It’s a 24-hour bus ride to travel from Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, to Guadalajara. While other college students were heading home or to the beach for spring break, seven InterVarsity students and staff from the University of Texas-El Paso were on that bus heading to Vive 2005, Mexico’s first Urbana-style missions convention, held March 19-23. The UTEP seven had decided to attend Vive 2005 as volunteers, in a show of support for Compañerismo Estudiantil y Professional (COMPA), Mexico’s affiliate of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
More than 600 students from almost every state in Mexico attended Vive 2005, as well as representatives from El Salvador, Guatemala, Brazil, Colombia, Canada and Australia. InterVarsity students and staff from San Diego also participated. Orlando Crespo, the director of La Fe, InterVarsity’s Latino ministry, was a Vive speaker as were several others from InterVarsity, including Doug and Marilyn Stewart.
Doug Stewart served as the IFES General Secretary for Mexico for 20 years back when there were only 50-some students involved in the entire movement. It was very gratifying for the Stewarts to see more than ten times as many in one place, representing a growing IFES presence across Mexico. “It was a beautiful picture of the fruit that God is able to bring forth with faith the size of a mustard seed,” said UTEP campus staff member Sarah Sheehan. “’Si tuvieras fe como un granito de mostaza …’ as the song goes that we sang at Urbana.”
“The speakers presented involvement in mission as the normal response to our experience of God’s grace,” reported Jack Voelkel, a former missionary to Colombia, now campus witness pastor with InterVarsity. “Students were encouraged to be involved in mission in their place of study, in areas of need in their cities, and to consider involvement in cross-cultural mission abroad, as well.”
Ziel Machado, the IFES Regional Secretary for Latin America, provided the Bible exposition for the conference. On the closing night, IFES associate regional secretary Israel Ortiz gave a direct challenge to receive Christ as Savior and over 20 responded. A much larger number responded when the call for service was given.
The UTEP volunteers were able to participate in a good deal of Vive 2005 even though some had very limited Spanish language skills. “Our little team was strengthened while translating for each other and being support for each other in a foreign environment,” Sarah reported. “Students were struck by the Mexican students’ desire to reach out to them and try to speak the little English they knew. One student reported a renewed desire to learn Spanish and reach out to the Latino community back in El Paso at UTEP. Overall, we were extremely blessed to be in this environment that was so rich in faith, and students’ faith was stretched as well.”
“Several times we sang a song quoting William Carey’s famous dictum, Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God,” Jack reported. “The leaders of COMPA did just that, and the Lord blessed them.”
