T.G.I.F(undraise)!

Earlier today, I met with a potential donor to share the vision of our ministry and invite him to consider supporting InterVarsity financially. Truth be told, when I first came on staff, I hated this element of the job. I wished we didn't have to raise support ourselves and just go about doing the work on campus.

Well, having appointments over the years like the one I had today have changed my mind completely. Stepping out of the day-to-day to talk about the big-picture vision of what we hope to see God do on campus raises my own level of passion for this vision. Having someone get excited about what we're doing provides a deep sense of encouragement and the sense that we're not in this alone. And having someone step out in faith by putting their finances behind this ministry inspires me to go about the work on campus with a renewed dedication and sense of purpose.

I never would have imagined saying this seven years ago, but: Thank God I Fundraise!

Fenway Faith-full

I keep feeling like I need to have something truly profound to say before blogging, so I put it off. And the longer I do that, the better I feel the next one must be, and so the cycle continues, resulting in no new posts. I think I'm missing the point, which is to share thoughts as they come. So here's a random one:

I recently read a book by my favorite sports columnist. He recounts in emotionally-charged detail the years leading up to the Boston's 2004 World Series win. I had forgotten just how it felt to be a Red Sox fan prior to 2004-- the constant dread, the cynicism, wondering how they'll blow it this time, and the nagging sense that no matter how good things may have looked, certain doom lurked just around the corner. I remember that I once felt these things, but two World Series wins later, and I can hardly remember how it felt.

Generally, I was always more hopeful in ministry than in baseball, but still.... thinking back to 2006, InterVarsity hadn't planted a new ministry on a campus in Boston in many, many years. Like Sox fans born after 1918, we'd heard victorious tales of planting, but had never actually seen it with our own eyes. This was more from lack of trying than from gut-wrenching defeats, but either way, we wondered how it would ever happen.

Three years later, with new chapters at Northeastern, Mass Pharmacy, Curry College, and emerging ministry at UMass-Boston, Mass Art, and BU Athletes, it's awfully hard to remember what it felt like for planting to exist only in the realm of far-off hope. But it did, not too long ago!

For better or worse, Sox fans now have a certain confidence (ie, cockiness) about them. But definitely for better, these last three years have given me a level of confidence in God (ie, faith) that I did not have before....

- Paul

Humbled by Recognition

This past weekend Paul and I attended a few graduation ceremonies of the schools we serve, marking the end of the school year. It’s been a wonderful year and this past month three of our fellowships got recognized by their respective campus student bodies for their work in serving the campus. Students at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences voted InterVarsity as the “Organization of the Year” on campus (see photo on right). It’s an award that is usually given to the professional organizations and clubs at the college so we’re grateful to God that the activities and outreaches of the fellowship have been noticed by the larger campus community and has impacted it positively.

The two InterVarsity fellowships at BU, InterVarsity-multiethnic and Asian-American Christian Fellowship, co-sponsored an event called “Injustice” in March. They put on a daylong event that included interactive displays, testimonies, and group discussion about the issues that three of their students saw while on a mission trip to Uganda last summer. (See more about this event at http://people.bu.edu/buaacf/main.html). At such a large university, there are many, many, many events put on each year by the 400 student groups that exist, but BU’s Student Union Allocation Board voted unanimously that InterVarsity’s “Injustice” event be named the “Program of the Year” for the quality of the event and participation.

Our vision is that the InterVarsity groups we lead would engage and impact the campus. We are extremely grateful to God that the groups we are growing on campus are not “holy huddles” in the corner, but are front and center on campus.