IFES World Assembly
About 650 Christian leaders from 150 nations are gathered this week and next on the campus of Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, for the quadrennial World Assembly of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. A delegation of 44 from InterVarsity staff is attending.
This Assembly is hosted by ChSA, the IFES affiliate in Poland. Twenty years ago, after the fall of Communism, ChSA was the first Christian student movement from Eastern Europe to join IFES. Part of this year’s World Assembly will celebrate the growth of student ministry across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since 1989.
Returning to Poland
After once living in Poland for a summer, InterVarsity president Alec Hill has been anticipating the World Assembly as his first official activity following a 3-month sabbatical. “For me World Assembly is like a taste of heaven, the friendships are so rich and deep,” he said after the previous Assembly four years ago. “It is exciting to hear stories about other places where the gospel is going forward and student movements are progressing.”
The 150 national organizations gathered at the World Assembly represent 500,000 Christian students. As the IFES website states, “At World Assembly, the Fellowship worships together, reviews, and plans for the future. It is a time for us to share with one another how God is at work through our movements. We will learn from one another and renew our vision for work of the global Fellowship, as well as our own ministry.”
Topics of Concern
Like InterVarsity, IFES is non-denominational. The World Assembly delegates will consider topics that are of concern to Christians the world over. These will include, “Positive and negative aspects of new information technologies, global economic justice, and issues related to different religions and worldviews.”
The World Assembly runs from July 26 to August 3, 2011. Check back here for links to reports from Krakow on the InterVarsity blog and by other media.
UPDATES:
- Mission Network News report on the opening of the World Assembly. (One correction, Bob Grahmann is director of InterVarsity’s Link ministry. Prior to that he was director of the IFES Eurasia Institute for Staff Development and Training in Kiev, Ukraine. )
- A report on our blog from Tom Lin, InterVarsity’s Vice President for Missions and Director of Urbana, on the first day of the World Assembly.
- A report from InterVarsity Campus Staff Member Nate Schutt.
- Andy Shudall from the Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship in New Zealand is live blogging from World Assembly.
- More reflections from InterVarsity Campus Staff Member Nate Schutt
- From IFES to Parliament, an audio report from Bob Grahmann
- Mission Network News follow-up story
- Reflections on unity at World Assembly from Nate Schutt
- InterVarsity Staff Return from World Assembly