InterVarsity's StudentSoul.org

The heat, poverty and injustice of other countries and cultures have quickly become real for students spending this summer on more than 50 InterVarsity mission projects around the globe. Here is a sampling of the blog entries from students who are living, working, learning and loving among the world’s poorest people – and discovering riches they never expected.

We’re tracking three students participating in the Global Urban Trek as they serve Jesus and witness his transforming love in people and communities far from their college campuses. They give us an honest peek at God’s life-giving presence in Thailand, India and the Philippines.

Reality strikes in Bangkok

Elise Hom is with a group in Bangkok, Thailand, a teeming city of contrasts where extreme wealth and extreme poverty exist side by side. They are exploring the possibilities for long-term work among the urban poor by experiencing the realities of living and serving in a slum community.

Elise was riding in a car when she witnessed a brief act of violence and injustice. “I saw a motorcycle taxi driver slap a woman so hard in the back of the head that she fell down,” Elise said. “I thought about getting out and asking her if she was okay.” In her journal entry, What if We, Elise examines her thoughts, actions and motivations as a follower of Jesus in this awkward situation on the streets of Bangkok.

The fabric of life in Kolkata

Jeanette Bam is serving a group of young women from the slums of India who are learning to sew blankets, bags, scarves, baby slings – even kimonos. They recycle old cotton saris to create and sell new goods with vibrant Indian colors and patterns. This helps them become self-sufficient and empowered.

“Jesus is somehow so evident in this place and in the women who make a living here,” writes Jeanette in her blog entry, Thread Connexions. “He is reflected in the surface – in the splendor of the colorful, draped saris, and he is there when I go deeper. Whenever I see the sureness of a girl’s hand as she threads a needle through the blanket, he is there, lifting her from the chains of injustice and oppression and providing a better life.”

A prayer that works

“If there is one thing we have noticed here in Manila, it is the brokenness of families in the slum communities,” writes Patrick Barbour in his blog post. “Many of us began the trip by praying for families to stay together or be reunited, but our team member Carlo said we should be praying for people to find God and build relationships with him.”

Carlo knows this personally. His mother left the Philippines with Carlo when he was a baby. This summer, during the Trek, he was finally reunited with his father after twenty years. Carlo told the team he wanted his father to understand that it wasn’t by any means other than his pursuit of Jesus earlier this school year that he was able to meet his “Pop.”

“Carlo didn’t come here to meet his father . . . he prays for people to find Jesus, and lets God take care of the rest,” said Patrick. “Jesus fixes the brokenness.” Patrick reports on this miracle and others they are watching unfold. “We are still learning where God is present in this world and only beginning to understand how much praise he deserves,” writes Patrick.

Read more from students living out their faith among the world’s urban poor this summer by logging on to Track the Trek.