Alumni and Staff Profiles

Emily Baez

Emily Baez is a writer on ��ñ��’s Communications Team in Madison, Wisconsin. She enjoys long hikes, watching movies, and overly competitive game nights with friends. You can support her ministry here.

The God of Second Chances — Silbano's Story

emily.baez@intervarsity.org — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 22:37:41 +0000

February 07, 2023

Emily Baez

The God of Second Chances — Silbano's Story

"For a long time, I felt like I didn’t belong because I was so different from everyone else,” Silbano, a Campus Staff Minister at California State University, Bakersfield, said.

He’d brought 18 of his students to Urbana 22, hoping they could experience the kind of transformation he has — the kind that reminds us that no one is ever too lost, too different, or too broken to be redeemed by a gracious and loving God.

Desperate for a Reset

“I grew up around poverty, drug use, gang violence, homelessness …” Silbano reflected.

For as long as he could remember, Silbano’s family sold and grew drugs. By the time he got to high school, he decided to drop out, choosing to use and sell drugs as well.

A few years into this, Silbano was arrested for the first time. He was incarcerated repeatedly in his early 20s, but his lowest point came while on parole and working at a fast-food restaurant in Bakersfield. He began feeling depressed and lost, wondering if anything could help him end this cycle.

“I started thinking, Am I really going to keep living this way? Am I gonna die? Am I gonna be incarcerated for life?”

This uncertainty led him to research religions online. He discovered a world of meditations, gods, and theologies. In the mountain of options, one story stood out — God came down to earth as a human and died for him.

“Jesus died for all that I’ve done in the past. I could actually have a reset. And that’s what I needed,” he said. Desperate for that reset, Silbano came home one night and began apologizing to God for the things he’d done and the people he’d hurt throughout his life.

“When I look back, I see that I was repenting for my sins. I didn’t know I was doing that at the time. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do in order to come to Christ.”

Not long after that, he walked into a church. He had no religious background, no family members who practiced any faith. It was a completely unfamiliar world. But that day, he made his way to the altar and surrendered everything.

Different this Time

A few days later, Silbano’s home was raided and he was incarcerated for the last time. Instead of feeling hopeless, he sensed that this time in prison would be different, so he began reading the Bible.

“This is how illiterate I was in the Bible,” Silbano laughed, “I didn’t even know there was an Old and New Testament.”

His study of Scripture felt overwhelming and confusing at times, but he pushed through, hungry to know Jesus more every day. When he wasn’t reading the Bible, he took advantage of all the programs offered in prison. One allowed him to get his GED and take college courses. When he was released, he transitioned to Bakersfield College.

Belonging on Campus

At Bakersfield College, Silbano met ��ñ��. By that time, he’d read the Bible cover to cover three times. But ��ñ��, he said, was his discipleship.

“They’re the ones that taught me everything I know, everything I was hungry for; ��ñ�� gave it to me.”

Through inductive Bible studies, Mark Camp, Proxes, and leadership training, ��ñ�� helped Silbano gain an understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. He’d found his reset and, upon graduating, was asked to come on staff to help others find theirs.

“At first, I didn’t know the scope of ��ñ��,” Silbano said. He didn’t know that there were ministries on campuses all over the country. He just knew that when his Area Director, Paul Benthin, talked about making disciples and developing world changers, he was sold.

Despite his transformation, Silbano sometimes felt that because of his experiences, he couldn’t relate to many others on campus. But through it all, he received support from ��ñ�� mentors and friends. He also began doing Immanuel prayer, letting God heal his sense of identity and realize the gift of his story.

An Overlooked Corner

Now Silbano uses his story and experiences to reach often overlooked corners of campus, including other formerly incarcerated students. And he’s seen God move powerfully among them, noting that as his students start to see the Bible from a different perspective, they become open to Jesus and his redemptive power in their lives.

“They never thought there could be a chance for spiritual formation in college. They see how God has given them a second chance and they’re thinking, there has to be a purpose for my life,” Silbano says.

Off campus, Silbano uses the skills he learned through ��ñ�� to minister to high school students he leads in his church and to his family. His brother and sister recently decided to follow Jesus too!

Silbano knows firsthand that even in the most unlikely situations, God can reveal himself, redeeming us of our deepest sins and using us to reach those who long to experience his grace.

Click here to support Silbano's ministry in Bakersfield.

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Stories from Campus

Emily Baez

Help Gen Z Follow Jesus (O, F)

Help Gen Z Follow Jesus

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Meet Your Urbana 22 Worship Director: Imer Santiago

emily.baez@intervarsity.org — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 21:29:15 +0000

November 10, 2022

Hannah Keziah Agustin

Meet Your Urbana 22 Worship Director: Imer Santiago

“We say no to other things to say yes to Urbana,” says Imer Santiago, the Worship Director of this year’s Urbana Student Missions Conference. Next month, he’ll lead thousands of students in multicultural musical worship in Indianapolis.

When we met over video call, closing the distance between Madison, Wisconsin, and Orlando, Florida, he shared with me his Urbana journey—an adventure that has come full circle since God began orchestrating it more than 20 years ago.

Imer’s Urbana Journey

Imer’s first Urbana was in 2000. He was a recent college graduate, sitting among the crowd of thousands of students and other recent grads from across the nation and the world.

“It really shaped who I am,” he says. “Even if a person shows up [to Urbana] for just one day, God can change their life.” It was at this Urbana that Imer realized that there were other communities he could learn from. Since then, he’s spent three other Urbanas onstage, singing and playing the trumpet, where he’s even played his own original music at two of them.

A Multicultural Worship Vision for Urbana 22

As worship director, Imer not only gives shape to the song list used for the conference, but he also forms the worship team’s vision for musical worship. He thinks about the Holy Spirit, the day of Pentecost, and the young and vibrant multiethnic church in Acts. This is the compass he followed when he gathered musicians from all over to be a part of the team.

From auditions in January to rehearsals in May, Imer feels that the worship team is now a family that has come together to give glory to God and serve at Urbana. They now have shared experiences and deep relationships.

“It’s been fulfilling to see the repertoire together knowing that there are songs that are from different countries and continents,” Imer says. He asked his team to share the songs that speak to them, as people from different cultural and denominational backgrounds.

The songs this year are a combination of songs that align with the book of Acts (which attendees will study together at Urbana), hymns that have resonated with ��ñ�� staff, and original music that was written based on the conference theme, Rise Up. Imer wants the worship to represent God’s people from all around the world since Urbana is a conference that shows the grandness of our God through the diversity of the global Church.

The worship team will be a part of shaping attendees’ Urbana experience, and Imer is most excited about helping a new generation of students and staff who have never been to Urbana grow in love with what Urbana is. Although this is both a challenge and a responsibility, above all, he calls it an honor.

Listen to the Urbana 22 Spotify playlist here. And if you haven’t yet, register for Urbana at urbana.org/register.

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Hannah Keziah Agustin

Hannah Keziah Agustin is a Social Media Coordinator/Writer for ��ñ��’s Communications Team in Madison, Wisconsin. You can support her ministry at givetoiv.org/hannah-keziah-agustin.

��ñ�� Alumnus Serving as President of Washington Football Team

AD-18513 — Tue, 09 Nov 2021 14:46:14 +0000

November 09, 2021

��ñ�� Alumnus Serving as President of Washington Football Team

NFL running back, teaching pastor, partner at a prestigious management consulting company—��ñ�� alumnus Jason Wright has quite the resume. And in the summer of 2020, he added a new accomplishment: becoming the NFL’s first Black team president.

After seven seasons in the NFL, Jason turned down a contract to continue playing football in favor of pursuing his MBA in Operations and Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

“That’s where my friendship with Jason began,” said Mark Washington, ��ñ��’s National Director of MBA Ministry. “I’ve always been impressed with his ability to combine his passions and pursuits. While at Booth, Jason was a member of a number of groups, including the Christians In Business, Management Consulting, African American MBA Association, and Social New Venture Challenge.”

As an active member of ��ñ��’s Chicago Booth Fellowship, Jason and his wife, Tiffany, participated in a couples’ Bible study, which provided them with helpful guidelines about work life balance that have served them well in the years since.

Mark fondly remembers getting to know Jason and his high-energy positivity and great sense of humor. In the fellowship, he also demonstrated many strong gifts as a leader, being able to talk about difficult topics with truthfulness, compassion, and humility. “He’s the kind of leader you want to follow,” Mark said. “You know he’s competent and also that he cares about the mission and you.”

As a partner at McKinsey & Company, Jason served CFOs, CHROs, and CEOs in sectors ranging from higher education to energy and power. He also spearheaded the firm’s internal efforts on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion globally and led the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, a think tank focused on closing the racial wealth gap.

Well-aware of the prestige that comes with being a former NFL player, Jason found many opportunities to share his faith with younger generations. “I know the right words at the right time would’ve made a big difference to me,” he told Sports Spectrum. “I feel like I would have come to a true and loving relationship with Christ quicker if I had heard [someone talk about] exactly what I was going through.”

As he reflected on taking on the role as President of the Washington Football Team, Jason told CBS, “I already knew we really need to take care of our people in a different way . . . and be people-centric. . . . The opportunities to really shape things for the future of this franchise are massive. You know, we’re getting ready to establish a new identity. That’s going to inform the way that we impact the world.”

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Alumni Hero–Elisha Kossove

emily.baez@intervarsity.org — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 16:38:24 +0000

October 19, 2021

Alumni Hero–Elisha Kossove

October 2021

“��ñ�� helped me grow in my faith so much... I wanted to keep doing that for other people. And I just love ��ñ��!” ~Elisha Kossove

The ��ñ�� Alumni Association is thrilled to recognize Elisha Kossove (Penn State Harrisburg, 2019) as our next Alumni Hero! This honor is bestowed on alumni who demonstrate a personal commitment to accelerating ��ñ��’s mission on campus through giving, advocacy, prayer, and service.

Since his days as a student at Penn State Harrisburg, Elisha has consistently demonstrated one vital characteristic: a simple willingness to help with a felt need. Whether in worship leading, in discipleship, or as chapter president, Elisha was willing to invest his skills to further ministry on campus.

These last two years as a volunteer with his alma mater, Elisha has continued to do that one simple thing: seek out need and invest himself. When the fall conference worship band was short a guitarist, Elisha offered his musical skills. When the chapter needed funding for an event, he gladly donated. And when a global pandemic upset normal rhythms while their campus staff was on sabbatical, Elisha offered guidance and encouragement as the chapter transitioned their ministry online.

Liz Berg, Elisha’s supervising staff, shared a story illustrating the far-reaching impact of this willingness. In the fall of 2020, Liz needed someone to lead a student apprenticeship cohort. Elisha, of course, was more than willing to step in. During one meeting, a student shared her nervousness about making invitations to her friends to join a one-week Bible study. Elisha responded by empowering her to take the risk; encouraging her to lean on her partner and offering up space for a debrief of the experience after the group met. She and her partner made their invitations, and one year later this “one-week Bible study” now has 20 people exploring the Bible every week, many of whom don’t yet know Jesus.

Liz continued, “Elisha embodies a holistic picture of how an alumnus can give back. Not just monetarily or by praying from time to time but by taking the whole chapter under his wing and saying, ‘I really want to see God continue to work at Penn State Harrisburg and I want to be a part of that.’”

When asked what encouragement he would offer other alumni considering a volunteer role, Elisha said, “Just do it! … Volunteer according to your strengths. Many campuses need volunteers… they’ll use you.”

Ultimately, it isn’t the event, the skillset needed, or even the measurable outcome that makes a hero. It’s simply the willingness to offer help where help is needed. Thank you, Elisha, for your willingness to serve Jesus through Penn State Harrisburg and ��ñ��. We are proud to name you as an Alumni Hero!

Would you like to nominate someone to be an Alumni Hero? Click here to nominate the hero you know!

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Alumni Hero–Kat Roffina

AD-18513 — Thu, 15 Apr 2021 13:56:36 +0000

April 15, 2021

Alumni Hero–Kat Roffina

April 2021

The ��ñ�� Alumni Association is thrilled to recognize Kat Roffina as our first Alumni Hero! This honor will be bestowed on alumni who demonstrate exceptional commitment to accelerating ��ñ��’s mission on campus through their giving, advocacy, prayer, and service.

First, Kat Roffina said yes to mentoring a student after she graduated from Rider University in New Jersey. Then she said yes to volunteering at fall conferences. Inspired by what God was doing, Kat led a team of alumni in intercessory prayer for a large outreach event on campus. And then Kat said yes when invited to serve on campus alongside a campus minister one day a week. When that campus mininster transitioned to a new role, Kat said, “It was easy for me to say yes to serving as a volunteer staff because I had said those yeses before.”

Christine Loesser, Area Director for Central and South New Jersey, describes Kat as a joyful servant. “Ministry at Rider would feel a deep loss if Kat wasn’t there,” Christine says. “She’s an ‘all-in’ person.”

In addition to actively serving on campus, Kat gives generously, prays for students by name, and advocates for the ministry. Her enthusiasm for ministry is contagious, inspiring both students and alumni to participate in God’s work at Rider. When asked what gives her the most joy in ministry, Kat replies, “Seeing students say yes to Jesus.”

Not only does Kat serve as the primary staff for ��ñ�� at Rider University, she also helps lead Access ��ñ�� nationally. Access ��ñ�� is an accessible and disability-inclusive space for students to belong, grow closer to Jesus, and use their God-given gifts. Kat has had a vision for reaching students with disabilities since she was a student. She currently coaches three students across the country who want to plant their own chapters of Access ��ñ��. Deb Abbs, the ��ñ�� staff who spearheads this movement, says that Kat “feels like a true partner” in ministry who will jump in wherever needed.

For Kat, staying connected to ��ñ�� has been “a continual reminder of grounding that I need to be with Jesus every day.” While the transition out of college can be challenging, Kat continues to find encouragement, friendship, and a place to serve in the ��ñ�� community.

The ��ñ�� Alumni Association is thrilled to name Kat an Alumni Hero. Her dedication and commitment to students is so inspiring. Thank you, Kat, for all the ways you’ve said yes to Jesus, students, and ��ñ��.

Would you like to nominate someone to be an Alumni Hero? Click here.

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��ñ�� Alumna Helps the Fight against COVID in Singapore

AD-18513 — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 14:19:08 +0000

March 26, 2021

Drew Larson

��ñ�� Alumna Helps the Fight against COVID in Singapore

The path from Malaysia to Singapore couldn’t be much shorter on a map. Separated only by the Straits of Johor, one can stand on the shores of Peninsular Malaysia and see the Singaporean coastline with the naked eye.

But life isn’t a map. For Dr. Poh Lian Lim Yap, infectious disease expert and ��ñ�� alumna, her journey to Singapore—and her crucial role in its COVID-19 response—was far less direct.

Born in Kuala Lumpur, Dr. Lim’s non-Christian parents sent her to a boarding school that happened to have a Scripture Union chapter, where she first became a follower of Jesus as an eight-year-old. During her teenage years, Dr. Lim continued growing in her faith and excelling in her studies while she navigated her parents’ displeasure. “[My father] took my Bible and tore it up and burnt it,” she recalled.

Ten years later, in the fall of 1983, she enrolled at Harvard University. “I came into Harvard as a very strong Christian, having grown up with an idea of persecution and standing up for your faith and the importance of Scripture and prayer,” Dr. Lim said.

Yet as a Malaysian international student, the culture shock of moving to the US nearly overwhelmed her. “The first thing I did was join the ��ñ�� Christian Fellowship [chapter],” she said. “That was my sanity for the four years I was at Harvard. [That group] really became like my home.”

After graduating from Harvard, finishing medical school at Columbia University, and then studying infectious diseases at Tulane University, Dr. Lim spent the next 10 years working in the US and starting a family. But in the back of her mind, she wrestled with the commitment that she’d made to serve God overseas when she attended ��ñ��’s Urbana Student Missions Conference in 1984.

In 2003, Dr. Lim accepted a position in Singapore working with infectious disease outbreaks just before the SARS epidemic began. Dr. Lim suddenly found herself at the intersection of her youthful Urbana commitment and her professional expertise. She realized that God was calling her to Singapore full-time.

In the 18 years since, she has worked with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations, and the Ministry of Health in Singapore, consulting on best practices for infectious disease outbreaks.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, Dr. Lim used her professional expertise and networks, honed over nearly two decades of disease outbreak work, to help Singapore craft an appropriate national response. “I am one of the people who sometimes gets sent off to Geneva to attend a meeting or be nominated to a committee . . . [in my case] the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network Steering Committee,” Dr. Lim said. Because of her experiences on that committee and her work advising the WHO’s response to infectious outbreaks, God has used her skills to help Singapore set a strong example for effectively navigating the COVID pandemic.

“I’m a big believer in parachurch movements like ��ñ��,” she said. “The penetration of the gospel into people’s lives happens much more deeply than just attending church on a Sunday. College is a pivotal time, and ��ñ�� has an impact on students [during that time]. They’re finding themselves, and what happens in college often sets a trajectory for the rest of that person’s life.”

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Drew Larson

Drew Larson works as a writer on ��ñ��’s Communications Team in Madison, Wisconsin. You can buy his book here. You can support his ministry with ��ñ�� here.

God-Given Gifts & a Global Need—��ñ�� Alumnus Designs COVID-19 Mask

joy.zhou@intervarsity.org — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 20:02:30 +0000

July 22, 2020

Drew Larson

God-Given Gifts & a Global Need—��ñ�� Alumnus Designs COVID-19 Mask

“Hey, so the Department of Surgery Chairman is wondering if you can make a COVID-19 mask?”

Joshua Kim perked up as he read the email from a doctor at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he worked as a Senior Designer and Program Coordinator. The request was understandable. As the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation, masks—practically anything that would fit on a person’s face—were in high demand and short supply.

Joshua had been working from home since March and deeply missed the hands-on part of his job: the feel of tools in his hand, the smell of a saw cutting through plastic. He needed to build something.

He had always been a maker, a tinkerer—someone whose idea of fun was crafting replica Iron Man suits and Mandalorian armor for his cosplay hobby. As a biology student at Northwestern University in Illinois and a member of the Asian American ��ñ�� (AAIV) chapter, he had designed a device to help stroke patients relearn how to walk.

It was there, in that ��ñ�� community, where Joshua (a 2017 alumnus) began to understand the power of Christlike service: first through his small group leader’s example who cared for freshmen like Joshua, taking time out of her day to meet for meals and ask how they were doing, and then later by using his technical and design skills to connect his AAIV large group more effectively with the Northwestern community.

As Joshua looked over the doctor’s email again, he glanced over to the pile of tools and materials on the work bench behind his desk. He had gathered them a few days earlier, hoping that a project might reveal itself. Make a mask? he thought. With any of this stuff? Impossible.

He emailed the doctor: “I don’t think so. I don’t think there are [any designs] out there that could substitute N95 masks.”

For a moment, his eyes drifted to his work bench again and then to the 3D printer in the corner. Joshua could almost feel tumblers and gears starting to click into place in his mind. Don’t air conditioners filter out allergens that aren’t much larger than viruses? What if you could put small generic air conditioner filters into some kind of 3D printed mask?

Joshua raced to the hardware store and brought home five different filters. He cut them up, molded a small housing cartridge unit from scrap plastic, and installed a one-way valve. This idea can work. Joshua felt it with a craftsman’s intuition sharpened by years of tinkering. But he still felt a sliver of doubt: air conditioner filters need a strong air flow to pull air through. Would human lungs do the trick? He clicked the cartridge into a spare oxygen mask, pulled it over his mouth, and took a deep breath. A strong draft of cool, clean air slid through.

Fifteen hours later, Joshua rushed to his campus lab with a prototype in hand. His team had already been working on 3D printing for other projects, and they pivoted quickly to help design a hard-shell 3D printed mask. For Joshua, it was a beautiful example of the kind of collaboration that got him excited about design.

“It was really fun,” he said. “Everyone knew what they had to do. It felt like a true design task force in this high-pressure scenario. We knew that we had a product that people needed, and this was our way of contributing to the fight against COVID-19.”

Four days later, after several rounds of testing and designing, Joshua held a functioning, working prototype in his hand. In the span of one week, Joshua’s invention was ready to go public.

“This was the first time where I felt like something I worked on could be implemented in a public setting. I was in disbelief that it happened,” Joshua said. “Most of our projects are school projects. You give them to the company once you’re done with them, and you might not ever hear about it again. But this was the first time I was able to take an idea from ‘ideation phase,’ bring it to life, and then distribute it to people who actually need it.”

The global need for masks was dire, and the response to Joshua’s mask design was immediate—within two weeks, it generated national and international interest The Air Force and Navy contracted to use Joshua’s prototype as did people from all over the world, in countries like Turkey, the UK, Canada, and Ireland.

“We had local colleges and high schools jumping on board to make their own masks. People were buying 3D printers and printing them out there,” Joshua said. “We wanted to get this out to as many hands as possible. We were telling anyone in the local community who asked, ‘If you know anyone else who needs this, please feel free to give it to them.’”

This opportunity to help others has connected Joshua’s dreams for what product design could be, shaped by his heart for Christlike service. “It’s been a ride I’ll never forget,” he said. “I got to essentially live out what I’ve always dreamed about doing, which is to use my creative talents and passion to serve others in a productive, tangible way.”

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Drew Larson

Drew Larson works as a writer on ��ñ��’s Communications Team in Madison, Wisconsin. You can buy his book here. You can support his ministry with ��ñ�� here.

A $25,000 Matching Grant for Black Staff Flourishing

drew.larson@intervarsity.org — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 19:37:07 +0000

Give to Black Staff Flourishing Fund

June 24, 2020

Eddie and Kristen Yoon

A $25,000 Matching Grant for Black Staff Flourishing

��ñ�� alumni Eddie and Kristen Yoon will match $25,000 of gifts to a special fund for Black Staff Flourishing. These funds will help Black staff for whom raising funds for ministry is an extra challenge due to historic inequities. Below, Eddie and Kristen share their heart. Click here to give.

Like many others, we are grieving the heinous death of George Floyd, and the oppression and despair our Black brothers and sisters face and endure in our country. We are embarrassed by our own ignorance at the full extent of racism towards Black Americans, both implicit and explicit, personal and systemic, national as well as local, as Sandra Bland lived 10 minutes away from where we raise our family.

We have supported ��ñ�� for decades. And yet even in our giving, we realized our implicit bias. The majority of our giving goes to Asian American staff. My wife and I both came out of Asian American chapters at ��ñ�� and we believe wholeheartedly in that ministry. But we're realizing that the Lord is calling us to reflect on the unique role that Asian Americans can play in standing by and supporting Black Americans.

We started giving to ��ñ��'s Black Staff Flourishing account a few years ago, once we better understood the fundraising disadvantages that many of ��ñ��'s Black staff face. We are meaningfully increasing our giving to Black Staff Flourishing and we want to encourage you to join us and learn more about why this is important.

As we pray and work towards a comprehensive plan to address racism, there is no doubt that a thriving group of Black staff who can focus on bringing the gospel to campus with less worries about funding would be a wonderful way to advance the Kingdom of God, as we all anticipate worshiping in heaven next to every tribe and in every tongue.

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Ethnicity, Reconciliation, and Justice

Eddie and Kristen Yoon

Eddie and Kristen Yoon are ��ñ�� alumni and long-time ministry partners. They live in Chicago with their three children