Alumni Ministry

A Critical Hand-Off

webteam@intervarsity.org — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:00:00 +0000

June 13, 2008

A Critical Hand-Off

You can see it repeated thousands of times across the country every spring. A pack of runners pounds down the track, their outstretched hands carrying batons which they will pass to their teammates in a relay race.

Each relay runner has two jobs, run as fast as possible and pass the baton smoothly. Every practice session the runners work on both jobs. Races are won and lost on the smoothness of the hand-off.

The relationship that starts between a student and ��Ƶ is meant to last for more than four years. Students in ��Ƶ are equipped with skills for a lifetime. But ��Ƶ also wants to maintain contact with students after graduation.

Maintaining contact is dependent upon a smooth hand-off between campus staff and the alumni department. The good news is that ��Ƶ campus staff are managing the hand-off better than ever. ��Ƶ’s senior vice president and director of collegiate ministries, Jim Lundgren, sees a major benefit to campus ministry in continuing alumni connections.

“The more we make alumni a part of our ministry by keeping them in touch with our work through prayer letters and direct contact, the more they are involved in praying for our ministry and supporting our ministry. And where appropriate, they are volunteering for our ministry,” he says.

In the last five years, ��Ƶ’s alumni connection has been selected and strengthened as one of our Strategic Initiatives.

Our database of known alumni has grown by 36 percent, from 67,973 to 92,204 in that period.
In 2002 only 39 percent of new graduates were identified as alumni; last year 76 percent were identified as alumni.
Five years ago alumni gave $10.5 million but last calendar year they gave $16.2 million.
Alumni giving to student ministry in the fiscal year 2007-2008, compared to five years ago, averaged $537,000 more each month.

Alumni director Doug Nickelson can highlight a number of chapters with strong alumni relations. One example is the small chapter at Christopher Newport University (CNU), in Virginia. In early April, campus staff members Eric and Beth Gamberdella held their first alumni gathering, with over 70 in attendance.

Due to improved alumni contacts over the past five years, CNU alumni donors have increased from two to 25, and annual giving by alumni has increased from $1,300 to almost $10,300 (as of the end of 2007, before the alumni gathering).

Two more important facts about alumni from a recent ��Ƶ donor analysis:

Twenty-three percent of non-institutional donors were alumni; they gave 36 percent of the donations from individuals and couples.
The average annual alumni gift was almost twice that of non-alumni at the end of last fiscal year.

“The alumni connection is vital for staff and vital for the future of ��Ƶ,” Jim Lundgren says. “When staff see that it can make a difference in their work, the impact can be huge.”

Now, at the end of the school year, staff are ensuring that there’s a smooth hand-off so ��Ƶ connections continue in the lives of students after they leave campus, and thus pave the way for more student ministry in the future.

Alumni who want to reconnect with ��Ƶ should contact Dawn Van Hook in the alumni office, at 608-443-3719.

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Alumni Ministry

Celebrating God's Work

webteam@intervarsity.org — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:00:00 +0000

News

April 14, 2008

Celebrating God's Work

After 65 years in ministry and a great bounty of answered prayers, ��Ƶ has reason to celebrate on a frequent basis. The only reason we do not celebrate more often is because of the challenge that remains before us.

Nonetheless, there are times when nothing less is appropriate. Such a time is coming on June 14, 2008, when ��Ƶ’s Great Lakes West Region and Indiana Division, along with the Advancement and Missions Departments, celebrate God’s work among students through the Indiana Vision and the ministry of Don and Joanne Fields.

In a program that will be held at the Faith Missionary Church in Indianapolis, there will be reunions for current and former staff, and for alumni of Indiana ��Ƶ chapters. The day will conclude with a celebration reception and program during which Don and Joanne Fields will be honored for their four decades of ministry with ��Ƶ.

For more information, the schedule, and contact details, go to www.intervarsity.org/go/indiana.

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Alumni Ministry

��Ƶ Alumni - Circle of Faith

webteam@intervarsity.org — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 05:00:00 +0000

News

August 30, 2007

Lindsay Olesburg

��Ƶ Alumni - Circle of Faith

The Eastern Iowa alumni reunion weekend in mid-July featured camp fires, worship, games, eating, caving, and plenty of hanging out. The 30 of us who attended studied Ephesians 1:1-15 on Saturday morning and had a ministry update Saturday evening. We loved being together again.

Our purpose was to encourage each other in the faith in our varying stages of life. Being with people who knew us when we were making important faith choices seems to be very renewing and hope producing.

There was one woman there who I didn’t know. Carol had traveled all the way from St. Paul, Minnesota, with her young daughters. She was eager to be there, though she didn’t seem to know any of the other people at the reunion personally.

Over lunch I heard her story. She grew up in a nominal Catholic home in St. Paul but rejected the church in her teens. As a high schooler, she experimented with Wicca, drinking, etc. Carol came to the University of Iowa (UI) with her boyfriend from high school. She made very few friends except in the Wicca crowd.

When she and her boyfriend broke up during the winter of her freshman year, she was devastated. Carol described herself sitting by the bridge over the Iowa River behind her dorm. She was barefoot and in her pajamas, despite the snow. While contemplating throwing herself into the river, she remembered a similar scene from It’s a Wonderful Life and asked “Where is my angel?” Just then, a student approached her and asked what was wrong. He listened and encouraged her to spare her life and have hope. His name was Michael.

Later that week, Carol described this experience to a few acquaintances in the dining hall and said that she didn’t have any friends. One of the women was Dora Beth, a member of an ��Ƶ small group in the dorm. Dora Beth invited Carol to come to a Bible study and to hang out with her Christian community. Though Carol didn’t agree with most of what was said at the Bible study, she kept coming back and became friends with “the community.” Staff worker Sabrina Nash invited her to a GIG (Groups Investigating God, an investigative Bible study) where many of her questions were answered.

One evening, a student leader named Amanda invited Carol to come over to her dorm room for prayer. Amanda asked Carol if there was any reason not to give her life to Jesus. Carol decided she was ready, and Amanda led her in prayer. That night the ��Ƶ community in Burge dorm bought pizzas for a party in the dorm lounge and celebrated Carol’s rebirth. As Burge students returned from a night at the bars, they encountered an offer of free pizza and the story of Carol’s new life.

Carol was not able to return to the University of Iowa the next fall due to finances. But she found a church in St. Paul and invested in her faith.

During the last year Carol and her husband separated, and her second daughter was born. During this painful period, God reminded her of his faithfulness to her when she was a freshman. Carol named her baby “Amanda,” for the student who had led her to Christ. She gave the middle name “Faith” as an expression of her desire to live in reliance on God.

Part of her seeking after God during the separation was to search for the ��Ƶ community from the University of Iowa. She found the Eastern Iowa ��Ƶ website and through that learned about the alumni reunion.

I was impressed by how open she was about her situation and her eagerness for God. She shared with me that in the last few months she and her husband have attended a marriage class and are finding some real help.

It was an incredible blessing for me to hear of how God worked through witnessing communities and how meaningful our college experiences can be into adulthood. This was our second Circle of Faith gathering. We have agreed to continue to gather like this every three years until the Lord returns.

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Campus Ministry

Alumni Ministry

��Ƶ Alumni – Wayne State University chapter

webteam@intervarsity.org — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:00:00 +0000

News

August 16, 2007

York Moore

��Ƶ Alumni – Wayne State University chapter

My first six years on ��Ƶ staff were spent at Wayne State University in Detroit. While there, God worked in a powerful way to transform students. Our urban commuter campus chapter grew from five to 80. At its peak, we were attracting over 100 students weekly to our large group meetings. Some of these students gathered recently for a 10 year ��Ƶ reunion.

During our reunion we reviewed our ��Ƶ memories. Again and again, people described how their experience with the chapter was “the best time of my life,” and how trips to Cedar Campus for summer training, “literally changed me and my worldview forever.” They each had a story of how they came into the chapter and made a decision to follow Christ, or how ��Ƶ prepared them to be a Godly husband, wife, employee, father, or mother. It was a very moving time as some shared in tears of how thankful they were for the ministry of ��Ƶ.

Most significant for me was seeing how these former students were taking their ��Ƶ training into the world. Many of them travel overseas for ministry, work with non-profits in the city, share their faith with co-workers, lecture on issues of faith, and are vibrantly involved in the ministry of their church. They said these were values and practices that they learned while at Wayne State, through ��Ƶ.

I am very excited about ��Ƶ’s largest evangelistic outreach in many years, coming up this fall. We hope to reach 5,000 students in three days through seven meetings and 26 ministry-site locations. Please join me in praying for the Michigan State University Price of Life invitational this November.

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Alumni Ministry

��Ƶ Alumni - Former staff Dig-in

webteam@intervarsity.org — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:00:00 +0000

News

July 31, 2007

Rick Mattson, Regional Director

��Ƶ Alumni - Former staff Dig-in

Current, former and volunteer ��Ƶ staff number 5,728, according to ��Ƶ’s Human Resources Department. Former staff, 70-percent of whom are ��Ƶ alumni, continue to play an important role in the life of ��Ƶ through their financial, prayer and volunteer support.

In March, the North Central region (Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota) hosted our second annual Bible Dig-In specifically for former ��Ƶ staff. Former staff from the region gathered for a day and a half of manuscript Bible study, fellowship, and fun.

Former Area Director Lynn Oliver led the Bible study sessions; former staff Bob Miller did magic tricks; and Lynn Oliver, Bob Coughlin, and I played a few bluegrass tunes on our guitars. We had a fabulous time!

We included a brief 5-10 minute campus update at our Dig-In. We wanted to extend love and respect to those who have gone before us, encourage them as they have moved on to other jobs and places in life, and let them know how much we appreciate the work they have done.

Former staff, especially those who were chapter members as students, are in many ways our biggest allies and supporters. They forged the way for present-day ministry and understand both the joys and disappointments that we staff still face.

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Bible Study

Alumni Ministry

The CBS Grocery Barge

webteam@intervarsity.org — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:00:00 +0000

News

April 16, 2007

The CBS Grocery Barge

Just as the swallows annually return to Capistrano to mark the arrival of spring in southern California, the grocery barge arrives in mid-April at Catalina Island to signal the beginning of the camping season at ��Ƶ’s Campus by the Sea (CBS).

The barge arrives early one morning at high tide. It pulls up to a specially prepared dirt apron on the beach and drops its ramp. Trucks containing supplies drive off. Camp staff and volunteers then unload the trucks as quickly as possible.

The barge contains the staples that head cook Randy Wong needs for thousands of meals that will be served in the camp’s dining hall through the rest of this year.

During the spring Campus by the Sea (CBS) hosts students from campuses across the western U.S. who come for leadership training and Bible study. These week-long camps are crucial times for ��Ƶ chapters to maintain the continuity of student-led ministry on each campus. Students who are moving into chapter leadership have time to develop as a team by studying the Bible and praying together, and receiving training in how to be better leaders.

During the summer CBS hosts a series camps for families. CBS is designed to be a quiet restful place for those who desire to listen for God’s voice, get their bearings, and be renewed. “Our life in the world is just like the sea, restless, unpredictable, and always in motion,” says Steve Stuckey, who is involved in campus ministry at CBS. “We need seasons where we can retreat and be refreshed. CBS is one of those places where heaven and earth are close.”

An Alumni Family Camp will be held for the first time at CBS August 5-10, offering a special opportunity for former students to reconnect with friends from their college days. The week will include morning Bible study and teaching sessions, afternoon recreation, and family oriented evening worship and activities. Alumni from all ��Ƶ chapters are invited. More information on Alumni Family Camp is at http://www.intervarsityalumni.org./cbs2007/index.htm.

After an alumni conference held at CBS on Labor Day last year, an alumna of the University of California at Los Angeles reflected on the significance of the island retreat for her.

“Campus by the Sea is the place where God called me to a missionary career in the fall of 2000, kneeling on the wooden floor of the building called the Main Deck. It’s where I got to see my best friend and my roommate both baptized in the Pacific Ocean on the same day. It’s where God has spoken deeply into my life time and time again through His word.

“Over the weekend we spent ten hours studying the life of Joseph in Genesis. As a group of UCLA alumni, we were struck by parallels between our lives and Joseph, who starts out as a cocky kid with a big dream, but who finds God’s blessings can co-occur with personal suffering. I also felt a renewed connection to the dream God gave me six years ago on Catalina Island to serve him in missions.“

Campus by the Sea is one of four camps and training centers owned by ��Ƶ. Toah Nipi in New Hampshire, Cedar Campus in Michigan, and Bear Trap Ranch in Colorado all have 2007 schedules filled with activities for students, families, alumni, faculty, and local community groups.

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Camps

Alumni Ministry

Alec Hill's Thanksgiving Message

webteam@intervarsity.org — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 06:00:00 +0000

News

November 22, 2006

Alec Hill's Thanksgiving Message

Even when he was confined to a Roman prison, the apostle Paul gave thanks. Writing to the Christians at Ephesus, Paul said “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (Eph 1:16 NIV)

Highlighting these words from Ephesians (This letter is the scriptural focus of next month’s Urbana 06 Student Missions Convention), ��Ƶ President Alec Hill offered “Seven Things I’m Thankful For,” in a pre-Thanksgiving chapel service at ��Ƶ’s National Service Center in Madison, WI.

Chapter Planters – Expanding on 12 new campuses
“This represents three to four years of dreaming and envisioning,” Alec said. Among the new chapters doing well: Towson University, just outside of Baltimore and Maryland’s second largest university. The school is identified as Maryland’s growth campus. As it continues to grow, ��Ƶ is growing with it. University of California–Merced is a brand new school in the California system and ��Ƶ is there at the beginning.
b>Chapter Builders – Growing the size of current chapters
From a New Mexico community college to Harvard University, 30 campus outreaches have taken on the goal of doubling the size of their chapters. Each chapter has a coach to help it reach this goal. “This is the heart of what we do and we’re now focusing on it,” Alec said.
Evangelism – Welcoming students and faculty into the Christian faith
“I’ve heard it said that in the last 30 years we’ve never seen a harvest like this,” Alec observed. “This is just astounding.” He noted that 28-percent of those involved with ��Ƶ chapters are self-identified non-Christians. ��Ƶ has become more intentional about asking them to join the faith. On many campuses, such as Oakland University in Rochester, MI, ��Ƶ is teaming up with World Vision to present issues of social concern as part of an evangelistic outreach. “There is no better model for evangelism,” Alec said. “The evangelical church has struggled with this false dichotomy for 50-plus years. This collaboration is a model for bringing it together.”
Urbana – The world’s largest missions convention
With just over a month to go, more than 19,000 registrations are in for Urbana 06. That’s well ahead of previous Urbanas, and is possible because of the larger capacity of the new location at the Edward Jones Dome and The Americas Center in St. Louis.
��Ƶ Press – ��Ƶ’s publishing arm
Of the 50 most influential Christian books of the last 50 years, listed in a recent issue of Christianity Today, eight were published by ��Ƶ Press and two more were written by former ��Ƶ staff. Several more were by authors whose other books have been published by ��Ƶ Press. “We’re 65 years old and we have this amazing publishing legacy,” Alec said, noting that ��Ƶ Press publishes fewer than 100 books per year.
Alumni
Two of note, representing many: Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission, spent four years with ��Ƶ as a student at Harvard. “He is an ��Ƶ product by his own definition,” Alec said. Mark Earley*, president of Prison Fellowship, was involved in ��Ƶ at William and Mary in the early 1970’s. Prison Fellowship is involved in compassionate ministry and prison reform in over 100 countries.
*Campus Access issues*
Working to restore official recognition of ��Ƶ chapters on the University of Wisconsin-Superior campus and at Georgetown University “has taken a lot of emotional energy,” he said. “But I’m so thankful for our student leaders.” He praised the leadership on both campuses for the way they have handled the difficult situation imposed upon them by school officials. He is optimistic that both situations will be positively resolved in the coming months.

The chapel ended with a time of spontaneous prayer as employees of the National Service Center expressed their thanks for God’s hand of direction and blessing in the ministry of ��Ƶ.

To listen to Alec Hill’s chapel message, click here.

^{*��Ƶ alum Mark Earley broadcast a Breakpoint Commentary on this same day focusing on Christian witness on the college campus and a book by recent college graduate Abby Nye, entitled Out of Water: Surviving and Thriving as a Christian on a Secular Campus (New Leaf Press).}

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��Ƶ Alumni-Committed to God’s Mission

webteam@intervarsity.org — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 06:00:00 +0000

News

November 3, 2006

��Ƶ Alumni-Committed to God’s Mission

��Ƶ alumni from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, recently gathered for their second hymn sing. Participants had an enjoyable evening of singing praise to God and catching up on each other’s lives since graduation. Barbara Carpenter, one of the attendees, shared how her perceptions of God have changed through her participation with the ��Ƶ chapter in the early 1960’s. She writes:

“I got involved with ��Ƶ as a student at Emporia State. A few years after I graduated and started teaching in Wellington, Jessica, from Kansas State University, came to teach music. She, too, had been involved in ��Ƶ on her campus. She helped me to develop a deeper love for hymns.

“Jessica and I attended ��Ƶ conferences. At the conference in Hutchison, I really fell in love with Jesus Christ. I had believed in him for salvation as a young teen, but it was during that weekend conference that I saw him as God—Creator, Savior, Sustainer, and Almighty King.

“In 1964, Jessica and I attended Urbana. That was one of the most important weeks in my life. Not only through the exceptional teaching, but by the soul stirring hymn singing, the Spirit truly ministered to my spirit. Missions became much more important to me, and I signed a commitment card to be available to the Lord. I was hoping he might call me to foreign missions, but that was never the case.

“Through the years, though, the Lord has deepened both my and my husband’s commitment to missions by several different means, so that now missions are a top priority in our prayer time. We love not only supporting and praying for missions, but doing volunteer work to help spread the gospel around the world. The week at Urbana had a lot to do with that.”

��Ƶ staff train and help students on campus as they seek to live out their commitments to Jesus Christ. Our staff hope that students will continue to serve and pray for God’s mission throughout the world after they graduate.

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Alumni Ministry

Alumni Ministry

A Critical Hand-Off

A Critical Hand-Off

Celebrating God's Work

Celebrating God's Work

������Ƶ Alumni - Circle of Faith

������Ƶ Alumni - Circle of Faith

������Ƶ Alumni – Wayne State University chapter

������Ƶ Alumni – Wayne State University chapter

������Ƶ Alumni - Former staff Dig-in

������Ƶ Alumni - Former staff Dig-in

The CBS Grocery Barge

The CBS Grocery Barge

Alec Hill's Thanksgiving Message

Alec Hill's Thanksgiving Message

������Ƶ Alumni-Committed to God’s Mission

������Ƶ Alumni-Committed to God’s Mission

��Ƶ Alumni - Circle of Faith

��Ƶ Alumni - Circle of Faith

��Ƶ Alumni – Wayne State University chapter

��Ƶ Alumni – Wayne State University chapter

��Ƶ Alumni - Former staff Dig-in

��Ƶ Alumni - Former staff Dig-in

��Ƶ Alumni-Committed to God’s Mission

��Ƶ Alumni-Committed to God’s Mission