Hearing the Soul's Cry for God

One of the UCLA InterVarsity seniors, Layla, had been friends with a woman named Stella all year. Stella is not a Christian, but knew that Layla was. So when Layla invited Stella to come to an InterVarsity meeting geared toward people curious about God, she figured she owed her a favor and reluctantly agreed. But something happened in that meeting. As she sat and listened to the InterVarsity students perform a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You”, Stella suddenly began to weep. The speaker shared the story of the prodigal son—how we were made to have more relationship with our Father than we’ve known—and ended with an invitation to consider studying the life of Jesus in the Bible, with a Christian. At the end of the meeting, Stella approached Layla, “What was that thing the speaker was talking about? Where you meet with someone to learn more about Jesus and what he really has to offer? Because we need to do that!”

God is at work on campus. Whether students know it or not, he is in pursuit of each and every one of them. The mission of Inter Varsity is to nurture witnessing communities of students who love their neighbors, who invite them to experience God, and who are equipped to lead them to Jesus. Because we’re living this out with hundreds of students at UCLA, today Stella has heard her soul’s cry for God, and is responding to it by intentionally exploring what Jesus has to offer her. Layla is learning, first-hand, how to let God work through her in the life of her friend.

These things don’t happen without you.

InterVarsity ministry is funded entirely by individuals and churches that have a heart to see the next generation encounter Jesus, be transformed by him, and be equipped to live lives that impact our world. Our mission is one that requires partnership, and you are one of those partners. Thank you for participating in this significant and vital work.

As we come to the close of the calendar year, would you consider giving an extra gift to help us continue to sustain and expand the work on campus? At the halfway point of the academic year, we find ourselves $15K shy of our goal. Any part you feel led and able to play in helping us reach that would be a blessing and encouragement.

As we celebrate the entrance of God into our world this Christmas season, I invite you to also to join me in celebrating the ways that God is entering into the lives of students on campus.

Merry Christmas!

When Secrets Reveal the Truth

To walk the USC campus today is to be impressed. The image of the powerful, confident, determined Tommy Trojan captures the students of the campus: they're young, attractive, and they've got things together. At least that's what you would think until you read their secrets.


Last week the InterVarsity students of USC set up a booth on campus that asked, “We all have a secret...What's Yours?” Students across campus were invited to write something they’d never told anyone on a 3 x 5 card, place it anonymously into a box. Those cards were posted on the walls of the booth every hour, and they tell a whole story all by themselves. In truth there’s a hidden reality on campus today: underneath the veneer of confidence and health, students live their lives in pain, confusion, and emptiness. They are dealing with real issues, and they need real healing, and real hope.


As students viewed others’ secrets on the booth, and put their own into the box, they were invited to hear a Christian perspective on being freed from the shame of secrets. Last Thursday evening, over 100 students showed up. InterVarsity staff Larissa Marks shared some of her own failures and secrets, and how she experienced God offering her forgiveness, healing, and freedom. Two students ended the evening making new commitments of faith, six committed to attending an exploratory Bible study to learn more about what Jesus could offer them, and half the room stood to commit to living more openly and honestly.


As I stood on campus last week, watching InterVarsity students engaging their peers, I was moved. And I was reminded: this is why I do what I do. To get to lead students deep in their faith, and then empower them to offer the healing, the love, and the direction of God to their peers...this is the mission of InterVarsity, and it's one our world is dying for. Yet upon first glance, you'd never know it.


The work is far from over...but the healing and hope of God are as relevant today as they've ever been.

Family Update

Lucy and Tyler are doing great. They just started pre-school and are LOVING it! Tyler takes his learning really seriously and is often the last kid to leave the reading circle. Lucy is reciting each sound of the alphabet and loving her new set of friends. And as they get older--three and a half now--they're becoming better and better friends. It's wonderful to watch. Parenting continues to be the most honoring gifts we've ever received.

Ignite: Students Trained in Sharing Their Faith

Mid-September hundreds of college students from campuses all over Southern California met at Bel Air Presbyterian Church for our Ignite conference, to be inspired and equipped to share their faith with their friends. This year's focus was "Hear and Obey", encouraging and teaching students to listen to God's voice, and respond in faith.

Students hear inspiring messages, were trained in seminars, and had deep experiences with God in worship and prayer. It was a wonderful time, and is planting seeds for students to go deeper in their faith and see God work through them to bring transformation to their campuses.

LAUP, Shivs, Racism...and Faith Made Real

Jonathan (in the yellow shirt with other LAUP interns) is a USC sophomore who spent the summer tutoring Latino teenagers in East Los Angeles. Angel was the biggest problem kid in the whole class: he was disruptive, disrespectful, and intimidating. Angel comes from a long line of gang members. Things came to a head about a month into the summer, when Angel brought a shiv to class. Jonathan was fearful for his own safety. Over the weekend, Jonathan’s LA Urban Project team spent time in deep prayer for Angel. When class began on Monday morning, Angel was a totally different kid: he was helpful, attentive, and responsive in a way he hadn’t been all summer. Jonathan and his team experienced God hearing their prayers, and bringing a powerful character breakthrough.

Have you ever felt the difference between a person who knows a lot about God versus the person who KNOWS God? It’s easy to know a lot about God and still not have much to offer this world. But when you come across a person who has first-hand experience with God’s POWER to bring REAL CHANGE…well that’s the kind of person I want to be around. This past summer God used InterVarsity’s LA Urban Project (LAUP) to take 48 other students like Jonathan (some of them above, with me) from knowing a lot ABOUT God to really KNOWING him.

Carrie is a junior from UC Riverside who spent the summer working with Black youth in Northwest Pasadena. All summer, one of the students in her class—DeAndre, a Black youth—was hostile to Carrie all summer because she was White. DeAndre regularly muttered comments to other students in the class about Carrie being racist. Carrie spent the summer feeling intimidated and guilty. Things came to a head when DeAndre got up in her face and yelled directly at her that she was a racist. Carrie was devastated, and couldn’t respond. That night, she asked her team to pray for her. As they did, God revealed to Carrie that she was wrongfully living in guilt about being White. “Yes, White people have done horrible things, but you don’t have to live under that,” she sensed God speaking. The prayer time released Carrie to trust herself, and engage DeAndre. The following day, no longer fearing his accusations, Carrie confronted DeAndre about his tirade, and apologized for ways White people had hurt him. “Would you be willing to tell me about how you've been hurt by White people?" she asked. DeAndre melted. He apologized for his behavior, and they had an immediate breakthrough in their relationship. Carrie saw God heal and free her, internally, in a way that allowed her to lead in racial reconciliation externally, changing Andre’s experience of White people for the rest of his life.

This summer, LAUP was a place where faith became real for 50 students. Reconciliation, healthy relationships, the power of prayer…these went from being theoretical ideas to daily practice. Your prayer and support is allowing InterVarsity to nurture people with the real kind of faith that our churches, our work places, and our world desperately need. It is my joy and honor to see God take the next generation of leaders from knowing about him to knowing him, and having him to offer.