Bruce Allen with FMI says, “In the post, the students included a special design with a cross and a picture of the university campus. Their congratulations were simply intended to be a form of recognition and support for minority Christians’ celebration of their holy days.”

The university chancellor announced the four students had committed apostasy.

“These four students were forced to apologize to the university and they had to become re-Islamized, which means they had to re-affirm the Shahada – that’s a primary pillar of Islam which is their creed that says there is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.”

(Photo courtesy of Allef Vinicius/Unsplash)

However, Allen says FMI’s local Christian partners report, “Most Indonesians who are aware of the incident are embarrassed by the chancellor’s reaction, not the four students’ post. Permata (an FMI partner) says, ‘As part of Indonesia, the chancellor should appreciate these students. The four students have shown respect to other religions and have been a good example of Indonesia’s motto: Unity in diversity.’”

Indonesia is mostly Muslim, but this incident took place on just one of thousands of islands in Indonesia.

Allen explains, “What happens on one island doesn’t always have repercussions on the other islands. So you can have pockets of persecution or intolerance against Christian expression in one area and not in other areas.”

Pray for religious tolerance and interfaith friendships in Indonesia. Ask God to encourage Indonesian Christians crossing religious boundaries to share the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors.

Header photo of Indonesian flag. (Photo courtesy of Mufid Majnun/Unsplash)

*Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated the four students were expelled. Information has been added to clarify the students were expelled from their student organization.

More people in Japan have died by suicide in 2020 than from COVID-19. In fact, their suicide numbers in October alone outnumbered the nation’s total COVID-19 deaths in the first 11 months of the year.

(Photo courtesy of Simon Ma via Unsplash)

One of the reasons for the rise in suicides is because Japan has a very group-oriented culture. Belonging to a group – whether it’s a family, a workplace, or some kind of community – and functioning within that group is incredibly important.

Pandemic shutdowns and solitary quarantines can cut individuals off from their group identity. As a result, many Japanese people are dealing with severe depression and anxiety.

Takeshi Takazawa with Asian Access says even online tools like social media and Zoom aren’t the same. “I’m talking with you now even though we’re miles apart, but this is a little bit different from face-to-face group talking [and] processing, and that is challenging for us and especially younger people who need heavy connection.”

Many single young people in Japan travel to Tokyo to work. Throughout the year, they make frequent visits to their families back home, but the pandemic has changed that too.

Takazawa says, “They’re told by their homeland family, ‘Please don’t come back. Don’t bring the pandemic. It’ll be bad. Grandma and Grandpa need to be protected so don’t come back.’”

It’s also hard for college students. “Many of the freshmen, they never went to campus. They never met anybody even though they entered school. Then all they see is a screen... They join a club or team but they practice separately.”

(Photo courtesy of Jeremy Stenuit via Unsplash)

What Japan needs is hope – the kind found in Jesus. According to The Joshua Project, 97 percent of the Japanese population is unreached with the Gospel.

Pray for the people of Japan to find their hope and belonging in Christ alone.

You can find more ways to pray with Asian Access here.

Header photo courtesy of Vaea Garrido via Unsplash.

For many, this means putting plans on hold as they scramble for other options.

Jennifer Holloran with Wycliffe Bible Translators says with so much uncertainty in the job market, 2020 might be a great time to take a gap year. “I do think that there are more students out there thinking about internships, thinking about how to use a gap year, especially if they’re not as excited about taking some of their classes virtually. And so a gap year with an internship could be a great way to supplement their education, fulfill some of those requirements.”

Wycliffe USA offers a variety of internships domestically and abroad. Students or grads absorb real-world experiences while contributing to Bible translation. Programs can be tailored to individual needs or interests and often Wycliffe USA programs can count toward course credit.

Who Can Apply?

Internship applicants come from many different backgrounds. They can be students or graduates but need to be at least 18 years old or older.

Holloran emphasizes that while Wycliffe USA is uniquely focused on translation, these internships aren’t just for linguistics students. “The reality is we have internship needs across all sorts of different disciplines. And we’re really looking for people in IT and literacy, education, and of course, linguistics.

“I would encourage people even if they think, ‘Hmm, can Wycliffe use my skills? This kind of background?’ Please check us out because there’s a really good likelihood that we can.”

A Lifelong Impact

Internships usually last anywhere from 3 months to a year. However, the effects can last a lifetime, both for the intern and for the Church.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

Holloran recalls an intern named Sarah who had a profound experience with Wycliffe USA. Sarah interned with a translation team in Southeast Asia. She helped develop a set of flashcards for team members so they could better connect with the religious terms used in church services. She also used some of her own language skills to help review and revise a translation of Ephesians.

Holloran says, “It was a great experience for her; she got to do something that was meaningful and that’s going to last a lifetime, and she also got to build on her skills. For her, she shared with us that she’s never felt so directly connected to the actual translations; that it was a remarkably formative experience for her as she invested in the language and translation being discussed at the table that day.”

Join Translation Work

The uncertainty of COVID-19 means plans change almost daily for future events. Yet the call of the Church to go and make disciples remains the same. Wycliffe USA offers the unique opportunity to contribute to that Gospel call for all peoples by supporting translation work through internships.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“I would encourage students really be thinking and asking the Lord, ‘How can God use me during this season, to be a blessing to others, and to use the skills that God is developing in me?'” Holloran says. “I think it’s a great opportunity for that.”

Consider putting your skills to work for the Gospel by joining Wycliffe USA on an internship program. Learn more about the internships and apply here.

Header photo courtesy of Tom Small on Flickr https://bit.ly/34UV091

York Moore with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has met with several college and university leaders across the U.S. to discuss what the future holds. He says, “The honest answer is really nobody knows. I know that some universities are starting to make the decision not to open back up in-class, in-person learning and that’s really tough. My guess is that we’re going to see a real mixture of universities deciding to bring students back versus e-learning as we continue on in the fall.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

“There’s a financial reality to this as well. It’s not just about keeping students safe. It’s also about running the business of the university. That might sound callous but universities are not charities. They’re not non-profits. They are in business, many of them, to make money. So we’re going to have to see.”

It’s not just higher education that’s impacted by fall semester plans.

Moore says, “Think all about the implications that this has for the small-businesswoman that sets up a deli down the street from a major university, the dry cleaners,…all kinds of businesses that kind of rely on the ecosystem of the university. Campus ministries are no exception. We might not be for-profit small businesses down the street, but the reality is we depend on the ecosystem of the university to exist.

“Regardless, I think we’re in for a new normal. The new normal is going to require people to modify their behavior, including campus ministries. So we’re really gearing up with our partners and within InterVarsity to ask those questions [and] answer those questions. What will be our contingency plan as we return to any kind of circumstance?”

No matter the campus, however, InterVarsity is persisting to be Christ’s light to college students. InterVarsity chapters are getting creative with how they connect and build relationships, and Moore says they’re seeing a positive response.

(Photo courtesy of Ryan Jacobsen via Unsplash)

“We have weekly large groups that have been attended by thousands of students across the country. That’s great news! Many of our partners with InterVarsity and the EveryCampus movement have been doing large-scale gatherings, simulcast, pre-recorded production shows, but that’s only temporary. We have to figure out what a new normal looks like for serving students.”

Right now, InterVarsity would be greatly encouraged by your support, involvement, and prayers. If you would like to give to InverVarsity, click here!

InterVarsity has also partnered with the EveryCampus movement to foster spiritual revival at every college and university across the US. They recently celebrated crossing the finish line for prayer walking every US campus. But it’s not too late for you to get involved! Click here to learn more about EveryCampus.

Finally, please pray for Gospel campus ministries like InterVarsity. Ask God to grant their campus leaders wisdom and encouragement as they reach out to college students with Jesus’s love.

“We do believe that God is in this,” Moore says. “In fact, I believe that what we’re actually going to witness as a result of COVID-19 is going to be a great move of God.”

Header photo courtesy of Changbok Ko via Unsplash.

EveryCampus with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship helped support Collegiate Day of Prayer. InterVarsity’s Jon Hietbrink says yesterday, they saw people doing prayer walks on campuses, praying in churches, and hosting prayer events to see God move. Collegiate Day of Prayer even did a live simulcast from a historic Yale chapel that broadcasted all over the country.

(Photo courtesy of Collegiate Day of Prayer)

“Part of what I love about Collegiate Day of Prayer is there are lots of different avenues for people to get involved and to participate,” Hietbrink says. “The hope is that it’s, of course, not just one day of prayer, but actually a day to shine a spotlight on the strategic need that campuses [have] so that folks would continue to pray for campuses long after Collegiate Day of Prayer is done.”

Other ministries involved in Collegiate Day of Prayer included Chi Alpha, Luke 18, Campus Renewal Ministries, Cru, and Navigators.

Hietbrink says the unity demonstrated between Christian campus ministries for Collegiate Day of Prayer is really unprecedented. But to reach the over 4,000 college campuses in the US with the Gospel, one campus ministry can’t do it alone.

“God knows every single one of those campuses and every single student and faculty and staff that comes through the doors of those campuses…. When we pray through Collegiate Day of Prayer, we get the chance to join in something that Jesus is doing and we gain a greater measure of God’s heart for these campuses and these students. It’s a privilege to be in that space.”

It’s not just ministry leaders leading the charge. Students are also taking the initiative to prompt a movement of the Holy Spirit on their campuses.

For example, Hietbrink says he heard of one group of students from Tennessee who road tripped from Knoxville to New York City. Along the way, “I think they prayer walked something like 20 or 25 different schools as they road tripped up the eastern seaboard. They visited campuses, they made contacts on those campuses, sought to pray for the blessing of God to rest on those campuses.”

(Photo courtesy of Collegiate Day of Prayer)

The need for a spiritual revival among college students is great.

“This emerging generation — call them iGen or Gen Z — is fraught with anxiety, dealing with profound issues of loneliness and isolation from their peers. So the opportunity is really pronounced on college campuses for students to encounter the good news of Jesus in a fresh way, in a way that’s relevant and compelling to them that meets the needs that they have and that they experience on campus.”

Also, Hietbrink points out that college students are unique agents for the Gospel because they are more mobile and can go wherever God calls them.

Although Collegiate Day of Prayer is over, you can still adopt a local college to prayer walk through EveryCampus here!

EveryCampus can help you search for campuses near you. They also provide a customized prayer guide for the campus you prayer walk “to pray on-site with insight.”

For now, Hietbrink asks, “[Pray for] students and faculty and staff — that they would meet God, that they would encounter God on campus, [and] that He would empower those people who already follow Him to bear witness to His goodness and His Gospel on campus.

“I think we’re in the midst of witnessing something pretty historic right now. So it’s a great time to be engaged with young people and to be serving and loving college campuses and we couldn’t do it without the support of the broader Church.”

Header photo courtesy of EveryCampus.

Millennials show a decreasing belief in God and views on the importance of religion according to the Pew Research Center. Now, further research is showing the generation behind them, Gen Z, is continuing this slump with only 39 percent ranking spirituality as important. Read more here.

Reaching Generation Z

Born after 1997, Generation Z is beginning to enter college. On-campus ministries are beginning to encounter a generation that is largely un-reached, sometimes hostile, and often curious.

“We’re dealing with a population that aren’t even Christmas-Easter Christians…They’ve never held a Bible in their hand. They’d never had somebody offer to pray for them,” says York Moore, National Evangelist for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the Executive Director of Catalytic Partnerships.

Moore is finding students are curious about religious practices and religious communities. He believes Scripture can answer the great questions of this generation and address justice and suffering.

The Challenges

Ideas of conversion or evangelism are negatively received among a section of generation Z. Particularly those concerned with ideology and worldview.

(Photo courtesy InterVarsity)

“The idea of seeking to convert somebody to convince them of a different ideology is seen as more than a microaggression. It’s actually seen as an injustice,” Moore says. “…they’re seeing the Judeo Christian narrative as not just a dominant worldview, but a dangerous and unjust worldview.”

With this generation, he believes the community and vulnerable body of Christ is the path to reaching them. Though he recognizes how issues of gender and sexual orientation can create a line in the sand.

The Positives

Among the lower number of Christian students, Moore sees a more authentic group of young people. The social benefit of Christianity has disappeared with the increasing negativity towards religion in secular environments.

“We’re finding is that the kinds of students that are willing to call themselves Christians are qualitatively different than they were 10-15 years ago because there’s really no benefit to following Christ unless

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

you’re really following Christ,” Moore says.

Christian students face persecution and suspicion on the administrative level, he says. But this has yet to bleed into the student population. Regardless, university chapter planting is quickly expanding around the country through organizations like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. One Hundred and Fifty organizations have joined forces via Every Campus and they’ve never seen so many students come to faith.

 The Future of the Young Church

“Students, particularly undergraduate students, are uniquely open to the gospel. Yes, there are these challenges. Yes, there are these concerns. But the reality is, there’s a window of opportunity right in front of us right here right now that we need to step into while that window is open,” Moore says.

Despite the growth, it’s largely at 800 campuses with a historical presence. Of 4,948 campuses in the US that’s not even half.

Moore describes a deteriorating situation that revival not strategy is not going to solve.

“I believe things are going to get progressively worse. Simultaneously, God is going to actually send a new wave of power of revival,” he says.

Join the Wave of Revival

Commit to covering the 4,948 American campuses in prayer. Physically walk and pray on the campuses near you. Find a campus here and further resources here. Encourage your church to adopt a campus. Host a Bible study, provide snacks. Most of all, pray for revival among the church.

Religious Discrimination Suit

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

In InterVarsity v. University of Iowa, a federal court ruled that the University and its officers violated the law when they kicked InterVarsity off-campus for asking its leaders to be Christian. A dozen other religious groups—including Sikhs, Muslims, and Latter-day Saints—were also kicked off campus for requiring their leaders to share their faith. But all secular groups and a few religious groups favored by the University got a pass.

In a ruling last Friday, the court held that this discrimination was so egregious that the officers involved would be personally accountable for any money InterVarsity lost fighting to stay on campus. The court left open the possibility that the University’s president, Bruce Harreld, could also be found liable.

InterVarsity on Campus

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has been at the University for over 25 years. It welcomes all students as members, and only requires the students who lead its ministry to affirm its faith. In the past, the University has honored InterVarsity for its contributions to campus life. But in June 2018, the University claimed that, by requiring leaders to affirm their faith, InterVarsity was violating the University’s nondiscrimination policy. The University then limited InterVarsity’s access to campus, froze its bank account, shut down its website, and advertised that it was “defunct” for lack of student interest.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

As a result, InterVarsity suffered its sharpest membership decline in over twenty years. Friday’s ruling confirmed that the University’s actions violated the Constitution and ordered the University to respect InterVarsity’s right to select religious leaders going forward.

“We must have leaders who share our faith,” said Greg Jao, Director of External Relations at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

“No group—religious or secular—could survive with leaders who reject its values. We’re grateful the court has stopped the University’s religious discrimination, and we look forward to continuing our ministry on campus for years to come.”

Previous Warning Against Discrimination

InterVarsity USA is on 772 campuses nationwide. Its University of Iowa chapter hosts weekly Bible studies and monthly meetings for prayer, worship, and religious discussions on current issues. In upholding the group’s right to be on campus, the court noted that, just last January—in the related case of BLinC v. University of Iowa—it already warned the University against enforcing its policy unevenly.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit)

The court stated it “would never have expected the University to respond to that order by homing in on religious groups[]” like InterVarsity, while “carving out explicit exemptions for other groups. But here we are.” The court did “not know how a reasonable person could have concluded this was acceptable,” since it “plainly” doubled down on the exact same conduct the court had already held unlawful. In a hearing last week, the court described the University’s conduct as “ludicrous” and “incredibly baffling.”

“It’s too bad it took twice for the University to learn its lesson,” said Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel at Becket. “There was no excuse the first time for squashing students’ First Amendment rights. University officials nationwide should now take note that religious discrimination will hit them in the pocketbook.”

Pray for the Gospel’s continued ability to go forth on college campuses. Also, pray for the University of Iowa’s administration to have wisdom in how they apply the college’s non-discrimination policy. And pray for the students leading InterVarsity Chapters to have courage as they share Christ on their campuses.

To help support InterVarsity’s work, click here.

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket attorney, contact Ryan Colby at media@becketlaw.org or 202-349-7219. Interviews can be arranged in English, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Head photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Becket Law Media Kit.

“His intent is that each community and every generation would be fully submitted, that they would live as faithful witnesses submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ.”

Seeking God’s Will

Churches, communities, and individuals ebb and flow in their obedience to God. However, Hubbard sees a faithfulness in the generation currently transitioning into adulthood.

Part of the call on the Christian life is to make disciples and to bring others into a place of knowing and loving God. Culturally, this generation was raised to value all people, even those who are different. Hubbard believes there’s a place within God’s Kingdom work for this mindset.

“But it’s also a culture that wants everyone to have the freedom to do whatever they want to do because they’ve chosen to do it because you should just be able to be you. The complexity of the Gospel is that while God’s love and care for each of us is completely inclusive, He calls us to holiness as well,” Hubbard explains.

Submitting to Jesus

The call to holiness requires submitting not to ourselves, but to the authority of Jesus. In turning from ourselves and toward God, Hubbard says we become our true self, the person we were designed to be by God. However, becoming this person is a lifelong journey.

“He extends grace to us over our whole lifetime of moving toward that. One of my encouragements to people…is God will set a standard of this beautiful holiness, this purity, and yet, He doesn’t reject us in our journey,” Hubbard says.

“We can stand pretty close to Jesus, but have our eyes turned away from Him…What do we do to keep our eyes on Jesus, and to keep moving toward him?”

Answering her own question, Hubbard suggests Christians pursue spiritual disciplines and live life in communities who point them to Jesus.

Join in Prayer

Pray for this generation. Ask Jesus to bring redemption and hope on college campuses. Pray for students on campuses to have boldness in declaring Christ’s love and the Gospel.

Will you consider joining InterVarsity’s Every Campus movement? Commit to praying for a local campus. Walk that campus, invite students to Bible studies, and help disciple this generation.

But also, challenge yourself by asking: am I at the center of God’s Will?

Learn more about the EveryCampus movement and how you can commit to prayer here.

Find more ways to get involved with InterVarsity’s campus ministry here.

What is IFES?

Andy Moore, Head of Global Communications, explains a little more about who IFES is and what they do. “Well it’s a movement of students who are living out and sharing the good news of Jesus in different campuses around the world. We talk about doing that locally sort of at the campus level, any group of students who are gathering together who are part of or an expression of IFES, then nationally. National organizations like InterVarsity coordinate that work nationally and then globally as well. So part of what IFES does is connect movements together in over 160 countries around the world.”

These national movements operate autonomously, but share a common doctrinal basis with other regional and global IFES movements. Regional discussions and consultations help the global leadership of the organization support these national movements.

Like the well-known American organization InterVarsity, IFES encourages students to live a vibrant faith on their campuses. Through their encouragement and training, IFES now includes movements of students in 160 different countries around the globe. And currently their members are reaching more of their peers than ever with the Gospel.

Christ on Global Campuses.

Moore explains that with people moving more than ever, students with IFES are connecting with those from other nations.

(Photos courtesy of IFES)

“Many people don’t have to go anywhere these days to be involved in global mission. If you’re on a campus, you can be involved in global mission. I think one of the strengths of that as well is that we’re seeing people coming from countries that are closed to the Gospel. Who come to contexts where they hear the Gospel, and then are encouraged and equipped to take that back to their home contexts as well and live faithfully in that context.”

As people return to their own countries with God’s Word, new chapters of IFES spring up. At the World Meeting held every four years, Moore expects to see as many as twelve new movements officially joining IFES from new countries.

Holistic Care

As these new movements join IFES, the organization seeks to understand and care for students and their surroundings better through intentional listening.

“Like a pond often we see the university as somewhere to go fish,” Moore explains. “So we go and fish for Jesus and bring the fish out of the ecosystem rather than actually caring for the ecosystem itself. So the principle of listening is really to demonstrate care for the whole environment, so it’s not just seeing students as objects to bring to Jesus. But actually saying, ‘What does God’s justice look like on the campus?’ ‘How do we start those conversations?’ ‘How do we care for the whole university context (so the people who work there, from the administrative staff to the lecturers and faculty staff as well)?’ Listening really comes from a sense wanting to demonstrate God’s care for all at the university.”

Sometimes local laws prohibit or limit sharing God’s Word openly. Yet, Moore notes that challenge often serves to help promote better conversations and ideas about offering hope and caring for others.

“I think it fosters creativity among students to think through how do we live the good news in a way, that doesn’t assume we have the right to speak of Jesus, but we need to live for Jesus and work that out. So sometimes that means where access to campus is restricted, continuing to have the meetings off campus and being creative about how you draw people to hear about Jesus in other ways.”

Responding to the Call.

IFES is seeing God work in students and campuses across the world. Join in their work through prayer and partnership. Recently some of their students attended InterVarsity’s event, Urbana. Please pray for those students as they return to their contexts. Pray that God will help them to live out the cross-cultural callings they experienced firsthand at the conference. Pray that they see the goal of the costly call of missions.

If you want to learn more about IFES, click here.

Header photo courtesy of IFES.

We talked with Greg Jao, InterVarsity’s Director of External Relations. He says, “They were students from [California State University Channel Islands], so we know of seven or eight students who were there.”

This latest attack was the deadliest mass shooting since Parkland, Florida. The gunman was a former US Marine and his victims included a veteran sheriff’s deputy who responded to the crisis. 21 people were injured.

As InterVarsity gathered information and responded to traumatized students, the situation got even more complicated. “What happened a day or two after the shooting doubled down on the sense of trauma because the campus was closed due to the wildfires that were approaching campus. Because of that multiplicity of issues, InterVarsity’s response to campus crisis and to trauma takes on a number of different aspects.”

Processing Trauma on Campuses

California State University Channel Islands (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Jacknorris63 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://goo.gl/oY4bCE)

Jao explains, “First, you begin with meeting people’s immediate physical needs. So there was an attempt to assess, were our students safe? Were they physically injured or not? And then, as the campus closed, do students have a place to live? So our local staff was calling friends, neighbors, people in communities further off [and asking], ‘I have a group of students. Could you house them until the campus reopens because they have nowhere to live right now?’”

InterVarsity is working with campus mental health professionals as well. For the ministry, responding to students’ spiritual needs is just as important as meeting emotional, mental, and physical ones.

Staff with InterVarsity have been available at Cal State Channel Islands if students need somebody to pray with.

“We also planned at Cal State Channel Islands a prayer walk around the campus the next day,” says Jao. “So that moves us from responsive prayer [and] praying our trauma to declaring — as you walk with one another and as you invite people to join you — that in the space of that trauma we still believe Jesus Christ is present.

“As we do that, we’re doing two things. One, we’re grounding students in the theological reality: this has been traumatic and Jesus is still here.

“And as they are praying, students are being attentive to how the Holy Spirit may be at work. As they pray for a dorm, often the Holy Spirit will say, ‘This is a student you should be going to talk to.’ ‘This is a way to minister here.’ So you are attentive and you begin to respond to that.”

Prayer: A Bare Minimum Response?

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship)

It’s easy for people roll their eyes at prayer in response to a crisis. Even in a Facebook post that authorities believe was written by the shooter around the time of the attack, he said, “…the only thing you people do after these shootings is ‘hopes and prayers’.. or ‘keep you in my thoughts’… every time… and wonder why these keep happening…”

Jao asserts that prayer is far from the passive and lame reaction that some make it out to be.

“You can see on social media people mock ‘thoughts and prayers’ and I think they are wrong to do so. I think the most primal human thing to do in a period of national mourning or local trauma is to cry out to God.”

He also adds, “Prayer on the ground is absolutely crucial, particularly when you use it to give students an opportunity to give a voice before God — their fears and their hurts.

“It’s actually, as they pray, having a sense of ‘God leading me to do this’ and it moves them from being people who merely experience trauma to having some agency to engage.”

Long-Term Healing

As we pray and the Holy Spirit moves, we are moved to do more too as  Jesus Christ’s ambassadors to a hurting world.

“I do think…engaging the larger systems is helpful. A number of our staff noted around the hurricanes in Houston and Florida and later in South Carolina this year, inevitably it was the poorer communities without resources [and] without long-term infrastructure that were the most damaged and the students from those communities that were the most greatly impacted. So I do think structural engagement there is important.”

Jao says he sees churches and ministries respond to these long-term needs in profound ways. InterVarsity still sends student teams to New Orleans every year since Hurricane Katrina devastated the area 13 years ago.

“Local citizens in the area have said, ‘What has struck us is that the Christians are still here. Long after the government has pulled out, long after other non-government organizations have left, you keep coming back year-after-year over spring break projects to help rebuild our communities.’”

Where You Come In

For now, between the mass shooting and the wildfires consuming northern California, communities are still in immediate crisis.

(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship)

InterVarsity needs your help to continue responding in the name of Jesus.

“Because we believe the Great Commandment and the Great Commission go hand-in-hand…the ability to respond quickly to crises because the Church cares and is poised to act I think is an incredible testimony.”

If you would like to support InterVarsity’s ministry, click here.

Finally, Jao encourages, “Literally every news article is a crucial opportunity to learn to pray for people who would not normally come to mind.”

Please join InterVarsity in praying for the people hurt by the shooting and wildfires in California — including the deadly Camp Fire. Pray that they might sense God’s peace and find encouragement in the local Body of Christ.

Header photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.