InterVarsity alumni from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, recently gathered for their second hymn sing. Participants had an enjoyable evening of singing praise to God and catching up on each other’s lives since graduation. Barbara Carpenter, one of the attendees, shared how her perceptions of God have changed through her participation with the InterVarsity chapter in the early 1960’s. She writes:

“I got involved with InterVarsity as a student at Emporia State. A few years after I graduated and started teaching in Wellington, Jessica, from Kansas State University, came to teach music. She, too, had been involved in InterVarsity on her campus. She helped me to develop a deeper love for hymns.

“Jessica and I attended InterVarsity conferences. At the conference in Hutchison, I really fell in love with Jesus Christ. I had believed in him for salvation as a young teen, but it was during that weekend conference that I saw him as God—Creator, Savior, Sustainer, and Almighty King.

“In 1964, Jessica and I attended Urbana. That was one of the most important weeks in my life. Not only through the exceptional teaching, but by the soul stirring hymn singing, the Spirit truly ministered to my spirit. Missions became much more important to me, and I signed a commitment card to be available to the Lord. I was hoping he might call me to foreign missions, but that was never the case.

“Through the years, though, the Lord has deepened both my and my husband’s commitment to missions by several different means, so that now missions are a top priority in our prayer time. We love not only supporting and praying for missions, but doing volunteer work to help spread the gospel around the world. The week at Urbana had a lot to do with that.”

InterVarsity staff train and help students on campus as they seek to live out their commitments to Jesus Christ. Our staff hope that students will continue to serve and pray for God’s mission throughout the world after they graduate.