UC-Davis

Building Bridges of Reconciliation

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 17:00:38 +0000

November 7, 2014

Gordon Govier

Building Bridges of Reconciliation

When Yu-Shuan Tarango-Sho planted an ��Ƶ chapter at Mills College in Oakland, California one of her biggest challenges was gaining the trust of the college administrators. Mills is a women’s liberal arts college famous for attracting activist, justice-minded types.

At Mills, Christianity was looked upon with disfavor as an outdated institution. Yu-Shuan experienced a lot of resistance as she tried to start an ��Ƶ chapter, and was required to document all of her activities on campus. The campus had a policy against proselytizing. Bible studies and worship services could not be held outside of the chapel area. But Yu-Shuan was not deterred.

“It was exciting to think about how we could regain the reputation of Christianity and build bridges with reconciliation and other commonalities of experience,” she said. “In the six years I was at Mills a lot of that work was to help folks read Scripture through their own lenses and dispel stereotypes that Christianity is oppressive.”

The activist-oriented students were intrigued to see Jesus as an advocate for the marginalized and oppressed, who preached justice as well as salvation. Students decided to organize a campus outreach, a fundraiser for the mothers of Smokey Mountain, a garbage village in the Philippines, it was well received. Other groups on campus started asking to collaborate with the ��Ƶ chapter.

As the students read their Bibles and prayed, more changes occurred. A chaplain who had opposed their presence left. Her replacement turned out to be an ��Ƶ alumna. “Under her leadership we were able to move out of the chapel and start Bible studies in every dorm,” Yu-Shuan reported. “It was like a movement of God. Our reputation changed, it was an exciting time.” Since then four generations of staff have come out of the Mills College ��Ƶ chapter.

Pursuing a Christian faith that is vibrant and life changing has been vitally important to Yu-Shuan ever since she committed her life to Jesus during fall conference the first semester of her freshman year at University of California-Davis. She became a leader in the majority White chapter at her campus. But by her senior year she was impatient with the focus of the group.

“My experience in college was this huge divide between faith and talking about a lot of issues that are relevant in communities of color,” she said. Her faith led her to become involved in racial reconciliation work and justice conversations among Christians on campus. She started a discussion group focused on the intersection of faith, racial reconciliation, and social justice.

After graduation Yu-Shuan began working with a faith-based program assisting low-income refugees from Southeast Asia. The focus on social justice and racial reconciliation was exactly what she was looking for. However she missed something that she had grown to appreciate in ��Ƶ: community. “I wanted a ministry where community values were lived out,” she said.

At the same time ��Ƶ was looking to expand the ministry model in the East Bay campuses, particularly the University of California-Berkeley. So Yu-Shuan and her husband, Javier, joined ��Ƶ staff and were able to start a social justice ministry with some of the UC-Berkeley students. They remain in touch with many of the students they worked with, most of whom are still pursuing justice in their post-graduate careers.

Yu-Shuan stayed at Berkeley two years, and then planted the chapter at Mills College. After six years at Mills she spent two more years as an assistant area director for the East Bay. Then she was invited to become the director of the Bay Area Urban Project (BAYUP), which she has done for the last four years.

Many of the lessons she learned addressing the challenges at Mills College have helped mold the BAYUP program. ��Ƶ’s Urban Projects are typically designed for entry-level exposure to the challenges of under-resourced urban neighborhoods. “I wanted to create a program for people who are from neighborhoods like this,” Yu-Shuan said. “So then the question that they ask is not ‘why should I care about social justice?’ but the question is how.”

During each summer’s Urban Project Yu-Shuan leads the student participants in activities that are familiar to most churches: community organizing and providing direct relief services. But she also is teaching them how to advocate for political change. The last two years they have focused on a Bill of Rights for domestic workers and the Trust Act. This past summer they organized around immediate humanitarian responses to the 68,000 migrant children who this year crossed the border from Central America.

Each summer the students have formed a delegation to go to the capitol in Sacramento to talk with their elected representatives. “They talked about their faith and what they’re doing in Oakland, and what their faith has to do with this particular policy,” she said. “For students who come from these neighborhoods, this is the first time they realize their voice matters. Many of these students come from families of low-wage domestic workers and undocumented immigrants. Imagine the empowerment they feel when for the first time they can actually talk to a state senator on behalf of their families.”

Another part of BAYUP is partnering with local community organizers who don’t always have a good relationship with Christians. “They have their prophetic perspective that we need to hear,” Yu-Shuan said. As God has worked in reconciliation with these communities, some powerful times of forgiveness and awakening have occurred.

Having come this far with BAYUP, Yu-Shuan is planning to expand this summer program to a year-round justice institute. Building bridges of reconciliation is a full-time challenge.

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Creating Connections on Campus

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 18:54:41 +0000

News

October 14, 2014

Gordon Govier

Creating Connections on Campus

Javier Tarango-Sho, ��Ƶ’s Assistant Area Director for the East Bay area of northern California, admits that a job applicant for campus ministry with his background would have dim prospects. “I would probably never hire me,” he said. Javier had practically no experience with ��Ƶ during college. He attended University of California-Davis and got involved in campus ministry (not ��Ƶ) only the final year.

Instead of campus ministry, Javier was “a bonafide student activist,” advocating for others and trying to “create access for those who have been denied access.” Yu-Shuan, who later became his wife, had a friend who worked with ��Ƶ and recognized Javier’s ministry potential. She thought he would be a good fit for ��Ƶ’s work on the UC-Berkeley campus and advocated for him.

Integrating Faith and Justice

Javier had a good job and was not sure he wanted to join a ministry full-time. But as God spoke to him through several unique circumstances, campus ministry began to attract him. “I didn’t find ��Ƶ; ��Ƶ found me,” he said.

One of the books he read while considering whether to join ��Ƶ staff was Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider. It was the first book he had ever read that talked about the social implications of the gospel. “This is what I want faith to be about, and the church isn’t doing it,” he said. He knew that if he had read the book as a freshman, his college career would have been different. He also knew that joining ��Ƶ staff would allow him to deepen his faith and continue to explore the social implications of the gospel.

Soon after joining ��Ƶ staff, Javier and Yu-Shuan created what they called the Justice Internship. It was not a real internship, but it offered a space for students to talk about how justice and faith interact. Meetings were held every other Friday at noon. The meetings only lasted for a year and didn’t seem to have much immediate impact, but Javier and Yu-Shuan have noticed a long-term impact. Many who participated in the internship now work for non-profits or work in the legal system helping disadvantaged people.

��Ƶ Alumni Reunion Weekend

Creating access to ministry for under-resourced staff was the impetus behind ��Ƶ’s first Homecoming reunion for former UC-Berkeley chapter members, which was held Homecoming Weekend, October 10-12. Invitations were sent to about 1,300 UC-Berkeley alumni and almost 100 attended.

The ��Ƶ alumni reunion is a creation of the Advocacy Council, which was recently formed to improve the connections between ��Ƶ’s UC-Berkeley staff and the alumni from one of ��Ƶ’s oldest chapters on the west coast. This was the first of what is hoped will be an annual UC-Berkeley alumni gathering.

At the Large Group meeting held Friday evening, the alumni mixed with current students who participate in the six UC-Berkeley ��Ƶ chapters. “Many of the older alumni had only experienced ��Ƶ as one ministry,” Javier said. Each of the different ministries were identified and explained: LaFe (Latino Ministry), BCM (Black Campus Ministry), Kapwa (Pilipino-American), ISM (International Student Ministry), CCF (Cal Christian Fellowship), and Greek ��Ƶ (fraternities and sororities).

Most alumni who attended still live in the Bay area but some drove up from Los Angeles and one even flew in from Indiana. Alumnus Chris Lema, an internet entrepreneur from San Diego, and alumna Windy Chou, an electrical engineer who became an occupational therapist, spoke at the meeting. “We were hoping our students would be encouraged by their faith experiences,” Javier said. “Students have no idea what they will encounter in the next few years after they graduate.”

Creating Support for Staff

Javier’s supervisor, Wendy Hu-Au, says that campus ministry at UC-Berkeley has benefited from Javier’s gifts in contextualized ministries and strategic thinking. “He has a heart for the marginalized communities and longs to give people of all ethnicities access to the gospel,” she said.

Javier has been a key figure in the growth of LaFe at UC-Berkeley. He trained Sara Fong, a Chinese Japanese American staff member, to lead LaFe at UC-Berkeley. He also started the LaFe Institute for the Pacific Region to develop and equip the next generation of LaFe staff.

Javier created the Advocacy Council to help develop more partners for ��Ƶ staff who, because of their backgrounds, lack the networks needed to raise the financial support for their position. “The idea is to create a structure so we can hire people that we traditionally haven't been able to hire, like me,” Javier said. “I’m grateful that ��Ƶ made space for someone like me.”

��Ƶ staff work calls for a variety of talents. We thank God that he has brought Javier to ��Ƶ to strengthen our ministry to all students at UC-Berkeley and in the Bay area.

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Integrating Faith and Science

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:57:03 +0000

News

July 8, 2013

Amy Hauptman

Integrating Faith and Science

When two TEDxUCDavis talk organizers approached Bryan Enderle (a part-time ��Ƶ staff and UC Davis Chemistry professor) and asked if he would be interested in presenting at this independently organized TED event, Bryan told the organizers that he wasn’t sure what he would speak on. He didn’t think that the general public wanted to hear a talk about chemistry.

But the two organizers (one of whom is an atheist), suggested the idea of presenting on “Science and God.” Bryan thought, “If anything, I could do that!”

Bryan is a professor on campus and is known for making chemistry fun. And since 2009, he has had his own Youtube channel, EnderlePhD (“Chemistry and Stuff by Dr. E”), which has 2,840 subscribers and 1,516,544 video views. “I think the TED talk organizers figured that students on campus knew who I was,” said Bryan.

Bryan is also known on campus as a Christian and as part-time staff with ��Ƶ—someone who welcomes spiritual discussions. Bryan’s been invited to speak at various campus events. For example the freshmen dorms invited him to do his “Science and Faith” seminar and one of UC Davis’ fraternities invited him to come to their fraternity and speak on “Studying, Grad School, and why God is important.”

Being Known as a Fun Professor and ��Ƶ Staff

“I’ve always assumed that if students like you, they will be more interested in your philosophies and over the years, I’ve been invited to speak at different events,” said Enderle. “I do things in class that are not related to ��Ƶ or faith whatsoever, like my Youtube Channel. But I hope as students watch these things, they will see me and know that I’m connected to ��Ƶ—that’s the kind of connection I’m going for.”

The Professor that starts Spiritual Discussions with Students

Not only do students approach Bryan because they heard that he is involved with ��Ƶ on campus, and they’re interested in getting involved, but many students feel safe approaching Bryan with their spiritual questions because they know that he is a professor of faith on campus.

“I think other faculty could do stuff like what I’m doing on campus too,” said Bryan. “Of course it depends on your department and your school, but I think faculty could be more open about their faith and it would be fine.”

In the past, Bryan has sent sign-up sheets around his classes for anyone that would be interested in joining a Group that Investigates God (GIGs), which Bryan would lead. Sometimes more than 20 students show up at these GIGs. This year, Bryan has sent sign-up sheets around his review sessions for anyone interested in investigating God through an ��Ƶ small group.

“What I tell students is that you don’t have to be a Christian to sign up for these small groups,” said Bryan. “But if you have questions about faith, college is the time to investigate and ask your questions. Also, our ��Ƶ small groups have been trying to be more welcoming to non-Christians.”

The TEDxUCDavis Talk

As the TEDxUCDavis approached, more and more students and coworkers in the Chemistry department began asking Bryan about it. “I didn’t advertise that I was doing a TED talk on campus that much because I didn’t know how it was going to go down,” said Bryan. “It’s a controversial topic.”

Even though Bryan had been on staff with ��Ƶ for 12 years and chemistry professor at UC Davis for 11 years, this was a level of exposure that he had never had before, regarding his love for science and faith. It was both exciting and nerve-wracking.

As Bryan was waiting in the TEDxUCDavis ‘green room’ before stepping on stage, a campus employee came up and told Bryan, “I don’t know about this God thing because it just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know how anybody can believe it. There’s no proof.”

Although caught off guard, Bryan responded, “You know, different areas have different kinds of proof. Your science proof is going to look different than a legal proof. How are you going prove to me that you’re going to marry your girlfriend? Or that your family is going to be okay. Everything has different lines of logic.”

The man responded, “Oh, okay. I could buy that—looking forward to your talk.”

Bryan then stepped up on stage and gave his presentation to a packed audience (400-500 people). Afterwards, that same employee came up to Bryan and said that he loved the talk. “It was so funny,” said Bryan. “It was the fastest transition from atheist to ‘curious’ I’ve ever seen.”

As Bryan seeks to be known on campus, he sees that everything he does as an opportunity to glorify God on campus—whether that is helping students understand Chemistry, being a safe person for students to come to and talk about spiritual things, or speaking about “faith and science” in the freshmen dorms or at a TEDxUCDavis event.

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UC-Davis

GFM

Apologetics

UC-Davis

Building Bridges of Reconciliation

Building Bridges of Reconciliation

Creating Connections on Campus

Creating Connections on Campus

Integrating Faith and Science

Integrating Faith and Science

Being Known as a Fun Professor and ������Ƶ Staff

The Professor that starts Spiritual Discussions with Students

The TEDxUCDavis Talk

Being Known as a Fun Professor and ��Ƶ Staff