mission / en World Assembly 2019–What’s It All About? /news/world-assembly-2019%E2%80%93what%E2%80%99s-it-all-about <div class="layout layout--twocol-section layout--twocol-section--33-67"> <div class="layout__region layout__region--first"> <nav role="navigation" aria-labelledby="-menu" class="_none block block-menu navigation menu--about-us-menu"> <h2 class="visually-hidden" id="-menu">About Us Menu</h2> <ul class="clearfix nav" data-component-id="bootstrap_barrio:menu"> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/what-we-believe" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-what-we-believe" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/9386">What We Believe</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/our-purpose" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-our-purpose" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6927">Our Purpose</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/financial-info" title="Financial Info" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-financial-info" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6926">Financial Info</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/2022-2023-annual-report" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-2022-2023-annual-report" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/4976">2022-2023 Annual Report</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/leadership" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-leadership" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6928">Leadership</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/intervarsity-and-ifes-history" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-intervarsity-and-ifes-history" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6925">ñ and IFES History</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/news" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-news" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6929">News</a> </li> <li class="nav-item menu-item--collapsed"> <a href="/about-us/press-room" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-press-room" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6931">Press Room</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/contact" class="nav-link nav-link--contact" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/9383">Contact Us</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div class="layout__region layout__region--second"> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-news-type"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2104" hreflang="en">News</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-author"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Steph Schmaltz</div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewstitle"> <div class="content"> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"><h1>World Assembly 2019–What’s It All About?</h1></span> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-square-image"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-square-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/300x169/public/news/CDCC779D-CE98-40B3-9D6D-1A8C0AFD1FA9.jpeg?itok=n-bXmkxv" width="283" height="169" alt loading="lazy" class="image-style-_00x169"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsbody"> <div class="content"> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Eleven hundred participants made up of college students and campus staff ministers from 170 countries. Seventy seminars. Twenty-two meals together. Thirteen new student movements. And one message of hope to take back to universities across the globe. July 3–11, 2019, this is what 50 staff from across ñ/USA experienced as they participated in a special event that only occurs once every four years: <a href="http://ifesworld.org/en/worldassembly/" target="_blank">IFES World Assembly</a>.</p> <p>World Assembly, put on by the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, focused its delegates on being <i>messengers of hope </i>to the world around them. It provided a unique place for our movements to break bread, listen to front-line<span>&nbsp; </span>perspectives, learn from exposition on portions of Luke and Acts, form new friendships through daily cross-national small groups, lament, rejoice, and pray with our brothers and sisters across the globe. In addition, affiliated IFES members voted on resolutions, welcomed 13 new movements, and had vibrant discussions on issues facing today’s global church. With no shortage of content, World Assembly delegates went home with much to process.</p> <p>It’s tempting to let this be a standalone event for those of us privileged enough to attend, but what if we instead catalyzed our experience to improve our own movement and better love our IFES brothers and sisters?</p> <p>As the USA delegation returns to our roles, here are some points to contemplate and implement across our movement.</p> <ul> <li><em><strong>Learning from IFES movements to further the <a href="http://intervarsity.org/2030" target="_blank">2030 Calling</a>:&nbsp;</strong></em>While innovation and ideas are coming from within our movement, we can also learn from IFES movements who have already faced similar challenges. For example, UESI in India empowers alumni to plant chapters, EvaSUE Ethiopia reaches 45,000 students with less than 50 full-time staff, and movements in Europe are finding new ways to reach students in an increasingly post-Christian society. We have a great deal to learn from our IFES brothers and sisters.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li><em><strong>Developing world changers: </strong></em>Not only do we long to see lives transformed and campuses renewed, but we also long to see world changers developed. To do that well, we need to educate our students on global issues and help them form healthy cross-cultural relationships. While we can do some of that on our campuses, what would it look like for chapters or areas to regularly connect with another IFES movement? Students could pray for each other on World Student Day (October 18, 2019), share ideas to reach their friends, visit one another (a possible <a href="https://gp.intervarsity.org/" target="_blank"><span class="s1">Global Program</span></a>), and dream of new ways to support and encourage one another.</li> </ul> <p><p2><b><i>​</i></b></p2></p> <ul> <li><p2><b><i>Establishing and deepening relationships with IFES movements</i></b></p2><p2><b><i></i></b>: As a founding member of IFES in 1947, ñ committed to seeing a Christian witness not just on every corner and every campus of the US, but also in every country! While each IFES movement is independently led, what are ways we can serve and support our global fellowship? Could areas or regions establish and deepen relationships with other movements by praying with, taking offerings for, or even hosting students and staff? <a href="http://link.intervarsity.org/" target="_blank"><span class="s1">ñ Link</span></a> currently has 200+ staffing requests from across the IFES fellowship. Could God be calling some of us to go and serve as staff in another movement? </p2></li> </ul> <p>World Assembly brought forth major topics that will require careful thought and consideration at personal, chapter, regional, and national levels. However, we don’t want these topics to paralyze us or stop us from taking a step in the direction the Lord is leading. We pray that World Assembly will instead be an Ebenezer of remembrance for how the Lord moved us.</p> <p><i>To watch talks, hear delegate reflections, and get a better picture of World Assembly, watch videos on the IFES World YouTube channel by clicking below.&nbsp;</i></p> <p class="rtecenter"><a class="button-action" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqg759dNPjNLIRHha1bE1Q">Watch World Assembly Videos</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-news-keywords"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-news-keywords field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News Keywords</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2577" hreflang="en">world assembly</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/888" hreflang="en">IFES</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2539" hreflang="en">summer</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2203" hreflang="en">Conference</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/854" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2542" hreflang="en">mission</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2426" hreflang="en">Missionaries</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2250" hreflang="en">campus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2578" hreflang="en">2030</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/748" hreflang="en">Calling</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2416" hreflang="en">International Fellowship Evangelical Students</a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:57:49 +0000 ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org 2499 at Fluent in Patience: Participating in God’s Story Abroad /news/fluent-patience-participating-god%E2%80%99s-story-abroad <div class="layout layout--twocol-section layout--twocol-section--33-67"> <div class="layout__region layout__region--first"> <nav role="navigation" aria-labelledby="-menu" class="_none block block-menu navigation menu--about-us-menu"> <h2 class="visually-hidden" id="-menu">About Us Menu</h2> <ul class="clearfix nav" data-component-id="bootstrap_barrio:menu"> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/what-we-believe" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-what-we-believe" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/9386">What We Believe</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/our-purpose" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-our-purpose" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6927">Our Purpose</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/financial-info" title="Financial Info" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-financial-info" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6926">Financial Info</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/2022-2023-annual-report" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-2022-2023-annual-report" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/4976">2022-2023 Annual Report</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/leadership" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-leadership" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6928">Leadership</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/intervarsity-and-ifes-history" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-intervarsity-and-ifes-history" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6925">ñ and IFES History</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/about-us/news" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-news" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6929">News</a> </li> <li class="nav-item menu-item--collapsed"> <a href="/about-us/press-room" class="nav-link nav-link--about-us-press-room" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/6931">Press Room</a> </li> <li class="nav-item"> <a href="/contact" class="nav-link nav-link--contact" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/9383">Contact Us</a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div class="layout__region layout__region--second"> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-author"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Drew Larson</div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewstitle"> <div class="content"> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden"><h1>Fluent in Patience: Participating in God’s Story Abroad</h1></span> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-square-image"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-square-image field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img src="/sites/default/files/styles/300x169/public/news/2019.04.03_2844_Matt%20Kirk_small.jpg?itok=7eQofugt" width="254" height="169" alt loading="lazy" class="image-style-_00x169"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsbody"> <div class="content"> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Picture yourself alone in a foreign country—a place where you have no connections. You’re a college student studying abroad and interning thousands of miles from your campus and your friends, and a Christian in a country where following Jesus makes you a curiosity at best&nbsp;and a threat at worst.&nbsp;</p> <p>And, with all that going on, you’re also asking yourself: What can I do while I’m here to advance God’s kingdom?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Hold that picture in your mind for a moment.&nbsp;Because that’s exactly what James* did.</p> <p>As an energy science major in New England, James had been preparing to work and study abroad in South&nbsp;Asia for most of his academic career. He’d taken pains to become fluent in the native language of the place where he planned to intern and had created a small group Bible study on campus just for other South Asian students in his major. James was also, according to his ñ Campus Staff Minister, Karen, low-key amazing at leading people to Christ.</p> <p>“He was just one of those students who consistently had two, three, four students coming to faith in his small group every year,” she said. “He’s one of those unassuming, quietly confident guys,&nbsp;but not one of those people someone would look at and say, ‘Oh, you’re a gifted evangelist.’ So I knew he was going to be a missional student before he went to study abroad&nbsp;because he’d been that kind of student already.”</p> <p>James first spent a semester abroad studying at a South Asian university, supported by a Digital Small Group through ñ’s <a href="http://studyabroad.intervarsity.org/">Study Abroad</a> program, and dreamed&nbsp;of all that he hoped to accomplish for Christ while overseas. But while he shared his faith with a number of fellow students, he found his efforts at outreach mostly stalling out.</p> <p>“He had this moment in the small group where he realized that he had entered the semester with a dream of a ton of people coming to faith around him, and he hadn’t [seen that happen] yet,” Karen said. “That dream was all about <em>him</em>. But God was preparing him for the slower, more faithful work of missions, for trusting God for what <em>God</em> will do—kind of a holy patience. That can be hard for a rock-star evangelist to hear.”</p> <p>James did settle in and wait though, and several months later, while interning at a large South Asian energy company during his second semester abroad, he finally got his chance. The company asked him to lead an English language lunch on Fridays all about American culture. With Good Friday approaching, James sensed an opportunity, despite the fact that the Human Resources Department heavily monitored public speech. He put together a presentation that used the Easter holiday as a springboard to subtly share the gospel.</p> <p>“He and I met to find all the subtle ways that we could talk about the true meaning of Easter in the context of an American holiday, and then we prayed. By God’s grace HR [at his company] approved the plan,” Karen said. “So he essentially got to share the gospel with his coworkers.”</p> <p>Afterward, one of James’s coworkers asked him additional questions about his faith, and James was able to share more about the hope of Jesus.</p> <p>After his year abroad, James returned to campus, graduated, and now works full time at a US branch of the company he interned with. Even more importantly, he returned to the US with even more confidence and strength. “There’s a new sureness around him and his faith that I don’t often see in 22-year-olds,” Karen said. “He’s also gained some new evangelistic creativity, realizing that mission and evangelism look really different from context to context, and even from campus to the workplace.</p> <p>“<a href="http://studyabroad.intervarsity.org">Study Abroad students</a> [like James] have this opportunity to plant seeds that others often don’t,” continued Karen. “James had this really great placement to work with some very influential local people. All he had to do was be patient, plant seeds of the gospel, and then pray for God to bring along someone else to water them and make them grow.”</p> <p class="rtecenter">For more information about ñ Study Aboad, click the link below.</p> <p class="rtecenter"><a class="button-action mega deep-button" href="https://studyabroad.intervarsity.org" target="_blank">Check Out ñ Study Abroad</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>*Names and some details changed to protect student’s identity</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="_none block block-layout-builder block-field-blocknodenewsfield-news-keywords"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-field-news-keywords field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News Keywords</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/1092" hreflang="en">Study Abroad</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2541" hreflang="en">digital small groups</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2187" hreflang="en">transformation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2542" hreflang="en">mission</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/826" hreflang="en">Evangelism</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/taxonomy/term/2543" hreflang="en">good friday</a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Tue, 09 Jul 2019 21:27:58 +0000 ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org 2494 at