Who, Me?
Testimony at InterVarsity Staff Conference 08by Tim Hsieh
In the fall of 2002, Enrique Melendez, Tom Allen, and myself walked onto the campus of California State University Fullerton to plant a new ministry. I had no clue what I was doing. This was before the days of chapter planning manuals or chapter planning coaches. And no one in Los Angeles at that time had really figured out how to plant a sustainable commuter ministry. And besides that I was under the impression, because of my gift mix, that I was probably the least likely planting candidate. But I went with a deep conviction, a call to those students and to that place.
But to be totally honest, on most days the phrase that ran through my head was “Just get something started and God will send the real planters to do the work.”
I hit the pavement every day, building friendships, connecting with students. We tried to spot potential leaders. We took evangelistic risks – big ones, small ones, stupid ones. And at the end of the semester we had made hundreds of friends. But we couldn’t get five of them at the same place at the same time.
In the middle of the semester, I invited Doug Schaupp, our regional director, to speak at our “large group”. There were three students. I felt incredibly disappointed and, being Asian, very shamed. But Doug was great. Doug does what Doug always does. He cast a vision for a fellowship that would one day pack out the room and transform the campus. I think my students thought he was crazy. As I looked at those students in that cavernous room, I thought, “How is this ever going to happen?”
One day, I was sitting and I thought, “What we need is a community incubator, a place where community could grow and mature and be safe.” And so we started there. We invited everyone we knew to Thursday night at our apartment, and we fed them and we did the Bible study. And people came. They came for the food, they came for the study, and they came because they felt safe and at home.
First, they came for the food. I learned really fast how to cook, how to shop, how to feed hungry students on a tight budget without slopping pasta every week. To this day, my students ask me to make teriyaki chicken, my ‘special’ fried rice – which, there’s nothing special about fried rice, it’s leftovers – and my Asian cabbage salad with deep-fried candied wonton skins. To all my Asian brothers and sisters, please forgive me for corrupting our food. Anything for the gospel! Well, the word got out and more and more people came.
Secondly, they came for the open and contextualized study of scripture. “Open and contextualized” is code for words I don’t put in my prayer letters. These students would say all kinds of crazy things. Some of my favorites were “Jesus totally punked them.” “Jesus is gangsta.” “Jesus is like Puff Daddy.” Now I can’t attest to the theological accuracy of those statements, but as these students studied scripture, they discovered a Jesus who was strong, who spoke up for the voiceless, who was influential, who commanded attention and respect. A Jesus who was decisive, who was a leader with a plan. These students, as they looked at the life of Jesus, [saw that ] he was real and relate-able and worthy of their lives.
And lastly, they came because it was safe. For most of these students, this was the first time they could explore faith in a safe context. One student said to us, “I’m not very tight with my family. But you guys have welcomed me. You guys are my family.”
At the end of the first year, I told them, “It’s been a great year. I’ll see you in the fall.” And they said to me, “Wait, wait, wait! Why do we have to stop meeting? We’re not going anywhere. We’re commuter students. We live here.” So, we kept meeting, all through the summer.
This all affirmed what I’d already learned from my ethnic heritage: Never, never underestimate the power of food and hospitality. And from my spiritual heritage: Never underestimate the power of Jesus to draw people to himself.
Commuter students tend to live at home, work long hours, come in and out of campus quickly. But our students would actually stay on campus for multiple hours in order to come for our meetings in the evenings. They would drive back through L.A. traffic to be part of this community!
We started with five students, then eight, then ten, then 15, 20, 25. And after a year and a half, they had packed out my small two-bedroom apartment. They were on the floor, on the sofa, in the kitchen, up the staircase. It was like Jesus teaching in that crowded house with the paralytic. But we had packed it out and we had to move onto campus.
The students caught the vision; they internalized the values of community and hospitality. And over the next few years it grew – from 30 to 40 to 50 to 60. This past fall, they asked Doug Schaupp to come speak at our large group meeting. He spoke to over 100 students. And Doug does what he does best: He cast a vision for a fellowship that would transform the campus and change the world.
Last month, InterVarsity at Cal State Fullerton co-sponsored the World Vision AIDS tent, and 1500 students went through the exhibit. Over 40 African children living with AIDS will have food and clothing and health care and education for the next year. And nine students gave their lives to Jesus.
God has torn down the lie that I am not a planter, that I am not a leader. Again and again, I hear the words, “I chose you. I chose you to plant.” He chose me, with my gifts – or in spite of my gifts. He chose me with my temperament, my cultural background, my sense of mission and calling. In the words of Isaiah 43:10 affirm this. “‘You are my witnesses,’ says the Lord. ‘My servant, whom I have chosen, so that you might know and believe and understand that I am he.’”
Tim Hsieh is an InterVarsity staff worker in California.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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