There are still thousands of campuses across the world with no Christian witness. IFES is striving to give every student the chance to hear about Jesus by pioneering in new campuses, cities, and countries. 

After attending the IFES World Assembly in 2019, Sam, an InterVarsity USA staff worker of Tongan heritage felt moved to restart an IFES ministry in Tonga. When he was derailed by visa issues, a perfect plan seemed ruined. But God works in mysterious ways. It soon emerged that a need for student ministry existed in Guam, an island that had no history with IFES. Moreover, as Guam is a US territory, Sam didn’t need a visa.

In 2019, Jongho, from the East Asia regional team, visited a closed country for the first time to begin pioneering. But the pandemic made further visits impossible. Nonetheless, thanks to the move online, ministry could begin; meetings were held, and the gospel was shared despite a context in which being Christian is very challenging.

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. (John 4:35)

We believe that the best way to reach students is through other students. IFES provides training, funding, and materials to equip students in their personal and public witness.

Before the war, CCX Ukraine shared the story of Kamia − a young woman who left her home in India to study in Lviv. When CCX volunteer Zhenya saw Kamia sitting alone on a bench between classes, she decided to say hello. The two became friends and introduced each other to the social circles from their respective countries. Inspired by the connection, CCX Lviv began a Ukrainian club for international students, with language classes, cultural exchange, and opportunities to share the gospel. God has used Zhenya’s courage to build gospel bridges with around fifty international students.

This year, the Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities of Europe held a conference for the first time since the pandemic – gathering to share, pray, encourage, and learn from one another in their vision for public evangelism throughout European universities. Joe, staff of GBU Portugal, shared the struggles of holding university mission weeks in the face of rapidly changing COVID-19 restrictions. Nonetheless, Joe saw God at work through these restrictions. He spoke of Rafaela, a student whose father hated Christianity and banned her from GBU. Despite this, she was curious enough to watch mission week and join GBU meetings online, typing on the chat so that her father wouldn’t hear her discussing the Bible. Soon afterwards, Rafaela accepted Jesus as Savior and began attending a local church.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15)

In the face of the pressure on Christians in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa, the regional team there brought together emerging young leaders from Muslim backgrounds for a training conference to strengthen and equip them to carry on student ministry.

Students gathered in person for eight national conferences during the day, and joined together as a whole region for online evening sessions. These conferences saw 176 participants  – more than ever before. Despite the screens between them, God’s transforming power was at work, and prayer meetings and the exchange of personal testimonies proved to be absolute highlights. One staff worker shared that they “never saw the work of the Holy Spirit so clearly.” Now students are freshly equipped to reach out with the gospel message on their campuses.  

During June and July 2021, 34 leaders from local student movements, including 11 first-time participants, took part in the region’s online leadership training. The strategic value of these sessions with the Centre Africain du Christianisme Contemporain (CACC) in creating leaders is demonstrated by the fact that 12 of the 19 movements in Francophone Africa currently have general secretaries who participated in this training.   

IFES invests in students who will grow into lifelong leaders of integrity and vision. For that reason, our work does not stop with the university; we also support graduates. In 2021, IFES Graduate Impact published research into the difficulties young people face as they strive to live for Jesus in the workplace. They found that young Christian professionals are uniquely placed at the intersection of Christian and professional communities, requiring dedicated supports to bridge the gap and bring an insightful Christian contribution to society. Graduate Impact also launched 24 new Cross-Current learning communities for graduates, totaling 45 groups with more than 700 participants in 20 countries—including the first group in Francophone Africa. Fresh initiatives in graduate ministry are also underway in Latin America and South Asia.

Since Engaging the University e-courses began, over 1200 people have journeyed through questions concerning how the gospel relates to academia – a learning experience that nurtures discussions between participants from across the world.

We want Christians in academia to integrate their faith with their work. To that end, 2021 saw the launch of the Logos and Cosmos Initiative (LCI), funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The LCI will support five cohorts of “catalysts” in Francophone Africa and Latin America in their university settings as they foster dialogue between theology and the sciences. Through regional consultations, resources, grants, e-learning, mentoring, and research, LCI catalyst projects will equip national movements with tools to help students and academics to think biblically, and live distinctively, missionally, and incarnationally. Eighteen catalysts have progressed onto the second year of the program and are undertaking their projects; 23 new catalysts have been welcomed onto the first year of the program. The catalysts represent 19 different countries in total.

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:31)

Student ministry is most powerful in the hands of locally led national movements. IFES regional teams give these movements the support, training, and resources they need to see their ministries thrive. Our global resource ministries work alongside regional teams to help movements build local ownership of the ministry.

For example, networks of Scripture Engagement Multipliers work globally to equip national movements to engage with Scripture, training and mentoring staff and students. The South Asia network began in July 2021, holding monthly online gatherings and coordinating events in their movements, including FOCUS Sri Lanka’s Raising our Cry Initiative and the BSFB Bangladesh Gospel Film Festival.

With our first Global Giving Day, we invited the whole fellowship—particularly students—to empower and equip students worldwide by donating to eight specific projects. Ninety-two generous donors gave more than USD $36,000 in support of these projects. As one example of how God used these gifts, the organizers of the Francophone Africa project reported remarkable results for their student leadership training in UGBB Burkina Faso and GBUR Rwanda.

In 2021, World Student Day broke records when over 30,000 people in 148 countries joined together in prayer. With our theme of ‘This Moment’, we prayed for prayer requests sent by students from around the world, asking that students would know God’s presence with them in every moment and that in every moment, they would choose to submit to Him. Visit ifesworld.org/wsd to learn how you can join in this year’s World Student Day, ‘Renew’, on 21 October 2022.