Students Reaching Students

I’ve never been this excited about what God’s doing on the campus.

Sharon (left) came to her first InterVarsity meeting at USC two weeks ago. Sharon is a freshman at USC who knows almost nothing about Jesus. But Christine (right), one of the InterVarsity small group leaders, met Sharon when she came by to meet Sharon's Christian roommate, Ruth (center). Ruth wasn't there...but Sharon was, and as she shared about her anxiety finding her classes, Christine offered to walk her through campus and find each of them. Christine began visiting Sharon regularly. Sharon began coming to Christine's small group Bible study...

...Two weeks ago, Ruth came to USC InterVarsity's “Overflow” meeting, and Sharon came along.

At the end of the teaching, Sharon turned to Christine and said, “Jesus sounds like one of us.” “That’s what Christianity is all about,” Christine answered. After answering several of Sharon’s questions of faith, Christine mentioned the idea of reading sections of the Bible together to discuss them. Sharon agreed on the spot and asked, “could we meet every weekend together to talk more about God?”

It’s been like that everywhere on campus these days! God is using students to reach students. From UCLA to USC, and Northridge to East LA College, students are opening themselves up to let God work through them more than I’ve ever seen in my fifteen years on staff…I can’t wait to see what God will do!

Behind the Scenes: USC's "Overflow"

My mention of USC's "overflow" reveals a strategic shift in InterVarsity that may interest you. Through consultation with the Covenant denomination, we've learned the strategic sigificance of "missional Christians". Missional Christians are students who have a heart to see God work on their campus. We've recently begun to intentionally seek out and develop these students, and to empower them to spearhead our outreach efforts to those without faith on campus. This shift feels like it brings us back to our organizational roots, which have always been about prioritizing student movements of witness. It's still early, but so far we're seeing some of the healthiest student groups we've ever had, and we're seeing these groups actively engaging students without faith more than ever before.

(RIGHT-"Splashdown", one of the outreach events planned by USC students.)

Ongoing Work: Aseem

Last Spring I wrote about UCLA student, Aseem. Well since being invited to InterVarsity by his friend, incoming freshman, Daniel, Aseem came to the UCLA InterVarsity summer conference at Catalina Island. At Catalina, Aseem recommitted his life to God. But that isn't the end of the story. Since then, Aseem began bringing his brother along with him to church. And seeing two of her sons give themselves back to pursuing God, Aseem's mother has begun joining them at church. What God began on campus is spreading back to the family!

On the Horizon: Peach Cobbler Breakthrough?

Just last week, Eddy Ekmekji (center), the staff at Cal State Northridge, met with two of his interns, Sky (left) and Terrell (right)—both recent CSUN grads—to discuss how they might reach more Black men on campus.

Sky shared that it wasn’t just Christians who were challenged to reach Black men, but as president of CSUN’s chapter of the NAACP, he’d been in some of the same discussions, and gotten nowhere. As they met they stumbled upon an idea.

Days later they baked up four peach cobblers, and walked them over to the CSUN dorms. As they broadcast “peach cobbler”, one by one, Black students started coming out of the woodwork! “What’s the catch?” folks asked. “No catch, you just need to hang out with us to eat the cobbler.” “No problem!” they heard. As Black men become an increasing rarity on the college campus, we hope that God will keep giving us insights into reaching them. Pray for our ministries at UCLA and CSUN, in particular, where God’s given us Black staff who have a heart to reach Black students.

Financial Update

As we begin the year, Jenny and I are thrilled at the new work of God...and challenged in faith by the resource needs. To date 75% of our ministry support needs have been committed, thanks to many of you. But many donors have had to decrease support, or have entered retirement, leaving us with an additional $25K need for new donors and extra gifts. Your partnership is essential to this mission. If you are in a place to increase support, to give an extra one-time gift, or to suggest new potential donors, would you consider channeling your resources toward this wonderful work of God? You can click on the link just to the right if you feel moved to give now. Thank you!