Recently, our daughter who is doing mission work in Sudan said to me, “I feel like all of my experience and training has prepared me for what I am doing right now.”

This statement also sums up how I feel about my current leadership position with InterVarsity. As National Field Director for the Midwest, I am able to bring together my experience as a Campus Staff Member, a Regional Director, a Regional Coordinator with IFES in Eastern Europe, and a Camp Director. I supervise Regional Directors and work as part of a national leadership team to oversee strategies for the InterVarsity campus ministry. What fun!

As it turns out, my call to the student world has been a lifelong call. Most of my involvement these days is through training and mentoring younger staff. I am still excited by working out strategies on how we can be more effective in bringing the gospel to this generation of students and faculty. I believe that our nation is at a crossroads, and it is imperative that we reach this next generation to prevent the continuing slide toward the post-Christian secularism found in Western Europe today.

So, what are students like today? The Millennials, or Mosaics, as they are sometimes called, are more put off these days by the Church and Christians they meet. These young adults view the church as negative and judgmental, known more for what it is against than what it is for. Their experience with many Christians is that they are hypocritical and out of touch with reality, besides being old-fashioned and generally boring (see UnChristian by David Kinnaman). These young adults themselves are characterized as: