Ian Reyez shares how he came to unreservedly follow Christ and some of the ways God has been leading as he has been experimenting with different ways to reach out to and bless his university’s campus.

ACF Institute 2017: Never Alone

<p>Ian Reyez shares how he came to unreservedly follow Christ and some of the ways God has been leading as he has been experimenting with different ways to reach out to and bless his university’s campus.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Adventist Christian Fellowship (ACF)

Ian Reyes

A New Thing-- On Campus

Ian and Rodrigo are joining us from the state of Texas. They go to the University of Texas at Arlington and they actually came to a c F, or Ian came to a c f Institute last year and he was inspired and he went back to his campus. So we're gonna hear a story of what he did when he went back and we're really excited about that. Thanks Ian. And Rodo, My father, God, rod and I come to you and, and before our brothers and sisters in weakness. Lord, we're asking you to speak through us. We don't want it to be your word or to, we don't want it to be our words. We want it to be your words, God and your words alone. So in Jesus name, we invite you into this room. You've already been here, you've already been here. You've already made yourself known. Stay here Lord. Teach us, make us aware and present. Help us overcome the hunger. And Lord, help us take away from this what you would have us. Thank you so much, Lord. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So again, my name is Ian Reyes. I'm the, I'm a student at U t Arlington. I'm also the President for a c f, UT a And I'm Rodrigo and I'm the treasurer and kind of the second one in command, I guess. So my journey with a c f goes a lot along the lines of my journey of following Jesus. So I grew up in an Adventist home and essentially I grew again. I grew up in an Adventist home, but I didn't fully come to know Jesus until my junior year of high school. And a little bit of that, there was my youth pastor, he was 22 years old, fresh outta school. And he, for the first time in my life showed me that following Jesus wasn't just about following this checklist or the set of rules or this thing we did on Sabbath. It was about an authentic and joyful life in Christ. And that made me want to change. That made me want to have what he had. And it took a couple years of going about it by my own effort, but then finally before my junior year, I surrendered my life to him. That was not the end of the journey as sometimes we, we can think of it in testimonies. That was the start of a journey cuz then he, he inspired me and, and gave me a desire for leadership and these different things. And along that, that line to this, the last few years of high school were really crazy. But after high school, I was expecting to go into something, to a private university, to a Christian university where I can continue doing ministry and worship and these different things. And then I felt God very clearly lead me. Otherwise I felt them very clearly lead me to the University of Texas at Arlington. A 40,000 student school. 50 thou, 50 thou. This is yes. Math guy. 50,000 students school, fifth most ever student in the campus. I, I was homeschooled and then I, I went to a private university. You were homeschooled too. Tucson Perfect. I'm not alone. But the, the point is, as far as it was something way out of the ordinary, but it was when I got this call that I really got a vision and a dream. And really quick, if you're planning on starting an a c f next year, can you raise your hand? Man, I was you last year, so I know exactly how you're feeling. You have a dream, you have a vision. And I really felt God inspired me with that. And, and so we move forward in faith. But one thing that a mentor of mine told me is God often shows us the what before he shows us the how God shows us the what before he shows us the how. So my whole freshman year, it seemed that nothing was going right. It, I wasn't involved in a campus ministry. I didn't know a c f even existed. And it was like, what is going on? Where, where is this? And just to let you in on, on my journey. And it was the spring whenever I, I was invited to acf and it, it kind of was like, okay, now there's a bit of a how to this dream, this dream that seems way beyond me, thousands of students coming to know Christ on my campus. That's what I felt impressed with. If I'm gonna be honest with you. I finally felt like maybe there's a how. And so the first part of that video that you saw, it was me and my buddy. He's our parliamentarian really. He just does a little bit of everything. And we came and we had never been around a c f for people from a c f, but we just showed up and we drove to Houston. It was in Texas. So that was really convenient. I'm sorry to those people who drove from Virginia, wherever we gonna stop some man, bro, you guys are committed. But no, but we showed up and once, you know, we got that training, we got inspired, we finally had an idea of what that vision, that broad vision of bringing others to Christ, what are some of the logistical things that we're gonna come along with that. And so once we came back, Rodrigo's gonna fill a little bit and in the story of what happened in the summer, Okay, so I want to start by saying that I didn't surrender to God until my junior year in college and I have to thank Ian and his efforts on a CF to that I don't think I ever told him. And yeah, great guy. Anyways, I remember seeing Ian come that summer and he was extremely happy. I never seen, like this guy is always happy and this ki this time he was happier than usual and he's, he's been my friend. So I wanted to like understand what was going on. Once he explained it to me, he wanted me to help. And I immediately said yes. That summer, it was kind of a long summer in my opinion because as soon as he came back we had a two week a fast <unk> Yeah. And it was over a bunch of different things. We had to pick things to fast on and then we had to actually do it. And we had to read a book. I kind of slacked off on the book. I ended up reading another stuff. But, but yeah, like that commun like relationship. No communion, commun communion without community. We Ian, it and I and Nathaniel and our other friend Jenny. It, it was, it was a really amazing process and it helped a lot in my personal C and spiritual life. God man. And so, like rgo said, it was a process of first prayer and fasting. We had no idea what we were doing. We had limited involvement. I mean I was just a freshman, you know, like as far as presence on campus and we're just trying to figure it out. And so it began with that process of prayer and fasting. It's like, God, we're willing send us. And so we don't know what gonna do. But then we started applying some of the things that we learned at a C ffi and with the mission and the vision and, and we defined why. Why do we do the things we do? And based off a book by sin, sin called start with why. And our, our why is no Jesus, whether it was us, the reason we do everything we do is to get to know him better and to invite others into that. And so we def there were other things and if you'd like to talk a little bit more about the details, there are plenty of people and I'd be willing to just share the limited stuff that we did. But with this, all of a sudden the school year came, the summer was not long enough to plan everything for campus ministry and all of a sudden it's August and we're unofficial. We don't have anything with the university. We're like, we're gonna go for it. And so we decided to wing it and that's, it was literally like three of us. We just showed up and it's the day before moving day. So there's not really, there's plenty of people moving in, but there's not that help, you know, cuz a moving day, you guys are familiar, there's a lot of people day before, not so much. So we just showed up and helped out. Got some connections that kind of defines the school year, especially that first semester. We operated on an unofficial basis, but we did the most with the resources that we had. We, for example, we did free intelligent conversation in first semester. We did, we did one location and we would just stand there. And literally the first day we did free intelligent conversation. The first person that we talked to was from the UTA News and wanted to do an article about why we were doing this and or like do a news report. And so they did a news report and then another time this Shorthorn did an article about that. We were just present. We were just there to talk to people and there's so many stories there, but we're hungry, they're gonna move on. But bro, you're here. Okay. Another thing was the the small, another thing we did was a small bible study. And it was just, we emphasized guys at the beginning of the meeting, we emphasized one of our mottos that we reminded over and over again was be authentic. Was be authentic. And that was one thing that we reminded ourselves over and over again. No matter where you come from, you can be real in this place. This is a safe place for you. And we, that was an evolving process. Far as Bible study goes, trial and error and, but overall we gotta meet some really awesome friends, have really amazing conversations with Muslims, with atheists. I mean, at some points there would be eight to 10 people in front of the library having a free intelligent conversation. Thank you Javi, wherever you are. He's the one that introduced it to us. That was a huge resource, huge resource Point is more things happen, but we did, we gave God our small offering. So in closing, I just want to take us back to that passage in Isaiah, just to wrap it up. And if you look at verse 10, it says, you are my witnesses declares the Lord, my servants, whom I have chosen back in the day that was Israel, that was God's representative to the nations. Today that is you and me. And Johns Jesus says, you know, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go bear fruit and your fruit should abide. Guys, we are his witnesses. This passage applies to us now and again that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. That's, that's one point is that we are his witnesses on our campus. Last in closing, verse 18 and 19, remember not the former things nor consider the things of hold. Behold, I am doing a new thing now. It springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Guys, the old was amazing. Really, the advent movement changed the world. The old was incredible. But guys, I, I truly believe with all that I have in me, that there is a new thing coming. That God wants to do a new thing. Rivers in the desert, our campuses are deserts of hopelessness and depression and loneliness and so many things that you are so aware of because you have friends. It's time that says, I wanna do a new thing. And so I just encourage you, Isaiah 43 19, circle that promise. Behold, I will do a new thing. I will make rivers in the desert, away in the wilderness. Let's encourage you to claim that and go in faith. This media was brought to you by audio verse, a website dedicated to spreading God's word through free sermon, audio, and much more. If you would like to know more about audio verse or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audio verse.org.

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A New Thing-- On Campus

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Parent Conference

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Sound Doctrine