Missions

Urbana 22 Calls Gen Z to Rise Up as Whole-Life, Whole-World Disciples

AD-18513 — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 17:41:38 +0000

Urbana 22 Calls Gen Z to Rise Up as Whole-Life, Whole-World Disciples

��ñ�� hosted its 26th Urbana Student Missions Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 28-31, 2022, inviting almost 6,000 participants to see themselves as God has created and called them — as witnesses of his glory to the ends of the earth.

Through onstage testimonies of people living out their faith across vocations and nations each morning and Bible expositions from the book of Acts each evening, Urbana created a space for participants to see the Holy Spirit empowered witness of a global Church.

Students also had time to dig into God’s Word for themselves — through student-led Bible studies. In the months leading up to Urbana, ��ñ�� equipped over 620 student leaders from chapters across the country to lead their peers through three morning Bible studies. “I really loved my group,” one student leader said. “I felt like we were all learning from each other, and it wasn’t just me leading. It was a group discussion we were all contributing to.”

A major highlight of the conference came when these student leaders gave an invitation to faith in response to the story of the Ethiopian and Philip (Acts 8:26-40). “These student leaders took a risky step of faith, and they saw their peers say yes to the good news of Jesus! They saw God work through their obedience,” said Greg Jao, Executive Vice President of Communications and Mobilization. “They are going back to their campuses excited and eager to invite more friends and classmates to know Jesus too.”

Students also got to hear from fellow students, like Naomi, during general sessions about the ways God has called them to say yes. Naomi shared about how much God has grown her faith since she started college from leading an ��ñ�� small group, even though she was an introvert, to ultimately planting a Black Campus Ministries chapter during the pandemic. “When it comes to my faith journey, there has been this theme of trusting God, even when it feels like there is no way some things could happen,” she said.

In the afternoons, participants had a broad range of opportunities to explore how messages from Scripture and general session testimonies applied to their own lives, including prayer ministry and next steps coaching, a Connections Hall with 190-plus missions organizations and seminaries, and over 150 seminars on topics ranging from business as mission to local outreach.

Participants came to Urbana from all across the U.S. and even the globe, weathering storms and significant travel delays. For example, after their flight was cancelled, two students in California decided to drive 30-plus hours to Indianapolis — and even picked up another stranded student in Oklahoma. “Seeing God working in so many cool ways was something I didn’t want to miss,” one of them said.

On the final day of Urbana, participants were called to consider their next step following Urbana, including making a commitment to regularly praying for the global Church, inviting a friend to study Scripture, or cross-cultural or global missions.

“A next step of obedience the Lord is inviting me to is building relationships with people that I have in my circle, to be bold about my faith,” one student said.

“Urbana has invigorated that passion for missions in my heart,” another reflected. “I’m excited to see where the Lord takes me.”

For more information, visit urbana.org/conference for general session and summary videos, seminar recordings, and more.

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Registration Opens For Urbana 22

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Mon, 16 May 2022 21:38:07 +0000

jeffrey.bunch@intervarsity.org

Registration Opens For Urbana 22

(Madison, WI) – Registration for Urbana 22, ��ñ��’s 26th triennial student missions conference to be held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana December 28-31, is now open at urbana.org/registration.

Since the first Urbana in 1946, God has used the gathering to invite more than 300,000 people to join him in his global mission. Urbana 22 will invite students to Rise Up as empowered, surrendered, and courageous whole-world, whole-life disciples of Jesus.

Some of the speakers who will challenge the more than 10,000 participants to do this include:

Bishop Claude Alexander, The Park Church
Alexia Salvatierra, Centro Latino/Fuller Seminary
And more to be announced

Throughout the four-day conference, Urbana participants will study passages from the book of Acts in both student-led small group Bible study and Scripture exposition. They will learn from first century disciples who lived out their newfound identity and purpose as the first Christians.

At Urbana 22, participants will also hear stories of 21st century disciples whose lives demonstrate whole-life, whole-world discipleship.

“The way of Jesus in this world—the way God creates and calls his followers to be with him and for others—is marked by an empowered witness, a surrendered generosity, a courageous love,” says Ruth Hubbard, VP with ��ñ�� who leads Urbana. “We see this in Acts. We’ll also see it in the diverse gathering of the Church at Urbana 22.”

In the afternoons of the conference, Urbana participants will have opportunities to explore where their gifts, skills, and passions fit into God’s global mission through connecting with others in the Gathering Hall––including coaches, seminar speakers from around the world, and a trained team of prayer ministers. They will also have the opportunity to meet with missionaries and leaders from over 200 missions organizations and seminaries exhibiting at Urbana in the Connections Hall.

While the conference is designed specifically for current undergraduate and graduate students, more than a third of conference participants—including ��ñ�� staff—are from other generations.

Watch the video below for a preview of what participants will experience at Urbana 22. For more information, please visit urbana.org.

About ��ñ�� Christian Fellowship:

One of the largest campus ministries in the United States, ��ñ�� Christian Fellowship ministers to students and faculty on over 700 campuses and has over 1,000 chapters across the nation, from Ivy League schools to community colleges. For over 80 years, ��ñ�� has partnered with hundreds of college campuses to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed, and world changers developed. ��ñ�� is dedicated to establishing and advancing witnessing communities of students and faculty on college and university campuses.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Jeff Bunch, Urbana

(509) 270-0119

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��ñ�� Remembers David Howard

drew.larson@intervarsity.org — Tue, 10 May 2022 20:10:25 +0000

Drew Larson

��ñ�� Remembers David Howard

With David Howard’s passing yesterday, ��ñ�� remembers his lasting impact mobilizing students and campuses for God’s global mission. As Director of multiple Urbana conferences, President of Latin American Mission, and International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, David’s humble and servant-hearted leadership in missions spanned nearly six decades.

“��ñ�� owes a great debt to Dave and to his leadership in missions,” said ��ñ�� President and CEO Tom Lin. “[He kept] us focused globally and on the importance of mobilizing students to share the gospel around the world. His legacy includes hundreds of thousands of college students who had their lives transformed and received God’s calling to global missions through an Urbana Student Missions Conference. ��ñ�� is forever grateful.”

A Legacy of Global Missions Begins

David attended the very first Urbana in 1946 with his good friend, Wheaton College roommate, and future brother-in-law, the missionary/martyr Jim Elliot. David attended, spoke at, or directed nearly every Urbana for the next five decades. For his entire life, he kept his signed World Evangelism Decision card from Urbana 46. (Urbana participants use these cards to mark their commitment to God’s global mission.)

After graduating from Wheaton College in 1949, C. Stacey Woods (��ñ��’s first president) recruited David to ��ñ�� staff for a year as an appointed ‘missionary staff member,’ visiting 120 campuses across the U.S. and Canada to challenge students to give their lives to missions. He then served Northwestern University as a part-time campus minister while attending graduate school at Wheaton and preparing for the mission field.

“My years with ��ñ�� were a very significant part of my life,” he said in a 2006 interview with ��ñ��. “They were a time when God taught me many things and gave me many opportunities. I didn’t know much about missions in those days, except what I’d learned second or thirdhand. But I learned to trust God, and not myself, for any results.”

After 15 years as a missionary in Colombia, God stirred David’s heart again about calling and equipping college students to give their lives to God’s global mission. The stirring, David remembered, was gradual — John Alexander, ��ñ��’s President at the time, offered him the job of Missions Director three times before David accepted!

During his tenure as Urbana Director (Urbana 73 and 76; he also served as Assistant Director of Urbana 51 and 70) attendance grew from 12,000 to 18,000 students, and commitments to missions grew from 8 percent to nearly 50 percent. He also helped design a summer follow-up program for those commitments that eventually grew into the Perspectives Program, which is a cornerstone of missions training in churches, seminaries, and ��ñ�� chapters to this day.

David also helped steer Urbana through the turbulent 1970s, a time when social unrest, campus violence, and the Vietnam War all pushed national anxiety to the brink. Leighton Ford, a leader in both the Lausanne Movement and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — as well as a lifelong friend of David’s — remembered David’s example at Urbana 70. Leighton had been asked to deliver the keynote evangelistic message at a time when those tensions at the conference were especially high.

“That message was one of the most difficult of my life. I labored in prayer and heart searching as I prepared … [and] I felt little peace as I spoke,” he said. “But I knew that David was nearby, praying, standing by me, encouraging me.

“His fortitude, his steady calm in a testing time, left a lasting impression of Christlike grace and strength. His ability to listen and discern, his concern for helping others to flourish, his ongoing passion to know Christ and make him known — these traits always come to mind when I think of David Howard. I am grateful to have known and served with him.”

In that same 2006 interview, David reflected on the impact of Urbana for global missions: “I’ve been to probably 80 countries, and almost everywhere I go, invariably I run into people who tell me they’re serving today on the mission field because God used Urbana to call them.”

“David’s friendship was such a blessing to me,” said Tom Lin. “When I began as Urbana Director, he told me, ‘I will be praying for you every day.’ And that’s exactly what he did. Over those five years, in the most difficult days of leadership, I was always encouraged to know that each day David was praying for me.

“I’m deeply saddened and grieving Dave’s passing. Many throughout the missions world will miss Dave and celebrate him — in many ways he was a ‘giant’ in global missions. But I, most of all, will miss his smile, his joy, and his passion for students and for Christ.”

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Physically & Spiritually Restored—Dynamic Ministry through ServeUP

AD-18513 — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 17:32:30 +0000

Nathan Peterson

Physically & Spiritually Restored—Dynamic Ministry through ServeUP

A small house, nestled between palm trees. White-washed walls. A shaded front porch offsetting a bit of Puerto Rico’s muggy weather. Luis was proud of his home. It had taken him five years to finish, building it night after night on top of working a full-time job.

Then came Hurricane Maria.

“The island is destroyed,” an official said. Gusts of 150 miles an hour. Streets flooded. An 18-month blackout—the longest in US history.

Almost two years later, Luis and his wife, Deliah, still couldn’t live in their house due to unsafe conditions. Many more homes still lay in shambles.

Dedicated to Flourishing

With his mom having grown up in Puerto Rico and his uncle still living there with his family, ��ñ�� campus minister Anthony Spina knew he had to do something in the hurricane’s aftermath. Together with Associate Area Director Jessica Pafumi, he began leading ServeUP, an ��ñ�� disaster relief trip, down to Puerto Rico. Last year, they recruited over 70 students, staff, and volunteers from all across Massachusetts.

Of the students, more than 20 were non-Christians. “It’s a unique chance for students who would not usually come to our fellowship night,” Anthony said. “The disaster relief portion is definitely attractive to non-Christians (and so is going somewhere warm for spring break), and we’ve found it to be a great place to engage in conversations about how our faith intersects with our actions as Christians.”

Anthony and Jessica teamed up with a local church, Iglesia La Trevisía, to work in a low-income neighborhood that has received no government funding for rebuilding. “We’ve tried to adopt a community and move from missions of relief to development and rehabilitation,” said Ronnie García, the church’s pastor. “We’re hoping that in three to five years, there will be incredible human flourishing all in the name of Jesus Christ.”

The ServeUP team came alongside Luis to help him restore his home. Painting, tiling, roofing—the work was demanding. And with limited access to running water and plumbing, the group had to take bucket showers all week. Even so, the students didn’t complain. They knew whatever work they didn’t finish would be left to Luis after they left.

“Jesus really powered and sustained us all in Puerto Rico,” Anthony said. “It was incredible being able to talk with Luis, a strong man of faith. When Hurricane Maria arrived, he and his family hosted people in his home to ensure the safety of others. He has since been a part of the rebuilding process for other homes in the neighborhood.”

Receiving a Sign

Today I began calling Jesus by his name. I accept him as the bridge to God. Amen. P.S. Thank you for your patience. I know you’ve been waiting. This was the first entry Jay, a ServeUP participant and student from Salem State University, wrote in her new prayer journal. Little did she know that as she worked on restoring Luis’s home throughout the week, God would be at work restoring her heart.

Even before she left for the trip, Jay knew it was going to be significant. Her dad had passed away a year ago, and she knew there was something missing in her life. Jay believed in God, believed in signs, believed that Jesus was a real historical figure. But still she felt alone in her spirituality. If she could find answers anywhere, she thought, it’d be there in Puerto Rico, getting back to her family’s roots.

With Jay coming from another campus, invited to ServeUP by a friend, Anthony didn’t know any of her story. But as he prepared to colead the trip, he felt led to pack an extra prayer journal to give away. And when he asked God for a specific student to pray for, Jay came to mind each time.

During one of ServeUP’s Bible studies, Jay was struck by someone’s insight that Jesus works through people. She jotted that down then started to cross out Jesus’ name—in the past, she’d always substituted “Jesus” for “God” in her notes and mind—but stopped herself, feeling it would be disrespectful somehow.

Later that night, Jay felt an odd restlessness she couldn’t shake. Planning to head to one of the gathering rooms to be by herself, she walked in to find a room full of people. “Jay,” one of the students grinned, “we were just about to pray for you!”

Anthony stepped forward, sharing how he’d been led to pray for her all week, and asked if he could pray now. Jay was stunned. She knew this was a sign and eagerly agreed.

“When we prayed with her, it became clear that Jesus was in the process of doing something very significant in her heart,” Anthony said. “She realized that Jesus was calling her and that he is actually the way to God. Moments later, she surrendered her life to Jesus. I was really amazed with the ways Jesus orchestrated these events: pointing Jay out to me in a room of over 60 students, knowing that he was going to remove all the barriers she had.”

Anthony went on to give Jay the prayer journal he’d brought, and Jay shared her testimony the following night.

“More Fire” & More Restoration to Come

In the three years he’s co-led ServeUP, Anthony has witnessed a common theme: participants leave as students, but many return as leaders. “I know that God shows up in really powerful and tangible ways,” he said.

One student, a relatively new follower of Christ, led a small group during the trip. “I saw her blossom in her leadership and in her reliance on the Lord,” Anthony said. “One of [her] group members made a decision to follow Jesus.”

In the weeks and months following ServeUP, other Christian students have grown bolder, fasting more with “more fire in their prayers.” They’ve stepped up to take more ownership in the chapter’s ministry and are closely relying on the Holy Spirit for direction.

Having witnessed so much catalytic growth, Anthony looks forward to this year’s ServeUP, returning next month to Puerto Rico with 50 students. “My hope is for students to realize that following Jesus is much bigger than just what God is doing on their own campus,” he said. “I think it’s really special that we get to be a part of this restorative work—both in student’s spiritual lives but also in a very literal sense with the rebuilding of homes. I think that’s part of what makes ServeUP so special.”

Would you like to pray for ServeUP and other upcoming spring break trips? Sign up to receive our monthly prayer update emails.

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Urbana 18 Underway in St. Louis

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 17:29:56 +0000

Urbana 18 Underway in St. Louis

For Immediate Release

(St. Louis, Missouri) – Urbana 18, ��ñ��’s 25^th triennial student missions conference, has drawn over 10,000 college students and others to St. Louis for a 5-day conference focused on world missions. For 75 years the Urbana conference has challenged each generation of college students to find their place in God’s mission for the world.

“God is on a mission,” said Ruth Hubbard, Vice President of Urbana for ��ñ��. He is the one who invites us to join in what he is doing.”

Tom Lin, ��ñ�� President, said, “It is important for this generation to have a challenge. What does it mean to be a faithful witness, to model our lives after Christ, the faithful witness as we live our lives.”

Faithful Witness is the theme of Urbana 18, taken from the New Testament book of Revelation, which is the scriptural focus of the conference. Over the next five days attendees will have the opportunity to hear from more than 200 seminar leaders and 200 missions organization and seminary representatives on what God is doing in the world and the opportunities to get involved with what God is doing.

Morning and evening general sessions are streamed online at urbana.org from The America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Urbana 18 is ��ñ��’s 25th student missions conference, cohosted by ��ñ��, ��ñ�� of Canada, and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collégiaux du Canada. ��ñ��'s first student missions conference was held in Toronto, Canada, in 1946.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608/628-8609

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St. Louis

Generations of Faithful Witness—All Saints Day & Urbana 18

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 13:31:35 +0000

Generations of Faithful Witness—All Saints Day & Urbana 18

For Immediate Release

The Christian holiday All Saints’ Day, November 1, commemorates God’s faithful witnesses and saints of past generations. This year, Urbana 18—��ñ��’s 25th Student Missions Conference—will seek to catalyze today’s students to carry on this legacy of faithfulness. Urbana will invite them to join God’s global mission and more deeply consider what it means to be a Faithful Witness, the conference’s theme.

“For Urbana 18, we have chosen to challenge this generation of college students with the story of faithful witness in the New Testament book of Revelation,” said Úna Lucey-Lee, Urbana Program Director. “We are eager for God to use this biblical vision to compel Urbana 18 participants into deeper trust, wholehearted discipleship, and enthusiastic involvement in global missions.”

During daily inductive Bible studies and general sessions featuring Urbana 18 expositor René Breuel and a number of other global voices, students, faculty, pastors, and other Urbana participants will be challenged through the book of Revelation to live as faithful witnesses in several tangible ways:

committing to say yes to Jesus for the first time (for those who have not done so already)
serving short-term or long-term in cross-cultural missions
testifying about Jesus in daily life wherever he calls them

The rest of the conference will focus on helping participants receive and engage Revelation’s hopeful, challenging message and also gain a better sense of God’s global presence as they discern how they are being called to a life of faithful witness. Of the many unique opportunities Urbana 18 provides, some include:

200 seminars—presented by distinguished thought leaders, experts in the corporate world, and veteran missionaries—to provide students with practical guidance about joining God’s global mission through their vocations
an exhibit hall with over 200 missions agencies and seminaries looking to support participants in determining their next steps in their journeys of obedience
rich, multiethnic worship with thousands, praising the King of kings and celebrating the diversity of his people from every nation, tribe, and tongue
#Hack4Missions, a hackathon that invites 150 software developers, graphic designers, program managers, and other technologists to support missions organizations in their real-world challenges and opportunities to further Christ’s kingdom work across the world

“We are praying that God will give this generation fresh eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, in all his power and glory,” Úna said.

For more information on Urbana 18, taking place December 27–31 in St. Louis, Missouri, go to urbana.org and register by November 15 for the early bird cost of registration, saving you $100.

Media Contact:
Gordon Govier
ggovier@intervarsity.org
608/443-3688

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Reflections on Campus Ministry from Nigeria

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 21:03:54 +0000

Tom Lin, president, ��ñ��

Reflections on Campus Ministry from Nigeria

A few weeks ago, I was with ��ñ��’s sister movement in Nigeria, at their student missions conference, which is similar to our Urbana Student Missions Conference. Nigerian staff and students worshiped loudly, passionately, hopefully, at a conference center guarded by security forces with automatic machine guns. A terrorist attack was possible at any moment.

In the midst of persecution by Boko Haram, where 1.5 million have already been forced from their homes and are without food in the Muslim North, thousands of students accepted the call to intentionally move to the North because, as they shared with me: “We won’t give in to fear. The gospel is worth sacrificing our lives.”

I returned with a full heart, encouraged to see how God is at work through our sister movement in the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). As we face new challenges to our work on U.S. campuses, we can learn from movements who are facing challenges in other parts of the world. Here are five characteristics of Nigerian Christian students I saw that I believe we need to pay attention to and learn from.

1. Equipped to preach and passionate about the gospel

I was inspired by the evangelistic fervor of the Nigerian students. They had a clear focus on the importance of the eternal rather than the temporal, and a passion for seeing the salvation of their fellow students through sharing the good news of Jesus. In my one small group alone, I witnessed every student preach the gospel (and a mini-sermon) on the spot without any hesitation.

Moreover, there was practically a standing ovation when a speaker challenged the students to go to an east Asian country for their post-graduate studies. The government of that country is encouraging African students to attend their graduate-level universities, and Nigerian students see this as a wonderful opportunity to study abroad as mission. They have a vision to reach not only east Asians but also the more than 400,000 international students studying there. I saw similar enthusiasm in my seminar on missions in Asia; it was standing room only, as students desperately want to go to the unreached.

In another amazing story, the chaplain to the vice president of Nigeria described how, as a student, he kept pestering a professor with the gospel every week until finally the professor gave him the opportunity to sit down and share with him. That professor was convicted, gave his life to Christ—and is now the vice president of Nigeria!

It made me wonder, how can we continue to instill this zeal for evangelism in our students, so that they too would be willing to go anywhere in order to share the gospel?

2. Resilient in the midst of persecution

Militant Islam is the number one issue in Nigeria; 1.5 million people have already been forced from their homes and are without food in the Muslim North due to Boko Haram, who is attracting increasing numbers of recruits. Some NIFES students and staff have lost loved ones to attacks. The new Nigerian president is also putting into effect more Muslim-friendly and anti-Christian laws.

The students I met were amazingly resilient despite this constant threat, not giving into fear but boldly continuing to proclaim the gospel wherever they are, including on mission trips to rural villages. What can you say to the thousands of students who are accepting the call to intentionally move to the Muslim North, willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the gospel?

And terrorism is not the only challenge. Many students shared testimonies of how they came to the university with only a few dollars and constantly struggle with money. (The cost of the conference was 10 dollars, requiring scholarships for many students.) Yet they declared, “The gospel is always good news, and we need to share it,” and they considered their present sufferings as nothing compared to fellow students who suffer from not knowing the love of Christ.

They are also very aware of the spiritual warfare present, and confident in God’s power and victory over darkness, which was reflected in many of their prayers and during worship times. The resiliency found in the persecuted church around the world is a constant theme.

It made me wonder how we can develop an American student generation that is resilient, especially in the face of complex, cultural challenges on campus today. And how do we develop ��ñ�� graduates who are equipped to engage an increasingly Muslim world?

3. Biblically literate and theologically mature

One of the biggest issues facing the Nigerian church is the propagation of the prosperity gospel, which is what the largest and fastest growing churches there espouse. But I was struck by how wise and discerning the students were about false teaching and false doctrine. They debate theology with one another in a healthy way.

Along the same lines, they are extremely literate when it comes to Scripture; it’s engrained in their hearts. One of the conference speakers paused about 10 times during his sermon to mention a Scripture passage, and would ask, “What does the Lord say in Acts X:X?” And the students would immediately recite the verse from memory. I wondered if most of us would be able to do that!

This biblical literacy extends to particular issues. Students and staff have frequent Bible study and a clear theology regarding issues such as spiritual warfare, sexual purity, the divinity of Christ, and money. They could preach a sermon on the spot!

On the other hand, Nigerian students are not entirely immune to cultural influences. The wide acceptance of the prosperity gospel in society means they are often tempted to give in to materialism or temporary pleasures, or “to seek blessings on this earth.” In this way, they were quite similar to American students (or any other students around the world for that matter).

It made me wonder how we can help our American students differentiate a false gospel from a true gospel. How do we better equip them biblically and theologically?

4. Committed to seeing their nation transformed

While their primary outcomes might be focused on evangelism or seeing the gospel penetrate the campus, Nigerian students seem clear about their desired impact: “to develop tomorrow’s leaders for transforming the nation,” which is written in their brochures and talked about up front. Would other Nigerians miss NIFES if it ceased to exist? It seemed clear that the answer would be yes—so much so that the vice president of Nigeria (and his entourage) planned a visit to the conference! In previous years, governors and senators have also visited, to affirm the importance of NIFES’ ministry in Nigeria.

In addition, NIFES leaders are often asked to speak at the Nigerian National Council of Churches, and are closely connected to the archbishops and other national Christian leaders. They are seen as instrumental in the building up of all of Nigeria—including the Muslim North—and in various ecumenical faith initiatives, all while still maintaining their primary focus on the campus.

It made me wonder if ��ñ��/USA would be missed if we ceased to exist. Would the university or the Christian church miss us? Would the government even notice?

5. Eager to grow global partnerships

Our mutual desire to learn from each other struck me. Many Nigerian staff directors spoke to me about how impactful Urbana was for them—how it inspired them in missions, and how they recommend it to as many students as they can. They also thanked Urbana 15 for the offering, which made it possible for more than 1,000 Nigerian student scholarships to be given out for this conference.

Additionally, Nigerian leaders expressed deep appreciation for the sacrifice of ��ñ��/USA and the Cabinet for sending me and having me spend six days at their conference. They realized that it was a significant investment, one that speaks highly of our desire for strong partnership.

There are dozens of Nigerian alumni groups in the U.S. who all would like to connect with U.S. chapters. Many of these Nigerian graduates would be inspirational speakers, and would challenge our American perspectives in a helpful way. How can we make connections and make space for Nigerians to participate in our chapters, and perhaps minister alongside us as volunteers?

There are also thousands of Nigerian international students studying in the U.S. Many have already found ��ñ�� chapters. But the importance of ministry to international students was so evident, as they also see how strategic it is for their Nigerian students to reach students from other countries. Can they help with our ISM work?

Finally, it made me wonder how we can create space for senior leaders in our movement to invest more in global partnerships, by, for example, taking the time to visit a sister movement like Nigeria in order to learn from the global body of Christ.

My hope is that we can continue learning from the experiences of the majority world church and from our sister movements in IFES.

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Tom Lin Named ��ñ�� President

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Mon, 16 May 2016 17:42:02 +0000

Tom Lin Named ��ñ�� President

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) --- ��ñ�� announces that Tom Lin has been selected by the ��ñ�� Board of Trustees to become the next president of the campus ministry. He will start on August 10.

Tom has been vice president and director of missions for ��ñ�� since February 2011, and also director of Urbana 12 and Urbana 15, ��ñ��’s triennial student missions conference. He succeeds Jim Lundgren, who has served as ��ñ��’s interim president for the past year.

In ��ñ��’s 75 years of campus ministry on U.S. college and university campuses, Tom becomes the first ��ñ�� president who began his ��ñ�� career working in campus ministry. After graduating from Harvard in 1994, he planted a chapter for Asian American students at Harvard, and another chapter at Boston University. He led numerous student missions projects in the U.S. and overseas, and helped design national training for ��ñ�� staff.

In 2002, Tom and his wife, Nancy, left the U.S. to answer God’s call to go to Mongolia to help launch and direct a new student movement with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. In their four years there they saw 500 people become Christians, when there was only one known believer in the country just 15 years earlier. Tom then served as the regional director for ��ñ��’s central region, leading a team that covered four states, and planted 16 new chapters between 2006 and 2010.

Tom has leadership experience with a number of Christian ministries, serving the Lausanne Movement as the international deputy director for North America, and serving as a Board member for Missio Nexus and The Crowell Trust. He has also served as vice chairperson for the Board of Wycliffe Bible Translators. He is the author of Pursuing God’s Call and Losing Face & Finding Grace, both published by ��ñ�� Press. He has a master’s in Global Leadership from Fuller Seminary.

Tom and Nancy live in Madison, Wisconsin, with their two daughters, Abby (11) and Olivia (9).

��ñ�� Board president Ron Williams made the announcement of the appointment and noted that ��ñ�� has much to be thankful for as the ministry enters its 75th year. “We have seen record numbers in evangelism, we’ve seen growth nationwide, we’ve been able to lead important conversations in society, and we’ve seen God’s action through us in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people,” he said. “I believe God has cultivated wisdom in Tom that will be used to lead ��ñ�� into even more fruitful ministry on our ever-changing mission field, the college campus.”

��ñ�� is an interdenominational ministry to students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses, working with more than 41,000 core students and faculty on 649 campuses nationwide. ��ñ�� is a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, advancing Christian student work in 160 countries.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
ggovier@intervarsity.org
608/443-3688

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Leadership Transition

��ñ�� Seeks Urbana Director

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 19:14:12 +0000

��ñ�� Seeks Urbana Director

_{For Immediate Release}

(Madison, WI) – ��ñ�� Christian Fellowship’s triennial Urbana Student Missions conference will have new leadership when Urbana 18 takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, in December 2018. Tom Lin, ��ñ�� vice president and director of missions, has announced the search for a new Urbana director.

Lin and his predecessor, Jim Tebbe, both held the job of Urbana director and director of missions simultaneously. But at other times in the past, the two jobs have been separated. “Global and generational transitions have created new opportunities in missions,” Lin said. “We want to bring increased creativity, spiritual leadership, and cross-cultural savvy to meet this God-given opportunity. A full-time director will enable Urbana to innovate new ways to mobilize this ethnically diverse student generation to give their whole lives to God’s global mission.”

��ñ��’s interim president, Jim Lundgren, said, “We live in a world where complacency, worldly success, and comfort beckon us on a daily basis. We are looking for a dynamic leader who will ensure that Urbana remains an event that boldly calls students to follow Jesus with their whole lives.”

��ñ�� held its first missions conference in Toronto in 1946. Thereafter, through 2003, it was held every three years on the University of Illinois campus and became known as Urbana. Since 2006, the Urbana Conference has been located at the Edward Jones Dome and the Americas Center in St. Louis. Urbana 15, held just two months ago, was attended by 15,000 people who came from the U.S. and Canada, and more than 80 other countries.

Urbana is one of the longest running conferences of the evangelical church of North America, with more than 300,000 alumni. An untold number of men and women are serving today in God’s mission around the world because they responded to the call from God that they heard at an Urbana Conference.

“��ñ�� is privileged to host this conference for the North American church,” Lin said. “It’s a responsibility that we don’t take lightly. Our next Urbana director will determine how to present the call to missions for a new generation of college students at Urbana 18.”

��ñ�� is an interdenominational ministry with over 40,000 students involved on 649 U.S. campuses. Urbana 15 is also co-hosted by Inter-Varsity Canada and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collégiaux du Canada.

For details on the Urbana director position and opportunity profile, go to: http://intervarsity.org/job/director-urbana.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
ggovier@intervarsity.org
608/443-3688

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