In the middle of another busy semester, most students have forgotten there ever was a spring break. But for Lydia Kosbau, the lessons she learned on her spring break trip last year continue to benefit her hometown and campus.
Last spring, Lydia traveled with her InterVarsity chapter at Central College—Pella, Iowa, to serve with City Lights in St. Louis, one of InterVarsity’s urban projects. Her team was placed in a tutoring center for refugee children; but since it was spring break, the children also had a week off from school. Lydia spent the week alphabetizing the library and cleaning up the tutor center. “When we got our daily job placements, I was a little disappointed,” said Lydia. “I didn’t realize then that God had something else he wanted to teach me.”
Cleaning gave her plenty of time to get to know the woman in charge of the tutoring center and hear her story. Ten years ago, the woman had moved her family to the center’s neighborhood to minister to and build community with the students’ families, even though the neighborhood was poor and had a reputation for being “rough.” “It was amazing to hear stories of how God had opened doors for many families through their children being part of the tutoring program,” said Lydia.
Seeing how the tutoring center and other local ministries cared for the community also challenged the ideas she studied in class. “In sociology classes, the teachers always say that the change has to come from the government, but as Christians we know that the Church needs to be the change. As a future social worker, it gave me hope to see the Church in St. Louis living that out,” said Lydia.
Change Spreads to Marshalltown
The stories from the tutoring center made Lydia think about how her church in Marshalltown, Iowa, where her dad was a senior pastor, could reach out to the community in similar ways.
Her family’s house had been on the market for over a year with few prospects, and her parents had been looking for another house. “My mom would find one in the paper, and Dad would want to know where it was located. They said no to a lot of houses because they were in ‘rough neighborhoods,’” said Lydia. “As I told my parents about how God was working in St. Louis, they began to have a change of heart,” said Lydia.
Her parents started looking for houses in neighborhoods they had refused to look at before. It didn’t take long for them to find a house in a predominantly Latino neighborhood, where their church puts on an after school program.
“My parents felt like it was perfect because we already knew some of the families through the after school program,” said Lydia. Two days after putting an offer down on a house, their own house received several requests for showings, and one couple bought it.
“My dad would tell you that he has never sensed the Lord’s leading that strongly in his life. God has continued to affirm that this is where he wants us,” said Lydia. Since they moved, Lydia’s parents have befriended neighborhood kids, helped clean up after a damaging storm, and invited their new neighbors to church. “It felt like, as soon as we aligned ourselves with God’s plan, there was no stopping what he was going to do!” said Lydia.
Change of Perspective
On campus, Lydia had a similar desire to change how she approached the community she lived in, particularly her non-Christian friends. “I tend to get frustrated when my friends aren’t showing much interest in God, and I start to give up on them,” said Lydia. “Coming back from St. Louis, I was really struck by how making them love God is not my job. My job is to love them and walk alongside of them. ‘Hold their hands and walk them to Jesus’ is the way one of the speakers from City Lights put it.”
From starting a Bible study with an international student to being available to a hurting friend, Lydia hopes that Jesus is evident in her words and actions. InterVarsity students and faculty desire to reach out to the whole campus, including their neighbors in dorms, sororities and fraternities, classes, and sports teams.
