Students Called to Change the World
Andrew McDowell, an InterVarsity alumnus of Occidental College, experienced Jesus through InterVarsity in a way that shaped the rest of his life. Today, he runs With Love, a nonprofit centered around a social enterprise market and cafe, that helps fund community programs around health, child development, and career skills for those in southwest Los Angeles.
Before Andrew McDowell founded With Love Community Programs, he was a college student trying to figure out his purpose.
“I came into college wide-eyed, not knowing what I wanted to do,” he said.
By the end of his freshmen year, he joined InterVarsity on campus. The community embraced him, taking time to guide and mentor him through his spiritual journey. He also dove deep into Scripture, studying and applying it to his life for the first time.
Called to be Like Jesus
Andrew graduated college knowing only two things for certain: he loved Jesus and wanted to spend the rest of his life becoming more like him.
“Becoming more like Jesus was my calling, and how that was lived out was defined by the gifts God had given me,” Andrew said.
Throughout college and his 20’s, Andrew learned how to speak well, lead, and communicate mission. These gifts were crucial when, at almost 30, God led him to start With Love.
Called to Meet Real Needs
With Love serves people in need throughout Southwest Los Angeles. With the belief that all people, regardless of income, race, social status, or language are equally valuable, this non-profit works to right the systems that prevent individuals and communities from thriving. They meet real needs by providing programs such as classes on health or budgeting, cooking demos, gardening and food growth, exercise groups, and job/internship opportunities. Through these programs, With Love empowers members to live as bearers of Christ’s image.
When Andrew started With Love, he knew that loving Jesus and expressing that love in the real world meant meeting the real, physical needs of his community. This is a task, he feels, we’re all called to as Christians. “It’s a responsibility not just in the present-day,” he said, “but in the book of Acts and the Old Testament as well.”
Called to Change The World
As students discern their calling, InterVarsity helps them take Jesus’ words in Matthew 22 to heart: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Andrew’s whole life has been shaped by this command. Today, he remembers the InterVarsity community that helped him fall in love with Jesus in the first place—a love that inspires him to continue changing the world, long after graduation.
