I Had to Tell You...

I'm sitting in the coffeeshop that I also work in part-time while I continue raising support for my ministry with InterVarsity. I have been here for about twelve hours now. I came in at 5:30am this morning to open the coffeeshop and have stayed since 1:30pm to meet with my InterVarsity supervisor and work on a few loose details. One of those details was writing this blog. You see, faithful reader, the past two weeks have been some of the busiest I have known and so much has happened that it can be hard to summarize in such a seemingly self-indulgent package, like an internet journal. For the last ten days or so, our IV leaders have been involved in what we call "NSO" or New Student Outreach (we love acronyms in InterVarsity!). Though activities were many (too many to be honest), I wanted to highlight a few that bear repeating.

Last Tuesday night, the umbrella organization at SLU that InterVarsity and other similar national organizations and churches are affilliated with, Campus Ministry, held an open house and worship festival to give students an idea of the spiritual landscape around them at SLU. Several IV leaders showed up to meet new freshmen and participate in the worship festival, which included a few local worship bands playing some songs and lifting up praise to God at a very well-traveled location on campus. After the root beer float social, we invited our new friends back to one of the leaders' apartments for a game night and a few hours of hanging out. I was blown away (and continue to be blown away) by the amount of participation and "buy-in" that my leaders have in the mission of reaching students on campus this year. Though it shouldn't be, it is sometimes a strange sight to see seniors and freshmen interacting like they've known each other for years. It reminds me of that great passsage in Philippians 2 where Paul talks about Jesus "emptying himself" into humanity in order to become like us. In a way, that's what InterVarsity is all about, and moreover, what being an engaged member of the Kingdom is all about. We empty ourselves into those around us in order to bring them to the feet of the King. We pour out in order to pull up. It is a beautiful sight.

As incredible as it was to share this intimate evening in an upperclassmen's apartment with a few new freshmen, last night's event proved an even greater outpouring of God's grace to my staff partner and I. All week we had been building toward the first Gathering of the year. The Gathering is SLU InterVarsity's large group gathering on campus. We only have a few of them each year and mostly use them to build relationships on a larger scale with people along the fringes of belonging to InterVarsity. We met nearly one hundred freshmen in just a few days time on campus and passed out flyers all over campus concerning this one event where they could come and figure out what exactly InterVarsity is and what we believe God calling us to be on campus. The wild thing about college ministry, however, is that you just never know what might be happening any night of the week and you can never know if you'll have 5 or 50 people come to an event. So, we prayed and planned and hoped for the best. Ten of our leaders showed up an hour ahead of time to prepare the room, pray together, and be reminded of why even setting up chairs and making nametags can be a holy sacrifice, an aroma fragrant and pleasing to the Lord. We set up the room and then we waited.

Eight pm arrived and brought with it nearly 40 students that we barely (emphasize barely) fit into a tiny meeting room in the Campus Ministry building. I watched with a melting heart as our ten leaders welcomed and engaged students they had never met. We played games, we laughed, we worshiped, we built relationships, we listened as my staff partner (Esther) brought the Word in a way that was vulnerable and piercing and transformative. We became a family for a couple of hours on a Monday night. I saw the Spirit move in the hearts of freshmen and transfer students as around ten new students stood to acknowledge the call of Christ on their life and commit to following him into mission this year on campus. I saw seniors drinking juice boxes and eating cookies with brand new freshmen. I saw Black students and Asian students and White students and Latino students blending into that borderless-yet-colorful mosaic of the Kingdom that we desperately pray to take root at SLU. For a couple of hours on a Monday night. But I had to tell you about it. I had to tell you the Kingdom is coming. It comes. It came for a couple of hours on a Monday night.

Where do we go from here? No idea. But we will continue to follow that same Spirit that fell like flames on the heads of a small gathering of Jewish peasants a couple thousand years ago. We will continue to listen like they did and love like they did and pray for that Spirit to move like he did and does and will do until we all go home. Stay tuned - there is more to come. More and more, forever more to come.