During the Spring semester, I was encouraged to go to a Greek Conference in Charlotte. This weekend was so powerful for me personally. Things in life were starting to make sense and I was starting to understand that we are not in control, but that by putting trust and faith in God’s grace we will feel His love. It was such an amazing event to get together with other Greeks and worship the Lord. I saw that If we keep our hearts open, God will do wonderful work inside us.  I pray that students that are open and seeking the love of Jesus can have similar opportunities to mine in my years at Clemson.

This past summer my brother, who had just finished his freshman year at Clemson and in my fraternity, suffered a fatal wakeboarding accident. This has easily been the toughest thing I have ever had to face and I pray that others do not have to, but I have found a great deal of peace in knowing that God has a plan for us all. My brother’s gifts are still evident on earth. I thank God for blessing us with 19 wonderful years with such a wonderful person. We will never know the whole plan that is ahead of us, but I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has placed in front of me. Without the understanding and life altering events that Dusty and Greek IV helped provide, I could very easily be super frustrated and rebellious against God. Instead, I know God has his hand on me and I trust that he will raise us up in the end.

The first weeks were comprised of just students who had been attending Greek IV and there was time for relationships to build on something deeper than a just a Tuesday night Large Group meeting. As the weeks went on, new faces began to show up as we each wanted to invite our friends who may or may not be willing to make the step of coming to a meeting during the year. The fact of the matter was that when you experience a community like the one we have been building, you want others to come experience it too, and that’s what happened this summer.

Friends who had never come to a Large Group meeting or to their house bible study came and enjoyed the company of a group of friends dedicated to the pursuit of God. Whether we all realized it then or not, many of the values of community that a few of us had been reading in the book had never found a better place for application. I learned more and more as the summer went on about how to create space for God to work through hospitality. Offering for someone to come into your home, enjoy a meal that they did not have to worry about paying for, and spend time with people who cared to meet and get to know them was such an impactful experience that generally if you came once, you’d want to keep coming. It caused people to want to know why this group was getting together, which opened the door for an explanation about our ministry and what we are about. These summer hang outs were whetting the appetites of our friends to come be a part of us, to share in our vision, and to get involved with this ministry.

The most beautiful part is that this was not because of anything we did or planned, but because a community of believers pursuing Christ together is something so foreign, contagious, and desirable that it drew people in through Him. He moved in hearts and relationships, built up community, and prepared for Himself hands that He wants to use. All this has led to momentum going into the busy school year instead of coming off of a summer lull, which has all of us that were involved very excited.

During Fall Rush I first met Dusty and he told me he was starting a ministry for Greek students.  I was hooked. I didn’t know Jesus as my Lord and Savior when I joined ATO but as I came to know him as my Lord and Savior I could see that he wanted you use me in the Greek system to bring people back to him. However, I was young in my walk and not to confident in what I was doing. I tried to be a Christian in the Greek setting (I knew it was possible but wasn’t succeeding too well) but was struggling with being busy and feeling all alone. Then along came Dusty and Greek IV and seeing that I was not the only one at Clemson that felt this way was an encouragement to me. This has given me the motivation to be more serious about my faith and my Greek friends. 1 Thessalonians 2: 11-12 says “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

I feel that this has been what Greek IV has been about so far: gathering a strong core group of students who proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior and comforting and encouraging each other in our trials, tribulations, and struggles of trying to bring Light into a dark place. We are now taking steps into urging one another into living lives worthy of God: Bible studies are popping up in new chapters and our attendance is growing. We are also planning some outreach events such as a guy’s camping weekend to get more males involved and a tailgate. Greek IV is growing fast at Clemson University, but we aren’t there yet. It is our hope that you will continue to support us and encourage when you can.

Update: Michael (far left in the picture) graduated from Clemson in May 2007. He is now in his second year of grad school at Clemson, where he remains active in volunteering with Greek IV, Greek Conference and staying in touch with some of his younger fraternity brothers.

I have been involved with Greek IV for about a year now, and although that doesn’t seem like a long time, it has been a long yet rewarding year. I went from not knowing anything about Greek IV, to getting to know the people involved, to trying to get involved, to holding a leadership position. Greek IV in general has blessed me in so many different ways. As a young sophomore I found myself in search of a lot of things, and trying to figure out my own life, and time after time ending up nowhere. It is so cliché to say, but it is true. I was lost. There is no other way to put it. I was lost.

Some people refer to the moment they were found, when they gave their life to Jesus, or when their first answered prayer that they were aware of occurred. I refer to the moment a dear friend of mine suggested praying, talking to Jesus about my problems, and asking Him for help. She knew I had not given my life to Christ yet, but still she felt compelled to say it, and in that moment, my light was ignited. That was Jesus using her to knock on my door, to light my light, whatever you want to call it, but the interest was sparked. Although it took a long time, and it was not an easy journey, that is when it began. It wasn’t for another 5 or 6 months, until I gave my life to Christ, and it just so happened to be at Greek Conference. Greek Conference was in February, and I had been involved in Greek IV ever since that dear friend of mine started taking me. Another one of my friends was on leadership team, and she was speaking at Greek Conference so I wanted to hear what she had to say, and well, just hang out with them for the weekend. So I signed up to go, not knowing what the Lord had in store for me.

We spent the weekend discussing the story of the woman at the well (John 4), and well there was a point in the weekend, where they used the metaphor of the woman holding the jar. Inside that jar was all of her problems, despair, doubts, fears, and anything she was holding on to that she didn’t need to hold on to anymore. I sat in my seat “holding my jar” just begging the Lord to let me keep them, and there it was: the first words I heard from him, “Let me have it, all of it.” That was it for me. I said, “Lord take it, all of it. I don’t want this anymore, I want to live for you, and I want to give you all of this and the rest of my life with it.” In that moment, I had never felt so much peace in my entire life. After that, there was no turning back. I had my ups and downs, but the people on leadership are my best friends, the people I look up to, can turn to, pray for, and trust. I wanted to be a part of something that amazing, and so began my journey to the leadership team.

John quickly became instrumental in helping jump-start Greek IV at Clemson by committing to actively sharing his faith through Bible studies and other IV events. John graduated in May, but he was so inspired by the vision of this ministry that he decided to postpone lifelong plans to enter the business world in order to serve full-time on Greek Intervarsity staff. You see, not only did your prayers and generosity help ignite a flame at Clemson this year, but they have helped raise up new leaders, like John, who will go on to advance the Gospel at other campuses and in the world. That is what this ministry is all about!

UPDATE (APRIL ’09): John is currently finishing up his intern year at William & Mary and will go on next year to plant a new Greek IV chapter at NC State. Meanwhile, the ministry at Clemson continues to grow…Praise God!