Kevin
“Wow, God has moved through INTERVARSITY. I feel his presence more than any other time in my life. Recently, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I was holding something back from him. God has also revealed how dry I have been. I was going through the motions and INTERVARSITY created the space for me to see how amazing it is to sit in his presence and receive all of his blessings. Pray for me to grow in my commitment to God. I have come to realize that this is a war and the enemy will attack me to make me struggle. Pray for me not to get overwhelmed with school or my spiritual walk.”
Liz
“God has used INTERVARSITY to show me his love for me in a way I’ve never known before. He has taught me how my anxiety and stress are a sign that I’m not depending on him enough. God has also taught me not to focus on my own actions and sin but to focus on him. Pray that I would have a better understanding of why and how evil exists in this world, how to respond and for strength to cling to Jesus in times of personal darkness.”
Maddie
“My relationship with Jesus Christ is a fairly new one. I grew up in a home where religion was not prevalent. I started searching for a closer relationship with God near the end of my senior year in high school but I really only began to find Him when I came to Madison. INTERVARSITY brought me closer to him by getting me involved in a weekly small group, large group, recommending a church to me, and by encouraging me to attend Cross Training, which is where I actually began to feel God's grace. I feel like this year I have actually begun to understand who Jesus is and what he stands for. “
Mike
“God has been building my confidence in hearing from him through INTERVARSITY. I have increased compassion for students in Madison and my fellow leaders. God is continuing to call me into being faithful in my morning time with Him. Out of that place I feel led to disciple new believers; mentoring freshmen by inviting them into what God is doing in and through our chapter. Pray for me to connect with some of the younger men in the chapter who need a mentor. And pray that God would fan the flame by shaking things up in my life!”
Ben
“God has been giving me a vision for ministry on campus. He has showed me I’ve been depending on ME to a good leader rather than letting him lead. Leading a small group this year God is calling me to commit to live with an understanding of the fact that I can’t lead by myself; I need him! God has also been calling me to continue to pursue our vision for evangelism on campus as a fellowship. Pray for my humility in preparing for SG this year, for humility in my SG relationships and for me to be unselfish with my time allocation.”
Shaina
“I left on July 1 to work with the Abraham Project for about fifteen months. I will be serving as support staff--primarily in the areas of communication, publicity, and recruitment with their connections in the US--to fill in the gaps where help is needed because the Project is growing, but there are not enough permanent staff. I have been doing everything from working in the daycare and helping teach English to kids, to doing a little bit of construction; we stripped the paint off of a crib using shards of broken glass and refinished it! We’re fans of reusing things here.”
Kim
“God has been teaching me to have faith with my relationships and to step out on a limb to share Christ with my friends and the people on my floor. God is calling me to commit to praying BIG and specific prayers for my small group members and to be intentional in my relationships on my floor next year. As a new Small Group Leader, my desire for our chapter is to help see campus unity with other Christian groups, and for us to maintain our emphasis on prayer and evangelism. Pray for my boldness and faithfulness in outreach and prayer.“
Zach
"My experience with InterVarsity has been great! One of the biggest and most surprising ways in which the Lord has met me has been by growing me in love for scripture. For me, loving God’s word and being excited to read scripture has been a struggle in the past, but God has really worked on my heart through InterVarsity, deeply changing the way I view scripture. InterVarsity has helped me develop plans and goals for strengthening my personal relationship with Christ as well as a renewed commitment to campus ministry."
Krystal
"At InterVarsity’s Chicago Urban Program (CUP), God revealed to me that he has a tremendous heart for all his people -- from those who are privileged to those who are not. I think his purpose this week was to show me the privileges that I have been brought up with and to use that privilege to help pick up my brothers and sisters who have less -- and to feel honored that God desires to give me a chance to be there for them and to learn more about Him, myself, and others through the process. Throughout the week, God showed me to embrace my own brokenness and the grace with which he helps mend it and also to feel a sense of urgency and privilege that God desires to use me to help heal brokenness in others. I feel especially called to continue in prayer for the children, tutors, program staff, and social workers at Grace and Peace, the after-school tutoring program I participated in for underprivileged children. I really learned a lot from watching the staff and their caring hearts for those children and their desire to pursue and glorify God through their vocation. I was also challenged to consider how I will use my future vocation to honor God and serve the kingdom."
Mia
"AAIV has been encouraging because of the space it creates to share vulnerably on my fears about sharing the gospel. Through a recent training on evangelism I have grown in my appreciation for GIG’s (Bible discussion for non-Christians) because I was challenged to view Scripture through the lens of a non-Christian. This made God’s grace much more real to me. I was forced to read the Scriptures honestly; often in Christian settings it’s easy to hide behind cliché answers and 'say the right thing.' Sharing my personal testimony and presenting the gospel are definitely skills I plan to grow in. It was helpful to practice these in a safe setting. It was also heartwarming to share our personal testimonies with each other-I didn’t even know how some of my own friends in our chapter came to know Jesus! My biggest fear in evangelism is feeling theologically inadequate, but after our training I feel much more confident to just share how Jesus has transformed me. Knowing others in AAIV have walked before me and many are now walking alongside me in sharing their faith empowers me even more. I’m leading a GIG with two of my non-Christian friends this semester!"
Emily
"God has used InterVarsity as a life changing experience. I have never been in an environment or community so focused on God, His Word, and His purposes. As I have sought after His will in all areas of my life, I can not help but humble myself before Him and submit to the changes he obviously desires for my life. I have a new desire to intertwine my faith with my daily activities on campus, as well as the desire to keep Christ at the center of everything I do, now, and in the future. God has been so faithful in revealing himself to me, and that is something that I am certain will continue as I finish out my time at UW - Madison."
Kristi
"The first time I came to an InterVarsity small group, we really dug into Scripture. a lot. I was intimidated, because it was very different from anything I'd done before. I went to a different bible study, but I went back to an InterVarsity study after a few weeks, because I realized I was missing the big picture of the passages I had been studying. I was still a little scared, but then I realized that even though I'm an engineering major who is not good at analyzing literature, God still had big things to say to me through really digging into His Word. As community developed while we studied Scripture, I found a lot more than just a bible study. We ate together, prayed together, served together. These weren't acquaintances that I saw once a week for bible study who asked me "How are you?" they grew to be close friends who could ask me, "How was your big chem exam?" My parents couldn't figure out why I spent so much time with the people in my bible study, and I couldn't explain it to them other than to say these friends are different than other friends I'd had before. My small group last year was the highlight of my year, and I'm really excited to lead a small group this year."
Stephanie
"My month at InterVarsity’s School of Leadership Training (SLT) was incredible: a full month to enjoy the glory of God through His Word, His people and His glorious creation. I was a bit skeptical at first; ‘How much could I possibly learn in one month, with only one other person from my chapter?’ I was deeply humbled and blessed. Together, everyone at SLT pored over the Word daily, searching for truth and guidance for our lives. We would always have to remind each other that SLT was just a springboard: that the real world isn't like this. SLT was a morsel of the things yet to come. SLT gave me time to concentrate on my own walk with God. I learned that the best thing I could offer other people is my own relationship with Jesus. Now that I've been thrust back into the real world of campus, time and again I have turned to what I learned during SLT about my God to help me through. SLT is an invaluable resource and I am eternally grateful that I had this beautiful experience through InterVarsity."
Peter
“I've been involved with InterVarsity at UW-Madison since my sophomore year, and in these last three years God has done amazing things in my life. He has transformed me into a person who tries to follow after him in everything and seeks to serve him with everything I do. God has really given me a heart for students and for the campus. I long to see the campus renewed and transformed into a place where God is glorified rather than rejected, and honored rather than defamed. God has called me to pursue these goals for him vocationally. I decided to come on staff with InterVarsity, and God granted me a place at UW-Madison. I am very excited to see how God is going to use me in the coming years to establish his Kingdom on the UW campus."
Steph
"I grew up going to mass every Sunday. I stood, I kneeled, I sat, and I responded when I knew I was supposed to, but I never really listened. In the spring semester of 2006, one of my sorority sisters invited me to Greek IV. That next fall I started coming every week and I really loved it. Greek IV was the first religious, Christian thing I’ve ever done truly because I wanted to. This year I went to Greek Conference and attended the track on Christian Sex and Intimacy. For the fist time in my life, everything people said about God made sense. It clicked in my head and I thought “Why didn’t I think like this before? Saturday night we broke off with our campus fellowship and took some time of quiet personal reflection. That’s when I realized that I never had a personal relationship with the Lord. I’d thought that just going to church made me a Christian, but I now knew that having a personal relationship with God is so much more then that. So I prayed with my chapter and turned my life over to God. I thank Greek IV and Greek Conference for helping me get here.”
Davi
“Olá! (“hello” in Portuguese). My experience in Madison can be summed up from a passage in Jeremiah 29: “Build houses and settle down, plant gardens and eat what they produce seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you.” Madison was the land where I planted my gardens. The land turned out to be very fertile and I received many great fruits: friendships, knowledge and even more passion for student’s ministry. God used InterVarsity to equip me to serve him in a better and more mature way. As I return to Brazil, I’m taking new ideas for our movement; I am even considering joining staff in Brazil.”
Sam
“As a UW college student, the Asian Christian Fellowship (ACF) Spring Retreat from Feb 8-10 was a chance for me, to reenergize and reprioritize my life. We had great messages, powerful praise; and great bonding times. What I loved about the messages was that they were honest and convicting. From the message on 1 Samuel 3:1-21, I learned that I had become like Eli: blind and deaf to God. I want to become more like Samuel: an obedient servant of the Lord. I also learned that God was trying to talk to me, but I had literally "shelved" his Word right next to my chemistry book. God also showed me that He has been waiting to speak to me and to answer my prayers through the Bible. Now I am trying to get back onto the path that God has prepared for me through prayer and my devotional life.“
Matt
“InterVarsity helped me bring my two worlds together. I had always had a love for relationships with the average guys that was separated from my Christian life. I felt like I had to choose one or the other. IV helped me take all I was learning as a Christian and apply that wisdom into my life with people outside of the church. IV also empowered me by showing me what real relational evangelism was about. They challenged me to see how relational God is and how we need to invest our lives into people we hope to see come to the Lord.”
Aaron
“I was raised in a Christian environment. I went to church every Sunday and was involved in youth group. Unfortunately, towards the end of high school , I started to slip away. When I came to college, going to church and getting involved in campus ministry weren’t exactly high on my list of things to do. All I was really worried about was doing well in school, and meeting lots of new friends. So I did that for a while. Eventually God put a desire on my heart to reconnect. One of the ways I did that was through InterVarsity; which has been an extreme spiritual growth experience for me.”
Janice
"Before the global project began this summer, I expected to grow both personally and spiritually, to learn more about Taiwanese culture and religion, and to build new friendships. During a global project to Taiwan I saw firsthand how deep God’s love extends, from the dedication of the minister at the prison in Tainan to the commitment of Pastor Chu and his wife with the children at the shelter and with the local community in Douliou to the heart and compassion our director had for the Taiwanese people. Furthermore, it motivated and affirmed my desire to work overseas after I finish medical school, and I hope that I will be able to find a purpose that I have as much passion for as those I served with in Taiwan. I am excited to see where God will lead me. Recently, I received an e-mail from one of my Taiwanese students from the trip who just began graduate studies in Colorado. She has started checking out Christian groups on campus and is interested in continuing to attend an international student fellowship!”
Lance
“I was afraid of being bold for Christ and had doubts/fears about contact evangelism. I prayed, challenging God to show me that public evangelism could be effective…and He sure did! During contact evangelism, I had some great conversations where I knew God had set up a divine appointment. But more significant for me was the way God gave me a true sense of joy in calling others to follow Him. He showed me a glimpse of what evangelism should be. Rather than something to be afraid of, I now see it more as a great opportunity to partner with God in the things he is already doing. My challenge now is for this to become more of a lifestyle rather than a one time event. I am excited for what He can and will do on our campus this upcoming year.”
Eric
“SLT was amazing for many reasons; one was that I experienced true Biblical community. My family group was a diverse group of people and we were able to get really close. It was encouraging to hear about the things God was doing on campuses all over. It gave me a bigger picture for how this ministry really extends beyond me and my campus; it really has the potential to impact the world. At SLT one of the things we are trained in is evangelism. I was convicted and I prayed for opportunities to share the gospel with some specific friends back home. The first full day home I had the courage to share the gospel with one of them!”
Karen
“Just hours after attending an evangelistic Bible study training, I returned to my dorm and heard my neighbor talking to Brian. God reassured me that if I gave Brian my time He would guide our conversation and we would end up talking about God. That’s exactly what happened! Argumentative, full of questions, and a pro playing devil's advocate, he fueled a conversation on God for over 2 hours! Our discussion left me needing to find answers... the perfect excuse to meet again the following week, which he agreed to! Afterwards I ran to the bathroom to pray for Brian and our next meeting. Praise God for His faithfulness!"
Kayla
“God changed my life in two signicant ways last year through IV. First, I learned about a daily quiet time. I didn’t become a Christian until later in high school and I had no one to model how to live a Christian life. Life can be stressful on campus dealing with homework, roommates, and tests. During my daily time with the Lord I get strengthened, encouraged and nd direction for my life. Second, my perspective on college was changed; God called me to be here at the UW Madison and has a plan and a purpose for my life here. I am on Campus on Purpose. Just being reminded of that simple fact has eased my mind. God is in control and I need to trust Him.”
