As Tina Min prays, she listens intently to what God might say to her and is ready to obey his commands. Tina, campus staff member at Northeastern University in Boston, has taught her students to pray this way and God has answered their prayers.

Tina was already learning to be obedient when she was asked to be on the InterVarsity evangelism team during her senior year at Wellesley College. She agreed to serve, but as the semester progressed, Tina began to have some reservations. “I do not have the gift of evangelism, so why an I on the evangelism team?”

In response to this doubt, Tina prayed, listening for the answer that God would give. And God answered that indeed she did not have heart for the lost student, but he did and his love for them was available to her. Tina obediently accepted God’s love for the students that did not know God and continued on the evangelism team, sharing his love with them.

Later that year, Tina again learned a lesson on listening to the heart of God. She attended a weekend retreat for prospective InterVarsity staff members. Greg Fung told the group about the students at Northeastern University, a campus with no InterVarsity chapter. He commented that he was “jealous for the students” on this campus that they might become Christians.

Tina was gripped with a similar feeling for the students at Northeastern. She thought, “If I were to become an InterVarsity staff person, I would start a chapter at Northeastern.” Tina also realized that she lacked the one quality that is important in student work, a passion to see students become Christians.

But Tina was open to God’s teaching and she prayed about staff work and her commitment to students. As she prayed, God told her that indeed she did not care for students, but he did, in fact he had died for them. Her responsibility was to acknowledge his love and allow him to work through her.

As Tina discipled students at Northeastern, she taught them to pray with a listening attitude and shared with them the passion for evangelism that God had given her. During this year, the students worked to be recognized as a student organization by the school administration. The process was difficult. The students rode an emotional roller coaster as the recognition seemed possible one day, and not very likely the next.

A group of students pressed the case to have an InterVarsity chapter on campus, giving presentations to student representatives and an administration board. In fitting irony, final approval was given to the chapter on Good Friday and the email announcement went out on Easter Sunday.

Tina also encouraged the students to share the good news of the gospel with their friends. She related the story of her experience on the evangelism team and told the students, “it is not about how eloquent you are, it is about listening to God and sharing his love.”

The InterVarsity students began to share God’s love with those around them. Others were drawn to his love and Jesus came alive, not only for those who became Christians but also for those who saw the Spirit of God working.

Tina sees this young InterVarsity chapter growing through these experiences. As the students witness, they gain an understanding of who God is and what he has done for them. Taking risks, both in presenting the case for administrative recognition and declaring the gospel, have led to deeper worship of God who has answered their prayers.

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You can make a direct financial donation to support InterVarsity’s work at Northeastern University by following this link.

^{photo: Tina Min with faculty adviser Ruthann Stiles}