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Greek for a Purpose

God worked in my life in a miraculous way while I was at Greek Conference. To be honest, I never intended to participate in Greek life. It was not something that anyone ever talked about in my house. My joining a sorority occurred out of nowhere really. One day I was talking to one of my teachers about emails I had been getting about becoming Greek. We talked for a while. After our conversation and a long time spent in prayer, I sent in an application for fall rush. I think it has truly been one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had.

For Greek conference, I went with Greek Intervarsity from UGA; and there I found out why God wanted me to join a sorority. He put in my heart during that week of conference the desire to see my sisters have a genuine relationship with God. This opportunity God put me in front of was something I had been thinking about for a while, but never knew how to go about it. Well, God made it happen. I started a Bible Study in my sorority just recently and God has worked in an amazing way. He has helped me to grow in my own spiritual walk and have an impact on my sisters. I find it an honor that I was able to attend Greek Conference. It was there that I found what God wanted me to do the next four years of my life.

By Kathy Pham

The Bible Comes to Life in Georgia

Jim is a rising sophomore at Emory University. Originally from California, he grew up in a close knit Jewish Messianic family that has journeyed together through life's peaks and valleys. Jim is also a member of the Emory Diving Team and longs to be a witness to his fellow peers and teammates.

Starting this August, Jim will be a freshman small group leader. In order to prepare for this important leadership role, he attended Chapter Camp 2009 to learn crucial skills for reading, interpreting, and applying scripture. While Jim was excited to lead a group of men through the Bible, he had no idea the training would make such an impact on his heart! He says of Chapter Camp:

"I have been reading and learning about the Bible all my life, but for this first time (at camp) it came alive and touched my heart in a transforming way!"

What about you? Are you hungry for scripture study that transforms YOUR life? Check out Transforming Bible Study by Bob Grahmann from InterVarsity Press here: http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=1123

Students Partner with Haitian Fraternity to Serve Villagers

On May 21th – 30th InterVarsity staff members Nick Johnson (GA State), Berry Long (Area Director, North Florida), and Kim Koi (Area Director, Central Florida) traveled with fifteen students to the village of Neply, Haiti on an InterVarsity Global Urban Plunge. The group worked in partnership with Alpha Omega Psi, a local Haitian fraternity (www.AQPsi.org), to bring running water to village families.

Nick and Liz Johnson have been working in partnership with Alpha Omega Psi for three years. This year the crew laid plumbing to bring running water to 10 homes. Along the way students learned the culture and history of Haiti, a theology of justice, and creative options for helping end poverty in the world.

The goals of the Haiti Global Urban Plunge are fourfold:

1) establish partnership with local village and service fraternity by building relationships and providing a valuable service to community
2) understand issues of poverty and God’s heart for the poor
3) challenge American students to become servants and learners while out of their comfort zone
4) empower students to use their majors and influence as vehicles to change the world

James, a student from Georgia State, said of the trip,

“I think we really got a chance to live among the people of Haiti. We were exposed to their hopes, frustrations, and dreams for themselves and their nation. This trip brought some very serious, life shifting realizations about myself. I will go back to my campus and see it as a great resource that has not been used to its full potential.”

James hopes to go on a longer global project and take what he learned back to campus by influencing his friends, getting involved in a local ministry, and using his major to end poverty. James is also considering living with the poor after graduation.

Link to facebook video, footage from inaugural trip in 2007: http://www.facebook.com/events.php?archive=1#/video/video.php?v=556547631947&oid=44841504316

UGA Greek Community Loving Friends to Jesus

About a month ago, I was walking with one of the sorority woman, Sally, who has been attending Greek InterVarsity. We began to discuss why Sally had not been active in either her sorority ministry or Greek InterVarsity over the past couple weeks. She told me her involvement with Greek InterVarsity didn't really matter, because her future was going to be decided on her academic involvement. I started probing about where God fit into her world view. Sally's response was that God helped her to try and lead a good life and encouraged her to go to church on Sunday, but that he had nothing to do with classes, friends, or most of her day to day decisions. We talked about how Jesus died for our sins, which allowed us to have everlasting life. And so I asked, “Sally doesn't that demand that you give him your whole life, all of your decisions?” Her response was no, she had never really sinned. When I asked about what she thought about all sins being the same, Sally told me that she didn't really believe that that was true. I felt that we were at a standstill, so I didn't push the issue further, and we finished our walk.

Sally continued to attend Greek InterVarsity sporadically and began to get to know one of our guy leaders, Sam. Sam lives a sacrificial lifestyle, both with his time and money. He serves the Lord through Greek InterVarsity, his church, and volunteering with those less fortunate in our town. Every Sunday, Sam takes the same homeless man to church and then the two enjoy a bite to eat. One day I called Sally and asked her again about where God fit into her life. She told me it was funny I asked because the day before she had gone to church with Sam. Sally was surprised when Sam picked her up and then drove down to the tent city to pick up his homeless friend. She was even more surprised that Sam treated the man like his friend and wasn't afraid to share his life or wealth with the man. When she asked him why he was so willing to give to this man, he told her because Jesus had done the same for him. She was honestly surprised, and asked him what Sam had ever done wrong that was really that bad. He began to talk about things that she could identify with. Sally was shocked. She couldn't understand why Sam's faith caused him to act differently. She told me she admired the older students whose lives were different and she said she wanted to have that type of faith.

Sally is loved by our community, and their kind actions and bold words are sharing the gospel with her. It is exciting to see Sally inspired to have a relationship with Jesus. Equally exciting, is seeing a our community effectively reaching out to others and drawing them in.

National News: 25 Come to Christ in One Night!

On March 11th at the University of Rhode Island, 25 students accepted Christ in one evening! Read more: http://www.intervarsity.org/news/the-power-of-a-personal-testimony

Virtue Week @ Atlanta University Center

Calling all prayer warriors! Today kicks off a very special event at the Atlanta University Center called “Virtue Week”. Virtue Week focuses on purity and sexual abstinence by highlighting God’s perfect vision for relationships and calling students to abstain from sexual activity and instead participate in the week’s events. The events include open air campaigning, movie viewings, fashion/talent show, and discussion/dialogue sessions. Please pray for this endeavor to effectively grip hearts and combat the strong influence of casual sex pervasive at the AUC and on almost all college campuses today. Also, please pray for the Spelman women who have spent countless hours organizing this event- that they would have supernatural energy and effectively lead their peers to the true love, Jesus Christ. Thank you for praying for InterVarsity!

p.s. Interested in checking this event out? Call me and we’ll visit together this week!