News

7,000 Are Called to Mission at Urbana 25 Conference in Phoenix

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:45:16 +0000

January 1, 2026

7,000 Are Called to Mission at Urbana 25 Conference in Phoenix

January 1, 2026

Phoenix, Arizona –– 7,000 students, mission organization and church leaders, and ��Ƶ alumni and staff gathered for the 2025 Urbana missions conference, held in Phoenix for the first time, December 28 through 31, 2025.

“How do we live into the imagination God has given us to take the gospel into the world?” Executive Director, Mark Matlock, asked the audience on the first night of the conference.

Filling the Phoenix Convention Center, Gen Z students came to the conference excited to learn how they might be part of God’s global mission just as previous generations have since 1946. While the core of Urbana’s decades-long vision remained, recently appointed Christianity Today CEO Dr. Nicole Martin called it an “inflection point,” a refrain repeated throughout the conference.

On the last night, as attendees welcomed in a new year, 42% signed their commitment to surrender their will for their lives to explore how God might use them to accomplish his global mission. Almost half defined a tangible next step toward living into God's mission. Additionally, 800 made decisions to follow Jesus for the first time or recommitted their lives to Jesus.

Other Urbana 25 speakers included Dr. Ed Stetzer, Soong-Chan Rah, and Lisa Pak. Jon Tyson, Australian pastor who now leads Church of the City New York, walked attendees through expositions of the Book of Jonah, while Egyptian professor Dr. Anne Zaki led “spiritual formation moments” each morning.

A topical theme that emerged at Urbana 25 was holistic evangelism, one that focuses on both demonstration and proclamation.

“The great commission and the grand commandments aren’t two separate entities but constitute the whole gospel,” prayed Bread for the World CEO Eugene Cho.

As in previous Urbanas, missions agencies, seminaries, and nonprofit organizations met students in the Mobilization Hub, an opportunity for attendees to connect their passions, academics, and skills with potential future vocational pursuits. Afternoon seminars gave attendees the chance to learn more about topics such as Bible translation, medical missions, and discerning one's vocational calling.

"Coming to a place that is packed full of people that are on fire and love God and want to do his work in the world is really exciting,” said Jonah, student at Wesleyan University. “It’s motivating to continue to do that work and to dream bigger –– to imagine larger things than I had before."

For more information, visit Urbana.org.

For Immediate Release
Contact Christy Chappell Belkin at 608.443.3671 or via email.

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Urbana

Missions

Urbana Announces New Location and Leadership with a Call to Mobilize Gen Z

emily.baez@intervarsity.org — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:46:31 +0000

News

Urbana Announces New Location and Leadership with a Call to Mobilize Gen Z

For nearly 80 years, Urbana has been one of the most influential student missions conferences in North America, challenging and equipping young adults to step into God’s mission. The event, which only happens every three years, will continue in a new location: Phoenix, Arizona. Urbana 25 will also be led by a new Executive Director, MarkMatlock, who plans to introduce innovative programming while holding fast to the vision to inspire young people to love Jesus and go into the world as His witnesses.

At Urbana 25, Gen Z will be invited to see firsthand what is happening in the Christian church globally and discover their role in it all. This gathering, hosted by ��Ƶ, has a rich history of mobilizing generations of students and young adults to serve Christ in every context—whether in their local communities or across the world. For the first time, at this Urbana, all of the students will be Gen Z.

“Gen Z is stepping into the future of global missions in a way we’ve never seen before. Their passion for Jesus, authenticity, and creativity make them uniquely equipped to take the Gospel to the ends of the Earth and tackle the challenges of our time,” said Mark Matlock. “Urbana 25 is an opportunity to witness what God is doing around the world and discover how you’re uniquely designed to be part of His story.”

Urbana 2025 is designed for young adults (ages 17-28) and their leaders who are interested in discovering their place in God’s mission. This is a unique opportunity for Gen Z to connect with the global church, wrestle with big questions of faith and calling, and be equipped to make a difference.

Registration for Urbana 25 is now open. Space is limited, so early sign-ups are encouraged. Pricing will increase on May 17.

For more information and to register, visit Urbana.org.

News Keywords

Urbana

Missions

Mark Matlock to Lead Urbana Student Missions Conference

christy.chappell@intervarsity.org — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:11:31 +0000

News

January 11, 2024

Mark Matlock to Lead Urbana Student Missions Conference

(Madison, WI) — Strengthening its commitment to call the next generation into global mission, ��Ƶ/USA is pleased to announce Mark Matlock will serve as Executive Director of the Urbana Student Missions Conference, effective January 2, 2024.

“Mark has dedicated his life to seeing each generation of young people connect deeply with Jesus and to providing every people group with a Bible in their heart language. He’s been both a researcher and a practitioner. I'm excited to see how his unique gifting will shape his leadership of Urbana in the coming years, as we invite the next generation of women and men to gain a bigger vision of the world and experience God’s heart for the nations.” said Tom Lin, ��Ƶ’s president.

“As I travel, it is obvious that Gen Z, post-pandemic, is a ‘bright line’ representing change globally across generations. I’m excited to see how God calls this generation into his global mission. My hope is that Urbana 2025 will be part of this unique moment like it has been for generations past, including my own generation. I attended Urbana 1990 and I returned to Biola more passionate and more engaged with global missions as a result” said Matlock.

Throughout his career Matlock has provided strategic leadership aimed at helping churches be more effective at discipling teenagers and young adults. He founded WisdomWorks Ministries to provide strategic event consulting and production support to help churches and ministries effectively reach young people. He also created PlanetWisdom, a discipleship conference for teens, that eventually became part of Zondervan’s Youth Specialties vertical, where he became the Vice President of Event Content, and eventually Executive Director. Matlock has authored 20 books, including Faith for Exiles, a Barna research project co-authored with David Kinnaman. His new book with Barna, Faith for the Curious, comes out this fall.

Most recently, he was interim CEO of Movement.org, a ministry which catalyzes gospel movements in cities around the world. He has served on the board of Seed Company and American Bible Society, and he will be a delegate to the fourth Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Seoul this fall. He speaks regularly to church leaders and young people and is an ordained minister and former lay teaching pastor at Irving Bible Church in Irving, Texas.

Since ��Ƶ hosted the first student missions conference in 1946, more than 300,000 people have been challenged with their responsibility and privilege in global missions. The next Urbana conference will take place in December 2025. Learn more about the impact of Urbana through the decades at www.urbana.org

��Ƶ is an interdenominational ministry reaching students and faculty on over 700 U.S. college and university campuses nationwide. ��Ƶ, founded in 1941, is a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, advancing Christian student work in 164 countries.

For Immediate Release
Contact Christy Chappell Belkin at 608.443.3671 or via email.

News Keywords

Urbana

Missions

Remembering Tim Keller

emily.baez@intervarsity.org — Wed, 24 May 2023 19:44:55 +0000

News

May 24, 2023

Remembering Tim Keller

Last week, news broke that Dr. Tim Keller — pastor, author, public intellectual, and leader in American Christianity — died after a three-year battle with pancreatic cancer. ��Ƶ grieves the personal loss for his family and his church community at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (NYC), as well as the loss for many Christians worldwide who counted him as a trusted spiritual mentor. 

With his passing, we also remember with appreciation the ways that Dr. Keller’s ministry legacy reflected his formational experiences with ��Ƶ: first as a student at Bucknell University, then later as a volunteer during his time at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Tim credited the ��Ƶ chapter at Bucknell with helping him reignite his faith by reaching out to him and inviting him to a Bible study. In a 2009 profile Dr. Keller shared about that experience, saying “I wouldn’t have said at that time, ‘I don’t believe.’ But on the other hand, I wasn’t a Christian as I look back on it now. They weren’t quite sure where I was [spiritually] and I wasn’t quite sure where I was. But at the end of my sophomore year, I sensed that I had met God.”

His time with ��Ƶ helped form many of the interests and priorities that later became cornerstones of his ministry, including a passion for evangelism and a commitment to generous orthodoxy. He also learned the fundamentals of manuscript Bible study that formed the bedrock of his lifelong approach to Scripture. He shared about one particularly decisive experience in a 2013 story from Bible Study Magazine (retrieved here).

Keller describes a retreat where ��Ƶ staff worker Barbara Boyd gave the students 30 minutes to list 50 observations from a single verse: "And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men'". After 10 minutes, they began to feel saturated, but she encouraged them to press on. When they regrouped to share their findings, they could not believe how many jewels came from this single mine. "Boyd closed her exercise by asking the students how many of them had found their deepest insight in the first five minutes of thought. 'No one had,' says Keller. 'And I’ve never forgotten that.'"

This moment’s impact truly was lifelong. Over the years Keller often posted photos to social media of the manuscript process he used in his sermon preparation, including this one from 2017.

In return, Dr. Keller’s life and ministry also had profound effects on ��Ƶ leaders and campus staff. Tom Lin, president of ��Ƶ, recently shared this about Dr. Keller:

[Tim] would often encourage me about the role of ��Ƶ in shaping his faith and his ministry as a Bucknell student. Perhaps the biggest joy was getting to know [him] more personally during our “Uncommon Ground” book project. He was humble, personable, and compassionate. What I appreciated most was his hope for the future and collaborative work behind the scenes. He will be missed. His last words give some comfort to many friends and family: "There is no downside for me leaving, not in the slightest."

Timothy Holmes, Area Director in New York City, is another ��Ƶ staff who Dr. Keller has impacted over the years. In Dr. Keller’s final hours, Timothy wrote:

I’ve been in spaces learning from Pastor Tim Keller in the last couple years. To hear him hold hope for the future, gratitude for the present, content in his sickness, and excitement to be with Jesus in eternity all at the same time has been profoundly impactful for me. I don’t know anyone else who has held those things together the way he has. Grateful for his life, and praying for his family.

We praise God for the rich legacy of gospel faithfulness, love for Jesus, and dedication to God’s kingdom that Tim’s life on earth produced. Most of all, we give thanks for his steadfast example, even in his final days, of trust in God’s goodness and of hope in the resurrection. “I’m ready to see Jesus,” he told his family. “I can’t wait to see [him].”

Urbana 22 Calls Gen Z to Rise Up as Whole-Life, Whole-World Disciples

AD-18513 — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 17:41:38 +0000

News

January 13, 2023

Urbana 22 Calls Gen Z to Rise Up as Whole-Life, Whole-World Disciples

��Ƶ hosted its 26th Urbana Student Missions Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 28-31, 2022, inviting almost 6,000 participants to see themselves as God has created and called them — as witnesses of his glory to the ends of the earth.

Through onstage testimonies of people living out their faith across vocations and nations each morning and Bible expositions from the book of Acts each evening, Urbana created a space for participants to see the Holy Spirit empowered witness of a global Church.

Students also had time to dig into God’s Word for themselves — through student-led Bible studies. In the months leading up to Urbana, ��Ƶ equipped over 620 student leaders from chapters across the country to lead their peers through three morning Bible studies. “I really loved my group,” one student leader said. “I felt like we were all learning from each other, and it wasn’t just me leading. It was a group discussion we were all contributing to.”

A major highlight of the conference came when these student leaders gave an invitation to faith in response to the story of the Ethiopian and Philip (Acts 8:26-40). “These student leaders took a risky step of faith, and they saw their peers say yes to the good news of Jesus! They saw God work through their obedience,” said Greg Jao, Executive Vice President of Communications and Mobilization. “They are going back to their campuses excited and eager to invite more friends and classmates to know Jesus too.”

Students also got to hear from fellow students, like Naomi, during general sessions about the ways God has called them to say yes. Naomi shared about how much God has grown her faith since she started college from leading an ��Ƶ small group, even though she was an introvert, to ultimately planting a Black Campus Ministries chapter during the pandemic. “When it comes to my faith journey, there has been this theme of trusting God, even when it feels like there is no way some things could happen,” she said.

In the afternoons, participants had a broad range of opportunities to explore how messages from Scripture and general session testimonies applied to their own lives, including prayer ministry and next steps coaching, a Connections Hall with 190-plus missions organizations and seminaries, and over 150 seminars on topics ranging from business as mission to local outreach.

Participants came to Urbana from all across the U.S. and even the globe, weathering storms and significant travel delays. For example, after their flight was cancelled, two students in California decided to drive 30-plus hours to Indianapolis — and even picked up another stranded student in Oklahoma. “Seeing God working in so many cool ways was something I didn’t want to miss,” one of them said.

On the final day of Urbana, participants were called to consider their next step following Urbana, including making a commitment to regularly praying for the global Church, inviting a friend to study Scripture, or cross-cultural or global missions.

“A next step of obedience the Lord is inviting me to is building relationships with people that I have in my circle, to be bold about my faith,” one student said.

“Urbana has invigorated that passion for missions in my heart,” another reflected. “I’m excited to see where the Lord takes me.”

For more information, visit urbana.org/conference for general session and summary videos, seminar recordings, and more.

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��Ƶ Remembers David Howard

drew.larson@intervarsity.org — Tue, 10 May 2022 20:10:25 +0000

News

May 10, 2022

Drew Larson

��Ƶ Remembers David Howard

With David Howard’s passing yesterday, ��Ƶ remembers his lasting impact mobilizing students and campuses for God’s global mission. As Director of multiple Urbana conferences, President of Latin American Mission, and International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, David’s humble and servant-hearted leadership in missions spanned nearly six decades.

“��Ƶ owes a great debt to Dave and to his leadership in missions,” said ��Ƶ President and CEO Tom Lin. “[He kept] us focused globally and on the importance of mobilizing students to share the gospel around the world. His legacy includes hundreds of thousands of college students who had their lives transformed and received God’s calling to global missions through an Urbana Student Missions Conference. ��Ƶ is forever grateful.”

A Legacy of Global Missions Begins

David attended the very first Urbana in 1946 with his good friend, Wheaton College roommate, and future brother-in-law, the missionary/martyr Jim Elliot. David attended, spoke at, or directed nearly every Urbana for the next five decades. For his entire life, he kept his signed World Evangelism Decision card from Urbana 46. (Urbana participants use these cards to mark their commitment to God’s global mission.)

After graduating from Wheaton College in 1949, C. Stacey Woods (��Ƶ’s first president) recruited David to ��Ƶ staff for a year as an appointed ‘missionary staff member,’ visiting 120 campuses across the U.S. and Canada to challenge students to give their lives to missions. He then served Northwestern University as a part-time campus minister while attending graduate school at Wheaton and preparing for the mission field.

“My years with ��Ƶ were a very significant part of my life,” he said in a 2006 interview with ��Ƶ. “They were a time when God taught me many things and gave me many opportunities. I didn’t know much about missions in those days, except what I’d learned second or thirdhand. But I learned to trust God, and not myself, for any results.”

After 15 years as a missionary in Colombia, God stirred David’s heart again about calling and equipping college students to give their lives to God’s global mission. The stirring, David remembered, was gradual — John Alexander, ��Ƶ’s President at the time, offered him the job of Missions Director three times before David accepted!

During his tenure as Urbana Director (Urbana 73 and 76; he also served as Assistant Director of Urbana 51 and 70) attendance grew from 12,000 to 18,000 students, and commitments to missions grew from 8 percent to nearly 50 percent. He also helped design a summer follow-up program for those commitments that eventually grew into the Perspectives Program, which is a cornerstone of missions training in churches, seminaries, and ��Ƶ chapters to this day.

David also helped steer Urbana through the turbulent 1970s, a time when social unrest, campus violence, and the Vietnam War all pushed national anxiety to the brink. Leighton Ford, a leader in both the Lausanne Movement and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — as well as a lifelong friend of David’s — remembered David’s example at Urbana 70. Leighton had been asked to deliver the keynote evangelistic message at a time when those tensions at the conference were especially high.

“That message was one of the most difficult of my life. I labored in prayer and heart searching as I prepared … [and] I felt little peace as I spoke,” he said. “But I knew that David was nearby, praying, standing by me, encouraging me.

“His fortitude, his steady calm in a testing time, left a lasting impression of Christlike grace and strength. His ability to listen and discern, his concern for helping others to flourish, his ongoing passion to know Christ and make him known — these traits always come to mind when I think of David Howard. I am grateful to have known and served with him.”

In that same 2006 interview, David reflected on the impact of Urbana for global missions: “I’ve been to probably 80 countries, and almost everywhere I go, invariably I run into people who tell me they’re serving today on the mission field because God used Urbana to call them.”

“David’s friendship was such a blessing to me,” said Tom Lin. “When I began as Urbana Director, he told me, ‘I will be praying for you every day.’ And that’s exactly what he did. Over those five years, in the most difficult days of leadership, I was always encouraged to know that each day David was praying for me.

“I’m deeply saddened and grieving Dave’s passing. Many throughout the missions world will miss Dave and celebrate him — in many ways he was a ‘giant’ in global missions. But I, most of all, will miss his smile, his joy, and his passion for students and for Christ.”

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Hundreds of Students Participate in ��Ƶ’s #ActLoveWalkChallenge

sarah.lalond@intervarsity.org — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 16:56:01 +0000

News

October 14, 2020

Ashlye Vanderworp

Hundreds of Students Participate in ��Ƶ’s #ActLoveWalkChallenge

This school year is like no other, and thousands of students are mourning its many ongoing disruptions and uncertainties. They want community. They want hope. They want to have fun.

That’s why ��Ƶ launched our first ever national Online New Student Outreach (ONSO) this year. We’re meeting students where they are through digital spaces, and since August, we’ve helped thousands connect to ��Ƶ chapters in addition to the local efforts of our Campus Staff Ministers.

The last national ONSO event took place October 4–9: the #ActLoveWalkChallenge, a virtual, team-based scavenger hunt. One hundred forty-six teams of students from across the country registered. With prizes––from a Nintendo Switch to scholarships for ��Ƶ’s Ambition 21 Conference––chances to connect with new friends, and plenty of fun along the way, they were challenged to live out Micah 6:8, “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God.”

Besides giving ��Ƶ students an opportunity to connect with each other, we encouraged them to invite friends and classmates to join this event, longing to see Jesus reach hundreds of new students with his real hope and connect them to Christian community, many for the first time!

“My favorite part [was] bonding with new people of faith through these challenges,” said one undergraduate student, who had never attended an ��Ƶ event before.

During the challenge, new missions were added daily (some goofy and some serious), including:

sharing a post of thankfulness on social media

creating care packages for others on campus

recording a video of what they love about their school
inviting five or more new friends to join in for the rest of the challenge

As the scavenger hunt neared its end, participants shared how God moved. One student said that he experienced listening prayer for the first time during the challenge. Another shared that she and a friend stayed on Zoom after their team completed the day’s mission. She opened up about some personal struggles while her friend prayed for and encouraged her.

An upperclassman ��Ƶ student leader said that as a result of the challenge, his team decided to wake up every day at 6:30 a.m. for devotions, so they could spend more time in Scripture together. “As a college student, I never would have woken up that early, but it was so fulfilling and God-given,” he said.

We praise God for all he did through the #ActLoveWalkChallenge. “It was a really fun way to bond with my chapter and bring joy to what’s been a lonely semester,” said one participant.

To find out how you can support this year’s new and returning students, who are struggling with loneliness due to COVID-19 and in need of Christ-centered community, click here.

News Keywords

#ActLoveWalkChallenge

scavenger hunt

GooseChase

Online New Student Outreach

ONSO

online ministry

Still Sent—��Ƶ LIVE! Celebrates God’s Hand at Work

AD-18513 — Thu, 21 May 2020 13:15:58 +0000

News

May 21, 2020

Nathan Peterson

Still Sent—��Ƶ LIVE! Celebrates God’s Hand at Work

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are searching for answers and community. Eager to respond to this need, ��Ƶ worked quickly to organize ��Ƶ LIVE!, our first ever national online large group, in the aftermath of colleges closing for the semester.

Over 3,800 viewers joined the first Friday night livestream, and many have continued to gather for ��Ƶ LIVE! for its first two series. Each large group has featured members of the Urbana Worship Team leading everyone in a diverse blend of worship songs in several different languages, including Indonesian, Spanish, and English. And ��Ƶ staff as well as guest speakers like Sarah Breuel, the Director of Revive Europe, and Sharon Cohn Wu from International Justice Mission have given hopeful, gospel-centered messages to those seeking community and comfort in this unprecedented time.

Responding Boldly

��Ƶ LIVE! continues to highlight how many students are boldly stepping out in faith to reach those around them. A student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brejenn Allen, shared one Friday night that the company she founded is creating handmade face masks to help people stay safe and stylish.

During another ��Ƶ LIVE!, Rawlica Sumner, a student small group coordinator at New York’s Hunter College, shared about the transition to online small groups. At first, she was skeptical. But since small groups went virtual, the number of students involved has almost tripled. And small group leaders in her chapter are growing bolder, with two coleaders texting invites to 80 people. Rawlica also invited a Muslim friend, who’d never participated before but now eagerly joined one of the groups to hear more about God.

Through their art displayed during one ��Ƶ LIVE!, students Jennifer Guarneros and Julia Haunstein helped capture the yearning for reassurance that many are feeling. “Creating artwork during this time has truly been an act of worship,” Julia said. “It has allowed me to release emotions, experience freedom, comfort and [God’s] loving presence in a whole new way.”

Receiving a Gift

Since the first event, 177 people have made either first-time decisions or recommitments to Christ. And many, including ��Ƶ alumni, parents, and donors, have been blessed by each large group’s blend of powerful worship and encouraging messages. One alumnus shared:

I’m three years out of school, teaching, and was in the midst of trying to get connected to a new church community when everything went virtual. The familiar format and faces of [��Ƶ] staff, the best digital worship I’ve seen anywhere in this pandemic (as in, the one where I have most been able to not “watch” but actually participate fully), and the really faith-stretching messages have been the highlight of my Friday nights. . . .This experience has been a gift as I have been seeking spiritual hope in this uncertainty.

��Ƶ LIVE! will resume tomorrow night with a new series, “Look What I Can Do.” It will highlight how God has guided many students in creatively connecting more deeply with him, friends and family, and God’s mission in the world. Register now for ��Ƶ LIVE! starting at 7:00 p.m. CT on May 22.

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��Ƶ Hosts First National Large Group Online

ashlye.vanderworp@intervarsity.org — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 22:10:50 +0000

News

April 1, 2020

Nathan Peterson

��Ƶ Hosts First National Large Group Online

Last Friday, March 27, 2020, thousands joined ��Ƶ Live!, the ministry’s first national online large group.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and campus closures across the nation, ��Ƶ organized this virtual large group in less than two weeks. Through the event, more than 50 viewers recommitted their lives to Christ, two made first time decisions, several students shared that their school had no ��Ƶ ministry and wanted to get connected, and nearly 570 responded to a call to consecration and praying for revival.

“I am amazed at how God was able to take such crazy circumstances and still have his glory shine through,” said Eliza, a junior at California State University, Fullerton who attended the virtual event.

Alison Smith, Associate Director of Greek ��Ƶ, served as the event’s emcee, welcoming undergraduate students, ��Ƶ alumni, campus ministers, and donors from across the country and world. ��Ƶ President Tom Lin then spoke briefly, followed by a welcome and prayer from Native ��Ƶ and worship led by members of the Urbana 18 Worship Team.

The bulk of the program was a message from ��Ƶ’s Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Rev. Dr. James Choung. Referring to the book of Habakkuk, he encouraged students to bring all their emotions before God, to confess how they have contributed to the world’s brokenness, even in small ways, and to look for how the Lord might be moving in this season.

“What was most significant about this gathering was the very real and much needed experience of God’s presence among thousands of his people literally dispersed around the world yet together in Spirit,” said Andy Kim, ��Ƶ’s Multiethnic Resource Director and one of the event’s organizers. “Like most of our world, we have no idea what the future holds. But after ��Ƶ Live! we, as an ��Ƶ/USA family, are even more convinced that God is in control and at work. And we’re following him every step of the way.”

��Ƶ Live! will take place again this Friday, April 3, at 7:00 p.m. CT, featuring Sarah Breuel, the Director of Revive Europe and an Urbana 18 speaker. Along with her husband, René, she has helped plant a church in Rome. Register now to be part of the next ��Ƶ Live!.

If you would like to support future ��Ƶ Live! events and other online ministry resources during COVID-19, please consider giving to the COVID-19 Ministry Response Fund by clicking here.

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Physically & Spiritually Restored—Dynamic Ministry through ServeUP

AD-18513 — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 17:32:30 +0000

News

March 2, 2020

Nathan Peterson

Physically & Spiritually Restored—Dynamic Ministry through ServeUP

A small house, nestled between palm trees. White-washed walls. A shaded front porch offsetting a bit of Puerto Rico’s muggy weather. Luis was proud of his home. It had taken him five years to finish, building it night after night on top of working a full-time job.

Then came Hurricane Maria.

“The island is destroyed,” an official said. Gusts of 150 miles an hour. Streets flooded. An 18-month blackout—the longest in US history.

Almost two years later, Luis and his wife, Deliah, still couldn’t live in their house due to unsafe conditions. Many more homes still lay in shambles.

Dedicated to Flourishing

With his mom having grown up in Puerto Rico and his uncle still living there with his family, ��Ƶ campus minister Anthony Spina knew he had to do something in the hurricane’s aftermath. Together with Associate Area Director Jessica Pafumi, he began leading ServeUP, an ��Ƶ disaster relief trip, down to Puerto Rico. Last year, they recruited over 70 students, staff, and volunteers from all across Massachusetts.

Of the students, more than 20 were non-Christians. “It’s a unique chance for students who would not usually come to our fellowship night,” Anthony said. “The disaster relief portion is definitely attractive to non-Christians (and so is going somewhere warm for spring break), and we’ve found it to be a great place to engage in conversations about how our faith intersects with our actions as Christians.”

Anthony and Jessica teamed up with a local church, Iglesia La Trevisía, to work in a low-income neighborhood that has received no government funding for rebuilding. “We’ve tried to adopt a community and move from missions of relief to development and rehabilitation,” said Ronnie García, the church’s pastor. “We’re hoping that in three to five years, there will be incredible human flourishing all in the name of Jesus Christ.”

The ServeUP team came alongside Luis to help him restore his home. Painting, tiling, roofing—the work was demanding. And with limited access to running water and plumbing, the group had to take bucket showers all week. Even so, the students didn’t complain. They knew whatever work they didn’t finish would be left to Luis after they left.

“Jesus really powered and sustained us all in Puerto Rico,” Anthony said. “It was incredible being able to talk with Luis, a strong man of faith. When Hurricane Maria arrived, he and his family hosted people in his home to ensure the safety of others. He has since been a part of the rebuilding process for other homes in the neighborhood.”

Receiving a Sign

Today I began calling Jesus by his name. I accept him as the bridge to God. Amen. P.S. Thank you for your patience. I know you’ve been waiting. This was the first entry Jay, a ServeUP participant and student from Salem State University, wrote in her new prayer journal. Little did she know that as she worked on restoring Luis’s home throughout the week, God would be at work restoring her heart.

Even before she left for the trip, Jay knew it was going to be significant. Her dad had passed away a year ago, and she knew there was something missing in her life. Jay believed in God, believed in signs, believed that Jesus was a real historical figure. But still she felt alone in her spirituality. If she could find answers anywhere, she thought, it’d be there in Puerto Rico, getting back to her family’s roots.

With Jay coming from another campus, invited to ServeUP by a friend, Anthony didn’t know any of her story. But as he prepared to colead the trip, he felt led to pack an extra prayer journal to give away. And when he asked God for a specific student to pray for, Jay came to mind each time.

During one of ServeUP’s Bible studies, Jay was struck by someone’s insight that Jesus works through people. She jotted that down then started to cross out Jesus’ name—in the past, she’d always substituted “Jesus” for “God” in her notes and mind—but stopped herself, feeling it would be disrespectful somehow.

Later that night, Jay felt an odd restlessness she couldn’t shake. Planning to head to one of the gathering rooms to be by herself, she walked in to find a room full of people. “Jay,” one of the students grinned, “we were just about to pray for you!”

Anthony stepped forward, sharing how he’d been led to pray for her all week, and asked if he could pray now. Jay was stunned. She knew this was a sign and eagerly agreed.

“When we prayed with her, it became clear that Jesus was in the process of doing something very significant in her heart,” Anthony said. “She realized that Jesus was calling her and that he is actually the way to God. Moments later, she surrendered her life to Jesus. I was really amazed with the ways Jesus orchestrated these events: pointing Jay out to me in a room of over 60 students, knowing that he was going to remove all the barriers she had.”

Anthony went on to give Jay the prayer journal he’d brought, and Jay shared her testimony the following night.

“More Fire” & More Restoration to Come

In the three years he’s co-led ServeUP, Anthony has witnessed a common theme: participants leave as students, but many return as leaders. “I know that God shows up in really powerful and tangible ways,” he said.

One student, a relatively new follower of Christ, led a small group during the trip. “I saw her blossom in her leadership and in her reliance on the Lord,” Anthony said. “One of [her] group members made a decision to follow Jesus.”

In the weeks and months following ServeUP, other Christian students have grown bolder, fasting more with “more fire in their prayers.” They’ve stepped up to take more ownership in the chapter’s ministry and are closely relying on the Holy Spirit for direction.

Having witnessed so much catalytic growth, Anthony looks forward to this year’s ServeUP, returning next month to Puerto Rico with 50 students. “My hope is for students to realize that following Jesus is much bigger than just what God is doing on their own campus,” he said. “I think it’s really special that we get to be a part of this restorative work—both in student’s spiritual lives but also in a very literal sense with the rebuilding of homes. I think that’s part of what makes ServeUP so special.”

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