Campus Mission Week aims to stir curiosities

“Is this all there is?” is just one of the many questions Campus Mission Week will undertake, along with a variety of events that will explore other uncertainties students may have about life.

This year the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) will be hosting the annual Mission Week, which runs during the week of Feb. 26.

The vision statement and overall goal of IVCF is “Students and faculty transformed, campus renewed, world changers developed.”

Throughout the week the organization plans to confirm their purpose.

“A lot of students probably wonder ‘Is there more to life than graduating and getting a job,’” large group coordinator of the mission team Kelsey Schonning said. “The most we can hope is that they start to ask those questions; the plan is to really engage the campus and stir curiosity.”

According to the IVCF Web site, InterVarsity is about building relationships with students, staff and to see the campus transformed through helping them come to know God.

IVCF makes every effort to develop a presence through events that captivate the campus and get them asking questions.

Guest speaker Mark Slaughter will lead a discussion combining the issues of heaven, purpose and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This will be Slaughter’s third year as a speaker during Campus Mission Week.

The event is scheduled for Feb. 27 in the University Center Ballroom starting at 7 p.m., followed by live music and an open forum, where Slaughter will be taking any questions the audience may have about the topics at hand.

“I wish students on campus would take the topics seriously and try to understand how it impacts their lives, like AIDS and how it has an effect on the world,” mission team member Emily Wagner said.

Another IVCF member describes her expectations for the week.

“I hope that people will be open and willing to talk about God,” mission team member Natalie Hanken said. “They should feel comfortable asking questions because we will respond to anything.”

The participants have been working to prepare for the activities and promotion of events.

“It has been amazing having a lot of freshmen involved this year,” Schonning said. “There has been more leadership, more active and passionate people and it’s been going smoothly; we are bonding together.”

Jessica Wright is the publicity coordinator for Campus Mission Week and a sophomore at UW-River Falls.

“I would love to see God at work in people,” Wright said. “It just wouldn’t be worthwhile if He wasn’t here with us during this week.”

The week will also offer interactive zones, located in the University Center and in the Chalmer Davee Library. These zones will allow students to interact with mission team members to answer questions; there will also be brochures and short activities to encourage involvement.

“I’m looking forward to the events during mission week,” faculty advisor for the UWRF InterVarsity chapter Richard Kathan said. “It will hopefully develop a conversation exchange between students and faculty.”

Everyone is welcome to attend the InterVarsity meetings, which are held every Thursday in the North Hall auditorium starting at 7:30 p.m.