Bob Kriegbaum, a carpenter on the University of California Riverside campus, began meeting with students for lunch back in the early 1970s to study the Bible and pray. Soon an InterVarsity fellowship was born. Bob relentlessly told the story of Jesus to countless students during his years working on campus. Many students were influenced by Bob during fishing trips on his boat The Encourager, named by some of his Bible study students.
One time Bob hosted 81 UCR students in his Riverside home to hear Chuck Smith, founding pastor of Calvary Chapel, teach about the lordship of Christ.
Bob Kriegbaum, a carpenter on the University of California Riverside campus, began meeting with students for lunch back in the early 1970s to study the Bible and pray. Soon an InterVarsity fellowship was born. Bob relentlessly told the story of Jesus to countless students during his years working on campus. Many students were influenced by Bob during fishing trips on his boat The Encourager, named by some of his Bible study students.
One time Bob hosted 81 UCR students in his Riverside home to hear Chuck Smith, founding pastor of Calvary Chapel, teach about the lordship of Christ. As a result, three days later, Bob’s story of Jesus changing his life was on the front page of the UCR newspaper.
Bob was asked to become the chairman of the UCR chapter’s Riverside County Local Committee by then-president John Alexander. He also attended an Urbana Student Mission Convention with some UC Riverside students, another “life changing” experience.
Today Bob is 85. He is long retired from campus carpentry but still actively engaged in telling the story of Jesus to neighbors and friends at his Northern California retirement home.
One night in the mid 1990s Bob returned to visit the InterVarsity fellowship. Coincidentally, Bob attended the weekly InterVarsity chapter large group meeting on the same night that students had invited the University chancellor to come and speak at the meeting. That night students saw two men of great power. Each had far reaching impact on people’s lives at the university. Each had a legacy of leadership. In Bob, students discovered that a life of spiritual significance and influence is not dependent on position but rather on a vision to make one’s life a conduit for the life-transforming grace and truth of God.
In a recent letter he wrote, “God transformed me from a rocking chair Christian and put me to work on a university campus through the blessed work of InterVarsity at UCR. I rejoice that I had a part in the founding of UCR IV,” a legacy that continues today!
Photos courtesy of Bob Kriegbaum: Bible study circa 1970, Bob Kriegbaum today.
