Idaho students decide to follow Jesus at Winter Conference

(written by Tyler Wickstrom, campus staff at Idaho)

A few months ago Beth* dedicated her life to Jesus in a quiet conversation on a sunny day. In learning about God’s purposes for her life she has gone from running down the hall yelling “who wants chocolate?” to inviting her friends to an event to hear her testimony. In mid-February we hosted a family-style dinner where she could share (see below), and out of the 18 students who came, 13 were new, 7 indicated wanting to join God’s family, and one of them was ready to give his life to Jesus. This is when I met Parker*.

Parker grew up with a difficult home, and he had been seeking God for a while. He came to the dinner to support Beth, but in a prayer exercise Jesus surprised him. His grandmother had a purple room that brought her joy, and in prayer he found that “Jesus wants to give me my own purple room!” When I met with him to interpret and discuss what this meant he was excited to see Jesus restore and redeem his own story. He accepted Jesus into his life joyfully.

Beth had another chance to share her story a couple weeks ago in front of 400+ students at Winter Conference. We brought 8 UI students, and that night God was pursuing Seth*.

A few months ago Seth heard Beth running down the hall yelling “Who wants chocolate?” and at the time this simple gift brought him to tears. He began discovering who Jesus was in our Bible studies (as someone raised in the church but long adrift), and that Saturday evening at Winter Conference he felt God was calling him back into His family. When we processed this invitation he made a decision to follow Jesus while excitedly telling Jesus “Thank you!"

Thank you so much for your continuing support and generosity. For these three students at UI, your prayer and partnership helped them encounter Jesus in ways they’d never imagined. You have made all this possible.

Mark Camp 2014

I (Donan) had the great privilege of leading 5 students through the first half of the gospel of Mark.  Students discovered Jesus in new ways and more of what it means to be disciples.  Instead of trying to summarize the week in my own words, here are theirs:

1)      What have you been learning about yourself as we studied Mark?

-      I learned the preliminaries of finding rest in God.  I learned about needing to listen to go where God wants.  I learned some of what it means to be a disciple.  I learned about what my community could like if it was the kingdom of God.  I learned what the kingdom of God was for me.  I learned what it really means to make Jesus bigger than my problems, and I finally learned [about] quiet time.  I finally understood about the loaves.

      

-        I have been learning to be able to ask to understand things and contemplate them over time without being frustrated.  Mark has helped me to be able to understand the nature of being receptive of what God’s trying to teach me.

-        I’ve learned a lot about myself that has been sort of independent of Mark, but not independent of God.  Mark has brought up some important questions I have about God and my relationships to Him but I’ve ultimately realized that my understanding of God at any given moment doesn’t change who God is.  So I can have faith that even when I’m sitting in tension or don’t quite understand an aspect of God or scripture, God is still God.  He is good and cares for me just the same.  So my love for Him shouldn’t change just because I’m in tension with something.

2)      What have you been learning about studying scripture?

-        How to ask good questions, how to look for clues, how to accept unexpected answers, how to let go of dead-ends, and how to be good soil.

-        I’ve been learning how to make connections between sections of the text.  Before I always like it was a stretch to make multi-page connections but since Mark wrote us a book with intention, it makes sense to make connections.

            It’s so good!  I loved studying Mark manuscript-style.  As much as it frustrated me that [Donan] and Brandi wouldn’t reveal understanding to us, I realized we’re just like the disciples in that way.  Jesus didn’t give them direct answers either.  So, studying scripture is similar to the disciples and live with encountering Jesus.

Indianapolis Greek Conference

This is what happens when you get 775 Greeks together to connect with God, learn to lead and change the world.   And, God shows up in big ways.  Over 20 students made first time decisions to follow Jesus.  Over 200 students made re-commitments to following Jesus.  Another 200+ students said yes to leading small group bible studies in their houses.  I love seeing students find new life in Jesus and be eager to share this new life with their friends.

On a personal note, I love serving in General Session.  I feel like a production assistant to the best event of the season.  My jobs included: blowing up 45 balloons, devising distribution strategy for 100 tennis balls, cleaning Cheeto dust from a drop cloth, smearing peanut butter on plexiglass and preparing to send almost $5000 donation to IFES work in India.

Join me in thanking Jesus for His faithfulness and the work He is going to do through this students to love their brothers and sisters.

Our Ministry Wishlist

(10 non-financial ways to support InterVarsity)

1)     A cabin/condo/timeshare/spare floor of your house within 2 hours of Moscow/Pullman for student retreats.

2)     Donate food for student community dinners at WSU.

3)     Adopt-a-student leader to  send notes of encouragement throughout the year.

4)     Drive students to Winter Conference in Portland, 2/28-3/2.

5)     Volunteer to mentor juniors and seniors who are entering your chosen career fields.

6)     Act as a chef for fall student retreat in Oct. 2014.

7)     Host a party to invite alumni and interested friends to hear more about what InterVarsity is doing in the Inland NW.

8)     Store outreach materials in your garage.

9)     Set-up or take down for on-campus events in Pullman, Moscow, Walla Walla or Spokane.

10)  Donate space for staff to have personal spiritual retreat.

Plant to Grow…Grow to Plant- InterVarsity of the Inland Northwest Prayer Guide

Plant to Grow…Grow to Plant- InterVarsity of the Inland Northwest Prayer Guide

I love seeing new things.

I love consistency and deeply rooted values.

Often these two loves can feel at odds. When things are changing around me and I don’t know why, I cling to what I know and I find hope in the familiar. I think this is why attend a liturgical church. Some traditions and value gain depth in repetition.

I also long for new things to occur. When I see a neighborhood that is falling apart, I wonder who will save it. Can it be restored? I love the freshness of working with college students because the culture is  not stagnant. I feel as though I am constantly re-learning my job as students change. I enjoy the freshness of every new fall and every new class. That is why I have stayed with IV for 10 years.

I believe that in the Inland NW we are in a season of clinging to the values that have defined InterVarsity; life on life discipleship, deep scripture study, incarnational ministry and vibrant community; while looking for new and unreached parts of our current campuses and new campuses that we have never thought of starting new work at. As we continue to grow in depth, God has invited us to “lift up our eyes” and truly see where He is at work on our campuses. It is an exciting time that feels both deeply rooted and terrifyingly tenuous. I would love to share 5 emerging ministries and how to pray for them in this exciting and vulnerable season. I will structure this guide around a 5 day work week, if you would like to include these ministries in your daily prayer life.  

Monday: Commuter Students

                Next fall, May Gudgel will be planting at Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University. The focus of this plant will be commuting students from Spokane. These students don’t fit neatly in established campus ministries, due to lack of evening time and struggle in the netherworld between youth ministry and the rest of church congregations. IV has been growing as a witness to these students and we are finally “seeing” these students and their unique roll on campus. This is a great opportunity due to the campuses proximity to each other, EWU’s abnormally large commuter population and an excellent partnership opportunity with First Presbyterian Spokane. Please pray for:

• ·         May and her fiancé Daniel. They are getting married this summer and Daniel is hoping to also join staff.
• ·         For Ross (from FPC Spokane) and his current ministry for college students that we are hoping to partner with.
• ·         For groundwork to be laid this spring. Finances, student contacts, more churches to come along May.

Tuesday: Athletes

                Unless you live in or near a college town, athletes are the most visible college students in our culture. They live extremely stressful and chaotic lives. They are often isolated from the rest of campus due to intense practice schedules. This year Athletes InterVarsity officially launched on a national level. Vince Le, part-time staff at Whitman College, has been investing in athletes since the fall. He has begun a weekly athletes small group with over 10 students involved. This spring, he is going to a large scale outreach with the showing of the film Linsanity (Jeremy Lin’s story). Please pray for:

• ·         Vince as he works with a population that is extremely busy
• ·         For the athletes as they wrestle with how to collegiate athletes, students and Christian all at once.
• ·         For Linsanity, that it would gather more Christian athletes and be an opportunity to talk about faith with non-Christian teammates.

Wednesday: Student-led plants

                Heritage University is a small school in Toppenish, WA in the heart of the Yakama Nation. Few know of its existence, but it has been on my radar as a plant for about a year. This fall I was emailed by two students asking for assistance to plant their own IV chapter! They are a young married couple who had attended “Would Jesus Eat Frybread?” (IV’s national Native American student conference) and decided that their campus needed this movement. Next week, I will be driving to Yakama to do rudimentary small group training and to pray for this new work of God! Please pray for:

• ·         Early momentum. I long well-attended small groups early on!
• ·         Interest and resources that allow students from Heritage to attend IV’s Winter Conference in Vancouver, WA.
• ·         Wisdom for me as I learn to be a “coach”.
• ·         I long that the whole Yakama Nation will be blessed by this movement. I am so excited that it is an organic and incarnational idea. I pray that it always would be so.

Thursday: Day-Time Small Groups

                For as long as I have been part of IV, small groups have almost always taken place during the evening. This has been great for students in the dorms, but has often left those who live in apartments out. During the past two weeks, staff at WSU and UI have attempted to launch multiple small groups in the CUB and Commons (major gathering places) by simply asking those around if they would like to study scripture during their lunch breaks. All in all, over 30 people have expressed interest and May has already had one small group study. Please pray for:

• ·         Staff to have a learning posture. Hosting a 45 minute Bible study around a lunch table is different than over an hour in dorm floor.
• ·         A sense of community. We pray that these groups would become friends being transformed by Jesus. We hope these groups are launching pads to larger community.
• ·         Continued interest! Just today I was able to meet two more interested people at UI (the only two people I spoke with)! The harvest seems very ripe right now, pray that it would continue to be so!

Friday: Ethnic-Specific Small Groups

                At WSU, John Paradis is helping two passionate Latina freshmen launch a Spanish-speaking small group! These students at Heritage are excited about reaching Native students. The Asian-American student center would like to co-sponsor a showing of Linsanity at WSU. God is on the move with students of color and has been opening doors of community for us in the Inland NW! Please pray for:

• ·         Deepening relationships between our staff and student teams with ethnic-specific communities on campus.
• ·         For students who are going back into their ethnic communities with the gospel. Pray that God would prepare them to be missionaries to their hometowns.
• ·         For staff “coaching” these students. Pray that they (and I) would have wisdom and genuine desire to be learners.

New Season, New Needs

During this season planting, Donan and I are also entering a time of leaning into our support needs. Increased ministry and new seasons in life have led us to seek an additional $1000 per month of ministry support, or $12,000 annually. If you are a current partner, I would as that you would consider increasing your partnership towards this end. If you are not yet a partner, please pray about whether God is calling you to join our team at this time. We are hoping to reach this goal by the end of February. I would love to answer any questions that you may have and you if are interested in setting up a donation, you can visit:  https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate#8055. 

Thank you so much for your support and prayer! God is on the move!!!

Mystery and disappointment

I’ve been feeling disappointed in ministry.  Disappointment is a heavy thing to carry.  It doesn't leave space for anything new.

I've been struggling with God to understand why the Greek plant at WSU didn't take hold.  For three years, I moved ahead in hope seeing the ways that God was working in individual students lives.  Yet, we never moved from individual students to group cohesion.  I finally had to concede that this plant wasn't growing.  I needed to move on.  As of January 2013 I left the dream of a Greek InterVarsity chapter at WSU started as the team leader for the multi-ethnic undergraduate chapter. 

How do you grieve over a dream?  Logic seems to say that loss of something that never existed isn't really loss at all.  Yet, it feels so very real.  Had I misheard the call?  Did I miss a sign?  Where was God in the midst of this?

InterVarsity is looking to plant more chapters. My head knows this is good because of the hundreds of thousands of college students in our region who don't know how close God is to them.  Yet my heart felt scared.  How could I hope again for something new?  How could I encourage others to dream for something that only brought me disappointment?  

All these emotions swirled in my heart as I came into our annual staff regional meeting.  My head agreed but my heart was ambivalent.  During a time of communal prayer with worship and interactive stations, my eye caught this quote:

I held my heart back from positively accepting anything since I was afraid of another fall and in this condition of suspense I was being all the more killed.

- St. Augustine

And God said to me, "Do you believe in mystery?"

Mystery?  Of course.  Like imagination and wonder, mystery brings color to the world.  There is so much more than what I can see and understand.  I like it this way.  Could planting be mysterious?  Could mystery and disappointment intertwine?

When ministry is your job, it's tempting to rely on strategies and hard work to show the goodness of God.  Yet, God doesn't work within our systems and strategies.  He is mysterious.  And, He is good.

God's invitation to me seems to be:

Those who sow with tears

    will reap with songs of joy. 
Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them. (Psalm 126:5-6)

A sample of InterVarsity life: August 2013

A sample of photos from New Student Outreach and our back-to-school staff retreat (bottom photo)