Groups Investigating God
Groups Investigating God, or GIGs, is the name InterVarsity gives to evangelistic Bible studies. A GIG can be as small as two people. It often lasts for only 4-6 sessions, just enough time to introduce someone to God’s loving message of redemption through Jesus Christ.
At InterVarsity’s Urbana 09 Student Missions Conference, the 16,000 attendees were encouraged to follow-up their Urbana Bible study of the first four chapters of the Gospel of John by starting a GIG when they arrived back on campus.
University of Washington
In the Puget Sound area of Washington, a total of 31 GIGs began in the month and a half that followed Urbana 09. Area director Ellen Hoffman reported that InterVarsity students started by inviting friends. But the students also surveyed others in their dorms, to see if there was additional interest.
In the survey, the students asked questions about beliefs and backgrounds, and then asked: “If you had the opportunity to take an adult look at the Bible right here in your dorm, would you want to do it?” In one dorm 50 percent of those surveyed said, “Yes.”
Millersville University
At Millersville University in Pennsylvania, one student who had not yet become a believer was enjoying the Bible study so much that he told InterVarsity staff member Betsy Staudt Willet that he was going to drop a class that conflicted with it. “I can’t switch to a different Bible study,” he said. Eventually the other members of the study agreed to a different meeting time so that the student didn’t have to drop the class.
Evangelistic Bible Studies give students an opportunity to see God at work, in their lives and in the lives of their friends. “An Evangelistic Bible Study flows from our relationships,” writes InterVarsity’s Heidi Kempt Chew. “It is not merely an outreach activity or an end in itself but simply one step on the spiritual journey we invite our friends to take with us.”
To learn more about how to lead an evangelistic Bible study, visit Heidi’s article on InterVarsity’s Evangelism website.