May, 2013 | Release the A.P.E.

Student Testimony From The Philippines

3 responses
May 31, 2013

[If you have a great story from college or know a great story please submit here]

“For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.” – 1 Corinthians 4:9

I am Eduardo Lape, Jr, a 17-year old apostle of the Lord from Davao, Philippines. I am a college student at Ateneo de Davao University. I became a Christian when I during my high school years, 3 years ago, when my classmate, who became my mentor, invited me to a 3-day spiritual retreat called “Encounter”. From that day onward, my life was never the same again. And the fire set inside me by the Holy Spirit just made me want others to also experience the joy of being in the Lord. So I immediately started a ministry at my former campus together with my friend prophet, Benedict. We got our whole class dedicate their lives to Jesus.

Are You Stuck In The Middle?

3 responses
May 30, 2013

middle

By Eric Rafferty

As another school year wraps up and we take account of some of the things Jesus has done on campus with students at UNO, we are recognizing that this was an incredible year. The ministry we lead at UNO had its best ever year of growth. We’re three years into planting at this commuter campus and we’ve seen the chapter grow from 30 students in 2011 to 50 in 2012 to 74 in 2013. We’ve seen the number of small groups grow from 7 to 9 to 14, reaching out to different corners of campus from athletes to international students.

2 Ways We Should Be Living Among Our Neighbors

2 responses
May 28, 2013

porch swing

By Brad Brisco

When discussing what it means to live a missional-incarnational lifestyle I will often say that the word “missional” denotes our “sentness,” both individually and collectively as the church. It is about our direction—we are sent. The term “incarnational” reflects the idea of “staying.” It is about how and where we are sent. While missional speaks to being sent, incarnational speaks to embedding our lives and the gospel of the Kingdom into a local context.

Why We Miss Moments With God, And How To Fix That

6 responses
May 27, 2013

By Beau Crosetto

Last week a few of my buddies and I went to play tennis. We needed a 4^th and it dawned on me to invite a guy I play volleyball with. He said yes and we had a great time playing that night. But when we were done I wanted to see if God was up to more so I asked the guy if he wanted to grab a drink and talk a bit in my man cave.

He stuck around and we had a great conversation until about 11:30 at night. The guy is an Indian man with a Hindu background. He is very spiritual but has a completely different view of God than I do. We had a great discussion about faith and at the end I asked him if he would be willing to read a book with me and debate the ideas in the book instead of the ideas in our head.

He said yes! So we are now going to start chewing through “Mere Christianity” and talking about the ideas of truth, morality and if there is one God or not.

I am really excited to keep talking with this guy, but I almost missed the moment. I almost didn’t invite him, almost went to bed when tennis was over, almost didn’t push into the spiritual conversation, and almost didn’t ask him to read a book with me.

It got me thinking about the disciples in John 4 and how they totally missed the moment Jesus had with the woman at the well.

International Student Comes to Christ!

one response
May 22, 2013

[This is part of the College Writers series. We are looking for students who want to post great stories like below.]

This is a great story of conversion told by Christine. She is a college student at UCSD, majoring in Literatures in English. She is a Vision Team Leader for InterVarsity’s international chapter (International Christian Fellowship).

Grace and I first met through UCSD’s language exchange program in Fall of 2012. Our first conversation was light and simple, but things changed when she asked me about what I did for fun. I told her that I like to sing at my church on Sunday mornings, and surprisingly, she asked if she could join me. Her intrigue about church surprised me, and I responded with excitement! She then asked me what else she could do in San Diego to have fun while improving her English. I recommended that she come to International Christian Fellowship (ICF) so that she could meet both American and international students who would become good potential friends for her. Immediately, her eyes widened, and she told me that two other people had told her about ICF that week! This seemed like perfect orchestration. From that moment on, I asked God to show Himself to be real to Grace.

Can Students Plant Ministries By Themselves?

2 responses
May 21, 2013

Annie & Stephanie: Two Alaskan students starting something new

By Shawn Young

Do you think it’s possible for students to plant ministries, or does it take a “professional minister” to do it? Historically, Christian student initiatives have been controlled, limited or dismissed by professional clergy because they “lack the theological training necessary”. But the simple fact is, there are not enough campus ministers to reach the 4000 colleges and universities just in the United States, much less the rest of the world. We simply cannot afford to confine the expansion of new ministry to the number of “full-time campus ministers” we can hire. The only way that every campus will have a witnessing community is if students are taken seriously as planters themselves.

I believe that every Christian student carries within them the potential to start a Jesus-centered community that can reach others with the gospel. Annie and Stephanie are two students who proved this to be true.

If You Share Your Weakness, You Can Reach Your Neighbors

7 responses
May 20, 2013

Couple screaming

If we want to reach our unreached neighbors with the love of Jesus Christ, then we have to show them what Jesus can do for them. We have to show them what transformation really looks like.

And unfortunately that transformation is going to be seen through your weakness being perfected in Christ. They need to see the places that we fall short in our character so we can then allow them to watch us as we pursue Christ and He transforms us.

It might be anxiety, lust, materialism, envy, jealousy, or greed. I don’t know what your genuine short fall is.

But mine is definitely anger.

Do You Wish Your Ministry Grew By Conversion?

2 responses
May 17, 2013

Nick (R) & Jon (L) are two of the guys leading Greek InterVarsity with me in LA.

By Beau Crosetto

I am a happy man today and that is because Nick Kwok, the Greek InterVarsity Staff at UCLA, is doing a phenomenal job planting the ministry and seeing it grow. But not just growing by accumulating believers. He is growing the ministry with God through conversion.

Earlier this year Nick was able to lead a student to faith in a fraternity and that was obviously exciting. But the news just gets better. Last night Nick led another guy to faith in that same fraternity. It is a great sign of growing by conversion and an answer to our prayers. At the beginning of the year, this was a fraternity without a believer in it, and now God led one guy to faith in Jesus and that guy opened the door for his fraternity brother to experience the same. That is the kind of ministry that excites me and that is growth through conversion!

One of our goals this year in the plant was to see 7 students come to faith in the ministry. So far we have 6 as of last night. Nick has been radically committed as he plants this ministry to not just accumulate believers in Christ but to articulate a vision that makes tons of space for people who are skeptics and seekers of Jesus. He makes space by doing four specific things.

Mother’s Day Revisited (A Prophetic Look Back)

2 responses
May 16, 2013

Anna M. Jarvis

By James Choung

Mother’s Day often reminds me of sentimentalities like carnations, brunches, and heart-shaped chocolate. But did you know that the day is rooted in faith and justice?

This American holiday is a relatively new one. By 1861, Julia Ward Howe was already famous for her Civil War song, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But during the twelve years after writing that song, she witnessed the horrible carnage of that war. And it got to her. She was already an activist who fought for a woman’s right to vote. So she took one more step: she called for a day that would honor peace and motherhood in her Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870. Here’s an excerpt:

Solitude is More than Separation

no responses
May 15, 2013

By Beau Crosetto

Often times when we think about getting some solitude we think about getting some free space to do our own thing. We just need that hour to unwind, relax and catch our breath. But this is not what solitude is at all.

The last two days I took a retreat with a few of my friends to step back and reflect on the year and how God has been moving.

I love these times because it gives me a chance to soak up all that God has been up to and not just move on. It also allows me to address problem areas with him and let him shape me more into his image.

One of the things I did on this retreat is re-read through Henri Nouwen’s great book The Way of the Heart.

The first part of the book is all about solitude and just what it really is. Here is a great quote from the book that struck me.