Three years ago a group of students met for Bible study at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, KS. Today, forty students gather on campus for InterVarsity large group chapter meetings, small group Bible studies, a worship gathering, and a spiritual conversation group focused on evangelism.
Learning to Share
Students are eager to share God’s love with their classmates on campus. During the prayer walk at the start of the semester, several new students participated and have since become core members of the chapter.
Brief Description:
InterVarsity staff and students build community at a community college in Kansas.
A visitor to the home of Gene and Carol Guest once told some friends that her hosts did not “do retirement” very well. “They are so busy it’s ridiculous,” she said.
Gene and Carol admit that they are extremely busy as volunteer InterVarsity staff members working on the campus of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Kings Point, New York. But they think they are doing retirement very well, since they have found something that they enjoy doing very much.
Gene and Carol have been involved in college student ministry through a variety of churches for much of their lives.
Brief Description:
InterVarsity volunteers are changing the campus culture at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
The president of El Acceso, InterVarsity’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.
Brief Description:
InterVarsity chapters are recognized for what they add to the campus.
I was still at home trying to finish cooking dinner before heading to the Grinnell College campus for our weekly Community Worship (CW), when we lost power at about 6:00 pm. This came after a late afternoon hail storm, combined with 70 mph wind and lots of rain.
Powerless Campus
Students started calling me. Should we still meet? How will we do worship without Powerpoint? And sound? Some students ran over to the chapel and grabbed a bunch of hymnals.
Brief Description:
Grinnell College students meet for worship despite a tornado threat.
InterVarsity campus staff member Ben Emerson stood outside McNary Hall dormitory on the Oregon State University campus. The text message he read on his Blackberry brought a smile to his face.
A half hour earlier Ben had led a dialogue about Christian values and sexuality in the dorm lounge, an event billed as Sexy Pizza. “It’s a provocative title that’s meant to raise questions,” Ben said.
Ben gave three invitations at the end of the talk. He invited Christians who were present to rededicate their lives to Christ. Non-Christians were invited to consider becoming followers of Christ.
Brief Description:
InterVarsity staff in the northwest offer students more opportunities to come to faith, in contrast to the region's reputation as the most unchurched part of the country.
A time for reflection at the end of a school year offers a window into how God is at work in students’ lives. At Northeastern University (NU) in Boston, campus staff member Kaitlin Ho asked some of her senior leaders to reflect on what they had learned through InterVarsity and some of the turning points during their time at Northeastern.
Adam, one of the original founders of NU’s InterVarsity chapter: “My heart for social justice started with InterVarsity, because it challenged me to engage with Scripture. This group is my turning point.
Brief Description:
Four students at Northeastern University share about how God transformed their lives through their involvement with InterVarsity
Ministry at urban commuter colleges is always difficult, but California State University Los Angeles has been more challenging than most for InterVarsity 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.
Brief Description:
Ministry at urban commuter colleges is always difficult, but California State University Los Angeles has been more challenging than most for InterVarsity 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.
It took Tony Gatewood all of about ten minutes to move into his dorm room after he arrived on a Greyhound bus at the University of Iowa at the end of summer in 2000. He had brought what he needed in a duffle bag and a plastic tub.
His next challenge was finding InterVarsity. Two women at his church had told him he should get involved with InterVarsity when he got to Iowa.
Looking for InterVarsity
His first walk across campus was unsuccessful, partly because he wasn’t sure of what he was looking for. So he went back to his dorm room.
Brief Description:
Tony Gatewood felt God leading him to the University of Iowa, where he got involved with InterVarsity. Now he's back at Iowa as an InterVarsity campus staff member.
Every year, I find myself surprised by the sudden emergence of roses and heart-shaped chocolates a few weeks before Valentine’s Day—the bright colors contrasting with the dreary backdrop of post-Christmas winter. The decorations are an unexpected sight, sending some people into a flurry of planning, mailing cards to their list of friends, or anticipating a romantic date.
But for others, the approach of Valentine’s Day can cause mixed feelings of apprehension and insecurity.
Brief Description:
The approach of Valentine's Day can cause mixed feelings of apprehension and insecurity. The media tends to portray the happiest people as those in romantic relationships, and pity those who are single.
As Jeff Barneson prepared to graduate from Stanford University in 1978 he received a job offer for “a plum job at a small firm at Newport Beach, overlooking the water.” It was the kind of job he had been hoping for when he decided on Civil Engineering as his major. But he turned it down.
Earlier in his senior year the Christian groups on campus had presented the Francis Schaeffer film series, How Should We Then Live. Schaeffer’s comment, “Of course the dominant values of American culture are personal peace and affluence,” had been haunting him for months.
Brief Description:
Jeff Barneson "does not shroud the generosity of the gospel" as he works among students and staff at Harvard University. Jeff has been working on the Harvard campus for more than 25 years.
