God Responds to Prayer

Our InterVarsity chapter at SUNY-Geneseo has been doing a lot of rejoicing recently. Last semester, we saw 25 students accept Christ as Lord and Savior! We can’t explain the success; the only consistent pattern we can discern is increased prayer. Two years ago, students started meeting every week in dorms and off campus to ask God for revival on campus. As a result, last fall we saw four students come to Christ.

This last year our chapter began praying for the campus daily. Students were intentional about meeting in their dorms to pray for God’s direction in reaching the campus with the gospel. Last spring, our prayer coordinator challenged the chapter to increase their efforts in prayer. The chapter responded and we watched God draw 20 more students into the kingdom! In addition to praying, the chapter sponsored several events that were useful tools for presenting the gospel. Seven students accepted Christ during our annual Jesus Week in April. Two students came to Christ at the chapter retreat, plus one at a seeker meeting, and one at a large-group meeting where the speaker talked about “Taking God Home.” Several came to Jesus through relational evangelism.

Our most successful outreach was a seeker meeting modeled after the Rosie O’Donnell Show. We called it the “Posie O’Connell Show.” The guests (which Posie interviewed) included Peter, Paul and the woman at the well. The show included commercials and even had a band. By the end of the show, Posie was convinced that Jesus is alive and prayed to receive him. She then invited the audience to talk with anyone in the show about Jesus. There was a party afterward and worship later that night where two students decided to follow Jesus.

Finally, we partnered with several churches where four or five students received Christ. Each of these church-related conversions involved students that participated in several IVCF events and then came to church with their Christian friends.

During this exciting year, we noticed that several of the new believers had Christian friends who had been through the BCC training program (Becoming a Contagious Christian). So, in addition to prayer, we found that evangelism training works! Now we must help these new disciples of Christ gain the foundations that will enable them to become lifelong followers of God.

—R. Scott Ashley serves on InterVarsity staff at the State University of New York at Geneseo. His wife Kristen serves with him and they are expecting their first child in February. When not on campus they enjoy eating sushi together.