More than 80 students from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, participated in a weekend conference where Al Anderson, the conference speaker, described faith as a fire within our hearts. Students were asked if they were satisfied with a birthday-candle-sized flame of faith or if they would rather have a sun-sized flame. They were challenged to live their lives on fire for Jesus and to live out a sun-sized faith as they demonstrate God’s love on campus and around the world.
Students responded with a greater desire to spread the Gospel back on campus and throughout the world. One afternoon, students who had been overseas on missions trips shared their experiences. Over forty-five students requested information about spring and summer missions trips. Several students expressed a commitment to share the Gospel more boldly on campus with their friends and classmates.
As Anna, an international student from Poland, heard about missions experiences, she felt she was missing something those around her seemed to have. Anna prayed and invited Jesus into her heart. She decided she needed to share the Gospel and love of Christ with those in her campus community.
During the week after the conference, Anna talked with one of her Jewish professors for two hours and challenged him to investigate Christianity and the truth of Jesus. At the University of Iowa, she now attends InterVarsity’s weekly meetings and is an active participant in one of the small group Bible studies on campus. She shares her faith in Christ with the campus community as well as with friends and relatives in Poland, encouraging them to examine the biblical truth of Jesus.
Other students were also encouraged by Al’s description of faith as a fire in our hearts. “I really felt challenged. Birthday candles aren’t good enough anymore. I want a roaring sun inside me. I want to be on fire for Jesus. And the bigger the fire, the more likely it is to spread, to my classmates, students in my residence hall, and other peers,” Sarah, a junior at the University of Iowa said. She has committed herself to spreading the Gospel on campus.
As students returned to Coe College, they were committed to reaching out to students in their dorms with the love of Christ through practical ways to serve their neighbors, like taking out their garbage or vacuuming their rooms. InterVarsity encourages students to live out their flame of faith.
