Chapter Focus Week

Something Clicked at Chapter Focus Week

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 14:29:36 +0000

Gordon Govier

Something Clicked at Chapter Focus Week

Chapter Focus Week completely changed Parker’s mind about ��ñ��. As a freshman, he was ambivalent about the small ��ñ�� chapter that he was invited to attend at Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) in Pennsylvania.

“I was definitely ready to get involved in a Christian community in college,” Parker said. He had grown up in a Christian home and attended a Christian high school. But nothing clicked until after his freshman finals were over, and he spent a week away at Chapter Camp with ��ñ�� students from other area schools, studying the Bible, receiving leadership training, and learning about ��ñ��’s vision for campus ministry.

He was hesitant at first. Chapter Camp would take time away from his summer job without bringing in any income. “I prayed about it, talked with people, and finally decided to go,” he said. “It was huge for me in becoming a part of the ��ñ�� community.” Parker made some solid, long-lasting friendships and learned the joy of inductive Bible study. And he was even more excited about joining his chapter’s leadership team for his sophomore year.

Parker took advantage of every training opportunity that was offered after that. At Fall Conference his sophomore year, he met Sam, who became one of his best friends. In the spring, he participated in the Washington DC Urban Plunge. That was where God really began to work on him, as he learned to put his faith into action in an unfamiliar, cross-cultural setting.

Parker admitted that he has a tendency to “jump at stuff.” He was studying abroad the fall semester of his junior year when his ��ñ�� staff minister invited him to attend ��ñ��’s 2018 Ambition conference. “I didn’t know what my ambition was at the time,” he said. “But I wanted to see God’s kingdom grow, so I decided to go ahead.”

At Ambition, Parker and two other students from F&M were challenged to creatively reach out with the gospel message to fellow students. And that’s how they came up with the idea of Reverb, a night of worship and music.

“We wanted it to be something where we could invite people from campuses that don’t usually go to ��ñ��, but also to invite different campuses around the area,” Parker said. His experience with ��ñ�� has shown him that musical worship can have a lasting impact on people’s lives.

Almost a dozen different campuses were represented that spring at the first Reverb. They repeated it in the fall, and this past spring the neighboring ��ñ�� chapter at Penn State Harrisburg took over sponsorship. Parker thought Reverb invigorated the campuses of F&M and Penn State Harrisburg with a deeper, more passionate spirit of worship. Christian students at a number of local campuses became better connected with one another.

Parker’s passion for music and language also led him in another direction: writing and scoring a German opera focused on the execution of the Apostle Peter as an independent study project. The opera was performed on campus in April, but Parker says he’s still polishing it.

“Studying Peter and seeing how God’s grace came even in the last moments of his life, that was powerful for me, working on it,” he said. “It’s been cool to see how God can use music and poetry in that setting, both things which I really care about.”

As Parker has observed the Holy Spirit at work on campus through ministry, he’s felt a growing desire to see the same thing happen in business and hopes to use his degree in business to that end. Working on his chapter’s leadership team with people from all kinds of different backgrounds—religious, cultural, and ethnic—gave him a passion for the strength of diversity. “One of the biggest things I have learned from ��ñ�� is how to work purposefully with Christians from different backgrounds,” he said.

One of Parker’s memories from that first Chapter Camp was when the seniors in the group left early in order to get back to campus for graduation. He returned to Chapter Camp each of the following three years. “Every year just got better and better,” he said. This year he was one of those seniors who left early.

“Chapter Camp was the first time that I felt I was invested and could understand why people from ��ñ�� invested in me,” he said. The investment paid off. Parker is now preparing to invest what he has learned through ��ñ�� in his new career in business.

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Franklin & Marshall College

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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Hillsboro Community College

Building a Strong Faith in College

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 18:18:57 +0000

News

Amy Hauptman

Building a Strong Faith in College

“I know why you’re here,” Keith’s friend said. “It’s because you’re a Christian and you want to show other people love as Jesus did.”

Keith was speechless. Earlier, he had had an overwhelming sense that he needed to visit one of his friends. To share his faith.

“I wasn’t sure what I was thinking, but I had this feeling that I needed to visit her. And that was a starting point in our friendship to talk about Jesus,” said Keith.

For fifteen minutes Keith and his friend talked about faith. His friend shared that she had grown up in a Buddhist family, spent some time in a Christian church, but now described herself as a "lost sheep.” Keith shared that the point of believing in Jesus Christ is not what we can do to get to God, but what God has already done to show his love to us.

Keith also shared some of his own testimony—how he had struggled with negative opinions towards others, looking down on them. He shared how he had prayed that God would change his heart—that he would see others with His love—and how God had answered that prayer.

Growing Through Spiritual Disciplines

At Michigan Tech, Keith learned the importance of spiritual disciplines through ��ñ��.

“I would say that I had a relationship with God when I came to college,” said Keith. “But I would also say that my relationship with God has become more important to me since coming to college.”

��ñ�� has helped Keith realize the importance of prayer, Bible study, evangelism, and Christian fellowship. Once a friend of Keith’s challenged him to read the entire Bible, which he had never done before. Keith now studies the Bible regularly and has experienced God’s transformation through His Word. Also, at ��ñ��’s Chapter Focus Week (CFW) Keith learned about the power of prayer.

“I remember a speaker prayed for his son’s healing,” said Keith. “Another student prayed for students struggling with depression, self-image issues, and fear. I’d never seen such boldness before.”

During the next school year, excited by what he had experienced at Chapter Focus Week, Keith started regularly attending ��ñ�� prayer meetings and started to see the impact prayer made in his own life. Though he admits that he sometimes struggles to make time in his schedule to pray, the power of prayer is something that he can never deny.

Becoming a Student Missionary

Next month, Keith will graduate as an environmental engineering major. No one would probably expect to hear that Keith is moving to another country. To teach English. And to share the gospel.

While at Michigan Tech, Keith spent three years learning another language as well as helping international students practice English. Keith found that he not only loved teaching English, but he also wanted to share the gospel with his international friends. So he started an international students’ Bible study.

“When I share the message of the gospel with others, I see what an amazing message it is, and how it's able to transform lives,” said Keith. “This motivates me to want to share it with others.”

Around November, with graduation nearing, Keith looked for teaching opportunities—teaching English. He hoped to take what he had learned through ��ñ�� into the real world.

“I wanted to find a job that would give me the opportunity to teach and share the gospel in a cross-cultural context,” said Keith. “So a friend from high school connected me with a job that combines my love for teaching English, tutoring, and sharing the gospel in another culture.”

The college years are an opportunity to prepare students for a lifetime of service to God’s kingdom by sharing the love of Christ with those around them. In ��ñ��, we’re honored to invest in students like Keith, who continue to look for opportunities to invest and share the love of Jesus with their friends, wherever they are at on their spiritual journey.

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Michigan Tech

International Student Ministry

Chapter Focus Week

One Incredible Week

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:14:38 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

One Incredible Week

Final exams are not the last event of the school year for ��ñ�� students. Many spend one additional week together sharpening their spiritual vision for the coming school year.

Traditionally this week has been called Chapter Camp. The Chapter Camp schedule begins in April and continues through May and into June at locations from Campus by the Sea on Catalina Island, California, to Toah Nipi in New Hampshire, and many places in between. (A small number of chapters have Chapter Camp in August, just before the start of the school year.)

Visiting Cedar Campus

I spent May 4-10 at Cedar Campus, on Lake Huron’s Prentiss Bay, near Cedarville, Michigan. ��ñ�� students have been coming to Cedar since 1951. I shared the camp with about 500 ��ñ�� students and staff from big schools like Michigan State and Ohio State, and smaller schools such as Washtenaw Community College and Grand Rapids Community College.

Bradon, who had just spent a semester at Grand Rapids Community College after dropping out of another school and hitchhiking around Europe for a year, told me that coming to Cedar Campus was re-energizing, after an exhausting exam week. “It's an amazing place with amazing people, and a good opportunity to grow in relationship to God," he said.

Marc Papai, ��ñ��’s Divisional Director for the Ohio Valley Division, called his first week at Cedar Campus in 1974 one of the most significant weeks of his life. “I remember realizing during that week that Christianity was not something I was adding to my life; it was going to be my life,” he said.

Chapter Focus Week

Marc served as the Overall Program Director at Cedar Campus for the week I was there. "Chapter Focus Week [as it’s called at Cedar Campus] is a time for us to invest in six days of training our students in ways that have benefits out of proportion with that amount of time,” he said. “Our experience has been when we send students here we often know how strong the ministry will be in the succeeding year because the leadership development that happens here, the vision that's cast, the shared community experiences that chapters have, all are great predictors of the quality of the chapters' ministry the following year."

Students spent many hours in tracks being trained in Bible study, leadership, prayer, and evangelism; and learning about apologetics, cross-cultural outreach, and justice issues. They were challenged to commit themselves to follow Jesus more faithfully.

"We're bold in our expectations for what happens here,” Marc said. “We expect God to do life-changing kinds of things and in the testimonies shared by many students that has been true. It can be anything from conversions to faith in Christ as non-Christians who are part of our chapters join us, to commitments to life-long service, to some kind of risk-taking on campus. All sorts of things are woven into the tracks and the general Scripture exposition we do here."

A Legacy of Prayer

The beauty of the natural setting, far from the demands of day-to-day life, encourages students to reflect. So also do the prayers of those who know the kind of impact Chapter Focus Week can have. Marc notes that 60 years of prayers have been focused on Cedar Campus. “That's an astonishing gift to our movement and to students,” he said. “They enter into something that is already happening here.”

During the week I was at Cedar Campus six students committed to new faith in Jesus Christ, and 60 students recommitted their lives to follow Christ. More than 100 students made a commitment to challenge themselves and take a risk as a Christian on campus, such as leading an evangelistic Bible study.

On Thursday evening, the last night of Chapter Focus Week, I walked out to Whitefish Point, where the Michigan Tech chapter was gathered around a bonfire. The students were openly sharing how God had been at work in their lives that week, and the previous semester. They shared about the risks they had taken, struggles they had endured, and decisions they had made. Someone prayed for each person after they had shared.

"People have referred to certain places on earth as 'thin places,' where the distance between heaven and earth seems shorter,” Marc said. “Without being too sentimental, or strange about it, I think that Cedar Campus is one of the thinnest.”

For more on Chapter Focus Week:

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Chapter Focus Week

Chapter Camp

Cedar Campus