Jasmine’s Story

Out of all the students in Jasmine’s Bible study at University of Texas at San Antonio, the quietest was Daniel.* He never spoke a word.

Then one day, at the end of Bible study, Jasmine asked how they could be praying for each other. This time, Daniel was the first one to speak up.

His friend from high school had died from cancer, and Daniel felt torn with regret.“

I should have been there for him more,” he said.

As a non-practicing Catholic, Daniel knew about God.

But he didn’t know how to bring his grief to God and experience Jesus’ love and care.

As Daniel opened up, Jasmine and others in the Bible study encouraged him with the real hope offered by Jesus.

Looking back on that Bible study, Jasmine sees it as the turning point in Daniel’s story … made possible by others who have given generously to keep her on campus.

“I’ve always had such a strong calling to student ministry,” Jasmine says. “I love, love, love my students. I love developing students.”

But then Jasmine’s funding fell into a deficit.

She had to press pause on campus ministry, stepping away from the students she loves so she could focus on building connections with new financial partners within her network.

“I didn’t come from a community of believers that knows what it looks like to give money to ministry or to the church or to tithe,” she says.

Through the generosity of donors who give to underfunded staff, Jasmine has received strategic grants to raise her support closer to the full funding she needs to focus on student ministry.

“Receiving strategic staff grants has helped me tremendously with the gaps I need to close.”

Jasmine leads a multiethnic chapter at Texas A&M-San Antonio (TAMUSA). She also helped plant a South Asian chapter at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

When she heard about the opportunity to help start a South Asian chapter at UTSA, she enthusiastically said, "Yes!" It was a corner of ministry that she was praying for. "I was like ‘Me, me, me!’ This was an answered prayer. And the chapter is growing so fast!”

Her support levels currently aren’t enough for her to be on campus at UTSA. But she’s working on raising funds so she can be fully present on both campuses.

The funding Jasmine receives through grants also allows her to care for students in practical ways. She can use grants to provide scholarships to send students to conferences — or even to cover the cost of something as simple as a tablecloth.

Her UTSA students wanted to host an outreach table on campus for the first time. “But they didn’t have a tablecloth,” Jasmine says. “They didn’t have any goodies to give out.”

Through grants, Jasmine can have a budget that pays for expenses like tablecloths, flyers, treats, and swag.

Even while she’s calculating the costs of helping students set up an on-campus outreach table, Jasmine is helping her students grow in leadership

“My hope is to have them not only serve within InterVarsity but also serve in their churches,” she says.

“There’s such a hunger for God. I want to see it blossom on campus and spread like a wildfire.”

That’s exactly what’s happening through Jasmine’s ministry to students like Daniel.

After experiencing the love and hope of Jesus in Bible study, Daniel wanted to share it with others. He took the Word into his fraternity, sharing about Jesus with his brothers. He started attending retreats and other Bible studies, helping out in any way he could.

“It was exciting to see his transformation,” says Jasmine. “To see Daniel wanting to tell everyone about what Jesus had done for him.”