During the month of July, Jen and I had the privilege of working along with other great InterVarsity staff at the InterVarsity Leadership Institute (IVLI). Students commit one month of their summer to be at IVLI, which takes place at Cedar Campus in Cedarville, MI. During this month students are prepared for lifelong discipleship and to discern God’s direction for ministry on campus. But the teachings also go far beyond their campus and reaches deep into their personal lives as well.

Staff and students at InterVarsity Leadership Institute 2019

By the end of the month, a lot had been covered, both in biblical teaching as well as leadership development. Students were coached in how to better understand themselves and others using a tool called Strengsthfinders, engaged in prayer walks and evangelism on campuses in Grand Rapids, MI, and wrestled with racial brokenness and what it means to be called by God to reconcile others into one family, his family. During the final week, students were asked to create and cast a vision they planned to take back to their campus. and engaged in the scriptural foundations on human sexuality.

During this time, students and staff also heard some great teaching from Alice Atkins, Dr. Tim Brown, and Reverend Donnell Wyche. Their teachings covered Paul’s love of the Phillipian church, in-depth teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, and how to approach the book of Jonah from a different perspective.

Outdoors Teaching
Dr. Tim Brown giving the Sermon on the Mount

All of this happened in a space far from home. Cedar Campus, for many, has very little cell service – so a lot of students had no connection while at camp, and many of those that had service still committed to being off their devices for the month at camp. This allowed for more personal connections, and the ability to be more present with one another and with the Lord during personal quiet times.

Something said by the IVLI program director, Luke Olson, is something we should earnestly pray for:

What you’ve learned here at IVLI is only a beginning. It can feel, after you return home, like you learned a few things, but ultimately remained unchanged. When you pull a big roast out of the oven it continues to rise in temperature – its called carry over cooking. Your development from IVLI will continue to raise your leadership temperature for the remainder of your life.

Pray that the leadership temperature in these students will continue to rise. That they would take what they’ve learned during their time at IVLI and continue to grow from it. That they would in turn influence the lives of many others. Pray that as the students have returned home, and go back to campus that their ministry will be profoundly impacted.

While this brief synopsis cannot quite cover what all transpired in the lives of the students and staff during IVLI in the month of July, we can let you know that lives were changed during this time. People grew in ways they had likely not anticipated and were challenged in ways they certainly were not planning.

We are so thankful for our ministry partners, and the ministry partners of the other staff that helped make it possible for us to staff IVLI. We are grateful that you have an interest in seeing the lives of college students transformed. We are grateful for your prayers during these times, prayers for staff to have the energy to keep up with students, and for students to be open to hearing God’s call on their lives.

Check out this short 4-minute video about IVLI.