For InterVarsity staff Adam Leong, sharing the gospel with students from the University of Missouri in Columbia (known as Mizzou) has led him to have spiritual conversations in unconventional places. McDonald’s, Burger King, the Waffle House—Adam has eaten at them all and there seen several students decide to follow Christ.
Adam jokingly refers to these events as McEvangelism, but Adam is serious about helping InterVarsity students understand the connection between hearing God’s Word and sharing it with others. He decided the best way to teach students was to begin modeling evangelism himself.
A Waiting Harvest
Adam had been a senior at Washington University in St. Louis when he was asked to plant a new Asian American chapter at Mizzou. He eagerly accepted. The last InterVarsity chapter there was an international student ministry, ending in 2004. Before that, there had not been an undergraduate chapter at Mizzou since the late 1980s.
“The harvest was ready,” said Adam. “I visited Mizzou and I saw students ready to hear and accept the gospel, but they had no one to lead them.” After graduation, Adam began networking with secular ethnic-specific groups on campus and met several students interested in learning more about God through InterVarsity.
“There are tons of campus ministries at Mizzou, but they reach out to the majority,” said Adam. “Asian Americans aren’t necessarily going to find their way into those events.”
Now in its second year, Mizzou Asian Christian Fellowship (ACF) has grown to 40 students, with a number of non-Christians regularly attending Large Group meetings. “A big challenge is to balance the non-Christians and Christians so that both are being fed and growing,” said Adam.
An Intentional Response
Currently, the chapter is studying Paul’s journey through Acts. The study helps students see Paul’s boldness in sharing the gospel and allows non-Christians to relate to the people who first heard Paul’s message. For Adam, Paul’s travels are a reminder that evangelism is an important part of living out his faith.
“Evangelism is something I had to work at,” said Adam. “I had a lot of spiritual conversations with people in the past, but I hadn’t walked with anybody through the process.” During Adam’s undergraduate years, his leadership with InterVarsity focused on mentoring and discipling other students. He preferred to leave the task of evangelism to others.
Once on staff, that attitude began to change. “As I’ve seen how much people need Jesus, evangelism is something I try to be more intentional about,” said Adam.
An Ongoing Process
One student Adam had been praying for was Joey. Joey had often attended Large Group meetings, but did not want to commit to the group or to God. At the encouragement of a friend, he attended InterVarsity’s fall conference, where an invitation to know Jesus was made. In the following days, Joey kept thinking about the invitation. He asked Adam to meet with him because he had so many questions.
The two went to McDonald’s for dinner, where the casual setting put Joey at ease as he shared his hesitancy about accepting the invitation. Joey did not think he had enough knowledge to commit to Jesus. He was nervous that his decision would be too sudden. Adam encouraged Joey that building a relationship with Jesus was a process, one that deepened over a lifetime. With that process in mind, Joey’s perspective shifted. He was ready to begin a relationship with Jesus.
Seeing Joey and other students make decisions to follow Jesus, Mizzou ACF members are excited to practice small steps in sharing their faith with others. Adam sees students growing bolder in conversations with their non-Christian friends and inviting their classmates to Large Group meetings. Several students are working to develop partnerships with secular Asian groups on campus, and reaching out to other student populations, such as international Asian students and Filipino Americans.
After two years, Adam is thankful for the variety of growth in the chapter, with new students joining InterVarsity and other members maturing in their faith. As students learn to respond to the gospel by sharing their story, they try to be a loving community for their peers to grow in relationship with Jesus.
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