Tom Lin

 63 lives changed… As 50 of my staff gathered for our annual Regional Staff Conference in December, we celebrated stories of some of the 63 students who made 1st time decisions for Christ in the Region.  I enjoyed re-casting vision and training on chapter planting (see pic above).  And as 2010 has begun, the momentum has continued.  Here are 2 stories of conversion during January, the first from our International Student Ministries staff at Drake: Continue Reading »

One of the joys of my work is being part of the national collegiate ministries leadership, and celebrating what God is doing across the country.  Check out InterVarsity’s annual report to read more!  The other joy I have is speaking outside of IV.  A sample advertisement for an upcoming engagement at a St. Louis church on Nov. 14th is above… Please drop by if you can!

I’ve never seen anything quite like this in less than 30 days time:  27 students decided to follow Jesus for the 1st time in Iowa alone, and 15 students responded to a call to faith at the first large IV event at Harris-Stowe State - a new IV chapter plant!  Staff Ashley Smith blogs about the Harris-Stowe event online.  I’ve also included below the latest story from Drake, where 2 students said “yes” to Jesus for the 1st time last week at an IV gathering… From Amy Schoepf, IV staff at Drake: Continue Reading »

I flew this past weekend to Iowa to visit their Fall Conference, with more than 130 students participating from campuses across the state.  Here’s a story about 3 University of Northern Iowa students making 1st time decisions for Christ that weekend, as shared by IVCF staff Rachel Danley: Continue Reading »

As college classes get underway, InterVarsity’s outreach to new students kicks into high gear.  There’s lots of praises to share from last week’s ministry, including from our new IV plant at U of Iowa (photo above).  Let me give you a taste from my Iowa Area Director, Jon Hietbrink, who writes: Continue Reading »

I recently returned from a trip to Nebraska, visiting Omaha and Lincoln, to meet with key pastors and university leaders in preparation for planting IVCF chapters in the coming years. Continue Reading »

I spent a quick 3 days in Marburg (just outside of Frankfurt) with other IFES leaders around the globe (about one rep from each continent) to begin planning for our “World Assembly” which takes place every 4-5 years.  It reminded me of how rich the global body of Christ is and how important students are in shaping the future of our world!

March was an amazing month for our region.  One of the personal highlights for me was speaking at Lindenwood University InterVarsity’s first “preview” meeting called IMPACT.  (Lindenwood is one of our 5 “chapter plants” in the region this  year.)  Not only did students gain a vision for impacting the campus, but many were deeply impacted personally.  Later that night and the following week, 2 students made significant decisions for Christ!

Perhaps more amazing was God bringing another 20 new campus missionaries to IV in my region, all of whom will begin serving this summer!  Continue Reading »

During spring break in mid-March, 40 staff and students from St. Louis U., Washington U., Coe College, and UNC-Chapel Hill came to the U of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of our new chapter plants this year.  They organized a week-long campus mission called “realHOPE” in the hopes to jump-starting this plant and growing in evangelism.  Most students had little evangelism experience prior to realHOPE.  By the end of the week, the team was partying and celebrating the fruit of their week: Continue Reading »

It became official. After 3 nights of celebrations last week, the Fellowship of Christian Students (IFES-Mongolia) appointed its first Mongolian national to become the General Secretary (head) of the student movement.  I just returned from my 4 days there, and here are brief reflections from my trip… Continue Reading »