Tom Lin

A few weeks ago, Kansas University won the NCAA basketball championship, giving my Central Region a tremendous source of celebration. Go Jayhawks! It certainly has also been March (and April) Madness in InterVarsity’s ministry here, as we’ve seen God do some utterly amazing things on our campuses. One verse I’ve been reflecting on is Habakkuk 1:5: “Look at the nations and watch – and BE UTTERLY AMAZED. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told…” Continue Reading »

Please partner with InterVarsity’s ministry in the Central U.S. by praying for these 5 significant areas:

1. Catalyst Leadership Conference (May 19-23). Please pray for this annual week-long conference focused on equipping student leaders across the Central U.S.. Pray for students to develop a strategic vision for being change agents on their campuses and in their campus fellowships.  Also pray for student registration this month, as students are struggling with date conflicts and paying the conference fees. Continue Reading »

Last month, one recurring theme was InterVarsity’s evangelistic calling on university campuses. After spending several days with Regional Directors across the country and then several days with our Regional New Staff Training cohort, I was struck by the evangelistic opportunities and challenges in our postmodern, post-Christian cultural context. We also recognized the need to better understand this student generation. Check out the 4-minute video clip (my previous post below) made by Kansas State students entitled “A Vision for Students“. Continue Reading »

Every new life in Jesus is a miracle, but when all of our human work and witness fail and fall short and yet God still chooses to bring someone new into the Kingdom, we appreciate the miracle 10X more. In the past 2 weeks, we’ve seen over 20 miracles, students making 1st time decisions to follow Jesus! Continue Reading »

Samuel Escobar writes, “Mission exists because God is a missionary God who sends his people to be a blessing to all of humankind.” Recently, I’ve been reflecting on what it means for my InterVarsity staff to be campus missionaries, sent by our missionary God… Continue Reading »

I just returned from a full weekend of speaking at InterVarsity’s SE Region’s Asian American Student Conference, with about 130 students from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. Although I’ve been cutting my speaking engagements, I said “yes” to this particular conference because of the opportunity to see Asian American ministry in this region move forward. Continue Reading »

I believe that Max Dupree said that the first job of a leader is to “define reality.” As I’ve begun leading InterVarsity’s Central Region, I have committed this academic year to doing quality assessment of the ministry – defining where we really are. At the same time, I’ve begun working with my regional leadership team on vision, determining where we want to go in the coming years. I’ve enjoyed the process, but also covet your prayers. Specifically, please pray for my team meeting this coming week, Oct. 22-24 in Iowa City.
Continue Reading »

The first month of the school year is always a critical time for our staff in their outreach to new students. Here are a few tidbits to give you a glimpse of things we are celebrating:

Continue Reading »

On Sept. 3-8th, I had the privilege of joining a delegation of ambassadors from the Wycliffe Board and other North American church leaders to visit the ministry in Peru. I learned much from both the foreign and Peruvian staff, who often work in very difficult circumstances. Here’s a brief summary of my visit and things I take back with me:
Continue Reading »

One of the privileges and best learning experiences I’ve had in recent years is to serve on the Board of Directors for Wycliffe Bible Translators. I haven’t written much about it, as I’ve wanted my ministry with InterVarsity to be the primary focus of my communications. But after my re-election to the Board this past June, I thought I would share a few thoughts about Wycliffe as I prepare to serve another 3-year term as a Director. I spoke on several of these points on the platform of their triennial Worldwide Delegate Conference in June:

Continue Reading »