One of the great privileges in my role as Central U.S. Regional Director is the opportunity to hear stories of what God is doing in our 27 chapters, 13 of which have just been planted in the past 2 years. Below are 4 stories of great impact from this past February and March!
Story #1 from staff at U of Missouri-St. Louis (new plant):
“God’s blowing us away at UMSL. I’ll try and keep it short for you :) Mark started the “InterVarsity Intramurals” volleyball team hoping to be a witness to the campus through the team. Monday night was the first game and there was a girl there, E, that didn’t have a team. They invited her over to play on theirs. I got there after this, and we went to McDonald’s after. It was a cool moment to see them being so invitational and welcoming into the group and E is African-American, so I’ve also seen them grow so much in inviting cross culturally (a lot of our students are white from VERY sheltered places).
The very next day, E saw me sitting at our table and sat down. We small talked, then I asked her what her spiritual background was. She said Christian, but currently not following Jesus. She said she’s not in relationship with God anymore. She sat at our table throughout the day as I made appointments with core team people when I saw them. She asked, “why do you take the time to meet with all of them?” I said to check in, see how they’re doing, and to equip them to live out their faith on campus the best way possible for who God made them. She was fascinated by how committed our group was to God and to each other. As we continued to broach the subject of spirituality, my core students were listening and participating until they had to leave for class.
The lunch hour passed and it was just me, Hannah and her. I asked her if Jesus was sitting right here with us and you could ask Him one question, what would it be? She said “would I go to heaven?”. Wow. Now that a couple hours passed she felt comfortable sharing with us. She said since she’s come to college, she had not been herself. She started sleeping around when she got to UMSL, and the crowd she rolls with treats her like garbage. She started crying and I started sharing some truth to her about her value in God’s eyes. Hannah caught onto what was happening and started sharing scripture and truth as well.
The funny thing was I had asked E earlier in the day if she wanted to follow Jesus again, and she said no, she wasn’t ready. But by the end of the day, God has really broken her down to see her need. As she was crying, I told her about God waiting for her to come back to Him without shaming or condemning her. But to love, protect and forgive her of her sins. Hannah is one of my core. She’s a gifted evangelist and she shared the beautiful story of Hosea. After lots of truth speaking, I finally asked her again if she wanted to commit her life to following Jesus again and making Him the Lord of her life and heart and she said yes. We prayed with her, and she prayed out loud with her head down, lots of tears and shaking as we held her on both sides agreeing with her prayer.
After that, lots of people came up and asked what was up and we had E tell them what had happened. “I just committed my life back to following Christ”. Hannah told me she gave her testimony at Women’s Bible Study the next morning. She also called her mom and told her. Her mom was thrilled and had been praying for her. She went back to church for the first time in months on Wednesday night. She came to our meeting on Thursday and we talked and prayed after about reaching the black community at UMSL. She has been SO warmly welcomed by all of our students and I’m so proud of them.
She came in contact with our group and less that 16 hours later she was following Jesus again. It happened about a week after Kristin. Our vision statement is that we’re bringing Jesus’ Revolution of Renewal to UMSL. Humbling much? I see it happening-God’s really good.”
Story #2 from staff at U of Northern Iowa:
“Last week Thursday, I asked you all to pray for a gathering at UNI where our staff, Rachel, was going to make an invitation to start following Jesus, and God answered!
• 10 students checked the box indicating they wanted to have a conversation about following Jesus
• 40 students committed to living for God’s mission on campus
• 28 students checked that they wanted to explore overseas missions
• 57 students committed to being a part of localized prayer groups across campus
We are in the process of following up with each of these folks personally to help them understand and follow through with the decisions they’ve made, but it’s safe to say that God was profoundly at work through your prayers, thank you!”
Story #3 from staff at University of Kansas
“Hi - a fun story from here at KU. “H” is a new Chinese undergrad who became a Christian with us last semester. He is full of enthusiasm and this semester wanted to begin a bible study in his dorm. Last week as he sat in the cafeteria waiting for others, he decided to ask theAmerican girl sitting a short way from him if she would like to stay for the study. She said yes —- and then she decided to follow Jesus during the Bible Study!”
Story #4 from staff at Forest Park Community College (new IV plant):
”’So Allison…is it okay for me to just go and talk to people about Jesus? I know I don’t HAVE to. I know I have the freedom to not do it. I know I could go home and play video games but … I WANT to. It’s crazy. I just want to tell others about Jesus,’ said a Forest Park student. I replied with an enthusiastic “YES!” God does this marvelous thing of inviting people into his Kingdom work. It is a privilege to see God transform a comfortable and introverted person into someone that can’t help but share the Good News with his classmates.
’Allison…when I am walking next to people, I think about their lives and have the urge to tell them about Jesus.’ As we see God more clearly, he begins to redefine the important things in our lives. He starts to give us desires and cares that we never imagined. Later that week this student took some friends around campus and started conversations with people, inviting them to an InterVarsity Bible study to look deeper at the life of Christ. A Buddhist friend joined Bible study that night. God is truly at work transforming lives and preparing a team of Forest Park CC students to love and reach out to their campus.”
