Walking down the sidewalk at the University of Oklahoma (OU), Zelma Wind saw a huge pillar of white gush up into the sky. She froze mid-step, glancing around. So, I know I’m new here, she thought, but … this doesn’t seem normal. The closer Zelma came, more plumes of white shot up into the air as a group of students ran back and forth across the grass, laughing and yelling.
Going to church on Sundays was no longer enough for Cade. He wanted to see his congregation fight for justice outside of the sanctuary walls. He wanted to see the hope of Jesus proclaimed in the streets for all people to hear.
God had beautiful plans for Jordan. Plans to pursue her. Plans to surround her with community. Plans to heal her identity. Plans to grow her into a leader.
But Jordan wasn’t looking for any of that when she started her freshman year at Metropolitan State University in Auraria, Colorado. She wasn’t a Christian, despite her mom trying to convince her to consider Jesus for years. Jordan didn’t see the point.
I don't know if [Christianity] really solves all my problems or works the way that I want it to, she thought.
“We’re the loneliest and most seen generation,” Sarah Ludvik, InterVarsity campus minister and recent graduate of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, said.
Many members of Gen Z can relate. Though they’re connected to each other via a million different apps, their rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness are higher than previous generations.
“Don’t put God in a box,” Lucas says when asked if there’s anything he could tell his freshman self. It’s a Friday afternoon in May, and Lucas sits across the table from me next to a suitcase of clothes he’s bringing to chapter camp in his apartment a few blocks from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Like many InterVarsity students, Len Andyshak met the Lord as a college student.
“I learned what it meant to know him versus know about him,” Len said.
He also learned that Jesus had a purpose for his life, a mission. Soon after graduating, Len began a 50-year journey of continually discovering that mission as an InterVarsity staff.
God made us and made us for him. In ways we can’t fully understand, we crave him. But we do everything we can to satisfy that craving with earthly things. This is why we’re tired. This is why we need true rest.
When Esther arrived at Harrisburg, her faith wasn’t her main focus. She thought that she could follow Jesus on her own and wasn’t seeking Christian community –– until a friend invited her to an InterVarsity Bible study.
Each of us wears cultural lenses. Our culture lenses shape our worldview, our relationships, our behavior … even the way we read the Bible.
My first encounter with racial reconciliation occurred at Duke University. Black students coordinated a sit-in at the administrative building to encourage dialogue around racial issues on campus.