You should know there's a new slj site! Check it out

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus . . . preach the word; be ready in season and out of season . . . be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1–5, NASB).

Are the people who sit beside us in our lecture halls really searching for God? Does the recent slew of so-called “spiritual” shows—Prince of Egypt, City of Angels, What Dreams May Come, Touched by an Angel—reflect a growing awareness of people’s need for more? And if our classmates are longing for more, what are we, as Christians and members of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, doing to effectively meet their needs?

In a recent task force at the Canadian InterVarsity® National Student Leadership Conference in Montreal, Canada, we agreed that all people are created with a spiritual hunger that can only be satisfied through a personal relationship with God. Moreover, we believe that we have a responsibility as Christians to tell them about God that they might be saved (Romans 10:12–15). But how do we effectively reach out to our campuses? How can we be a part of God’s work of transforming our universities? How are we to relate to non-Christians and achieve an “outward focus” in our daily lives, that is, away from ourselves and toward the people God wants to save? These are some of the key questions we grappled with over three sessions. While this document does not contain “the” perfect answer to being effective missionaries on campus, we pray that the Lord will use some of the insights and ideas he’s given us to encourage your chapters.

The Great Transformer
Do you really believe God has the power to transform an individual’s life? Most of us would probably answer, “Yes, of course!” It seems like an obvious question for a Christian, doesn’t it? But let’s think about it a little more. Do you believe that God can transform any individual’s life? Even that aggressive atheist in your philosophy class who always puts you down? Even that apathetic school newspaper editor who doesn’t seem to care about anyone other than herself? Do your actions toward them reflect that you believe Christ can transform their lives? Do your prayers reflect that belief?

Let’s say that your answer is yes and you really do have a firm conviction that Christ has the power to transform anyone’s life no matter how thorny or shallow the soil may appear (Matt 13:1–8). Do you also believe that Christ can transform your major department? Do you believe God can use your area of study for his glory? What about your entire university—do you believe that God can save every person on your campus? In our task force we started with the premise that yes! God can transform entire campuses and in fact that is what he wants to do. We then sat down and considered some principles and specific ideas that might help us get started.

Reclining with Sinners
As we considered ways of reaching out to people on campus, one theme kept coming up: we need to spend time building relationships with people who don’t know God. We need to risk becoming vulnerable and share our lives with people (1 Thessalonians 2:8). Jesus reclined at the table of sinners. He went to their houses and ate with them. So should we (see Luke 19:1–10). Sometimes we need to go to an “away game,” so to speak, and join their clubs instead of always expecting them to come to ours. And sometimes, we need to be the ones doing the inviting. We can invite friends to organized Christian events as well as to informal coffees or parties in order to get to know people better. The point is, we need to invest in their lives that we might become trustworthy in their eyes.

Another part of getting to know people better is learning something of the context in which they live. It’s important to understand the struggles people are going through. As Christians we actually live in a different context from our non-Christian friends. We know that there is a loving God who created us and who desires to have an intimate personal relationship with us. This knowledge changes our framework for understanding the world around us. We therefore need to ask God for insight into the lives, the times, and the particular struggles people are going through so that we can better relate to them.

The Role of IVCF
IVCF groups on campus have the important role of supporting and training the individual missionaries that make up their groups. An essential part of this training and support is emphasizing prayer in evangelism. Christ can transform the individuals that compose our universities; we cannot. When we gather together we need to commit ourselves and all the people we know to him.

It is important that IVCF continue to stress outreach as a focus for all Christians. Just as it is stated in the objectives of our Canadian IVCF: “to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ as God Incarnate and to seek to lead others to a personal faith in Him as Saviour and Lord; evangelism is a prime objective.”

IVCF can also play an important role in facilitating outreach to the larger campus body. InterVarsity must be visible on campus and not thought of as an underground organization. In the next section we have included some ideas for making your group visible on campus. These have all been used with success on other campuses.

Ideas to Promote Visibility
Stress Buster/Bananarama (Lakehead University): During exams, book a room and buy buckets of ice cream and toppings for banana splits. Advertise with posters and open it to everyone. Lakehead had 350 people attend to socialize and forget about exams for awhile.

Christ at Mac Week (MacMaster University): One week focused on how Christ can be a part of every aspect of an individual’s life. Offer Christian movies, bands and books. MacMaster had a coffee shop going and opportunities for different discussions and speakers.

Random Acts of Kindness: Several universities contributed ideas for small service projects on campus or to the larger community. Campus: Take out the trash in dorms; help move new students in and provide refreshments. Have a car wash on campus. Replace windshield wipers (especially good for commuter campuses). Do a book exchange for used books. Have a breakfast table and provide bagels and fruit for students on their way to classes who may have skipped breakfast. Community: Go door-to-door in the neighborhood volunteering to do dishes, mow lawns or wash cars and windows.

“Matthew” Parties (University of Lethbridge): Have informal dinners and spend time with both your Christian and non-Christian friends. It gives non-Christian friends a time to meet people who know God and gives you a chance to get to know your non-Christian friends better.

Christian Celebrations (Mount Allison University): Share the message behind different Christian holidays. Mount Allison has regular “cookie for your thought” tables and a writing wall where students get a cookie and write down on the wall what they think the current holiday means. Sponsor an event where people share the message behind different celebrations in an open way. You can sing seasonal songs that everyone is familiar with so that people feel comfortable.

International New Year’s Camp (Simon Fraser University): These are camps held over the New Year holiday for international students and any other students who don’t go home for the break. They often provide times to share different holiday traditions and celebrations. Students often enjoy the opportunity to try winter sports like hockey, skiing, and tobogganing. There can also be times for informal Bible studies and sharing of testimonies of people in the group. [Note: these are sometimes known in the U.S. as International Houseparties, where they are typically sponsored by InterVarsity on a regional basis. Ask your staff worker for more details.]

Gym Nites (Simon Fraser University): Book the school gym for a night and offer a time for different sports. SFU tried volleyball and found it prudent to have a competitive and a non-competitive part so that all levels of volleyball players feel comfortable. This is a good non-intimidating atmosphere to invite non-Christian friends to.

Friday Night Alive: Invite Christian bands, worship and testimonies. Book outdoor concerts in areas of heavy student traffic.

Book Tables: Make Christian books available for sale or sign-out. Some groups sponsor book tables addressing topics covered by speakers the group has brought in.

Prayer Walks: Go around the campus praying and singing. This can provide a definite springboard for conversation! Some campuses concentrate on different faculties, or colleges within the university, and pray for those areas of study to be converted to God’s glory.

It's All People
Effective evangelism on campus involves building relationships with people. As Christians, we need to be approachable and invitational—we need to be reaching out to the people around us, being aware of the struggles they face. Most of all we need to listen for God’s voice and obey him whenever he calls us to speak so that the people on our campus will be attracted to Jesus and enter into a personal relationship with him.