Blog

Daniel Bourdanné’s life was profoundly impacted by the ministry of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) when he was a student in Chad, his home country.

I lost both of my parents in September. I’m mourning deeply, of course, but I also find a deep gratitude welling up for the many gifts they gave me.

Although I had a great college experience overall, I do have a few regrets. One is that I didn’t study abroad. (In my defense, I was supposed to spend a J-Term in Israel, but the trip got cancelled due to safety concerns. So I spent J-Term in . . .

Three weeks ago, I asked several hundred college students a question: What is your biggest obstacle today to giving your whole life for God’s global mission?

In 28 hours I can be in Thailand.  I just looked it up, thanks to the miracle of the Internet, although I use that term loosely (miracle, not Internet). Right this moment, I can book a flight from Chicago to Bangkok and be wheels-up to Thailand in six hours, carrying nothing with me except a messenger bag filled with beef jerky...

Living communally was embedded throughout my Chinese-Christian upbringing. I learned the importance of doing life together and sacrificing for one another in humility—no matter what.

First off, I’m a Christian. I’ve been reading the Bible since I was a kid. I’ve been trying to follow Jesus for almost 20 years. I think the Bible is the best explanation for my experience around the world, for how humans are and how to address that. We’ve recently written a book full of stories of how we’ve tried to follow Jesus overseas and now back in the U.S.

How often do we view our citizenship as a gift that we’ve been given to steward?

Dear 2012 Alumni, You’re on a journey that nobody can truly prepare you for. Maybe you participated in the graduating senior small group study Following Jesus in the Real World by Richard Lamb or maybe you attended the conference with workshops for graduating seniors.

"It is not enough for freedom to be won. It must also be sustained. Cultural observer Os Guinness argues that the American experiment in freedom is at risk....He calls us to reconsider the audacity of sustainable freedom and what it would take to restore it.”