angel, can experience the tranformative love of Jesus? Click the button below for more information.

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University of Hawai'i at Hilo

Hawaii

2030 Calling

Honolulu Community College

Bennett's Story

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 17:16:15 +0000

Gordon Govier

Bennett's Story

When the Dickinson College ��ñ�� chapter solicited questions about God, in exchange for a grilled cheese sandwich, freshman Bennett Briante was curious.

“Doesn’t your religion depend on where you were born?” He thought.

Bennett got the sandwich and an answer to his question. He signed up to get more information about ��ñ��, but every time Campus Staff Minister Andrew Berg invited him to the chapter’s activities, Bennett was no longer interested.

What Bennett was interested in was the party scene at Dickinson. He spent his time partying and hanging out with his baseball teammate Chris.

Then, on Halloween, Chris got in trouble. He had his ROTC scholarship revoked and dropped out.

A Friend that Changed His Life

The next April, Chris came back to visit the campus, and Bennett was surprised at how much he had changed.

“The last time I had seen him he had been in a very low place,” Bennett recalled. “Six months later, seeing him in the most incredible, peaceful, happy state, I said, ‘Chris, what happened?’ and he explained to me about God and Jesus. And I said, ‘I want that.’”

That summer Bennett stayed with Chris for a month. His time with him confirmed that he wanted to follow Jesus himself.

When Bennett arrived back on campus to start his sophomore year, he knew he had to make some changes, but he wasn’t sure how. Then he discovered that he still had Andrew’s number on his phone.

Bennett gave Andrew a call and started going to Bible study.

This time, Bennett responded to Andrew’s invitations and plugged into ��ñ��, and by his junior year, he was a member of the leadership team. He led prayer events, shared his faith with his friends, and also, ironically, led the grilled cheese outreach that first introduced him to ��ñ��.

Changing Someone Else's Life

In his senior year Bennett signed up to go to Fall Conference for the first time, after avoiding it for two years.

“This fall, I really felt the Holy Spirit say, ‘You should go to this one.’ I did, and by God’s grace this amazing thing happened.”

Bennett found himself in a small group at Fall Conference that included a student from Penn State Mont Alto named Carlos, who wasn’t a believer. Reminded of where he was himself a couple of years earlier, Bennett invited Carlos on a hike where he made his own decision to follw Jesus.

The New Bennett

Bennett looks back to where he was two-and-a-half years ago. People that knew him back then even refer to when he was the "Old Bennett" verses now as the "New Bennett".

“��ñ�� created a friendly environment, allowing me to meet Christians and have friendships with them for the first time," Bennett said. "It’s so incredible what has transpired over the past three years and how rapidly my faith has grown, and how rapidly my life has changed. The things that I used to do I don’t do any longer. It’s been a total 180. Everything has changed.”

��ñ�� wants to see more students, like Bennett, hear about the good new of Jesus and experience his love for them. But more than half of the college campuses in our country don't have a witnessing community of Christians. That's why God has given us the 2030 Calling, to reach every corner of every campus. You can be a part of it by giving a generous gift to ��ñ��. Click the button below for more information.

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A New View of Community

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 16:49:32 +0000

Lisa Rieck

A New View of Community

When Josh Howard started college at Radford University in Virginia in the fall of 2016, he fully intended to find a Christian group on campus where he could grow spiritually. After experiencing hardship in high school that caused him to doubt the faith he’d been raised in, he’d come to a place of deeper faith before beginning his freshman year of college, and was ready to understand what he believed more deeply.

“I felt like, Okay, now that I’m becoming an adult I need to really learn more and get around people who are Christians,” he said.

But one bad experience with a Christian group during his first few weeks of college left a sour taste in his mouth.

“I gave up on it,” he explained. “I had my church family, but I [realized] I don’t really like the way a lot of groups act. My sophomore year I didn’t go to any groups.”

Acting on Conviction

In the summer of 2017, however, Josh felt convicted of the need to find Christian community.

“I started deciding that I really need to make my faith an important part of my life,” he said.

Then, a trusted friend at Virginia Tech recommended ��ñ�� and gave Josh staff minister Jen Jordan’s phone number. This time, Josh acted quickly.

“I met up with her and told her I was interested,” he recalled. “I went to that small group one of the first few weeks of the fall semester, and I’ve been going to ��ñ�� ever since. Right away I really liked it!”

By the beginning of the next spring semester, Josh led a second Bible study for the small ��ñ�� plant on campus. His view of Christian community also drastically shifted.

“For the longest time, I would get annoyed by people sometimes, or just want to do my own thing. Even my first couple years of college, I didn’t have that many friends, and I didn’t really want to make a whole lot of friends,” he reflected. “But I know in the Bible God calls us to come together as Christians and learn from each other. I knew I needed to get more involved in other people’s lives. And I think just being with ��ñ�� and having people I can be honest with, and the ways we learn from each other, has really shaped my understanding of how important community is.”

Wanting to Give Others the Same Experience

Being part of ��ñ�� also gives Josh more opportunities to do one of his favorite things: share about Jesus with others. The Radford chapter did a Proxe Station—an interactive art display designed to lead people into spiritual conversations— on campus and plans to do another one soon.

Josh said, “One of the biggest things I’ve learned from ��ñ�� is that people do want to learn more about spirituality even though it might not seem that way sometimes. It’s a lot easier to have spiritual conversations than I ever thought it would be before.”

His desire as he starts his senior year in the fall is that more Radford students would get to experience the love of Jesus and the community he’s found through ��ñ��.

“I really love having friends I can talk with about Jesus. And I have several new friends that I’ve made who are learning a lot about God who maybe didn’t think about religion too much before,” he said. “There are lots of people that need to hear the gospel at Radford, so I think ��ñ�� is a great way for people to learn more about who Jesus is and how we can experience him together.”

��ñ�� provides welcoming, witnessing communities where students can study the Bible and experience the real hope of Jesus and what it means to follow him. You can help create these spaces for students like Josh by giving to ��ñ��. Click the button below to learn more.

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A Friendly Atheist

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 15:56:27 +0000

Gordon Govier

A Friendly Atheist

Carlos Vera was well known as an atheist on the Penn State Mont Alto campus. He thought Christianity was for people who were unable to handle the challenges of life by themselves and needed to believe in another being—one that didn’t exist.

He also had questions about God that no one seemed to be able to answer for him.

But shortly after he arrived on campus Carlos met Rachel, a Christian who wasn’t shy about throwing his questions back at him. They frequently bantered about philosophical issues and both enjoyed learning each other’s views.

“We clashed on a lot of ideas,” Carlos said. “But she continually invited me to [��ñ��] events. She invited me everywhere.”

At first, going with Rachel to a Bible study or to church didn’t sound very interesting, and he ducked the invitations. But as Carlos struggled with the rigors of college, he also realized that Rachel was a good friend who he liked hanging out with, so he began to take her invitations more seriously.

"I Feel Ready to Choose..."

When Rachel invited Carlos to ��ñ��’s Fall Conference, a weekend retreat away from campus, he thought, Why not?

At the retreat, Rachel and Carlos ended up in a small group with Bennett, a senior from Dickinson College, who had come to faith several years earlier through the influence of his best friend. Nudged by the Holy Spirit, Bennett invited Carlos to go on a hike during their free time.

As they hiked for over two hours, Carlos shared about his doubts and how no one had ever been able to answer his questions about God and Christianity. Bennett tried his best to answer Carlos' questions and told his own story of how he started following Jesus.

Bennett's story about his journey to faith struck Carlos and felt relatable to him.

“Our stories are remarkably similar,” Carlos said.

At the end of their hike, Bennett asked, “Carlos, what do you think is the next step for you in exploring faith?”

“I feel ready to choose: I want to follow Jesus,” Carlos answered.

"I Was An Atheist For a Good 18 Years..."

Carlos read his Bible voraciously for the rest of the fall semester. He dropped a lot of his bad habits and spent more time with his new ��ñ�� friends.

“The idea of an omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent God did not fit with my worldview, so I rejected it harshly,” he reflected. “��ñ�� taught me that the secret to life is not really a secret. It’s truth that is available to everyone.”

As the spring semester began, the first assignment in Carlos’s communication class was to give a speech about something he used to believe in but changed his mind about. It was an easy assignment.

“I was an atheist for a good 18 years. But now I’m Christian,” Carlos said during his talk.

Just like Carlos, ��ñ�� wants to see more students who don't know Jesus experience his real hope and decide to follow him. You can help make that happen by giving a generous gift to ��ñ��. Click the button below for more information.

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Giving Up the American Dream

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 18:35:31 +0000

Jennifer Anderson

Giving Up the American Dream

Lauren had a perfect course charted as she entered Grand Valley State University (GVSU).

“I’d study accounting, apply and get into the FBI, make lots of money, live the American Dream,” she recounted.

Lauren grew up in Metro Detroit with a good foundation. Her relationships with family and friends were strong, she was active in high school sports, and church was part of her life.

“I kind of knew who Christ was,” Lauren reflected, “but that was it.”

A few hours west of Detroit, Grand Valley, like most colleges, offers a plethora of lifestyle options. The only thing Lauren knew was that the party scene wasn't for her, but besides that, she didn't know what she wanted.

So, Lauren went through her freshman year somewhat adrift. Then, something changed unexpectedly through her close friend Sam, who at the time didn't know Jesus or the gospel.

A Surprising Turn

Early second semester, Sam sat in a dorm lounge when ��ñ�� students walked in.

"Hey, we use this room for a Bible study. Do you want to join us?" the students asked.

Surprisingly, Sam stayed for the entire Bible study.

“When you’re away at school, don’t know anybody, and meet a nice group of people who are welcoming—well, that’s rare. Sam clung to that,” Lauren said.

But Sam did have a few misgivings. She condfided to Lauren that though the students were nice, she didn't "understand the faith thing.”

Wanting Sam to feel comfortable, Lauren decided to go with her to the Bible study. This was just what Sam needed, and, ultimately, what Lauren needed too.

From that first Bible study and beyond, Lauren’s life became anchored with prayer, Bible study, spiritual disciplines, and mentoring from ��ñ�� GVSU Campus Staff Minister Betsy Hoisington.

“I was missing the whole relationship aspect that there is in Jesus, that Jesus is so personal, and he wanted to be my friend. Ever since I understood that, everything changed in my heart!”

Lauren continued to develop that personal relationship with Jesus throughout the rest of her time in college. She acknowledges that ��ñ�� gave her the tools and the disciplines to go deeper in her faith than she had ever gone before.

“I joined a Christian fellowship because of a non-Christian...and my life was transformed!” Lauren laughed at the irony of her faith journey (Don't worry—Sam became a believer two years later!) "When I started going to [��ñ��] Bible study and large group, I saw my wants and desires start to change. Instead of chasing after this unrealistic American dream we've kind of put together based on TV...that's totally missing the point for me. I started realizing that the true thing I wanted to bring into the world was Jesus...by sharing the gospel."

Parallel Service

The relationship with Jesus Lauren built while in college was crucial when her mother was diagnosed with and later passed away from leukemia. During her mom’s hospital treatments, Lauren spent hours with her while God revealed more of his plan for her life.

Being from a military famly, each day, a chaplain came to Lauren's mother's hospital room. Lauren saw that, like ��ñ�� staff ministers and students she met, chaplains were serving people in need.

This made Lauren realize that she too wanted to serve our country and serve people who needed it through becoming a military chaplain, taking all that ��ñ�� taught her. She took the next step upon her 2015 graduation from Grand Valley and enrolled in a Master of Divinity in Chaplaincy program at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio to become a military chaplain candidate.

“As a chaplain I’ll get to be mobile, meaning I get to go outside church walls and minster to people exactly where they’re at,” Lauren said.

Looking back now, Lauren knows God charted her course. No longer seeking the American Dream, she can see how the tide has turned.

“Today, my heart’s desire is to serve and love God’s people. Through this collegiate ministry, ��ñ��, God sent staff and student leaders to me when I needed them. I can’t wait to do this by serving in the US Navy.”

Every day, students like Lauren graduate college to go out an. You can be a part of equipping them to use their lives to serve the God that wants a deep, personal relationship with us by giving to ��ñ��. Give so that more students like Lauren can experience and share the real hope of Jesus by clicking the button below.

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Grand Valley State University

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

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Bible Studies Transforming Meredith College

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 19:39:19 +0000

Ashlye Vanderworp

Bible Studies Transforming Meredith College

Meredith College is a small, all women’s college in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s a unique campus that functions much like a sorority, full of traditions that foster community and empower the women who attend.

Much like the campus itself, Meredith’s ��ñ�� chapter is also unique. It is the only Christian organization that actually meets on campus, while others only have chapters at North Carolina State University down the road. It is also the only organization on campus, religious or non-religious, that is majority non-White.

A Life Devoted to Bible Study

Robin Bolash serves as the ��ñ�� Campus Staff Minister at Meredith College. Having worked with ��ñ�� for over 20 years, Robin leads in ways that significantly shape the women in her chapter who are shaping the campus.

But when she was a college student herself, it was through ��ñ�� that Robin truly learned who Jesus was and what he had planned for her life.

“I grew up in church, and I was curious about the Bible, but I had no idea how to study it. When I got to college, we learned how to do the ��ñ�� Bible study method, and it was the best thing that happened to me. In that moment, I decided this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life—I want to help people unlock the Bible,” Robin said.

This is why Robin focuses all of her chapter’s activities on Bible study. She has seen firsthand how studying the Bible can change a student’s life and how many want to just, as she says, “have the keys.”

Robin also disciples many students in her chapter herself—students such as Tori and Indyah.

World Changers Developing World Changers

When Tori and Indyah were assigned to lead a Bible study together two years ago, they had never met. However, as they began to lead together, they became close friends.

They prepared for small group each week, studied Scripture together, and discussed the questions they had about the passage, helping them form a close bond. That bond then flowed into the rest of the group.

“The way we study the Bible with ��ñ�� impacted our small group because it really allowed everyone to state their opinion. . . . Everyone’s on the same page, like no one knows more than someone else. We’re all starting off at the same level,” Tori said.

So, Tori decided to share that with a Sunday school class for high school students she taught at her church back home.

“I printed off manuscripts for them, and they really enjoyed it just like I really enjoyed it!” she said.

The pastor of the church Tori taught at regularly checked on all of the Sunday school classes. She noticed, though, that when he came into her classroom, he stayed for a while, watching what she was doing.

“I would think to myself, Am I doing something wrong?” Tori said.

The next thing she knew, at a churchwide Bible study one Tuesday night, Tori’s pastor distributed printed manuscript passages to the congregation. He then began to lead the church in Bible study the way Tori led her class—the way ��ñ�� does Bible study.

“Now, my whole church is doing Bible studies how we do [in ��ñ��]. I have definitely seen a lot of growth in my Sunday school class, in my church, and in myself,” Tori said.

As Tori led her class at church, her and Indyah’s ��ñ�� small group continued to grow closer and fall more in love with Scripture. This past school year, every new leader of the ��ñ�� chapter at Meredith came out of Tori and Indyah’s small group.

“I think most of it came from them seeing how community actually works and seeing how comfortable it can be,” Indyah said.

One of those new leaders was Essence, a member of Meredith’s track team.

Essence

When Essence began school at Meredith as a freshman, she had never experienced Bible study before. She joined Indyah and Tori’s small group and was soon invited to Beach Retreat, an annual event for the chapter.

As the students read the story of the Samaritan woman, Essence saw herself in the story and realized she was pursuing stagnant, stale water, rather than Jesus’ living water. In that moment, she decided to give her life fully to Jesus.

“I had never studied Scripture like that before,” Essence said. “I was able to write on the text, ask questions and observe, you know, interpret what the text means and how to apply it to my life. . . . Everything started making sense at that point.”

Today, Essence leads a Bible study for her track and field teammates. Though she’s faced difficulties with many members leaving the Bible study—because many athletes and minority students leave Meredith College after only their first year—she is committed to sharing with her team what she experienced.

“Bible study is amazing. You build so many relationships, so much love for people, so much love for God. It’s something that changed my life for the better.”

Bible Study Fostering Community in Corners of Campus

��ñ�� at Meredith believes the best way to reach the students on campus is through Bible studies where they feel like they belong and can be themselves, making them more open to Christ.

“These women are with each other, and they’re just having conversations. They’re doing observations together, then they’re asking all their questions together, and then they’re talking about applications together. And so, you’re getting to know each other while exploring the Scriptures together. You’re beginning to identify yourself in the story while sharing yourself with people. There is something very communal about this method,” Robin said.

Though their chapter is small, that communal environment centered around Scripture is what the women of ��ñ�� at Meredith spread to many parts of campus, from athletes, to freshmen, to art majors. Their Bible studies are multiplying because these women jump in when Robin encourages them to lead where they already are involved on campus, where they are already influencing, with the people they are already praying for.

“I’m looking at what Meredith needs and where there are gaps. I want to see where the Lord wants small groups to be, who are the students he’s bringing into this tiny, little fellowship, and how far can we reach—how far to the corners can we go,” Robin said.

To hear more about what the students at Meredith College have to say about Bible study, watch the video below.

Do you have a desire to reach people on your campus or in your life with the love of Jesus? Consider starting and leading a Bible study. For more information on how to lead a Bible study, click the button below to visit Howto.Bible, a new project from ��ñ��.

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Small Group Bible Studies

Every Campus

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