“We’ll start this ourselves”— 25 Years of South Asian American InterVarsity

At The University of Texas at Austin in the early 2000s, a group of South Asian students noticed that their corner of campus was overlooked. No campus ministries or churches sought to evangelize to or create Christian community for the growing population of Indian students on campus. The South Asian community on campus embodied a variety of cultural identities — children of immigrants, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and nominal Christians — yet none were being reached by existing ministries.   

To Linson Daniel, former InterVarsity staff, this corner resembled Samaria in Acts, a place passed over and misunderstood. “If no one is coming to look for us, we’re starting this ourselves,” he and his fellow students decided. They formed a team to plant what would become OneWay, the first ever South Asian American InterVarsity (SAIV) chapter in the country.  

Co-founder Jason Philipose still remembers the exact day OneWay began: “December 6, 2000...I found my old journal to prove the date!” He noted, in shock, that 20 Indian students were in attendance that first meeting, simply via word-of-mouth invitations and tabling on campus. 

One year later, the students of OneWay began a second South Asian small group on another campus in the state. A few years later, the two chapters had planted a third and a fourth.  

“The campus border was artificial to us,” Linson said, describing the vast connections the students in the South Asian community had with each other. Their close connections within their community enabled them to go from campus to campus. If anyone on their team had family or friends at other schools, they saw that as an opportunity for a new ministry. 

“They needed that space to be able to explore that intersection of ethnicity and faith,” said Ard, OneWay’s current InterVarsity staff who is not South Asian himself, but recognizes the gifts of their culture. “There’s so much that can be received from the South Asian community. So much fellowship. You are one or two degrees from knowing someone else that knows someone who knows you. That’s a beautiful thing.” 

Within a few years, there were seven SAIV chapters in the Red River Region (Texas and Oklahoma, at the time) serving over 300 South Asian students!  

As revival was happening among South Asian students, they didn’t stay where they were among their own people. They became aware of other corners of campus that were overlooked just like they once were, particularly some with cultural commonalities — other “Samarias.” Soon, they began reaching out to Middle Eastern students, joining them in fasting and discussing their beliefs together. In the process, they learned more about God’s imagination for what was possible through their new ministry.  

National Impact 

Over the past 25 years, God has continued to move exponentially in South Asian InterVarsity, far past Texas and across the entire country. By the 2024-2025 school year, SAIV reached over 800 students. Today there are 8 South Asian InterVarsity chapters in Texas and 8 small groups nationally. With more small group planting in the process! 

SAIV has become a key part of InterVarsity’s Asian American Ministries and creates resources and events geared toward reaching South Asian students –– from a smaller national gathering of South Asian student leaders called the South Asian Leadership Institute, to a larger, regular national conference called Redefined.  

Nearly 400 students attended the last Redefined Conference in January 2025. 132 committed to praying for non-Christian South Asians on their campuses, 100 experienced healing from shame, and seven surrendered their lives to Jesus. It also sparked vision for new SAIV movements on five campuses across the U.S.: the University of South Florida, UC Riverside, Indiana University Indianapolis, Cal State San Bernardino, and the University of Florida. 

One student named Ayna shared her testimony at the conference. Raised in a Punjabi Sikh family, she knew becoming a Christian could mean being disowned. But when an abusive relationship left her feeling ashamed and suicidal, a friend invited her to an SAIV Bible study where she found a community that helped her heal. 

“Punjabi women don’t follow Jesus. If I follow him, I can’t be me,” Ayna had believed. Through prayer and fasting, however, she found that Jesus wasn’t erasing her South Asian identity but redeeming it. She chose to follow him and was baptized by the same friend who invited her. 

Stories like Ayna’s have happened all over the country through SAIV over the past 25 years. Students are discovering God’s love and hope and how he made them South Asian on purpose, for a purpose.  

Deep, Strong Roots 

The roots of SAIV at its founding campus, UT Austin, continue to go deep. 25 years later, and even with around 50 other ministries on campus, OneWay is still the sole ministry at UT Austin intentionally providing Christian community for South Asian students.  

Jason Philipose reflects on the last 25 years: "To see the continuity of ministry in Texas and in the country is amazing. It’s like the UT Austin slogan, 'What starts here changes the world.' I’ve personally adapted the slogan and I say, 'What starts here – in our hearts - changes eternity!'”  

For current UT Austin student leader Hanini, faith would never have become what it is now without SAIV. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Tamil region of India. And although she was raised in a Christian home, she felt a disconnect between her cultural identity and faith. Growing up, she regularly prayed for Christian friends who could relate to her experiences. When she discovered a community of South Asians in InterVarsity, she felt less alone. 

“I remember coming in freshman year, and I was like, ‘There's people that are South Asian that love Jesus, too?!’ Growing up, I didn't have a South Asian community like that,” she said. “Seeing people that are your age, your background, that sometimes speak the same language as you, worshiping and just loving the Lord … it's been amazing.” 

Even now, the chapter is continuing to reach non-Christian South Asian students, building strong connections with other South Asian organizations and and partnering together to host events.  

“There is a kinship within this community. There is so much within the diaspora of South Asia,” Ard said. “There’s a focus on other people groups, evangelism, and partnership with other ministries on campus, other InterVarsity chapters, and other organizations that are not Christian. There’s a focus on the Kingdom of God.”  

As we celebrate 25 years of South Asian American InterVarsity, pray that God would continue to open new doors for even more South Asian students to discover that they can follow Jesus with all of who they are and all he’s called them to be.