Students Transformed.

Anna is a Freshman in Engineering.

Christian Share Large Group was held in April. Anna chose to share her story with a post:

One Friday in the beginning of October, I decided to take a walk in the rain. I wore a jacket, but I left my hood down choosing instead to get immersed in the rain. I walked the streets of Urbana, not having a clue where I was going, and I decided to spend that time with God. I prayed about going to Urbana ‘09, and I prayed for the future. As I walked, I got the music, but not the words, to the song “How He Loves” stuck in my head. We had sung the song in Large Group a couple weeks before, and I remember very clearly thinking that the song was extremely strange, and I really did not like it. But as I walked, the music to it was stuck in my head, and I could NOT figure out what the song was. When I got back to ISR, completely soaked, I talked with my mom about going to Urbana ‘09, signed up for Urbana ‘09, and then I tried to find out what that song was.

I have no idea how I found the song or how I remembered that the song was “How He Loves”. I think I might have remembered the line, “heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss” because I thought it was very very strange. As I tried to google the bits of lyrics that I remembered, I found the lyrics on a blog that talked about the reason why John Mark McMillan wrote the song. I managed to find the full version of the song, and I cried when I heard it. I began slowly realizing that every word in that song is true. God captured my heart through that song, and I have since listened to the song many times. It remains one of the few songs that I can currently worship God through, and I even had a dream a few nights ago in which I sang the song in full out worship to God in my dream.

Why this song? I honestly believe that God speaks to me through this song. The lines that particularly speak to me now are: “You met me between my breaking. I know that I still love you God despite the agony. Some people want to tell me you’re cruel, but if Stephen could sing, he’d say it’s not true because you’re good.” (If you’ve never heard this version, I strongly encourage you to listen to it at least once.)

This past year has been one of the hardest years of my life thus far, but it has been one of the best in terms of my relationship with God. First semester culminated with Urbana ’09 (see my other note for that). I felt so close to God, and I was completely on fire for God. I was completely on fire, and at that time, I could sing without hesitation the line “Yeah He loves us! Whoa how He loves us!”

But I believe that God instead chose to strip down the healing from an event in my past to show me something. I’ve realized that I tried to heal myself from that event. I thought I was successful until I was presented with somewhat similar circumstances this semester. I have begun to realize that (metaphor time) what I did was put a Band-aid on a wound which was not done bleeding. Because of these similar circumstances, the Band-aid was ripped off, and bleeding began furiously. I realized that I have for years been masking internal bleeding in a sense.

This semester has been one of the hardest times of my life only topped by the months surrounding the event in past. I have spent many nights crying, and many nights desiring to be alone yet to not be by myself. I spent nights praying to God only to get a door slammed in my face. (Not quite literally, but almost.) I felt completely alone and distant from God. What made all of this worse was that I had recently felt so close to God. To go from feeling His love immediately to feeling like God had completely left me was not easy. It made my situation even worse.

I remember the night of All Campus Worship this semester. I left Foellinger extremely confused, upset, but realizing that important steps needed to be taken.

I had a rather difficult conversation a few nights later in which all of my walls came crashing down. Somehow, in that moment, I was able to completely trust a friend, and God worked in HUGE ways through him and I mean completely HUGE ways). If it weren’t for the conversation that happened…

God still does not make sense to me, although I know He never will. I don’t understand why He is allowing me to go through this, but some wounds from my past are actually beginning to heal the proper way…through God. God has used so many of my friends in such powerful ways. God has used my friends to let me know that He is still here and that He has not left.

I am experiencing God in a much different way right now. I am broken. But I know that I still love you God despite the agony. And You have met me between my breaking.

I have learned through it all I can sing “How He Loves” in the most powerful worship that I can have at this moment.

And I know that these words are true. “If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking. So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss, and my heart turns violently inside of my chest. I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about, the way He loves us.”

How He love us so.

-Anna Wetherholt

World-Changers Developed.

InterVarsity’s Chicago Urban Program connects students with Chicago communities to discover God's heart for social reconciliation and justice.

Rico is a sophomore in Engineering

Experiencing God during the Chicago Urban Program:

God has really been working in my life lately.  It is not enough that He has called me to get more involved with InterVarsity, but He has also called me to care more about what He cares about. Being on the West Side of Chicago over Spring Break for CUP (Chicago Urban Program) opened my eyes to a lot of injustices that people experience.  These injustices, however, are not new to me because I grew up in a neighborhood similar to the one I visited in Chicago, the neighborhood of Austin.  The only difference between myself and the individuals I visited is that I made it out!  So many of the kids/teens in the community of Austin are viewed as being incapable of graduating high school, so how then can they make anything of themselves?

The irony is that many of those in my neighborhood (including myself when I was growing up) were deemed incapable of making anything of themselves as well.  We were expected to fail, and some teachers even gave up individuals they felt were not worth their time.  As students, we were able to recognize whether someone believed in us, so we followed suit according to what others showed us that we should believe about ourselves.  The unfortunate part is that, more often than not, we bought into the fact that no one expected anything of us anyway, so we turned to the next best thing: simply giving up altogether. The only way I was able to make it past that attitude is purely by the grace of God.

God has enabled me to live my life for Him so that I can give others hope.  While I was in Austin, I was able to fully identify with the community members because I felt right at home. I didn't feel as if there was anything new that I could learn from them because I had already accepted that I had been in their place once before.  I didn't think that the kids in the "Circle for Success" afterschool program could touch my heart the way they had because everything that week seemed to be geared toward them being at risk of not being successful in their neighborhood (the same as it was for me when I was coming up). Fortunately, God showed me that He has a heart for those people in such unjust communities.

The people that attended church worshipped God with all they had because they had nothing else.  The church community was built around a trust in God so firm that even the children were encouraged to learn about Him because they didn't want them to be recruited for gangs. I heard story after story about how people would attend CUP and be affected by one child, just one child! How much more of an impact could a whole community have on us? God enabled the participants to care about what He cares about.  He empowered them to encourage the kids more often than not. God called CUP participants to be His heart in the midst of the brokenness of this world, and my stay in Austin was no different.

I was fortunate enough to be able to work with Circle Urban Ministries during the day (cleaning around the building, preparing meals, etc) and to get to know the "at-risk" children in the "Circle for Success" afterschool program.  What most people do not understand is that those children are only at-risk if we view them that way.  I did NOT perceive them as being children in a high-crime neighborhood.  I did NOT view them as individuals who are not going to make anything of themselves. I did NOT think of them as being less-fortunate because I would have been calling myself out on their behalf!  They are just as capable as I am, and they shall be shown that they are important as well.

During my three-day visit at the afterschool program, I was able to observe the culture of the program.  I was able to get to know some of the kids in the community. I was able to become a part of their community because they accepted me.  I was told that other volunteers in the afterschool classroom would stand around in the class; thus, they refused to get to know the kids simply by doing nothing at all.  I, along with fellow volunteer "Miss Kate," as the staff would call her,...

World-Changers Developed.

Disa Brumment is a senior and Area Coordinator for ISR.

Andrea Simnick (photo) is a senior in Communication.

I’ve known Andrea for almost four years now. She was my neighbor freshman year and now I am living with her. Andrea has played a huge part in my spiritual growth throughout my college career. As we are nearing the end of our 4 years, we are constantly looking back on our lives here in school and how much we have changed. It has been a joy to hear more about Andrea’s journey, and to see where she is now.

Looking at IV’s vision, I see Andrea in each aspect of the vision. To make a long story short, Andrea has grown a lot (student transformed - checked). God has obviously transformed her and her heart while here on campus (this is a much greater story that I don’t have the time to go into detail about now J). She has also been doing amazing things on campus to help renew our campus life here, from facilitating CARE workshops to starting social justice workshops for the U of I campus (campuses renewed - checked).

One of her bigger passions at the moment has been re-establishing the International Justice Mission (IJM) RSO at U of I. IJM is a worldwide Christian organization working against different issues of injustice. There are monthly
meetings that educate and allow people to interact with issues of injustice. Prayer is one of their core values, that way they incorporate their faith into all of their discussions and activities. Jesus didn’t just call us to be good people, but to help those in need. IJM works to mobilize those of faith on our campus to engage in social justice work (world changers developed - checked).

To learn more about IJM and its mission, or to get connected:

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Check out the facebook page.

Campus Renewed.

Joseph is a senior in FAA; he leads a Small Group for other FAA and Art students:

(click on the photo to hear audio)

God is indeed a creator; I was struck by the levity of this thought a while back.  His ability to bring about something from which there was nothing--to breath into and give life to something--these ideas can get pretty deep.  It has been amazing to see the ways in which God's creativity reflects our own.  Sometimes, when I finish a project, I wonder if I feel like God did, a satisfaction that it is good.  Unfortunately for me, I can't just say things into being, but exploring how God works through the process of making art is one of my main objectives for pursuing an Arts Small Group.

How can we appreciate artistic gifts given to us from God?  How can God effect our creativity?  How can we use art as an act of worship instead of self promotion?  How can we share our artistic process with others?  How can the church be further opened up to the arts?  All of these questions are things that God is continuing to answer in my life, and things I'd love to share with others.  Historically, it's been difficult for Christian community to break into the school of Fine and Applied Arts here on campus, but I'm excited to see how God will work through us toward that goal.

World-Changers Developed.

Jonathan is a senior in Engineering:

World Vision ACT:S (formerly Acting on AIDS) is a gathering of Christians who are trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus in context of our global neighborhood. What does it look like to speak up and judge fairly; to defend the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:8-9)? How do we, as students at the University of Illinois, respond to the overwhelming injustices happening thousands of miles away? What does our faith actually have to say about these issues?

At our meetings, we take time to educate ourselves on a variety of social justice issues as well as stay in the scriptures. Additionally, we plan events that raise both funds and awareness. As eyes are opened, we strive to develop world-changers who will live with a spirit of humility and giving. Our God calls us to a religion that looks after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world (James 1:27).

It is this call that drives my passion for social justice… and this call is not a burden: it is a privilege. Who am I that God chooses to use me in His redemptive plans for this world? It's really quite amazing that I get to be a part of incarnating His Kingdom on earth through my heart and my actions for justice. Knowing Jesus has surely given me a purpose that trumps any "American Dream."

World Vision ACT:S meets at 8pm on Wednesdays in 127 English Building