Random conversations?

InterVarsity at UNC Chapel Hill recently ran proxy stations beside the Student Union. A proxy station is a visual aid designed to start conversations between believers "running" the station and anyone walking by, with the hope of ending in a presentation of the Gospel or conversations about Jesus.

I got the opportunity to participate in running the station on hope, and I asked passers-by to take a survey in which they responded to questions ranging from "What's on your to-do list today?" to "Where do you put your hope?" and "How certain are you that this hope will last for the rest of your life?" They would then put a sticker by the response that best suits them.

While I was working the station, God kept bringing people to me who I could connect with on several levels. One woman I knew from a Hindi conversation class last year told me she was a Muslim, and she had worked with Christians in a ministry called Cornerstone in the past. Another was a woman who attended a 24/7 Prayer event last year, which I had helped organize.

Another woman had grown up in a Catholic school but didn't see how Jesus mattered to her life. She said she still prayed every night anyway, so I asked her if there was anything she had been praying for recently. She told me about a friend with severe back pain, so I ended up praying with her for the healing of her friend. I ended up giving a basic presentation of the Gospel to almost everyone I talked to.

One guy in particular, a Hindu who knows some of my friends from Hindi class, said he was "pretty open" to different beliefs and worship. I talked with him a little bit about Hinduism and Christianity (I took a course last semester on Asian religions), and then exchanged contact information to meet up with him again. His name is Vik, and we got to hang out a week later. It was so amazing... he literally asked me to talk about Jesus and my faith. Multiple times.

When I mentioned sharing my testimony with others at an upcoming retreat, he asked what a testimony was. I told him, and got to share with him how God led me to Carolina and how I'm trusting Him with my major and my life. Then, a separate time, I got to share how I committed my life to Christ and explained the Gospel to him, more in depth than I had at the proxy station. He was a good listener, and we spent pretty much the whole time in deep conversation about Jesus and Hinduism. We're going to try to meet up again next week.

When Meredith is not studying Hindi, she is the Prayer Team Leader at UNC Chapel Hill. If you have questions about how to do proxy stations on your campus, contact jennifer.hagin@gmail.com.

Prayer Walking brings victory

I had an amazing experience prayer walking through the campus of Old Dominion University. As part of our leadership retreat at the beginning of the year, the leaders paired off and spread out over dorms, buildings, malls, and sidewalks to pray over the coming New Student Outreach weeks and student body as a whole. Before the Good News track at InterVarsity's summer conference at Rockbridge, I had never really participated in prayer walking other than my personal prayers as I walked to classes.

I stood with my staff worker, Kristen McCrillis, in the middle of the quad and felt led to pray for the football players whose stadium was in sight. Next thing you know the coach and 60 football players came marching down the middle of the quad towards the field. We were both hit by the timing of our desires and what we were seeing. Our prayers started general and went more specific to prayer for one man on that team who was struggling to stay strong amidst the temptation around him. The team won our first game in 69 years that next weekend!!

Since I am the Large-Group coordinator, we decided to go pray over the room where we have Large Group. It was a Saturday and surprisingly the 250 people lecture hall was open, but completely black...we couldn't find the light switch anywhere. So we began praying in the dark, interceding on behalf of all students who will walk in that room.

We prayed that they would find Jesus, learn more about Him, that they would have peace, comfort, and joy for life. We went on for a good thirty minutes until the point where we were both crying and felt God completely cover that room. Four years ago, our chapter had five students. Last year we had a consistent 30 people at Large Group. However, our first Large Group brought in 96 students!!! I was awed at God's power and plan for InterVarsity to impact our campus. With Him I know great things will happen.

Jana is on leadership at Old Dominion University and enjoys break dancing in her free time.