from an alum

Dear Allen,
By the time this check arrives at your office, Engage NU will be well underway. I think this BOLD event comes at a timely moment for college students and as Christians, we are called to ENGAGE with others. Prayers for you and students in IV. My faith was challenged as a result of my time at NU. :)
NU alum from the late 90s

Response to Marcus

Kosi said...

I totally agree, people are definitely talking, and I'm so encouraged. Even people in my dorm are talking about EngageNU and what it is. Some of them whom I invited came to the Celebration picnic. It's really great.

Speaking of the picnic, I was at work last night, on Saturday, and I was wearing my EngageNU t-shirt. A guy waiting in line saw it and asked, "Were you at the picnic today?" I said, "Yeah!" He said, "It was really great and really well done."

Another person on the same day, who was waiting to get her change, asked me, "What is this EngageNU thing? I've been seeing signs for it all through campus." I explained to her what it was, that it was sponsored by the Christian Intervarsity on campus and that we were having discussions about different pertinent issues on campus, like race, ambition, and science . . . At first she looked dubious and embarassed when I told her that it was being sponsored by a Christian fellowship on campus. Then, as I talked about how we were discussing issues like race, ambition and what not, this look of interest sparked in her eyes and unbelief. She said, "Thanks." She may have walked away with a different view of Christians that day. I'm praying for her. She looked genuinely baffled like that did not at all fit her view of Christianity.

Reflection

First and foremost, I just want to say how much of a blessing this week has been for me. Though I knew it would be a blessing, I wasn’t able to fully grasp this until last night. But I guess it all started when I was approached by one of my cast members about the week.

Isn’t House on the Rock putting on this “What the Hell God?!” week

Well InterVarsity is sponsoring the week, but HotR is a part of InterVarsity, so yes.

Why did you guys pick that name? I feel like as a Christian group you all should’ve picked a more appropriate name.

I explained to her what the week was truly about. The purpose isn’t about the title. Slowly but surely her argument changed, and she agreed that the purpose of the outreach week was a good idea. However, her standing on the title still didn’t let up.

One of my concerns coming into the week was that people would be so stuck on the title of the week and the titles of the seminars, that they would completely miss the purpose. This concern was then furthered when a Christian friend of mine told me that she believed the title chosen for the week outweighed the intent! I was floored.

It was in this last instance that I realized this week was needed not only for this campus and non-Christians. WE need this week. As Christians, as a body of believers, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we need this week.

Initially I came into the week, praying for the brokenness of our campus. Then after hearing about the how events are going, the turn out at some the seminars, who was in attendance and such, it hit me. We’re broken. It’s hard to take in at first, but even as Christians, we are all broken. Individually and collectively in one way or another, there is brokenness among us.

And then God revealed to me the healing that was taking place this week. He showed me through these seminars, through the prayer meetings, and through the conversations that there is a healing going on this campus. Never have I seen ALL of InterVarsity’s fellowships working so close together. And that’s just one of the many blessings I saw taking place this week. For the first time, this week, I saw us become The Body, and it feels amazing.

I don’t know everyone’s sentiments on this week, but I feel as though there are some who feel disappointed about the lack of non-Christian participation. In response to these sentiments, people are talking. This campus has felt InterVarsity’s presence. How amazing! The great thing is that this isn’t the last outreach week we’ll have. As we continue to have these weeks, they’ll only get better. And as we begin to share our brokenness, the campus will be confronted with their brokenness, and the healing that this campus is so in need of will manifest itself. Then my dear brothers and sisters is when we will begin to see fruit.

I pray that the week has been as much of a blessing for you as it has been for me. Praise be to God for the things He has done with the campus this week and the things He has yet to do.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD,” –Jeremiah 29:11-14

Thanks to Blog Readers

Dear Engage NU Blog Readers,

Thank you. There have been just about SIX HUNDRED visits to this website from places in Wisconsin, from St. Louis, from UIC, UofC, UIUC, Vanderbilt, UCSD, and other places that our Site tracker doesn't even have in its history anymore because there are SO many of you!

Tonight marks the end of Engage NU: What the Hell, God?! Week. But that is not the end of this Blog. We will continue to post reflections from this week, as well as cover what went on during the Thursday and Friday night events, as well as the Celebration.

Thank you SO MUCH for financially supporting us, God provided through you WAY above what we expected. WAY more. And thank you SO MUCH for praying for us. Today we enjoyed the PERFECT weather. 0% of precipitation, which is saying something when it has been raining for the past four days straight! God DOES hear our prayers, and God honors them. Even when they're as menial as weather requests.

So continue reading, continue praying, because GOD IS STILL working.

Thank you again, on behalf of all the Engage NU Outreach Coordinators.

- barney

Notes from the underground...

Before headed off to tonight's Engage NU events, I called one of the fraternity students with the intent of leading some guys in a quick Bible Study. Jake met me at the door.

"You want some dinner?"

I rarely say no to free food - and there is something beautiful about dinner in a fraternity house. I admit, beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder, and my vision is pretty lousy...but I still think it's beautiful.

So I headed downstairs to the basement and grabbed a sandwich and a chair with some of the guys and proceeded to introduce myself, saying I was with Jake.

One guy asks, "What year are you?"

"Actually, I'm not a student. I'm kinda on the faculty of the university."

It's true, I have a Wildcard (with one sweet picture, I might add...my hair is glorious) and I have a faculty parking permit. I usually don't like to ruffle feathers unless I feel the need.

Then Jake broke the news and said that I was there to lead a Bible Study tonight. All eyes are now on me and it seems like someone sucked the laughter out of the room.

Gulp. OK Holy Spirit...it's time for you to show up.

One guy said, "So, are you one of those Christians who goes door to door trying to convert people, or are you like someone who just lives out his faith and leaves others alone." He made a reference an article in today's Daily.

Double gulp. Wasn't quite expecting the interrogation upon entry. Spirit, can you come any faster?

So I said, "Well, I'm kinda in the middle. I don't believe if I have really good news, I should keep it to myself. I mean, if I had a cure for AIDS, would it be a good idea to keep it a secret?"

"At the same time, I understand Christians can be annoying and obnoxious when it comes to sharing their faith, and sometimes disingenuous as well, and I hope you don't think that I'm that way."

"Let me explain a little - you know that 'What the hell, God?!' stuff that is going around this week? I'm a part of that."

One guy pipes in, "I like that. That's kinda how I feel sometimes - what the hell, God?"

"Yeah, that's kinda why we did it. Because the reality is that if we are honest, a lot of times that's how people feel about things sometimes. Jesus talked about hell like it was a present reality - so last night we talked about injustice and why is it that folks in the Sudan are experiencing hell on earth? And tonight - we're going to talk about sex, and we're asking, "What the hell, God? I'm horny."

Laughter around the table. Now I've got an audience.

"What do you guys think?"

We talk for another few minutes, and Jake pulls me away saying we need to get started with the Bible Study. I agree, but man I'm having fun.

Jake and I pull away, and I ask him, "How do you think that went?"

He says, "Man, this is exactly why I want them to come to Bible Study. But you know what happens when you mention "Bible Study" - like the kiss of death, dude."

"Yeah, I hear ya, Jake...but you know, just keep having conversations like this and praying and see what happens. That was fun."

InterVarsity, your friends are waiting to have conversations like this. And I know sometimes it's scary to go into these conversations when we risk friendships and may stir the waters. But the upside is that we have the opportunity to see God at work and both we and our friends are transformed in the process.

And you might even laugh a little...

Cheers,

Andy Bilhorn

Be Encouraged, by Alan Allmen

This week is a testimony to God's power! I have been encouraged so much to pray in thanks to God for what He has done - and what He has yet to do - through IV at NU. The boldness, creativity, urgency, and fervor which I see demonstrated through EngageNU gives me confidence in knowing that God's triumph over the devil is absolute. As I think back to when I was in MEIV, I remember how easy it is to be discouraged from such "risky" actions by school work, fear, doubt, and disunity - so I am overwhelmed in seeing so many of those destructive forces tossed aside in beautiful obedience to God.

This is what God wants His people to do. Take joy in knowing - despite the hardships, long days, and whatever else comes along the way - that God will reward the faithfulness of His people. I will be praying in earnest for IV and for God's reign to come upon NU.

All blessings in Christ,
Alan Allmen
MEIV '05

Ambition and The Cross (A+)

7:00pm, I walk in from just having finished set up with Justice, Amy Chen (AAIV'09) is bustling around with a huge stack of chairs, Charlie Guo (AAIV'07) and Paul Park (AAIV'08) are rehearsing the program schedule, whilst Carlyn (AAIV'07) tries frantically to find the stolen food and Brian (MEIV'08) prepares G43. Kellogg G43.

Moments later Julie French (MEIV'07) and Amy Zhu (MEIV'10) appear as well, and I'm thinking what the heck can I do? I guess I can pray. Pray that people will come to the event. There are fliers that are clearly marking the way. They made sure of that. Natalene (AAIV'08) arrives. The Panel Speakers start arriving, as do Wei and Caroline (MEIV'08), lugging the Ambition board.


Everything seems to be running smoothly, except the stolen food. WHO steals muffins, cookies and veggie platters? I haven't a clue. But with a few minutes before the start of the event we, Caroline, Wei and I, jump into Wei's car and we ZOOM off to the fastest shopping spree ever.

When we returned, the room was PACKED with people. Praise God! There were at least 40 seats in the classroom, and 10 more lined up at the back of the room--and there were still people standing along the sides. As I walked in I prayed that God would work in the hearts of those that were there--when I realized that alot of the people there were Intervarsity students. Then I started to listen to what the panelists were saying, and I was happy that so many of us showed up--this was good stuff. To tithe. To take sabbaths. To define for yourself success.

Many stayed after to ask the good doctor, the awesome lawyer and business man what their takes on certain personal issues were.

Thanks Ambition people for all the hard work, especially thanks to Carlyn and Brian for all the countless hours they've put into this event for the past few weeks, getting the program together, and their team, from the boards to the videos.


God, the rest is up to you. Our work in the Ambition event is done.

Take a look at the room!:

Justice Event Pictures

Amy Yang (MEIV'08) introduces the Crane GameBradford Chong (AAIV'10) doesn't look too happy about his crane

Eugene Park (MEIV'08), Jessica Hunt (MEIV'09) and Alex Pictor (MEIV'09)

Allen Wakabayashi (IV Staff) gives his talk

And a clip of Allen's talk:

A special thanks to Emlyn Torres (MEIV'07), Marian Wang (AAIV'07) and Janet Park (AAIV'07) for putting together this event, and to their team for all the work on the Justice Station and the night's program.

Viewers leave their words

Two days running and this site has had over 300+ hits. There are viewers from Wisconsin, University of Washington St Louis, UIC, UIUC, UofC, and many others!

Here are just a few comments from alumni and viewers that I've gotten, there are people all over this nation praying on our behalf--there are prayer warriors supporting us.

-----------------------

From Chris Lee (MEIV'06)
Just wanted to say, WOW, and Congrats, and Keep Up The Good Work on all your outreach work! I saw an email that Allen sent out to alums to pray for the event, and I must say this is by far the most widest-reaching, unified event that IV has ever put on at NU. And I know you must be burned out and worn to the nub, but keep pressing brother, b/c all this work you're doing is storing up for you treasure in Heaven! Keep working for those eternal purposes!

Aight, I'll be praying for you guys this week. God-willing may this generate lots of wonderful insights into people about God and His character.
- Chris

From Jillian Yu (MEIV'06)
It's so encouraging to me to see that you guys are doing great things on campus. :)

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From Christine (Volunteer AAIV Staff)
Hello to all the NU InterVarsity people! I am encouraged by your faithfulness, and wanted to let you know that I am proud of you. Continue to be excited by God's goodness and his heart for the campus, and I know he will answer our prayers.

Wednesday Pictures

Race Station was moved to Norris today due to the rain, and they set up shop next to Cafe Curious.

Enide's (MEIV'07) Day

First, I would like to say that the Race committee is totally keisters!!

Second, from my experience at the booth up in Sargent yesterday was really nice. I enjoyed interacting with people and really getting them to think about race. I was really fortunate to speak to one of the cooks at Sargent. He mentioned that he was stopped by police officers twice on campus, even when he had a group of people in his car. It was a painful and embarrassing situation for him and those present with him. He had a clear conscience though, and realized that while many people may not be directly affected by racism, once something like racial profiling happens to one person it truly infects the entire environment- what affects one, affects all.

In short, his statement was basically a reflection of the broken world/system in which we live. The cook was very encouraged to see that we were talking about and standing up against racism by helping others see that we all have a part to play when it comes to racism! We are restoring shalom on campus guys!! (Sha-loo-mm)

Cafe Curious Day 2

Praise God! We had a really nice turn out today. Tim thinks that it was the "Win a Gift Certificate!" signs that we put up today. Also, the Race station next to our booth was a good fit since some people just wanted to look and observe as opposed to being bombarded with questions (oops that's us!). Or maybe it's because I found the trick of catching people's eye as they stare at our booth and calling them over.* People are curious about "What the Hell, God?!" week--you just have to catch them at the right time and help them recognize that they are actually curious.
*I'm just kidding, I don't have that much power. More people visited because God led them to...

I think most of the people that came and took the surveys were people we knew. The other people really wanted the gift certificates. When asked to fill out their info (so we could contact them if they win) many people were hesitant about giving away their information. Some just didn't even bother when we asked for their email. So, we told them we wouldn't spam them Christian emails and they could even indicate "no mass emails". This may them feel a little bit better and they ended up filling out the info cards.

A couple people on our team got into some deep conversations...which we will have to ask them to share later. Ryan found out that this guy he knew from (his?) frat believes in God- which we found out through the survey. That was good news. I also ran into one of my music friends. I knew she was interested in religion and I got excited as she agreed to fill out the survey. She indicated in the survey that she believed in a God/heaven/hell.... Then I looked at her necklace- the star of David. Oh, I had no idea.

Tomorrow, we will have our survey results posted to allow everyone to see where the campus is spiritually. And we shall continue conducting our oral surveys until Norris authorities stop us. (Supposedly illegal to do them at Norris...Shh!)




We had some interesting answers for our final question- If you could ask God one question, what would it be? Some responses we got today: Explain the concept of eternity; Why is there bad in the world?; No questions- I am content with God and life; Why? (a lot of these).

Please continue to pray that people will visit our booth and that they will perceive us not as conversion-hungry-Christians but as loving messengers of God. Even for those 2 minutes that we have with each person.

P.S. I had a boo-boo today. My phone wasn't working so I overslept and many people were looking for me because I was supposed to set up for our booth. But thanks to Mike Chen,
Captain CareBear, for saving my butt.

IV Students make Daily

Chase Woodward (MEIV'07), Emlyn Torres (MEIV'07), Tim Lee (AAIV'07) and Natalene Ong (AAIV'08) are interviewed and make the front page of The Daily.
Evangelicals Push For Social Change - City

Video of Station in Action

More Pictures from Tuesday

Courtesy of Marian Wang (AAIV '07)

Faith and Courage

I'll be the first to admit that midterms week has kept me busy and away from a lot of the action taking place at the stations. With that said, I've spent a lot of the week praying for good weather and for open minds as I run from one place to the next taking care of my daily academic duties. Through the whole planning process and this week so far, God has been constantly reminding me how He can and will take care of things. I've been thrilled to see how each of the stations have come together and the unique combination of personalities on each of the planning committees has blossomed into creative, bold interactive displays and events. I've been overjoyed to hear and see my fellow IV students engaging people on the streets and in campus buildings. So...I want to commend each of you for having the courage and faith that it takes to boldly design and plan, to discuss sex and justice and science and ambition and race, to pray with expectation, to interact with people at the stations, to step outside of your comfort zones and trust in the Lord. Keep up the good work!

Reactions

It was interesting to see people's reactions to some random Korean dude at this random booth in the middle of campus asking people about their "sexual positions." I got a lot of laughter, smiles. The funniest reaction was this quiet Asian dude who walked by and looked for a second and almost seemed embarrassed. He walked by our booth stopped turned around, turned back and then turned around and walked toward our booth to "get a newspaper" from a nearby box... but he was just stealing glances the whole time! I wonder if he felt ashamed for looking... I just smiled at him the whole time.

Since I was by myself for an hour or so, I was a little nervous that some women might think I was harassing them, but it got me thinking... what's weirder: asking people about their favorite sexual positions or asking if they would ever considered Jesus?

What's cool about this week is that those two questions aren't really all that different... that Jesus and the Christian faith does have to do with REAL questions people ask about sex....which is kidn of a relief to me.

The interesting thing is, I might have been SLIGHTLY worried about people seeing me as a heeby sexual position asking dude or a really random weirdo but I was definitely NOT worried about them thinking about me as a pushy/narrow-minded/dogmatic/Bible-banging Christian. And to be honest, that alone was a huge weight off my shoulders.

There were some people that were trying their hardest to mock our booth, our random sexual positions or some of our quotes... but I realized that they couldn't... or at least not very effectively. (One guy tried to say something really vulgar about the arm wrestling sexual position, I think he was hoping to make me blush or something, but he just sounded kind of stupid in front of his friends... but we all laughed it off) I think the majority of people who actually took the time to read the quotes and vote, thought that it was at the very least, interesting and thought-provoking... and just overall cool. Some people spent a lot of time in front of the booth just thinking and reading... and that was really a joy to see.

The trick now I guess is to maintain this kind of interesting relevence as we go deeper into the Gospel message at our evening seminars and such... and maybe there's a point where we have to concede a certain amount of awkwardness or become a little pushy as we share our convictions about the hope we have in Christ... but I have to say I'm very hopefull and excited to try!

Sexxx is H-O-T-T!

That's right. The sex station was a HIT today. As I walked back from my Theories of Argumentation class, Maggie pointed out the crowd of people bunched by the Arch. I shrugged it off, it's Preview NU week after all, and there are tons of crowds walking around. But as we drew near to the station, it was obvious that this was no Prospie-oriented crowd, but one that was drawn to the LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX BABY station.


Speaking of prospies, a drove of them walked by in a campus tour and our very own Wayne Hsueh (AAIV) shouted, "COME VOTE ON YOUR FAVORITE SEXUAL POSITION." I must say, there were many raised eyebrows from the parents as prospective frosh quickly skittered under the Arch thinking 'awkkkwwwward.'

Mmm. Welcome to Northwestern. :) Yeah Awkward Turtle!

As the tour group continued past the Arch, they no doubt passed by Kevin Cheung (AAIV) and Nate Han (AAIV) at the Rock area with the Prayer Wall. I stopped to read some of the prayer requests that were posted--this campus is crying about many things.

Perhaps a video will be uploaded soon.

Stations Operating!

We've been blessed with really beautiful weather today. The one thing that I've been worrying alot about has been provided for. After all the stations were built, the one question was, where the heck are we going to find tables for all the stations?


Everything's worked out alright. We managed to borrow tables from frats and dorms, and all the stations around campus are running smoothly now.


One very encouraging point of surprise, besides the provision of tables, the Sex station is having an overwhelming response that sex is something to be shared only within marriage. Interesting huh?

Eternal Significance

As you go into this week, engaging in conversations, here are a few wise and inspirational words that Allen left us with at the Kick-Off.



May these words spur you on in your interactions this day.

Not to Us, But to Your Name

Starting the week right: Kick-Off at Fisk

The time has finally arrived. April 22-28.


The Lord is with us! Amen.

What a good time we had worshiping together as ONE body in Christ. It is indeed a rare happening where one can witness members of MEIV, GreekIV, AAIV, HoTR all leading a congregation in worship together. It was a blessing to be in the congregation, to declare the power of God and the love of Jesus.


We're gearing up to Engage NU in many ways, one of them being a service project, clothing drive for the Battered Women's Shelter. Anne Halliday and Joanne Kim update us.


The Spirit of the Lord was definitely upon us as we prayed tonight, corporately and individually, in one voice, and in silence. I'm sure that God heard us as we cried out for our campus, our friends, our loved ones, and for all those around the world. Our cry God is that you would come and heal this world, redeem this world, and bring it back to perfection, through us.


Lord, be with us as we gear up to head into this week and Engage NU.