Prayer walk

Collaborative Effort Sees Almost EveryCampus in US Prayer Walked

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 18:47:07 +0000

Collaborative Effort Sees Almost EveryCampus in US Prayer Walked

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) – ��ñ�� Christian Fellowship partnered with a host of other ministries, churches, and individuals during 2019, in an ambitious attempt to prayer walk every US college campus, all 4,948 of them. The EveryCampus collaboration was initiated, “seeking God for revival by making gospel communities on every campus a possibility” with prayer laying the foundation as the first step.

At the end of 2019, about 3,650 of the 4,948 US campuses had registered at least one prayer walk. “Our hope is that people start to experience what we in campus ministries see every day, that Jesus is alive and well on every single campus in the country already,” ��ñ�� Vice President Jon Hietbrink said. ”We don’t bring God to those campuses. God is already at work in those places, we’re just joining Him.”

More than 50 ministries have joined the EveryCampus coalition initiated by ��ñ�� and Cru campus ministry in 2017. Leaders of 30 of those ministries joined almost 1,500 ��ñ�� staff and volunteers gathered in Orlando, Florida, at the beginning of 2020 for ��ñ��’s triennial National Staff Conference, to pray together under the theme of the conference, Longing for Revival. (Photo above)

Coalition partners together with ��ñ�� staff are focusing on preparing for the next steps that will lead to transformational campus ministry at more US colleges and universities. One of those steps includes new Adopt-a-Campus resources that ��ñ�� staff, students, and ministry partners can use to plant new chapters.

Many of those who have prayer walked campuses this year have unique stories to tell. ��ñ��’s North Texas Area Director, Benzi George, worked with a local church to plant a Bible study on a community college campus. When the effort started to falter, Benzi and several volunteers from the church prayer walked the campus. As they gathered in a circle for final prayers, they were surprised to find themselves joined by the college president, who encouraged them to continue their efforts.

Montana Area Director Kristin Wright took a 3,290-mile road trip to prayer walk 12 campuses in Montana last June, along with local volunteers at each location. She is excited that the EveryCampus initiative is part of ��ñ��’s 2030 Calling, to catalyze Christian community on every US college campus by the year 2030. “I don’t want to miss out on being a part of something only God can do,” she said.

��ñ�� Christian Fellowship has 1,119 student and faculty chapters on 772 campuses across the US, from the Ivy League to community colleges. ��ñ�� is a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608/443-3688

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Praying to Reach Every Campus in Montana

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 14:34:16 +0000

Gordon Govier

Praying to Reach Every Campus in Montana

Montana is not Alaska or Texas, but it's still a pretty big state. A 3,290-mile road trip is not long enough to visit every campus in the state although it’s a good start.

Kristin Wright's 3,290-mile road trip last June took her to 12 campuses as part of the EveryCampus initiative, a partnership between ��ñ�� and other ministries, which has a goal of seeing every campus in every state prayer walked in 2019. All but one of the other eight Montana campuses have been prayer walked, and the final campus is scheduled for a visit later this month.

Almost two thirds of the 4,948 US campuses have been prayer walked since the beginning of the year, and the number grows daily. Kristin, ��ñ��'s Area Director for Montana, has had her imagination captivated by ��ñ��'s 2030 Calling of catalyzing Christian community on every US college campus by the year 2030.

“I don't want to miss out on being a part of something only God can do,” she said. “We are committed to empowering and equipping whoever is in these places to reach these campuses.”

Kristin partnered with other staff, students, volunteers, and faculty as she prayer walked each of the 12 campuses. She debriefed the prayer walk afterwards, especially with students. "They often start out feeling like this is something they can't do but they come back with a lot of joy," she said. "We're building an infrastructure of faith."

Three of the campuses that Kristin walked were tribal colleges without any apparent current ministry. That included Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, which has a reputation for training future tribal presidents. "As we prayed, I had a sense of what God might do when birthing a native witnessing community on this campus," Kristin said.

For others who might also be captivated by the 2030 Calling and want to prayer walk a campus, Kristin has three recommendations:

Start with worship. “On college campuses so many things get worshiped. However, only Jesus deserves our worship so exalt him and lift his name on campus as you pray.”
Listen to the Holy Spirit. "As you walk, pay attention to what God might be saying. As something comes to mind, trust that God is inviting you to pray for these people and things.”
Pray blessings on the campus, particularly for the Fruits of the Spirit to be manifest.

Kristin was a University of Arizona student when she first discovered ��ñ�� and then discovered that it was a good fit for helping her grow as a Christian. “I fell in love with Jesus even more as a student,” she said. “As I have been exposed to other faith traditions through ��ñ�� my picture of God has gotten bigger.”

Kristin has been on staff with ��ñ�� for 20 years. Celebrating two decades of student ministry sparked the idea of going on the six-day road trip to pray for Montana’s unreached campuses. "I have the best job," she said. "A 3,000-mile road trip doesn't feel like much when your heart is full of gratitude."

If you feel called to prayer walk a campus (or campuses) near you like Kristin and thousands of others have, go to EveryCampus.com to help reach the goal of every campus being prayer walked by the end of 2019.

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Can Culture Fit with Faith? One Graduate’s Story

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 19:10:39 +0000

Nathan Peterson

Can Culture Fit with Faith? One Graduate’s Story

“It completely blew me away.”

That’s how JD Mercado describes his first ��ñ�� large group at Northern Arizona University (NAU). They worshiped in Korean, Swahili, and Spanish—something he’d never experienced before. “I just felt a sense of peace, not fully understanding the significance of multiethnic worship at the time, but just an innate sense that something was right, something was being done the way it should be, and that God was at the center of that experience,” he said.

JD had just transferred to NAU during the spring of 2013, and he had only known about its ��ñ�� chapter for a few weeks. But this large group experience inspired him to apply to be a Worship Team leader, a role he served in all four years at NAU.

Later that same year, JD was invited to the Native ��ñ�� Would Jesus Eat Frybread? conference to explore his heritage as a member of the Piipaash and Quechan tribes of the southwestern US. He agreed to go but felt a little uncertain, as he remembered one pastor’s warning that culture couldn’t blend with faith.

The conference proved to be just as moving as his first large group, especially when a group of Native Hawaiians performed a hula. “I remember being invited into that moment,” JD said. “That was so memorable for me to see Indigenous people being gracious with their culture, that Jesus gives us an ability to offer an invitation, and that there’s a way to honorably engage with culture. That was something that I immediately began to want for myself, something that I’d never thought about before.”

JD’s four years with ��ñ�� continued to help him grow in his appreciation for multiethnic worship and explore the connection between his faith and Native heritage. He also had the opportunity to perform through spoken word and song at ��ñ��’s Ambition Conference in January 2018.

Preparing the Way

Upon graduation, JD decided to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts, with hopes of becoming a published author and teacher. But he also began to experience what he later called “a dry season,” during which he felt like expressions of Christianity revolved too much around Sunday morning corporate worship and prayer and then were neglected the rest of the week.

He reached out to Native ��ñ�� Director Megan Krischke to discuss opportunities to continue serving with ��ñ��. This led to his decision to help plan the upcoming Would Jesus Eat Frybread? conference in November 2019. Struck also by John the Baptist’s example in Scripture, JD sought to prepare the way for a movement of the Spirit by prayer walking four campuses, including Coconino Community College. He plans to return to Coconino to continue building relationships with Native students.

“Volunteering has been really affirming that God is active in my life,” JD said. “In the midst of this dry season, I had this conversation with Megan. I just felt like God was hearing me, saying, ‘I want to use you, even though you’re feeling dry and burned out. Would you just come to me and be replenished and trust that I know what I’m doing with your life?’”

In many ways, JD’s volunteering experience has helped address his disappointment in not sensing the call to join ��ñ�� staff after college. “I think I needed to understand that whatever I was planning to do after college, God was going to be in that,” he said. “The world needs more writers, more teachers, who are not just Christians but who believe in the things God cares about. The fabric of our society is strengthened by the type of people that ��ñ�� impacts during their college experience.”

JD encourages fellow alumni, “God begins a work in us through ��ñ�� in college, and it doesn’t end when you graduate. In this longstanding partnership between chapters and alumni, there are only beneficial things that come from that.”

Like JD, do you long for a way to continue serving college campuses? Consider prayer walking a campus as part of our EveryCampus initiative, a partnership of multiple ministries to launch movements and communities of Christians sharing the real hope of Jesus on every campus in the country. Click below to find a campus to prayer walk near you!

Prayer Walk a Campus

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Native American ministry