Stories from Campus
This semester has been a semester full of firsts!
For many of the Ryerson Exec Leaders, it is their first time in leadership. For the students that regularly attend the group, it is their first year being part of the group. In addition to things being very new for both the leaders and members of the group, there has been new vision and energy for how the group operates and ministers to the larger campus community.
This summer, I met with the Ryerson Exec Leaders to vision for the fall semester. We spent some time in Scripture in Exodus 33-35. The leaders were especially excited about using their various skills and talents in ministry this year. This semester the ministry at Ryerson has been greatly blessed by the skills and talents of the student leadership team.
Some highlights include:
- Vanessa, used skills from her program (Fashion Design) to design and create Inter-Varsity T-shirts for the exec members to wear during the first week of school (photo above).
- Moses, used skills from his program (New Media) to redesign the Ryerson IVCF website and create various posters and flyers for events.
- Jenna, used her amazing interpersonal skills to communicate about events to the group and welcome people into the group at meetings and various outreach events.
- Brian, used his great gifts of administration to organize and communicate with the Ryerson Student Union to book rooms and equipment needed for various meetings and events.
Praise God! For these skills and talents He has blessed these students with and also for the ways He is using them for His Kingdom!
My role with the group looked a little different this semester, as I was made aware of a dire funding situation late this summer, and needed to step off campus to raise my support to a more sustainable level, and my contact with the students was limited. However, I spent some time with Vanessa, the Ryerson Inter-Varsity Executive Team President, who shared these stories:
A: How did you feel making the shirts:
V: I very much enjoyed making the shirts. It was a fun, quick project that people got excited about. Everybody wanted to take pictures of the shirts. It was interesting because I prior to that hadn’t really thought of a way of using my fashion creativity for Inter-Varsity, so it was kinda cool to do that.
A: How did people respond? How did the exec like the shirts? How did people on the campus respond:
V: The exec was really excited. Others who were helping out from the IV community wanted extras. We had a few people from the Ryerson Student Union come by who wanted to take pictures of the shirts. People wanted to take pictures of us with the shirts on the front and back, and I think it made us stand out in a way, like people noticed.
A: Tell me about what Campus Groups Day was like, the set up, how the table was how people responded, etc:
V: Well initially, as we were setting up, it was good, all the exec were able to make it to help put the table together and we were all bringing different elements We were a little bit afraid it was going to rain, and it didn’t only rain briefly and had little umbrellas protecting the stuff. For the most part it was a really lovely day, we had lots of people going by, we had about three pages of people signing up to get information and quite a lot of them came out on the first night. People were very excited about food, we had a variety of different kinds of food; we had cookies, samosas, Brian brought some really cool crackers and mango candies from Chinatown. Some people were stopping because of that, but some people stopped and listened but even having really colourful flyers, and the food and the shirts, people were more inclined to be like “what is this all about”. I was really excited about how colourful and full the table was, it made me really happy that our table wasn’t boring. And we had music and we were all standing and I was trying hard not to dance too much. It was a good time.
A: What was your fave moment? What were some of your highlights:
V: It’s hard to pick “a moment”, It really flowed, so I want to say the whole day was kinda similar. I was excited by how many people we got to talk to. It was a good time. Most of the exec was able to be there for the whole time, and there were a couple returning members of the community that came out and helped out, and they were really excited so it was really nice to some people we hadn’t seen all summer and it was nice that they were involved and just how excited everyone was. It was a really energetic day.
A: Did you have any special significant conversations:
V: Well, there was one girl in particular. At first people would come to the table and ask us what we were about and we’d give them a flyer or a pamphlet and tell them when our first meeting was and tell them a bit about who we are and what we’re about and then they’d usually go on their way, and then we’d realize after that they were in the same program as someone staffing the table, so we changed our approach and started asking them about what they were studying and then used it to start conversations and go from there. Talked to one girl who was a first year fashion design student, and we got to chat about the group and when we meet; she wasn’t available on Thursdays, but was excited to hear about the other events we’d be doing, so I was able to chat with her about the group and some advice being in the same program.
A: Tell me about the first 1 Peter manuscript study:
V: It was pretty good. There were a few returning members and lots of new people and people who were not used to manuscript study; and they were excited about learning this new style of studying scripture. It was a good introduction to manuscript study and to the book of Peter. We kept it more general, and felt it was a good start and good introduction to general themes in the book. It was good to get people interested.
A: How did it feel to prepare the passage for teaching:
V: It was really good going through the passage as an exec. We were really nervous leading the passage as many of us hadn’t lead a Manuscript Study before and we weren’t sure who was going to come and how it was going to go. We took it slowly, and got familiar with the passage and talked about what we thought it was saying, and came up with a few questions. But for the most part, we didn’t know specifically what was going to happen.
A: How did it feel leading the passage:
V: Really interesting, very different, it was really about being what different people got out of it and what they noticed compared to what we had noticed when we had gone through it together. It was kinda funny being on the other side, and kinda holding back and more so listening to what people were noticing and occasionally bringing them back to focus when things got on a tangent. Or being the person that the question was directed at, as opposed to being the person asking the question, instead we were trying to give them an idea of an answer or a place for them to start looking. It was funny, it felt very like – I don’t know – mature. It was a good feeling.
A: Do you have any prayer requests at this time:
V: The main thing to pray for is guidance, that the Holy Spirit would show us where to focus our efforts and what He really wants us to do and so we get a lot out of it instead of just trying to figure everything out on our own. Also pray for peace; and focus as the semester is getting busier and people are starting to catch colds and flus. Pray for strength and health; and for us to be open to new things and to do the things the Spirit is leading us to.
Please continue to pray for the Student Leaders as they continue to serve on campus.
New Exec Leaders Training Weekend #1
And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.” Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. Exodus 36:3-7, NIV
On June 25-27, I had the pleasure of joining the new student executive leaders of the Ryerson IV community on their first training weekend. The weekend was co-planned by myself and the outgoing co-presidents of the fellowship; Reuben and Ainsley; and took place at Reuben’s family farm.
The weekend was packed as we spent time getting to know each other, debriefing last year and visioning for the upcoming school year.
Each year I say this, yet each year I am amazed at how quickly it happens; this team of leaders began to bond! As a result of the minor earthquake that occurred (centralized in Ottawa), there were some delays in Vanessa’s arrival to Reuben’s house. I was surprised and touched as all the students chose to wait up until 1 am and pile into a van to go collect Vanessa from the train station. It was an unexpected team building activity!
The next morning after breakfast, we studied Exodus 35, the building of the Tabernacle, which I had just studied at a staff conference a few weeks prior. The students really delved into the text and made insightful discoveries. I left them with application questions of what are the skills and talents that you are freely offering to God this year; and how can we invite other to freely offer their skills and talents in the community?
In the afternoon we spent some time debriefing the past year, and then spent some time enjoying Reuben’s farm.
After dinner, we watched the movie, Ocean’s Eleven and spent some time in discussion afterward. Coming out of the movie was the big idea of striving toward a seemingly impossible goal and what were the costs and benefits associated. It was at this point that I led the students in an exercise where they dreamed of seemingly impossible ideas for what ministry could look like in the coming year. Some of their ideas were entirely possible if they approached it with willing hearts and a bit of training. Some of their ideas about sharing the gospel with their friends and striving towards a multi-ethnic community warmed my heart and made me excited to see what they would do in the coming year! After this discussion, I cast the vision I had received for campus ministry.
The initial response to the vision was a lot of questions and a bit of hostility. The students were not sure about some of the big changes carrying out this vision would entail. We ended the evening with a decision to “sleep on it” and return to discuss the next day.
The following morning we all attended Reuben’s church. I always love attending the churches my students either regularly attend or attended, as I enjoy being in places of their spiritual history. Following the service, we went back to Reuben’s place and had lunch and resumed discussion about the vision for the upcoming year. The students had a few more questions, but overall felt like they wanted to move forward and see how we could begin implementation of the vision. We ended the weekend together by praying for each other as we returned to our busy summer schedules.
Afterward, everyone was heading back to Toronto, and I invited them to help me paint my new room. I expected only a few to say yes, and was surprised when everyone agreed! We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening painting the walls of my room and eating pizza! It was an unexpected and fun way to end the weekend, and whenever I look at my walls I think of the great day we had painting!
Launching 20,000 Extraordinary Kingdom Leaders by 2020
Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada’s ten year vision statement is as follows: Launching 20,000 Extraordinary Kingdom Leaders by 2020.
What this means is that by the year 2020, Inter-Varsity hopes to have 20,000 Extraordinary Kingdom Leaders (E.K.L.) be part of and graduate from their Inter-Varsity communities and be “launched” into churches, workplaces, homes and beyond!
What defines an “Extraordinary Kingdom Leader”? Exemplary women and men who have learned to integrate their faith and life. They are people who carry their vibrant and contagious faith from our camps and campuses, to their families, churches, communities and vocations. Wherever they find themselves, they become recognized as spiritual leaders, possessing in increasing measure, a love for God, and a love for people. Inter-Varsity’s alumni are missional, committed to scripture, to prayer, and to worship. They are life-long influencers, and shapers of culture from a Kingdom paradigm. Extraordinary leaders are intentional about bringing the kingdom to whatever circles they travel in. We would describe extraordinary leaders in the following blocks: They passionately love Jesus and lay down their lives for the sake of the kingdom. They are growing in character (fruits of the spirit, ie: love, joy, peace, etc); they are becoming self aware; they are dealing with sin and hurt in their lives. They have entered into the practices: scripture, prayer, community, evangelism, generosity.
How do we hope to achieve this?
Well, the division of Inter-Varsity that I work for, Campus Ministry (which includes High School, International Students, Undergraduate and Graduate Student Ministries) is responsible for launching 10,000 of these Kingdom Leaders in the next 10 years (the other 10,000 will come from Inter-Varsity’s various Camp Ministries).
There are about 100 Campus Fellowships throughout all of Canada, and there are roughly 100 Canadian IVCF staff. In order to achieve the goal of 10,000 Extraordinary Kingdom Leaders by 2020, each fellowship would need to launch 100 E.K.L.s in total or roughly 10 E.K.L.s per year!
In order to achieve this goal, some changes need to be done in how we do ministry, we need:
– To get in the mindset that before our fellowships have 75 people, we are pioneering!
– To have a consistent invitational posture.
– To drop as much of a deadening structure as possible.
– To focus on small groups and have the large group develop from them, rather than the other way around.
– To call each other deeply (towards God and out of sin) and be intentional about our own development.
– To continuously partner with and disciple students so they disciple more students and those students disciple more students.
Exciting? Yes.
Scary? Yes!
Impossible? No. I believe it is entirely possible to achieve this goal, and even the very act of striving for an ambitious goal causes us to be BOLD and take risks that we might not take if we only worked towards an undefined goal!
Please pray for the various Inter-Varsity Campus ministers who are in the process of casting this vision to their students.
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!
The Arch 