LaFe

Going First—Keeping Step with Christ & Community

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Fri, 06 Sep 2019 20:49:58 +0000

Nathan Peterson

Going First—Keeping Step with Christ & Community

First in her family to go to college. First to earn a bachelor’s degree. First to earn a master’s. Ruth Castro has a history of going first.

Throughout her childhood, going to college wasn’t ever really discussed. “Everyone’s expected to work right after high school,” Ruth said. “That’s been the mentality culturally. It’s kind of the stereotypical Mexican American family.”

But college readiness courses in high school sparked Ruth’s desire to pursue higher education. Just a few weeks after graduating from the University of Chicago (UChicago) with her MA in Social Work Administration, Ruth reflected, “It’s empowering to pave my own path and set the example for future Mexican American leaders. It’s been a really good journey so far.”

Putting Faith First

Though it’s empowering, going first is harder than billboards and bumper stickers let on. As she began applying for colleges, Ruth discovered one of the many challenges that confront an aspiring first-generation college student: a need for guidance. “I don’t have the luxury of going to family members and asking them for advice like, ‘What do you think of this career path?’” she said. “I’ve had to scramble for resources on my own.”

Fortunately, mentors and high school teachers came alongside Ruth to help her navigate this process. After earning her BA in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2015, an even bigger challenge awaited Ruth: making the cross-country move from California to Illinois for graduate school.

Exchanging balmy afternoons on the beach in Santa Monica for the Windy City’s blustery winters would have been challenge enough. But Ruth faced even greater obstacles. “I missed my family,” she said. “We’re very united, so it was very, very hard on me mentally and emotionally to start from scratch and build a new community. A lot of the time, to be honest, it felt lonely.”

In those still moments of sitting alone in her apartment, Ruth sensed that she needed something beyond just a new set of friends. She needed God. “I grew up going to church, but it was more of a chore,” she said. “It felt like I needed to do it because my parents made me. I never felt it internally.”

With these things on her mind, Ruth began her first quarter at UChicago. Receiving an invitation to a Friendsgiving and then a Bible study with ��ñ��’s Graduate Christian Fellowship chapter, she went, a little nervous to meet so many new people. Looking back on those first moments, Ruth is grateful she took the risk.

From evening bonfires on the shore of Lake Michigan—helping Ruth feel a bit closer to the beaches of Santa Monica—to final exam study sessions and regular home meetings, the UChicago Graduate Christian Fellowship was exactly what she needed. “We’re able to empower and uplift each other during hard times in graduate programs,” she said. “We create an environment of trust, where we’re able to be inclusive and nonjudgmental, where we’re able to create long-lasting friendships with each other and with members in the community.”

Ruth’s perspective on her faith has completely changed as well. “The difference now is that I feel it in my heart to go to church,” she said. “I feel it in my heart to praise God. I feel it in my heart to read the Bible and pray. That’s the huge difference. It’s the drive, the motivation, the passion to commit and live a Christlike life. Being part of ��ñ�� has given me an opportunity to connect more with God.”

First for a Reason

As Ruth continued in her studies at UChicago, going first just for the sake of going first wasn’t enough anymore. There needed to be something more, a purpose behind it. Attending Urbana 18 with three other friends from her chapter, Ruth discovered a key part of that purpose.

Of the many insightful Urbana seminars she heard, Ruth particularly resonated with Women of Color in Urban Ministry. After it was over, she talked with one of the speakers, Janet Singleterry, who shared more about her ministry with Servant Partners, a nonprofit dedicated to community transformation by walking alongside the urban poor.

Returning to UChicago, Ruth stayed in touch with Janet and began looking into an internship with Servant Partners. Through these programs, interns join Servant Partners in gathering and equipping leaders and also identifying other ways to partner with local communities. “I told God I wanted to work in a faith-based organization and work in church planting and community organizing. That’s exactly what Servant Partners does,” Ruth said.

This summer, she will begin a two-year internship in San José, California, with the nonprofit. She looks forward to moving to the inner city and helping to serve the Latino immigrant community—a community close to her heart, being a child of Mexican immigrants. “I want to do everything and anything I can to help that community just because it hits close to home,” she said.

Reflecting on her journey of firsts, Ruth said, “I always feel like God has been guiding me ever since I was a little girl.” And even as she looks ahead to possibly being the first in her family to earn a PhD after her internship, her focus has never strayed far from them: “I think that I would want to further my studies as a way of combining my educational skills and personal disadvantaged struggle to create broader social change in my own community. One of my long-term goals is to create a nonprofit that assists low-income students struggling with academics. I hope to encourage them to find their passions while also taking pride in their own identities.”

Are you starting graduate school this fall or know someone who is? ��ñ�� ministers to not only undergraduate college students, but graduate students, like Ruth, and faculty as well. Find out more about Graduate and Faculty Ministry (GFM) and find a community at your campus by clicking the button below.

Learn More about GFM and Find a Community

News Keywords

Graduate and Faculty Ministries

LaFe

Urbana 18

University of Chicago

Listening on the Margins

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 17:04:29 +0000

Alumni Profile

News

Kathryn Brill

Listening on the Margins

God commands us to care for the most vulnerable, but this can often seem like an impossible task in our daily lives. Anthropology PhD student and ��ñ�� alumna Almita Miranda of Northwestern University discovered that her life experiences, research skills, and faith could help her advocate for a group on the margins: undocumented immigrants and their families.

Finding a Place

Almita’s parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the 1970s. Because of their experiences and others in Almita’s community, “immigration was always part of my life,” she said. But it wasn’t until her undergraduate years at Northwestern University that Almita first came to terms with her ethnic identity and learned about the historic and ongoing forms of systemic discrimination against racial minorities. It was these things that helped her recognize her calling to work with undocumented Mexican immigrants.

As a first-generation college student, undergraduate life was overwhelming for Almita at first. “I felt alienated at times, both for being Latina and for coming from a working-class background,” she said. Almita found a safe community that helped her through this time of transition when she joined ��ñ��’s LaFe (Latino Fellowship).

Northwestern’s LaFe Bible study provided a place for her to explore the ways her ethnicity and her faith intersected. “Attending the first LaFe national conference in 2004, where we read the book of Esther, helped me realize that being a Christian did not mean having to deny my ethnic identity,” Almita said. “Rather, I could embrace it as it informs my unique experiences, which can be used for God’s purpose.”

As Almita explored her ethnic identity, she also discovered her academic passions. Taking courses on Latino ethnography transformed her career path—she found herself drawn to anthropology.

One summer, she received a fellowship to do research about “mixed-status families,” or families where some members are undocumented while others are U.S. citizens. Her interviews with these families struck a chord, leading her to pursue a PhD in cultural anthropology at Northwestern. “God gave me a calling,” Almita said.

Stories for Justice

That calling involves using her research skills for more than just discovering new information. Almita spends a lot of time doing ethnographic fieldwork, interviewing individuals who have been affected in some way by the current U.S. immigration system, as well as local pro-immigration rights activists.

Almita has heard from members of mixed-status families, undocumented workers, and migrants who have been deported. She sees her interviews as a way to bear witness to their struggles and listen to stories that might otherwise go untold.

Many of these stories will be part of Almita’s dissertation as well, which will give them an even wider audience. It’s a kind of advocacy that doesn’t immediately spring to most people’s minds, but Almita sees it as one of the most important ways she can help these families.

“God can work through us in whatever field or profession we’ve chosen to work,” Almita said. “I can contribute to the fight for social justice through my writing on immigration.”

Trusting in God

Because immigration reform requires systemic change, it can be a discouraging thing to advocate for, and Almita has often felt as though “it’s so close and yet so far.” But the people she interviews are an inspiration to her as she works.

“Mixed-status families are often faced with incredible challenges, but they remain hopeful. Many of them turn to God for that hope. They’ve taught me that prayer is the fuel that helps us keep going,” she said. When she feels stuck, prayer restores her motivation and reminds her of God’s faithfulness and mercy. “Even when I feel like no one else is listening to the cry for change, I know that God is listening,” Almita said.

Almita’s advocacy on behalf of immigrant families goes beyond her PhD research. She helps members of her community study for the naturalization exam and has participated in many marches and rallies for reform, both in Chicago and in Washington, D.C. She has also traveled to D.C. along with the community group Centro Sin Fronteras (Center Without Borders) to speak to representatives and senators about changing immigration policies.

“The families I work with teach me more about faith and la lucha (the fight) for social justice than what I could ever give them back. But I try to use my position as an academic to write about their experiences and struggles, and contextualize them within the larger political and economic processes that can contribute to undocumented migration and family separation,” Almita said.

And in all these circumstances, she’s been reminded of an important truth: “God loves all people. And he is a God of justice, for he promises to defend and protect the most vulnerable.”

News Keywords

Northwestern University

LaFe

��ñ�� alumni

Wholeness in Ministry

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 19:16:30 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Wholeness in Ministry

Anthony Giron’s ability to connect with potential ��ñ�� chapter members on seven target campuses in the Chicago area took a giant leap forward last month. Northern Illinois University (NIU) and Northwestern University students participating in LaFe, ��ñ��’s ministry to Latino students, were invited to submit names of acquaintances at the seven campuses.

“I was shocked by the number of students from NIU and Northwestern that knew people at those campuses,” Anthony said. “However, one of the great giftings of the Latino community is the community connection.” Now Anthony has contact information for students who can introduce him to other students, with whom he can share ��ñ��’s ministry.

One of his immediate goals is to find at least one student on each campus who will join the LaFe students from NIU and Northwestern as they travel to Tampa for December’s national LaFe conference, Mi Gente (my people). In past years the triennial LaFe conferences have been key to the growth of LaFe.

Mi Gente will focus on the story of Moses. Moses, though Jewish, grew up immersed in Egyptian culture and spent 40 years in the desert among the Midianites. Then he was called by God to lead the Jewish exodus, without having much Jewish ethnic experience.

Anthony’s Heritage

Anthony identifies with this aspect of the Moses story. With a Latino father and white mother, who divorced when he was five years old, Anthony immersed himself in white culture and did not acknowledge his Latino heritage. “It wasn’t until I became a Christian in college that I began to investigate what it meant to be not just white but white and Latino,” he said.

After investigating the Christian faith through most of his sophomore year at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (UIUC), Anthony decided to become a Christian the following summer and began attending church. When he returned to UIUC in the fall, he stumbled into ��ñ�� during Quad Day, the day that campus organizations reach out to students.

“I was walking through the Quad, and I saw a sign that read ‘Christian Fellowship,’” he said. “I thought, ‘I’m a Christian, I guess that’s for me. I should do something about that.’”

He filled out an interest card and got involved in ��ñ��. “I went to Bible study and worship services and that’s how I learned what it meant to be a Christian,” he said. After not making many friends his first two years on campus, he was thrilled with finding new friends through ��ñ��. He signed up for every camp and conference that was offered, and attended Urbana 03, the last Urbana conference on the UIUC campus.

Anthony’s Challenges

Anthony started to think more deeply about his biracial identity during a summer with ��ñ��’s Chicago Urban Project. Later he read Sundee Tucker Frazier’s book Check All That Apply, Finding Wholeness as a Multiracial Person. “I began to understand the journey of a biracial, multiracial person,” he said.

After graduation he spent one year in ministry as an ��ñ�� staff intern. He loved working with students but didn’t think he had a support base that would enable him to join staff full-time. So he spent the next four years in a variety of jobs, trying to use his marketing degree, but not really enjoying any of the jobs.
��ñ�� was always in the back of his mind.

Finally, during a miserable drive to work at a job that he hated, he sensed God asking him, “Are you going to let money be the reason that you don’t follow my will?” He knew he had to join ��ñ�� staff, no matter what the obstacles. So six years ago, he returned to campus ministry, and was assigned to Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Campus Ministry in Chicago

Because their workload is heavy and they’re very focused on their studies, students’ isolation and loneliness is an issue at IIT. ��ñ�� is helping build community among students as the largest student group on campus, and the most active.

IIT also has one of the largest percentages of international students of any college in the country, about 40 percent of the student body. The chapter is starting to develop a vision for reaching out to internationals, and five have come to faith already this year. “I think my students have started to enjoy the level of interest that international students have in figuring out American culture and how open they are to the gospel,” he said.

As the chapter has matured, Anthony has started to develop his vision for planting new chapters at Hispanic Serving Institutions in the Chicago area (an actual federal designation). Being biracial and not speaking Spanish, he recognized that he did not feel Latino enough to be comfortable in leadership. But he remembered the encouraging words of former staff colleague Sandra Van Opstal the first time he heard the message on Moses.

“She said ‘You are not half Latino and half white, you are fully white and fully Latino, you are 100% both, you are a whole person.’ That was huge for me to hear that.”

Now, as he nurtures the chapter at IIT and begins to plant new chapters, Anthony is thankful for a job that he enjoys driving to each day. Campus ministry is advancing in Chicago.

News Keywords

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Illinois Institute of Technology

LaFe

It Starts with Forgiveness

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 22:05:53 +0000

News

Amy Hauptman

It Starts with Forgiveness

“Before college, I was an atheist,” said Rogelio Gutierrez-Pinto. “I had grown up in the church, but as I started learning about science, I convinced myself that there was some unknown reason for everything, but not God.”

It wasn’t until his freshman year at UC Berkeley, that Rogelio truly experienced the love of God.

“At UC Berkeley’s LaFe ��ñ�� chapter, I experienced love, and not only because I felt welcomed, but because I found friends that showed me the things God is capable of,” says Rogelio. “As I learned more about the nature of God and the love that came from Him, I was compelled to show the same love to others.”

Struggling with Forgiveness

During college, Rogelio struggled with whether or not he was capable of forgiving his dad for painful things in the past. Rogelio attended LaFe Bible studiesand ��ñ��’s Fall Conference. At these events, God showed Rogelio that His love is not passive, but active.

“I remember one time, I had missed about 5 phone calls from my dad, and I wouldn’t answer because I was afraid of how I would respond to him,” stated Rogelio. “I was convinced that I could just leave my issue with my dad behind and move on. But then God reminded me of His nature and why He sent Jesus to earth.”

God revealed to Rogelio that if he wanted to forgive his dad, he needed to show his dad forgiveness.

“So I decided to call my dad back after ignoring his first 5 calls—it ended up being a conversation that started something great in my relationship with my dad,” said Rogelio. “Today, my dad and I have good communication.”

Since his freshmen year, Rogelio has reached out to others on campus by trying to sharing his story with them. Also as an artist, Rogelio openly shares with others the spiritual significance of his art.

Following Jesus' Example

Rogelio also sees the importance of following Jesus’ example by sharing God’s love with those around him intentionally.

“I know I’ve struggled with being exclusive about who I talk to on campus,” noted Rogelio. “But lately, I’ve been working on talking with and hanging out with people I normally wouldn’t. “

��ñ�� has taught Rogelio about God’s love and the need to take this love to the world.

“I feel that without ��ñ��, I would have kept an individualistic view of seeking spiritual peace for myself,” remarked Rogelio. “But now, my focus has shifted to bring God’s love and forgiveness to others.”

News Keywords

UC-Berkeley

LaFe

Willing to be Transparent

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:14:38 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Willing to be Transparent

Jaded by the Church, was the topic of a seminar at Sonburst, the annual ��ñ�� Florida fall conference, held in Orlando in October. Area Director Steve Tamayo co-led the session, which was aimed at addressing unresolved issues that some people have with organized religion.

Steve calls spontaneous question-and-answer sessions with students such as this Confessional Apologetics. He desires to honestly address issues that keep young people from the Christian faith.

“I can’t speak for whole church, but I can tell you why someone like me does those sorts of things that might make people question our Christian commitment,” he said. “I talked about hypocrisy in my own life and how I don’t think that people notice when I say one thing and do another thing. I talked about my desire for comfort and how I was at times moved to put my desire for comfort above other people’s desire to hear about Jesus or experience the love of Jesus.”

Sidetracked by Scripture

Steve has been on staff with ��ñ�� for almost eight years, after first connecting with ��ñ�� as a student at Duke University. He had planned on joining another campus ministry recommended by his youth pastor when he arrived at Duke, but he got sidetracked by an ��ñ�� Bible study. “They studied Scripture more deeply than I had ever seen anyone study Scripture,” he said. “So I stayed.”

Steve became a student leader at Duke at about the same time more and more Black and Asian students students joined the chapter. “I started to see people who weren’t Christians coming and connecting with ��ñ�� because they were intrigued by our diversity,” he said. “I thought it was really exciting, that God would create a multiethnic community and use that as a witness to the gospel. I wanted to be a part of that.”

His own Latino heritage is not immediately apparent, with his blond hair and blue eyes, and lack of Spanish language skills. Steve is thankful for Joe Ho, his Campus Staff Member, who worked with Steve to help him better understand his own ethnicity and also how it could be used in campus ministry. “We Latinos can serve as bridge builders between folks who are white and folks who are black, because we’re kind of outside that historic racial tension,” Steve said.

Steve got his Psychology degree at Duke in just three years, then he went to Oxford University in England for a graduate degree, all the while staying active in ��ñ��. He filled out his ��ñ�� staff application while he was at Oxford.

The Process of Evangelism

As a staff worker Steve has discovered that he enjoys helping students discover the process of evangelism. “Those with a church background think evangelism is just about making an invitation to enter the kingdom,” he said. “And when they hear that there’s more to it, that it’s a process and not just a moment, it’s very relieving.”

An important part of the evangelism process is establishing trust. “I’ve seen students who would never have responded to a contact evangelism altar call, but over the course of several months they learned to trust us,” he said. “They moved in their faith from one step to another, becoming a seeker, and then into the kingdom. That’s been really fun – to see that God does that.”

Steve’s former staff worker Joe Ho, now a colleague, says that one of the things he appreciates most about Steve is his hospitality. “It’s this core quality in Steve that has allowed his ministry to touch a dizzying diversity of people — spanning every conceivable spectrum of spiritual interest, culture, class, and gender,” Joe said.

At the session on Jaded by the Church, a lot of the students who were comfortable in their local congregations learned why some of their friends have a problem with the institutional church. Steve also talked with two students who had bad experiences with the church. One was the son of a pastor who had lost his job, the other a woman who wished her church could be more like ��ñ��. “There was a lot of healing that took place,” he said.

A place for healing, learning to trust, transparent leadership, supporting the local church, ��ñ�� chapters find many ways to share the gospel message. Steve Tamayo likes to see the power of the gospel message transforming lives on campus.

News Keywords

LaFe

Florida

Duke

Journey to LaFe 10

AD-16225 — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:47:28 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Journey to LaFe 10

For 19 Latino students from Chicago the 1,900-mile road trip to the LaFe 10 conference and back deepened their faith in God and in each other. At the triennial national conference sponsored by ��ñ��’s LaFe ministry, three of the students dedicated their lives to Christ for the first time. Others made recommitments. At least two students decided to start Bible studies for other Latino students when they got back to campus.

“To have these students go to LaFe 10 is really encouraging to us,” said Andres Herrera, who is a staff worker in the Chicago area. “It’s a special moment because they are finally seeing that they are not alone.”

The Big Picture

“The students are able to see a much bigger picture,” said Rene Aguirre, the Conference Director, explaining how the conference benefits LaFe as well as LaFe students. “We were interested to see if we could use the conference to help stabilize and pioneer new ministries.”

Students from Chicago, Texas, Florida, and other eastern locations were designed to be among the chief beneficiaries of the location change from California, where LaFe 04 and LaFe 07 were held, and where LaFe has the largest concentration of students. Only two Latino students from Chicago attended LaFe 04 in California, and none were at LaFe 07.

The total of 163 students who attended LaFe 10 was down in number from the 220 who attended LaFe 07. But those who came to LaFe 10 were responsive.

Lives are Changed

The final LaFe 10 tally showed 11 students became believers, 43 recommitted their lives to following Christ, 53 committed themselves to lead or help plant new LaFe chapters. In addition, 86 attendees committed to go on global projects, while 35 were willing to seriously consider ministry full time with ��ñ��.

Each National LaFe Conference has been built on its predecessor, with an additional track added each time for those who are nearing graduation. “We want to help them grow in identity and leadership,” said LaFe Director Orlando Crespo. Graduating seniors at LaFe 10 were offered a track for those who were interested in campus ministry with ��ñ�� after graduation.

“It was rewarding to see that Track 07 led by Stacy Rafferty was completely staffed by alumni of previous LaFe Conferences who are now on staff with ��ñ��,” Orlando said. “This has been our hope all along, that these national LaFe Conferences would inspire others to come on staff and strengthen our ministry to Latinos in every part of the country.”

Team Leadership

Orlando praised LaFe Associate Director Rene Aguirre and the LaFe Conference Leadership Team (Natalia Kohn, Stacy Rafferty, Steve Tamayo, Melissa Cordero, and Jennifer Aguirre) who coordinated LaFe 10. “They worked well together as a team and set a high tone of expectation that raised everyone’s hopes for a transformative experience. I had a very real sense of the presence of Holy Spirit throughout the conference. From the beginning, students were open and ready to encounter God and respond to his love in Christ Jesus.”

The first two LaFe Conferences were critical factors in the growth of LaFe and it’s expected the same will hold for LaFe 10. Students who are on a campus without a LaFe chapter often discover the vision for starting a LaFe chapter, or a LaFe Bible study.

“I think something special happens when we gather together as an ethnic-specific ministry,” said Rene. “It allows a student to return to their chapter or area with a sense of encouragement, which is life-giving. We challenge them to think about their friends and other Latino students who need to hear about God, and how their culture is integrated with their faith.”

The LaFe 10 road trip ended in December but the LaFe 10 journey is still playing out on campuses across the country as students follow where God is leading.

News Keywords

Renewing the Campus

webteam@intervarsity.org — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:00:00 +0000

News

Renewing the Campus

The president of El Acceso, ��ñ��’s La Fe chapter at East Los Angeles College (ELAC), arrived at a recent meeting of the InterClub Council (ICC) to discover that the leaders of the 32 clubs on campus were being asked to vote on three categories of organizational awards. Unlike some of the other leaders, Lorenzo Delatorre didn’t come prepared with a Powerpoint presentation or a DVD. But he did happen to have some brochures printed for El Acceso’s From Death to Life outreach, featuring a coffin that was brought on campus.

Most Engaged
When the votes were tallied, El Acceso was recognized as club of the year in the category of student and campus engagement. “I know everyone had seen the coffin on campus,” Lorenzo said. “But this was totally from God and totally unexpected.”

He described the recognition as a blessing from God at the end of a successful semester. El Acceso has grown from 16 students at the beginning of the semester to 30 at the end. Twenty-two students attended the spring retreat at ��ñ��’s Campus by the Sea on Catalina Island.

ELAC is a commuter campus with an enrollment of about 20,000. On the other side of the country Baruch College is also a commuter campus, drawing its 16,000 students from around the New York City area.

Most Active
The student government at Baruch College has recognized the ��ñ�� chapter for being the most active club on campus for three years in a row. To stand out among almost 200 student-run clubs, in the midst of one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States, is a major achievement.

Almost 100 Baruch students are actively involved in the ��ñ�� chapter. Every year they plan and produce Baruch Live, an evangelistic outreach. Last year Baruch Live received the Lexington Award from the student government for the best event of the year.

��ñ��’s vision is to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed. On some campuses, ��ñ��’s renewing presence is recognized through these year-end awards.

You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s work at ELAC by following this link, and Baruch College by following this link.

Additional recognition – Graduating seniors involved in ��ñ�� have also been recognized:

Katy Ness, a leader in Greek ��ñ�� at the University of San Diego, was valedictorian at USD’s School of Business Administration graduation.

Maurice McDavid, elementary education and Spanish major, and football co-captain, gave the senior address at the Knox College commencement.

Last year’s recognition round-up

News Keywords

Campus Ministry

LaFe

Relying Totally on God

webteam@intervarsity.org — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 05:00:00 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Relying Totally on God

Ministry at urban commuter colleges is always difficult, but California State University Los Angeles has been more challenging than most for ��ñ�� staff members. Each of the first three years that Maite Rodriguez began a new ministry year at Cal State L.A. was like starting all over again.

The 2008-2009 school year seemed to start with more promise than previous years. But by the end of the fall quarter the chapter leadership had evaporated: gone for academic issues, or personal reasons, or just gone. Maite and the other members of the staff team decided it was time to end business as usual.

Shutting Down Ministry as Usual
They shut down their campus ministry, except for one Bible study, and began an extended period of prayer and fasting. They continued through the winter quarter, into the spring quarter. In the spring they also began to research in-depth the dynamics of the Cal State L.A. campus.

“That’s when we felt like God gave us insight into what changes we needed to make and the things we needed to pray into; and that’s when things started to change,” she said. “We realized it wasn’t just our ministry that was having problems.”

What they found was that Cal State L.A. has a seventy percent drop-out rate. Only five percent of students live on campus but those students were among the most at-risk for dropping out. The ��ñ�� staff team decided to stop focusing on dorm students and concentrate on commuters. “That change has made all of the difference,” Maite said.

Looking for Leaders
At the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year Maite set up a table in a high-traffic area with a sign that said, “We Are Looking For Christian Leaders.” Looking back today she is amazed at how God answered her prayers. “The current core leaders are almost all the people I met on that first day of classes,” she said.

For various reasons the other four members of last year’s ��ñ�� staff team moved on to other responsibilities leaving just Maite at Cal State L.A this year. She was forced to rely more heavily on student leadership, which this time turned out to be a big plus. “I have these amazing students that really love the campus and love each other. It’s never been as healthy as it is now,” she said.

During the discouraging times of previous years she sometimes wondered whether it was possible for successful campus ministry to exist at Cal State L.A. Today she knows that it is possible. “It’s important to God and it happened,” she said, noting the unity of the current ��ñ�� chapter despite being one of the most multiethnic groups on campus.

Called to Campus Ministry
As a student at Pomona College, Maite loved being a leader in the ��ñ�� chapter, particularly leading Bible studies. But she didn’t think that ��ñ�� staff work was for her. She had felt drawn to urban ministry through her participation in ��ñ��’s Los Angeles Urban Project. Then she realized that urban ministry and campus ministry can happen together on campus, and she joined ��ñ�� staff.

During her first year at Cal State L.A. she saw chapter participation start at 50 and dwindle to seven after the first week. In the midst of her disappointment she realized that she was involved in campus ministry because of her faithful response to God’s call, not because of any success that she might have.

But now, after five years on campus, God has been blessing Maite’s campus ministry with success because she has been faithful.

“What’s worked well has been to let go of all of my ideas about how ministry is supposed to happen,” she said. “Nine out of ten things we tried haven’t worked. We have learned to pray and ask God to move. All that has happened on campus has been through God’s grace and kindness alone.”

___

Maite reported on God’s work at Cal State L.A. during ��ñ��’s 2011 Staff Conference. Video|| Audio only
You can make a direct financial donation to support ��ñ��’s work at Cal State L.A. by following this link.

News Keywords

Multiethnic Ministry

LaFe

Campus Ministry

Teaching About God's Love

webteam@intervarsity.org — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:00:00 +0000

News

Gordon Govier

Teaching About God's Love

Elizabeth Villalovos sees more and more Latino students arriving on campus “without finding a place where they can thrive and grow in their walk with God.” Her passion is connecting with those students to let them know how much God loves them.

As a student she was involved in launching the LaFe chapter at the University of Texas at Austin (UT). She had been attending ��ñ�� meetings and Bible studies for a year when she seized the opportunity to help start a campus fellowship specifically for Latino students in 2004.

LaFe is ��ñ��’s Latino ministry.

LaFe is ��ñ��’s Latino ministry. The LaFe chapter is one of six ��ñ�� chapters at UT and Elizabeth has been working with the chapter as a campus staff member for two years.

Planting New Chapters
Elizabeth is also planting a Multiethnic chapter at Texas State University in nearby San Marcos. Her sister attends Texas State and planting a chapter there seemed like an opportunity waiting to happen.

She had invited her sister and some friends to visit her apartment. Eventually she noticed that several of the young ladies had brought their Bibles. “Are these your Bibles?” she asked. “Yes they are,” they replied. “We thought we were going to have Bible study.”

So she began a regular Bible study at her sister’s apartment that grew to over a dozen attendees. They started looking for a faculty member to be an adviser for the new chapter and the first professor they contacted said that she would be honored to be involved.

In addition to finding new opportunities to develop Christian community for Latino students, Elizabeth enjoys teaching the Bible and discipling students. “There’s an excitement in me, when God opens my eyes to something in His Word,” she said, “and then He gives me the opportunity to teach it.”

Effective Communications
Elizabeth grew up in a family that attended an Assemblies of God church in Waco, Texas. With a background that’s different from many Latino students who come from Roman Catholic families, she has found that communicating with these students in a familiar and relevant manner can be a challenge in Latino ministry. “From the Protestant students to Catholic students, the word ‘Christian’ can take on different meanings to each,” she said. “But the students are open to studying Scripture and connecting with others and God reveals what it means to be a follower of Christ in that setting.”

Elizabeth’s major at UT was corporate communications. She believes that she’s using the communication training she received to become a more effective ��ñ�� campus staff member.

Ministry Calling Clear
When facing the inevitable challenges of campus staff work, Elizabeth always thanks God that He made clear her calling to ministry. She was already considering campus staff work when she attended ��ñ��“s Urbana 06 Student Missions Conference as a student. One of her friends who accompanied her to the conference, and knew she was thinking about staff work, told her, “Liz you were made for this.”

Elizabeth’s area director, Sabrina Chan, first started working with her when Elizabeth was a student. “I really admired that she clearly heard God’s call to plant a LaFe chapter at UT, and went for it,” Sabrina said. “Even when there were obstacles and challenges, she continued to push forward. And now as a campus staff member, her sense of calling to the campus encourages our whole area team.”

Elizabeth has embraced God’s call to campus and is enjoying each opportunity to show Latino students how to become worldchangers through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

___

Read Elizabeth’s own account of the start of the LaFe ministry at UT at ��ñ��’s StudentSoul website.

Elizabeth Villalovos Barrera spoke at ��ñ��'s 2017 National Staff Conference:

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LaFe

Campus Ministry

Moving LaFe Ministry Ahead

webteam@intervarsity.org — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:00:00 +0000

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Moving LaFe Ministry Ahead

Some in society have an unfavorable view of young Latinos. But God has another view of young Latinos. The staff of ��ñ��’s LaFe ministry focuses on helping Latino college students realize the difference between the two, and discover God’s purpose for their lives.

Campus staff member Abner Ramos has been working in East Los Angeles for over six years. “These students have a spiritual burden that’s very distorted, influenced by what society thinks about them,” he said. Through the Bible they gain a new perspective on their culture, and they learn what Jesus did for them on the cross.

“What our students need most are examples of leaders who struggle like they do, who have family drama, experience injustice, but in the midst of all of that, remain faithful, and use their talents, their power, their knowledge, to bless people,” Abner stated. For just that reason, LaFe leaders chose the story of Joseph from Genesis as their main focus during LaFe 07, their second national staff conference, held in Torrance, California, December 27-31, 2007.

The conference was aimed at giving Latino students a broader vision and challenging them to prepare themselves to be leaders.

“The message of Joseph is that at the right time God will ask us to step up, to step into places that will test our integrity or our faith. We should not fear the Joseph moments and allow God to heal us, reconcile us, and use us in places of power,” said campus staff member Melissa Contreras.

She saw the impact of the message among her own students from the University of Texas—El Paso (UTEP). “Coming from a majority Hispanic campus the students realized they were not just participants at the conference but were also there to be an example as Latino leaders in their chapter and to encourage other Latino students from other ��ñ�� chapters around the country.”

Only one student from Melissa’s chapter at UTEP had come to the previous LaFe conference in 2004. This year she was accompanied by 12 students from UTEP and the University of New Mexico.

The total of 240 students attending LaFe 07 numbered over twice those who attended LaFe 04. Before LaFe 04 there were only four or five specifically LaFe ministries on U.S. college campuses. “Now there are 22,” said LaFe’s national director, Orlando Crespo.

“A significant percentage of these new ministries grew out of the LaFe 04 conference, places like Sonoma State and San Francisco State,” he added. “Even a Bible study at Harvard grew out of LaFe 04.”

“The LaFe conference plays a key role in the future growth of LaFe, but it’s also a marker of how far we’ve come,” said Orlando. “My vision for the LaFe Conference is to have students realize that they are part of a larger family, a larger LaFe family that’s very much tied to ��ñ��.”

Orlando anticipates more chapters and more staff as the fruit of LaFe 07. Full-time and part-time LaFe staff now number 60, up from just 17 in 2000 when Orlando took over the leadership of LaFe. “Some of our Latino students who have been to the conference are going back to their campuses feeling empowered to lead ministries that are ethnic specific to the Latino community,” he said.

There were two tracks at LaFe 07. One was for students who wanted to learn more about expressing their faith in Christ through their ethnic identity. And one was for those who want to prepare themselves for leadership on campus and beyond.

“We spoke a lot about the power of the Gospel, particularly through Joseph’s life,” Orlando said. “It was the power of God that enabled Joseph’s dream to flourish.” Eleven students also made a first-time commitment to faith in Jesus Christ at the conference.

“The truth is we do have many more Latino students who are going back to their chapters and fully engaging in ministry,” Orlando concluded. “Before LaFe 04 and 07, we had a lot who were on the fringe and looking in. Now they’re realizing God has called them to lead. They’re stepping in and leading. That’s where some of the growth of our LaFe ministries is happening.”

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LaFe