Global

World Assembly 2019–What’s It All About?

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 16:57:49 +0000

Steph Schmaltz

World Assembly 2019–What’s It All About?

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: IFES World Assembly.

World Assembly, put on by the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, focused its delegates on being messengers of hope to the world around them. It provided a unique place for our movements to break bread, listen to front-line 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.

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?

As the USA delegation returns to our roles, here are some points to contemplate and implement across our movement.

Learning from IFES movements to further the 2030 Calling: 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.

Developing world changers: 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 Global Program), and dream of new ways to support and encourage one another.

Establishing and deepening relationships with IFES movements: 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? ��ñ�� Link 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?

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.

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.

Watch World Assembly Videos

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International Fellowship Evangelical Students

Putting Faith Into Practice

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 20:30:22 +0000

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Putting Faith Into Practice

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) -- Over the course of college, ��ñ�� strives to help students build a foundation of faith that will last a lifetime. But applying faith lessons often starts before graduation, particularly for students who participate in ��ñ��’s Global and Urban programs, which take place each summer.

This summer, ��ñ�� has 150 students and staff in Global Programs from Minsk to Manila, and from Quito to Nairobi, living and learning alongside local residents at each location. They experience the local culture and learn what God has to say about injustice and cultural differences from a biblical perspective. And when appropriate, they share their own Christian faith.

Several hundred additional students are participating in Urban Programs from Tacoma to Tampa, and from New York to Los Angeles. A program in rural West Virginia also helps connect students with issues of rural poverty and the environment.

“As students are displaced in these locations, they meet God in profound ways,” said Scott Bessenecker, ��ñ��’s Director of Missions. “They learn to stop and listen, to love others practically, and to die to themselves in healthy ways.”

Sixteen students from eight colleges are participating in the second year of the Richmond Justice Program in Virginia. During the day, each student partners with a local nonprofit or ministry that addresses poverty, immigration, and racism. In the evening and on weekends, they meet with their ��ñ�� leaders and one another for prayer, Bible study, and other activities.

“Despite the hard conversations we have had surrounding various issues, like education injustice, broken health systems, and the dark history of this city, I have found peace in the never-changing character of our God, who is always good and always just,” said Rachel, a University of Virginia student.

Another group of ��ñ�� students were at the U.S. southern border this summer, working with the organization El Paso Encounters and learning the realities of the immigration situation. “Being there, actually talking with an asylum-seeker or giving them a hug, or sharing a meal with them, there was beauty in our shared humanity,” ��ñ�� Campus Staff Minister Christina Foor told World Magazine.

During her Global Program in Manila, one ��ñ�� student Melanie, from the University of Texas, was worried that her shoes would never dry out because of the rainy season. Her host jokingly suggested that she might have to throw them out and then wondered how much they cost. ”3,000 pesos,” Melanie said softly, suddenly struck by how much food, medicine, and clothing that sum would buy in Manila.

Melanie didn’t know what to say after that. “So I sit in the tension,” she mused. “And these Chacos are the heaviest they’ve ever felt.”

Putting faith into practice is not always easy; ��ñ�� students like Rachel and Melanie have been discovering that this summer.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608/443-3688

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Urbana 15 Registration is Open

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:01:56 +0000

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Urbana 15 Registration is Open

(Madison, WI) – In a world grappling with ISIS’ aggression in the Middle East, Ebola in Africa, and border conflict in Ukraine, God is not silent. For Christians asking how they can share the good news of Jesus throughout this broken world, and seeking answers to difficult questions, the Urbana Student Missions Conference offers answers and a space to discern their calling.

Urbana presents a big-picture snapshot of God’s work among the nations. “My prayer is that Urbana 15 will result in millions around the world hearing and responding to the gospel,” says Urbana director Tom Lin. “The vision of Urbana is a mobilization vision—and it has been since 1946—to inspire and challenge this generation to give their whole lives for God’s global mission.”

Registration opens today for Urbana 15, ��ñ��’s 24th triennial Student Missions Conference. Urbana 15 will be held December 27-31, 2015, at the America’s Center in St. Louis, MO. Online registration is available at http://www.urbana.org/register.

Throughout the five days of Urbana 15, participants will study passages from the Gospel of Matthew through both in-depth Bible study and exposition. “We will hear and study different stories based on people’s responses to Jesus in the passages,” says Urbana program director Úna Lucey-Lee.

The Urbana 15 speakers who will challenge participants to find their life in God’s global story include:

Patrick Fung - General Director, OMF International
Christena Cleveland – Reconciliation Studies Professor, Bethel University
Francis Chan – Church Planter, World Impact
Evelyne Reisacher – Islamic Studies Professor, Fuller Theological Seminary
David Platt – President, International Mission Board
And more to be announced

More than 16,000 Urbana participants will engage with God through Bible study, seminars and tracks, and general sessions, and they’ll explore where their gifts may fit into God’s global mission. New to Urbana 15 is a technology hackathon, Hack4Missions, which will seek to create solutions for missions organizations under the guidance of technology and missions experts. Participants will also have the opportunity to meet with missionaries and leaders from over 250 missions organizations and seminaries exhibiting at Urbana.

��ñ�� is an interdenominational ministry with over 40,000 students involved on 616 campuses nationwide. Urbana 15 is also sponsored by Inter-Varsity Canada and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collégiaux du Canada.

More information on Urbana 15 is available at www.urbana.org.

Matt Sally
matt.sally@intervarsity.org
608/443-3792
��ñ��
6400 Schroeder Rd. P.O. Box 7895
Madison, WI 53707-7895

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