Prayerful and Determined Student Leaders

What are college and university students looking for? According to Urbana 18 participants in the US Student Leadership Track (USSLT) and Canadian Student Leadership Track (CSLT), it’s a rooted sense of identity.

“At our campus,” said Sophia Cliplef, a second-year student at the University of Calgary in Alberta, “there’s a lot of misplaced identity. I think mostly in sexuality and also in success and intellect.”

Similarly, Michael Broughton, a senior at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, said, “Students rush to find things to put their identity in, be it a sexual, ethnic, or economic identity. We believe that it would be most fulfilling to find it in Jesus, so how do we show people how to find their identity in him?”

With a Posture of Prayer and Seeking Revival

During the USSLT, students were challenged to consider the role of prayer within their leadership, drawing inspiration from evangelist Gipsy Smith, who said:

If you want to see revival, go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk, draw a circle round yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.

For Michael, who serves as copresident of his InterVarsity/USA chapter at Swarthmore, this session made him rethink his identity as a student leader.

“It’s something I’m susceptible to doing,” he said. “Just getting caught up in logistics and strategies and figuring out what’s effective instead of taking large chunks of time to pray.”

Students were given a stick of chalk to keep—a reminder to root their identity in Christ through prayer as they invite others to meet him on campus.

With a Determined Spirit

Students gathered for the CSLT to hear stories from several faithful witnesses. A lawyer shared how she had kept her faith and work separate until a court receptionist called out her patterns and challenged her to put her faith first. A Pilipino woman described how she experienced pressure from her family to pursue a degree in medicine or law and how she decided to go abroad, serving with InterVarsity Canada instead.

After these testimonies, students were invited to examine what, if anything, was keeping their identity in Jesus lukewarm.

“The church at Laodicea’s great grievance was being neither hot nor cold,” said Sophia, who leads a Bible study for freshmen in Calgary. “And that convicted me to think about areas where I’m lukewarm. I’ve been afforded opportunities to talk about my faith on more than superficial levels, but I haven’t engaged honestly or fully in those places.” 

In both tracks, many student leaders spent considerable time reflecting on what their lives would look like if they lived rooted in their identity as followers of Jesus, the king who calls them to pray boldly, take risks, and share their faith at every opportunity.