The Great News of Jesus
Today’s students are being seduced by images of fame, wealth, and sensuality. At the same time, postmodern cynicism is considered cool. Is it then any wonder why so many students are confused?
InterVarsity reaches out to the academic community. We establish witnessing communities that follow Jesus Christ and proclaim his gospel on campus. Our vision is to serve the academy by showing how God’s love through Jesus transforms lives, renews the campus, and develops in students the moral character to change this world.
In the secular academic culture, where it’s often unpopular to be a Christian, InterVarsity students and faculty are unashamed of the gospel. “In the last seven years, the number of people who’ve come to faith through InterVarsity each year has doubled,” says Alec Hill, President of InterVarsity. “Praise the Lord of the harvest!”
Today, InterVarsity’s campus communities are experiencing unprecedented growth. We now have 893 witnessing communities on 576 campuses throughout the U.S.
Making Christ Known Through Both Word and Deed
“We seek to make Christ known,” wrote Charles Troutman, InterVarsity’s second General Director, in 1961. “And making Christ known has always remained a hallmark of our ministry,” reaffirms Alec.
InterVarsity makes Christ known through both words and deeds. We study the Bible in small groups, we reach out to other students, and we provide missions opportunities of service and compassion, both domestic and international.
One of the ways our student leaders, faculty advisors, and staff serve people on campus is by offering a biblical perspective on justice. In April, the InterVarsity community at West Virginia University hosted the Human Wrong Campaign. This week-long evangelistic event both proclaimed the gospel and helped raise awareness on campus about the injustices of human trafficking. Students learned that genuine Christian compassion extends to people of every economic, social, and ethnic background and that helping others is part of our calling in God’s redemptive mission for humanity.
Reaching Students Around the World from the Campus
InterVarsity’s campus witness ripples across the world. An Asian woman attending an InterVarsity on-campus Bible study was interested in learning about Christianity as a religious system and an expression of Western culture. But the extraordinary character of Jesus recorded in the Gospels both amazed and inspired her. That semester, at an InterVarsity fall retreat, she stood in front of 400 people to affirm her commitment to love and follow Jesus. Today, she is a powerful witness of God’s grace in her own country.
Students and faculty are hungry for true spirituality, a way of life that offers them a genuine relationship with God. InterVarsity is dedicated to reaching the campus with the gospel of Jesus and encouraging students and faculty to follow him their entire lives.