{"id":713,"date":"2018-02-06T11:35:14","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T11:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/conexion\/i-said-yes\/"},"modified":"2019-05-20T10:17:19","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T10:17:19","slug":"i-said-yes","status":"publish","type":"conexion","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/i-said-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"I SAID YES"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reaching the unreached on campuses across the\u00a0USA<\/h4>\n
700 students and 300 staff gathered in Anaheim, California for InterVarsity \/ USA Ambition conference in January. Ambition is where the mandate to reach every corner of campus is proclaimed powerfully, and where students are encouraged to think beyond current strategies, goals and limits.<\/p>\n
Read on to hear how Ambition students are saying yes to that mandate.<\/p>\n
Yes to\u00a0prayer<\/h3>\n
\u201cGo and pray at Moorpark College.\u201d It seemed a strange thing to do. Moorpark wasn\u2019t even where he was studying. But Nathan felt God lay that on his heart at the Ambition conference three years ago, and so he said yes. On his first Tuesday back after the break he set out to pray around Moorpark College and unexpectedly ran into an old friend from high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m part of this Christian ministry\u2026 and we pray\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo\u2026 is there going to be a Bible study on campus?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, if there was, would you go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, yeah\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there was a Bible study tomorrow, would you go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes 16:30 work?!\u201d<\/p>\n
As he continued on his prayer walk, Nathan ran into three others and had similar conversations. Five students were at the Bible study at 16:30 the following day.<\/p>\n
Three years later, with encouragements and discouragements along the way, student ministry at Moorpark College continues to grow and reach the corners of the campus. Student leader Cheyenne reflects on how God has been at work in her:<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single time I passed by students, my heart grew for them. As I was receiving God\u2019s goodness more and more I had an increasing desire to share that goodness with those who are starving for it. My desire is that the students may not just meet him, but also know\u00a0him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
Yes to an invitation<\/h3>\n
Angel was not interested in Jesus. Life in a foster home had not been easy: abuse, fear, brokenness. On graduating from high school at 17, she had to leave her foster home, with nowhere to go. But her friend introduced her to a Christian community house. Her new landlady invited her week after week to go along to an InterVarsity Bible study. A reluctant Angel finally said yes, and that night everything changed. Angel heard the gospel message and gave her life over to Jesus. At Ambition 2018, Angel shared how today as a student at Honolulu Community College, she is eager to reach out to those on the corners of campus who are broken:<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a witness to my own transformation and I want to witness others have their own transformations. That is why I said yes to planting at my community college. Now I see people around me as \u2018old me\u2019s\u2019, people whose lives have yet to be touched by God\u2019s love, who have yet to come Home to the Father. My plan is to befriend those who are searching for God\u2019s love even if they don\u2019t know it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Angel has started taking risks in sharing her faith with people around her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day in my math class I met a girl and God opened a door for spiritual conversation\u200a\u2014\u200ain math class!\u200a\u2014\u200aand I took it! This girl and I ended up becoming friends, and even studied the Bible together. Taking that risk was worth it! This semester I plan to start a small group where anyone can dive into God\u2019s love, and let God use my transformed life to transform communities.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yes to the deaf community<\/h3>\n
University of Houston student Jess walked on to the stage at Ambition 2018. She introduced herself. But there was no response. The audience looked on in silence, not understanding a word. That was because Jess was using sign language. It was a powerful reminder of the often-forgotten language barrier between the deaf community and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
Jess\u2019s major is American Sign Language Interpreting and she has a heart to reach out to the deaf community on the corners of her campus. \u201cThey grow up in a world that sees them as less. The lack of inclusion on my campus is what inspired me to start a small group for the deaf community, using sign language as the only means of communication. When I felt called to plant this small group, I said yes, even though I wasn\u2019t sure it would work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last semester Jess found a ministry partner and friend in Sidney, a deaf student at her university. The two of them started meeting regularly, watching Bible verses and pausing for questions and observations, learning together how to express the truth clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod knew what I needed and at the right time He provided the right person to help me, challenge me and prepare me for when more people eventually join the\u00a0group.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Her challenge rang out to the listening students: \u201chow can you continue to say yes to God?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
Yes to dreaming\u00a0big<\/h3>\n
Chasen, Katie and Julie are students at Utah University, who dream of reaching the unreached corners of their campus for Jesus. 80% of the student population there are Mormons; the rest are mainly atheists. It\u2019s hard ground.<\/p>\n
Reaching atheists<\/h4>\n
Chasen, a Philopsophy major, and the only Christian on his course, has been reaching out to his atheist and agnostic course-mates. He recently held a debate with an atheist to which 400 people came, and has also had opportunities to open the Bible with friends. \u201cI\u2019m realising more and more how much God loves atheists\u201d<\/em>, he shared. \u201cI was arguing with one atheist and he asked me \u2018Why are you talking to me about this still?\u2019 And I looked at him and replied, \u2018Because I love you!\u2019 \u2018Why do you love me?\u2019 \u2018Because God loves you!\u2019<\/p>\n
Reaching native\u00a0students<\/h4>\n
Julie\u2019s heart is to reach out to native students on campus. For months she prayed for her friends, and dreamed of studying the Bible with them, but they weren\u2019t interested. Amazingly, after two years, a native student came to her one day and said: \u2018I know you\u2019re a Christian. I want to read the Bible\u200a\u2014\u200ado you want to do that with me?\u2019 Julie was blown away:<\/p>\n
\u201cShe brought six students to a Bible study; she brought the food; she planned when it was going to be. All I did was bring the\u00a0Bible!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Reaching Mormons<\/h4>\n
Katie grew up in Utah and has been around Mormons her whole life. Her dream is to reach Mormons on campus with the good news of Jesus. Like Julie, Katie found that opportunities to share the gospel with Mormons were few and far between. They didn\u2019t want to know. But after some time, to Katie\u2019s surprise, God opened the door for her to meet some Mormon missionaries, who were keen to meet up and talk more. She also found some freshmen who had a heart to reach out to Mormons as well. Katie and her Christian friends continue to pray that God would work powerfully among the Mormons on their campus. In this challenging environment, God is moving students to say yes to mission, yes to reaching out.<\/p>\n
Reaching everyone<\/h4>\n
Staff-worker Erin has been encouraging these students to dream big. \u201cLet\u2019s look at this campus through the lens of what God can do.\u201d She points to Acts 4:13:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they saw the courage of Peter and John, and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI realised that that\u2019s all I\u2019m looking for\u201d, she said. \u201cI\u2019m not looking for people with a lot of training or high degrees, or people who\u2019ve memorized the Bible\u200a\u2014\u200abut for people who\u2019ve been with Jesus. You don\u2019t have to be elite. Everyone can be part of this.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
Unreached corners<\/h3>\n
Where will they reach out next? Where are there still unreached corners of the campus? 700 students left Ambition 2018 emboldened to make Paul\u2019s vision their own: \u201cto preach the gospel where Christ was not known\u201d <\/em>Romans 15:20. Join us in praying that many would say yes to Jesus as these students seek to make him known on their campuses in the coming year.<\/p>\n
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