InterVarsity Reaches Out to the Entire Campus
You don’t need to board a plane to travel around the world. These days you can acquaint yourself with a variety of cultures and ethnicities without even subscribing to the Travel channel. Just visit a college or university campus.
Today’s campuses are ideological marketplaces, cultural festivals, ethnic crossroads. And InterVarsity is on campus, reaching out to students and faculty of every ethnicity, culture, and worldview.
God Loves Everyone
Why are we on campus? It’s simple, really. God loves everyone; we desire to do likewise. God has called us for over sixty-seven years to the mission field of the American college and university.
We work to see students and faculty transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, campuses spiritually renewed by the presence of our witnessing communities, and students developed into servant leaders by their discipleship to Christ and fellowship within the church.
We plant and build witnessing communities on campuses to share the biblical gospel and demonstrate God’s love to everyone, regardless of their racial or cultural background. “It was through InterVarsity that I learned about the love of God and the joys of Christian fellowship,” said D. Bush, graduate from UCLA in 1971. “I’m so grateful to have had your Christian presence on my campus.”
Diversity is God’s Idea
God creatively covers the earth with a diversity of natural wonders. Diversity is God’s idea. So within the biblical bounds of truth and morals, we honor diversity among people, encouraging all people to see themselves as created in God’s image and meant for his love.
Ethnic diversity is common on today’s college campus. At Fresno State University in California, class rosters reveal increasing ethnic diversity. During an InterVarsity Large Group Meeting at Fresno, students may learn a worship song in Malay or Swahili or English. Or hear a Bosnian student tell of how he invited his mother to know Jesus Christ. Or see a Sudanese student’s joy from feeling loved by God and by her newfound InterVarsity community.
While most of our campus witnessing communities are ethnically and culturally diverse, we’ve also established on some campuses ethnic-specific communities for Asian, Black, and Hispanic students. We also minister with particular communities of students, such as fraternities and sororities, international students, nursing students, and graduate students.
Unity is God’s Plan
These different witnessing communities share in the unity of InterVarsity’s national fellowship and in the unity of the church. InterVarsity understands that Christ is the head of the church and that each local church, Christian organization and individual believer is a part of Christ’s body. We teach our students and faculty that together we are part of the universal church, and as such we are called to participate in local churches as an expression of our unity.
InterVarsity witnessing communities reach out to the entire campus as we model the church of Christ reaching out to all people throughout the world.
Looking Toward Future Ministry
Today’s campuses are growing more diverse. InterVarsity is responding to the need of this campus mission field by planting and building more witnessing communities on campus across the country. Today we have over 850 chapters on 562 campuses. Our current five-year plan calls for planting 100 new chapters.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA offers undergraduate students a Christian perspective on the world through multiethnic and ethnic-specific witnessing communities. InterVarsity staff also minister with international students, nursing students, graduate students, and faculty.
Today’s diverse college campus reflects the diversity of this world. InterVarsity is dedicated to reaching the entire campus with the gospel.