Spreading the good word: Pierce InterVarsity Club

A national organization that ministers to students and faculty through gatherings, bible study, conferences, and events.

InterVarsity’s purpose is to “establish and advance at colleges and universities witnessing communities of students and faculty who follow Jesus as Savior and Lord: growing in love for God, God’s Word, God’s people of every ethnicity and culture and God’s purpose in the world.”

Ginger Montalvo, the club president for the Pierce College, works for intervarsity and decided to start the club on campus.

The club meets weekly on campus for Bible study and occasionally meet off campus for get-togethers at a member’s homes. The off campus meet-ups usually consist of fellowship, food, and fun activities or a movie.

Montalvo said: “[For bible study], we usually study the Gospel,  but we might do some more stuff on justice this quarter, because we worship a God of justice. One of the things that is important to me is not just that we are having our faith, because that’s just a really quiet, personal thing, but that we should be changing the systems we live in and making our country a better place. We should be caring for the lost and depressed, for people in need.”

The club also gets together for outreach to help the homeless. They set up booths in the community and give away food, clothes, and anything that people are willing to donate.

The club is very important to the members who attend regularly. They feel connected to other Christians on campus as they grow in their relationship with God.

Harold Cup, a club member, explained: “For me, I had friends on this campus before I joined this group, but I was the only Christian in my group of friends, and becoming part of this group was like ‘hey, I’m not the only Christian who goes to this school, there are other people.’ It was really cool and encouraging.”

Annette Pace, another club member, explained that the most rewarding part of being a member is the fellowship. She shared that when she started at the college she had few friends and that she would show up to the college solely for class and then return home. Since joining InterVarsity, Pace has made strong connections on campus.

“It really helps me to just go out and talk with other Christians and to have more friends,” said Pace.

The club members at Intervarsity want all students to know that anyone is welcome, regardless of religious preferences.

Club member Tamara Fox said: “What I want people to know about our group is that we don’t care what religion you are. Obviously, the goal is to bring you to Jesus… I like [Montalvo’s] idea of bringing all different races and religions together, because I think we can learn a little bit from each other.”

Sierra Connor, club member, stated that what she hopes that others will see about Christians is “for them to see the love of Christ in us.”

“We always get those stereotypes of us being gay-haters and stuff like that,” Connor explained. “I just really want them to see the love.”

“I get really frustrated, because a lot of Christians in the U.S. have spread a bad reputation. There have been a lot of hurtful things done in Jesus’ name and so it’s really hard to say like ‘No, that’s not the real Jesus, there’s a different side to this’,” said Montalvo.

So what is the different side? Members of the club explain what Christianity is to them.

“For me it really is like a relationship. For me, I’ve argued with God before, I’ve gotten into spats with Him. I was wrong. And that’s just the great thing about your relationship with God is you can really be yourself with God,” said Pace “He can take all of your anger and your sadness and He doesn’t care. He just loves you. It doesn’t even matter. He’s like ‘I love you, but you’re wrong, I still love you, and I’ll talk to you when you are ready.’ People look at him as just this restrictive person, when really He is probably the most open person ever.”

“God is my Father, and the way I see it, there are a lot of things I want sometimes and I ask Him for it and He’s like ‘No, that’s not good for you,’ and sometimes I get upset like a child would. And basically it is a Father-son relationship,” Culp stated.

“The way I look at it is, if [Jesus] can give up his life, and die for someone like me, who’s selfish daily, who sins daily, then I have no choice but to follow Him. If someone is going to die for you, give their own life for you, that’s the ultimate love… If God can give His life for me, my life is His,”  explained Tiara Fox, club member.

The club meets every Tuesday 9:00 am to 10:00 am in Olympic 329 and 11:00 am- 2:00 pm in Olympic 326.