students

��Ƶ Remembers David Howard

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

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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International Student Ministry Opportunities Continue to Grow

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 20:20:02 +0000

Press Room

November 19, 2019

International Student Ministry Opportunities Continue to Grow

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) --- The 1,095,299 international students studying in the US during the 2018-2019 academic year set a new record. Last year was the fourth consecutive year that this group of students surpassed one million, according to the 2019 Open Doors report of the Institute of International Education.

“��Ƶ has been promoting friendships with international students as a part of our ministry since we began, 78 years ago,” said Marc Papai, Director of International Student Ministry (ISM). In the mid-1950s, staff were inviting international students to International Houseparties, a chance to get away from campus during holiday vacations. Houseparties were held at many different locations, particularly at ��Ƶ camps, like Cedar Campus. And the tradition still continues.

In 1959, ��Ƶ published a Guide to International Friendships by then ISM director Paul Little. It reported that the US international student population at the time was 90,000. Today’s Friendships with International Students booklet carries on this legacy of encouraging and equipping students and volunteers to connect across cultures.

“Today ��Ƶ’s 2030 Calling is focused on calling ‘every corner of every campus to follow Jesus,’” Papai said. “That includes international students, who are now a part of the student body at the majority of US campuses.”

At some campuses, ISM is the only ��Ƶ presence. “Part of our ministry is to help US students gain a deeper appreciation for God’s people of every international ethnicity and for God’s purposes in the world,” he said.

During the 2018-2019 school year, 3,846 international students were regularly involved in 499 ��Ƶ undergraduate and graduate fellowships. Sixty of those fellowships were specifically for international students.

The IIE Open Doors report also announced that the number of US students studying abroad continues to increase. During the 2017-2018 academic year numbers were up 2.7 percent over the previous year.

��Ƶ’s Study Abroad ministry, now in its seventh year, helps students get involved with Christian community in other countries, connecting them to local campus ministry, discipling them through video conferencing, and challenging them through short pilgrimage experiences. Study Abroad also offers semester-long justice-focused programs in Rwanda and Ecuador. Last year 620 students participated in ��Ƶ Study Abroad, and another 125 engaged with Study Abroad resources.

Another long-standing ��Ƶ tradition encourages local community members to invite international students into their home for Thanksgiving Dinner. Students get to learn about and experience a traditional American holiday, making new family connections while they are a long way from home.

��Ƶ Christian Fellowship has 1,119 student and faculty chapters on 772 campuses across the US, from the Ivy League to community colleges. ��Ƶ is a founding member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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Putting Faith Into Practice

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 20:30:22 +0000

News

July 26, 2019

Putting Faith Into Practice

For Immediate Release

(Madison, WI) -- Over the course of college, ��Ƶ strives to help students build a foundation of faith that will last a lifetime. But applying faith lessons often starts before graduation, particularly for students who participate in ��Ƶ’s Global and Urban programs, which take place each summer.

This summer, ��Ƶ has 150 students and staff in Global Programs from Minsk to Manila, and from Quito to Nairobi, living and learning alongside local residents at each location. They experience the local culture and learn what God has to say about injustice and cultural differences from a biblical perspective. And when appropriate, they share their own Christian faith.

Several hundred additional students are participating in Urban Programs from Tacoma to Tampa, and from New York to Los Angeles. A program in rural West Virginia also helps connect students with issues of rural poverty and the environment.

“As students are displaced in these locations, they meet God in profound ways,” said Scott Bessenecker, ��Ƶ’s Director of Missions. “They learn to stop and listen, to love others practically, and to die to themselves in healthy ways.”

Sixteen students from eight colleges are participating in the second year of the Richmond Justice Program in Virginia. During the day, each student partners with a local nonprofit or ministry that addresses poverty, immigration, and racism. In the evening and on weekends, they meet with their ��Ƶ leaders and one another for prayer, Bible study, and other activities.

“Despite the hard conversations we have had surrounding various issues, like education injustice, broken health systems, and the dark history of this city, I have found peace in the never-changing character of our God, who is always good and always just,” said Rachel, a University of Virginia student.

Another group of ��Ƶ students were at the U.S. southern border this summer, working with the organization El Paso Encounters and learning the realities of the immigration situation. “Being there, actually talking with an asylum-seeker or giving them a hug, or sharing a meal with them, there was beauty in our shared humanity,” ��Ƶ Campus Staff Minister Christina Foor told World Magazine.

During her Global Program in Manila, one ��Ƶ student Melanie, from the University of Texas, was worried that her shoes would never dry out because of the rainy season. Her host jokingly suggested that she might have to throw them out and then wondered how much they cost. ”3,000 pesos,” Melanie said softly, suddenly struck by how much food, medicine, and clothing that sum would buy in Manila.

Melanie didn’t know what to say after that. “So I sit in the tension,” she mused. “And these Chacos are the heaviest they’ve ever felt.”

Putting faith into practice is not always easy; ��Ƶ students like Rachel and Melanie have been discovering that this summer.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608/443-3688

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Urbana 18 Underway in St. Louis

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 17:29:56 +0000

Press Room

December 28, 2018

Urbana 18 Underway in St. Louis

For Immediate Release

(St. Louis, Missouri) – Urbana 18, ��Ƶ’s 25^th triennial student missions conference, has drawn over 10,000 college students and others to St. Louis for a 5-day conference focused on world missions. For 75 years the Urbana conference has challenged each generation of college students to find their place in God’s mission for the world.

“God is on a mission,” said Ruth Hubbard, Vice President of Urbana for ��Ƶ. He is the one who invites us to join in what he is doing.”

Tom Lin, ��Ƶ President, said, “It is important for this generation to have a challenge. What does it mean to be a faithful witness, to model our lives after Christ, the faithful witness as we live our lives.”

Faithful Witness is the theme of Urbana 18, taken from the New Testament book of Revelation, which is the scriptural focus of the conference. Over the next five days attendees will have the opportunity to hear from more than 200 seminar leaders and 200 missions organization and seminary representatives on what God is doing in the world and the opportunities to get involved with what God is doing.

Morning and evening general sessions are streamed online at urbana.org from The America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Urbana 18 is ��Ƶ’s 25th student missions conference, cohosted by ��Ƶ, ��Ƶ of Canada, and Groupes Bibliques Universitaires et Collégiaux du Canada. ��Ƶ's first student missions conference was held in Toronto, Canada, in 1946.

For more information:
Gordon Govier
608/628-8609

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St. Louis

��Ƶ Remembers Billy Graham

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 13:59:32 +0000

News

February 21, 2018

Gordon Govier

��Ƶ Remembers Billy Graham

Billy Graham partnered with ��Ƶ Christian Fellowship many times during his life in order to bring the gospel message to college students.

One campus that he often visited was the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the home for many years of ��Ƶ's Urbana Student Missions Conference. He spoke at Urbana at least nine times: in 1948, 1957, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1984, and 1987. (Photo from Urbana 64.)

“What a wonderful joy it is to go to a city and hold a crusade in which there are university students engaged in ��Ƶ, who are winning people to Christ, and who believe in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Graham said at Urbana 57. At each Urbana he challenged the attendees to make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives.

“He has left an unforgettable legacy with generations of Urbana students, tens of thousands who have been mobilized long-term around the world because of Dr. Graham’s challenge to give their lives to God’s global mission,” said Tom Lin, ��Ƶ’s president.

Former president Alec Hill said that students appreciated Billy Graham’s commitment to integrity in ministry and responded to his challenge to devote their lives to a worthwhile cause. “He will be remembered as a humble, faithful follower of Jesus Christ,” Hill said. “His personal influence, which was considerable, is totally related to his desire to share the gospel message with as many people as possible.”

At more than one Urbana, Graham quoted a six-word phrase written in the Bible of William Borden, an heir to the Borden milk fortune who died in Egypt on his way to the mission field. “There are a thousand things you can do with your life; a thousand ways you can spend it,” he said at Urbana 87. “But how many of them will enable you to say at the end of your life, ‘no reserves, no retreat, no regrets’?”

Hundreds, probably thousands, can look back on their encounter with Billy Graham at Urbana and reflect on how that one meeting changed their lives—people such as Ken Anderson and Linda Kroeger. At one Urbana conference, a medical student in the audience may have saved Billy Graham's life by diagnosing a blood clot from Dr. Graham’s on-stage discomfort.

At a news conference at Urbana 87, Graham said, “I do not know any organization in the world that so motivates students and young people to become missionaries throughout the world [as ��Ƶ]. I meet them wherever I go in the world. They’re scattered to almost all the countries of the world and they come up to me and they tell me ‘I heard you, I saw you at Urbana.’ You feel like you’re already in a family because something happens here that makes us a family even though we belong to different organizations.”

Lin observed that Dr. Graham’s commitment to mobilizing students was unwavering. “We are honored to have his name so closely associated with ours—it’s often what people think of when they think about Urbana,” he said.

Graham also held evangelistic meetings on college campuses: at the University of Minnesota during ��Ƶ’s “Year of Evangelism” in 1950-1951, and a four-day mission at Yale University in 1957. He spoke to over 31,000 people during a weeklong series of meetings at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in September of 1982.

Billy Graham spoke at the University of Chicago during his 1962 Chicago crusade and at seven campuses in New England during his 1981 New England crusade. ��Ƶ's chapter at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has its roots in the 1978 and 1980 Billy Graham meetings that were held in Las Vegas.

After Billy Graham’s 1957 crusade in New York City, ��Ƶ staff were charged with the responsibility of following up with the 1,700 college students who committed to follow Christ during those meetings. One of those who came to faith at the 1957 crusade was Ned Hale, who described his journey to faith in this way:

When I first heard Billy Graham at a “campus mission” at Yale University in 1957, I believed in God but not that I was a sinner. I was upright morally and even working my way through school. After four months of struggling unsuccessfully to prove that I was not a sinner (to myself if not to others), I was ready to hear Graham again at his Madison Square Garden crusade. The Holy Spirit convinced me not only of my sin but also that Jesus was alive, and equally incredibly that he loves me!

Ned became an ��Ƶ student at Yale, and then joined ��Ƶ staff after graduation. He held a number of leadership positions over a long career in campus ministry. Today, as a retiree, he volunteers as ��Ƶ’s archivist.

Speaking at Urbana 57, Graham may have foreshadowed the student activism of the sixties by telling students they had the power to change the world. “You cannot wait upon the faculty,” he said. “You cannot wait upon older leaders. It is time for students to exert their leadership with all of their enthusiasm and the tremendous power that they have. Give it all to Christ.”

Speaking at Urbana 64, Graham said: “God has given us an open door and given us the tools and technology to touch the whole world in the next decade—if you and I mean business, if we are faithful.”

Billy Graham was faithful to the end; his life was dedicated to his Savior and Lord. For many students who heard him at Urbana and on the other campuses where he spoke, he modeled a life of total commitment to the gospel: “no reserves, no retreat, no regrets.”

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