Jonetta Johnson is grateful that InterVarsity’s Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF) provides opportunities for students to worship, pray, and reflect on their purpose at the university in a nurturing community. While she has pursued a doctoral degree in Public Health at the University of Michigan these last three years, her involvement in the InterVarsity community has strengthened her faith.
Jonetta noticed that her small group of women, most of whom are women of color, did not often take part in the larger GCF community. Though deeply committed to the small group, some women felt uncomfortable being where they were the minority and could not always relate to the discussion topics or style of worship. Jonetta realized that the larger fellowship was limited in how effectively its members could help these women grow in their faith.
“What is often missing yet needed is for Christian activity to occur within a space of cultural comfort for minority graduate students, who often experience different social, academic, and personal challenges in graduate school,” said Jonetta.
A New Chapter Becomes Home
Jonetta began looking for more resources relevant to the small group and discovered InterVarsity’s Black Scholars and Professionals (BSAP) ministry. She and InterVarsity staff member Melodie Marske prayed throughout the summer about whether they should branch off and start a new chapter. Jonetta connected with an unaffiliated men’s Christian small group on campus called Men of Valor. They had been praying about how to increase their witness among other African American men. When Jonetta shared her small group’s vision for a BSAP chapter, the men were excited to join.
This fall the two small groups celebrated becoming an official InterVarsity chapter. The members regularly come together for social activities and community service and continue to cultivate relationships with GCF. Recently, the GCF and BSAP chapters held a combined meeting and invited a speaker to present a message on faith and justice.
“We don’t want to isolate ourselves or those who have been with us. We want to make everyone feel welcome,” said Jonetta. The BSAP chapter has also met several new graduate students who might not have known about or attended GCF, but have found a home in the BSAP community.
“As minority students, you experience a unique set of challenges, and as Christians in a mainly secular environment at the university, you experience another set of challenges,” said Jonetta. The new chapter helps students work through these challenges and consider God’s calling in their lives.
Missions in a Laboratory
At Virginia Tech, in another InterVarsity graduate fellowship, Ph.D. student Michelle Oppenheimer also saw a need to change the way her fellowship was reaching out to graduate students. This fellowship had tried hosting events, such as ice cream socials and weekend hikes, to involve non-Christians in the InterVarsity community, but students were too busy to attend. "It's difficult getting graduate students to even take one night off for a Bible study," said Michelle.
Instead of getting students to come to InterVarsity events, Michelle turned her attention to praying for the people she works with every day. "I am more effective by being where I am and getting to know the people around me," she said.
As a student biochemist, Michelle can relate to the successes and frustrations of life in the lab. She studies what happens on a cellular level when a person is infected with Chagas’ disease, which inflames the heart. Recently, the American Heart Association awarded her a two-year fellowship to further her research, and she’s hopeful that her work will aid chemists in creating an appropriate drug to combat the disease. But research is slow work. And when only one out of ten experiments succeed, failure can be discouraging.
Yet Michelle’s faith helps her maintain an appropriate perspective. "You know where your happiness comes from. It's not about whether your experiments fail, you make that grade, or you get that grant," said Michelle. “You say to yourself, ‘I'll try again tomorrow.’” She wants her colleagues to know that failure doesn’t define them and that their identity can be rooted in God instead of research results.
She organizes weekly prayer gatherings for people in her department and looks for opportunities to serve her colleagues. Since then, one Ph.D. student has become a follower of Jesus and now shares his new life in Christ with others in the department.
Both Michelle and Jonetta, like many other InterVarsity students, are recognizing that God can use their unique abilities, location, and relationships to bring the gospel into students’ lives.
