Campus Gathering

Campus Gathering is an annual Inter-Varsity Canada national conference in which staff from across the country who work in High School Ministry, Undergraduate ministry, Graduate Student Ministry and International Student Ministry; come together for a week to rest and receive vision for the coming year.

This was my first time attending Campus Gathering, and I was excited to spend the week meeting and reuniting with staff from across the country and to receive teaching and vision for the coming year.

We spent each morning in scripture study of Exodus 31-35. We were challenged as we studied the passage about the Israelites and Aaron creating and worshipping a golden calf and spent some time praying and repenting of the golden calves of our lives. Later on in the week we were inspired by Moses’ staunch support of his people and the ways in which he interceded for them with the LORD. We ended the week encouraged by the Israelites as they brought forth their freewill offerings and used their skills and talents to build a Tabernacle.

In the evenings we spent time in our divisions receiving teaching and vision for the coming year. In the Undergraduate Ministry division, we spent the time learning, understanding and receiving strategies for implementation of Inter-Varsity’s 20 000 Extraordinary Kingdom Leaders by 2010; the vision we’d been presented last year. Some of the vision being cast seemed lofty and unattainable, but as we had time to process and ask questions, we were able to see how we could work towards its implementation.

A highlight during the week was one evening the staff who attended AASC led an evening of bubble tea and karoke. It was great to partner with the staff, and bless our community while being empowered to lead as ourselves. My favorite part of the evening was the prep: a few initial blunders, a blown fuse, and a last minute run to get more bowls and serving supplies; but in the midst of it lots of laughs, improvisation, and a few “D & M” (deep and meaningful) moments! Not to mention some great drinks and a lot of hidden vocal talents amongst our national staff team!

Another highlight for me also came out of my time at AASC. The conference resulted in a lot of revisiting my past as a bicultural person, and delving into what it could be like as I became a person who was fully able to minister and live in both cultures. This led me to rediscover my Asian roots, and find out what it means to be South Asian and what would ministering to South Asian students look like? So I have had some great successes along this journey, and also met some crushing defeats; but I continue so that I could lead others towards their own bicultural journeys. I initially thought of this in terms of my work with students, but have seen more recently that this is something God is calling me to do with my staff partners. During this conference I was able to connect with two of the newer staff, both bicultural, and both having recently been on global partnerships (GP). Now, since much of my cultural journey truly ignited when I went on GPs, and I asked these staff if they had similar experiences. Both had, and through sharing our stories and then sharing with them about my experiences at AASC, we began to dream and vision what ministry could look like in our fellowships, and regions if we lead and were empowered to lead in the fullness of our bicultural identities. It was super exciting having these conversations and seeing how God was already using what He’d given me to bless others!