Twice as many students are expected at InterVarsity’s LaFe 07 conference as attended InterVarsity’s first LaFe conference three years ago. The larger numbers show that InterVarsity’s LaFe ministry to Latino college students is growing. They also show that the LaFe conference is becoming a key tool in LaFe’s growth.

The conference theme is Arise. It will be held in Los Angeles, December 27-31, 2007.

Three years ago, after LaFe’s first conference, “there was a sense of spiritual breakthrough,” said Javier Tarango, a campus staff member at University of California-Berkeley. That has created a great deal of anticipation for the second conference.

“Latinos are community people,” Javier said. “If you can get a critical mass of students, then you can get a lot more.” He added that recruitment for LaFe 07 was a lot easier than it was three years ago.

“The LaFe 04 conference saw a lot of students afterwards wanting to start LaFe chapters on their campuses,” said Marie Rodriguez, a campus staff member on several New Jersey campuses. “We’ve also seen more staff as a result of the last conference.”

InterVarsity’s LaFe staff has increased by 50 percent since the first conference, from 31 in 2000 to 47 in 2007. The number of LaFe chapters also continues to grow.

Marie said that an additional benefit of the LaFe conferences is stronger links between InterVarsity and the local church. “The family and the local church are all involved in the decision to send a student to the LaFe conference,” she said. “As the LaFe conferences continue, we’re going to see more Latino pastors and more Latino churches coming alongside us.”

Many attendees at LaFe 07 are expected to be new at learning how to reconcile their faith with their ethnic identity, as was also the case at the first conference. Once again this will be the main programming track of LaFe 07.

However, this year a secondary track has been established for students who are farther along in their ethnic identity journey and are looking for resources that they can use beyond the campus, when they embark on their careers. The story of the Old Testament patriarch Joseph, who skillfully managed people and resources, is being used as a resource for this track and for the overall theme of the conference.

Other topics that will be discussed at LaFe 07 include:

• The Biblical Basis of Immigration.
• Reconciling with Your Catholic Roots.
• Catholics & Protestants: Similarities & Differences.

Javier said that the cultural makeup of the LaFe conference will be an interesting experience for attendees; as east-coast Latinos, many of whom come from the Caribbean, mix with southwest Latinos, who are predominantly from Mexico and Latin America. “There are differences, but commonalities shine a lot more brightly that the differences,” he said.

But even more eagerly anticipated is the work of the Holy Spirit at the gathering. “That’s the unspoken ministry, the ministry of the community,” he said. “We don’t control that.”

Javier and Marie and the other LaFe staff anticipate more new LaFe chapters and more LaFe staff joining InterVarsity as a result of LaFe 07. They’re also anticipating growing interest in a LaFe missions trip to Honduras that’s being planned for 2009.

LaFe Takes Root at UT-Austin, a story on StudentSoul.org, InterVarsity’s website for students.