I met Kevin [name is changed], a senior in one of largest fraternities on campus, at a football tailgate last year.  From head to toe, wearing a visor, expensive sunglasses with the strap to hang them around your neck, a button down shirt, khakis, some nice shoes, and a couple of beers in hand, Kevin looked like your typical fraternity guy.  After speaking with him for a while, I invited him out to lunch the following week where we sat down to talk about the purpose and vision for Greek IV.  Upon finishing our meal and conversation, Kevin emphatically said, “Where do I sign up?! This sounds great!”  Without much delay, Kevin and I began to meet regularly to look at Scripture and talk about what it would look like to follow Jesus in the midst of Greek Life.

Now while looking at Scripture on a regular basis may have been a new thing to Kevin, Christianity was not. You see Kevin already claimed to be a Christian. He grew up going to church, his granddad was a Methodist preacher, and he had accepted Jesus at a young age.  On paper, Kevin looked like a solid Christian, but in reality he was living in a very unchristian way succumbing to all the temptations of the college Greek system.  In many ways, Kevin represents your typical, Southern Greek student: Christian in name, but partying all the same.

However, this semester all of that began to change. One night after a small outreach event, I offered to give Kevin a ride back to his car. During our short trip around the block, he began to open up about his struggles with faith in fraternity life. In a somewhat despondent tone, he said,  “You know, I say I’m a Christian, but I’m not a good example. I still get drunk on a nightly basis. Give me a pill and I’ll take it. Crush it up and I’ll snort it.” He even confessed that he had come out to some Greek IV gatherings the previous semester extremely high. Yet right before he finished he said, “I’m done though. I’m tired of being burnt out, and I’m ready to give it up to God.”

I responded by asking him if there was ever a time he had prayed for forgiveness and assurance of grace to which he desperately responded, “I’ve probably prayed that prayer a hundred times.” I continued by explaining that forgiveness is only the starting point, but that a true follower of Jesus is marked by trusting and devoting yourself to Him above all else. “Has there ever been a time where you’ve prayed for Jesus to take all of your life NOT just the part you’re shameful of?” I asked. “No,” he responded with anticipation in his voice. “Do you want to do it right now?” I asked, and with little hesitation Kevin looked over at me and said, “Yeah, let’s do that.” While sitting in my car beside a parking deck on campus, Kevin prayed for Jesus to take not just part of his life but all of it!

Kevin may dress the same, go to the same parties, and hang out with his same fraternity brothers, but the difference is unavoidable. Everyone wants to know the reason behind the change, and Kevin is letting them know. From typical fraternity guy who claims to know Jesus to radical fraternity guy who lives like Him, Kevin is living proof of Greek InterVarsity’s vision to see Lives Transformed.

At the beginning of the Spring 2010 semester, my fraternity brother Johnny came to the Servant Leadership Retreat a few days before classes started up. Johnny had become a Christian in October when we had attended Greek Conference in SoCal. He was my first fraternity brother to give over his life to Christ. It was a privilege to be able to see God do such a life changing work, but it wasn’t until the leaders retreat that I saw an incredible change in his heart.

I invited him to the retreat the day of because I thought he wouldn’t want to come, but another one of the leaders said I should at least ask him. I did and he was ecstatic to come. So, clearly I was wrong. We stayed overnight at a cabin and started manuscript study the next morning. Throughout the day, I saw Johnny catch onto the vision that our staff leader, Alyssa Humphries, was giving us for the coming semester. She was saying how in Ephesians 3:20, that God can do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine. At that, I started to see Johnny’s heart catch fire for Christ. He was excited to see what God was going to do in our fraternity and in our Greek System.

Towards the end of the night, we wrote a covenant that had some pretty challenging things on it, one of them being not drinking if you were underage and getting drunk. Johnny had a hard time with this, but later after we had all left he called one of the other leaders and me to tell us how he was struggling with this but wanted to follow the passion that Christ had put in his heart. After praying with him over the phone, Johnny made the commitment to God that he would not drink this semester.

To this day, has held to the covenant and has followed the conviction that God placed in his life. Now, he is on our Servant Leadership Team for Fall 2010. It has truly been a blessing to see God work in his heart and see him develop his as a Christian leader in our fraternity and in Greek IV.

I then joined a Fraternity the next semester trying to fulfill the so called “college dream”.  I began filling my life with girls and drinking trying to fill my life because I felt empty inside.  I wanted to be considered popular.  I wanted to be wanted by others.  I was being selfish.  I was craving the acceptance of girls.  I wanted a relationship and always envied it, because I thought with one I could be happy.  It really didn’t matter to me who it was with,  I just wanted so much for someone else to want me as I desired them.  I was viewing women as an object,  and thought that through them I would be popular – the more I was able to hook up with, the cooler I would look to everyone around me.  I had the cup that was my life in front of me and I kept trying to fill it, but the bottom was cut off. The more I poured into it the more empty I felt.  It was at this moment that God started knocking on my door trying to wake me up.

He sent someone to give me that wake up call.  One night during the semester I saw my Big Bro Joel with a red cup seeming a little tipsy.  I asked what was when in the cup, immediately thinking it was vodka because it was clear. I thought, “wow this guy is hardcore, straight vodka?” Joel explained it was water and that he no longer drank.  I wondered how someone could be so happy not partying and not drinking like so many others like me.  This was when the desire to find God filled me.  I decided to go to Greek IV with Joel and some of the other guys from my fraternity just to see what it was all about.  The first couple of meetings were great, but I still hadn’t found God the way I truly wanted.  During this time I had stopped drinking and was slowly making changes towards the path I am on now.

Finally the first week back from Spring Break I had my experience I was longing for.  When I was talking to the group at Greek IV I put all my trash out there and shared how I wanted to answer God’s personal call for me and be a Chaplain in the Navy.  From that moment on I began feeling whole; I was happy. Jesus and God allow me to know that they are always there for me. My cup now had a bottom on it and I could see it becoming much more full just as Joel’s was that night I met him. I think now of how Jesus took to the cross everything that I had previously been longing for. He sacrificed his life for everything I wanted, I just needed to find it in the right place with him. When Jesus rose, he rose to give me the power to want to be with him and the power to resist all the temptations I was feeling, like girls and parties.  Now I can say I don’t feel alone.  I feel as if Jesus is always there for me, even when no one else can see him – I feel him. He enables me to do anything no matter how scary the future might be.  Don’t deny God as I did just because you think it will keep you from having an amazing college experience.  That is wrong, as I have now come to see that the only way to truly enjoy life is through God.  I’m glad to have had him in my life and could not be happier.

As I set off for Greek Conference this year, I was full of anticipation. It has always been a powerful experience for me and I was ready to see what God had in store this year. Four students from the University of Texas would be joining me… the first EVER! Analeise, Hannah, Emily and Caitlyn entered the weekend anxious for what it might hold and left empowered to reach each of their sororities.  The students shared their first adventure as they trekked to Arby’s in the 13 inches of snow and uncleared sidewalks. They also enjoyed building a snowman during free time, while the other Midwest students stayed inside. As well as bonding the students were transformed this weekend in an irreversible way. In the training time, Caitlyn felt like she learned about “common scenarios that a Greek student would be presented with such as drinking, relationships, and sex. I learned what God would really want me to do in these situations, not what our world tells us is right.” Analeise and Emily studied about how to lead a bible study in their sororities. Emily stated after conference, “I used to think that being in a sorority was something to be ashamed of in front of my Christian friends, and being a Christian was something to be ashamed of in front of my Greek friends.  However, this conference has showed me that I am one of the lucky and privileged few who can be so ridiculously close with so many non-Christian girls and that I could be able to show them Christ’s love through even the smallest of actions or shortest of conversations.” After the conference the students are ready to be a community and reach the Greek system together.

InterVarsity’s commitments and values are a little bigger and broader than living it up with people you love most who are just like you. It can be difficult to ever open a student’s eyes to the benefit of stepping outside the comfrat zone. I know this well because I was a student who couldn’t see beyond the end of my trendy ballet slippers a few years ago. My staff worker offered me opportunity after opportunity to step out and engage, learn even read about something other than my world. I wasn’t really interested.

This year at camp there were only a few options for Tracks. The Leadership Track, the Large Group Track, Small Group Leader Track and ReDefine Reality. ReDefine Reality dealt with some of these very issues- life outside the Greek Community. Two of our students were hoping for other tracks that week, but due to some administrative reorganizing were given the chance to ReDefine their Realities. The students were not only introduced to issues of gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status and what God has to do with them- but they had to process, discuss and actively participate in simulations with non Greek students!

A few reflections from our frat guys:
These two guys were majorly transformed by Jesus at Camp this year. They have spent 3 or 4 years casually making fun of the GDIs (non Greeks) on campus, laughing about white culture and privilege over others without understanding it, and only wanting to be with people like themselves.

“God is helping me not to be ashamed of the privileges in life, but to use them in order to glorify Him. I need to redefine my heart and attitude toward God, people and His creations.”

“God showed me how other cultures reflect different aspects of His character. He is calling me to engage with brokenness, choosing diversity, and stewarding my money. I need to organize and commit to giving with my first paycheck.”

Pray these revelations will stick with them and that they allow Christ to continue shaping their hearts for the whole world, not just the frat guys.

A Greek IV Story from Delta Zeta at SDSU:

Spring semester of last year, my freshman year, I joined Delta Zeta. I began to hang out with people that were involved in drugs and alcohol. I started to smoke pot and drink, blacking out frequently. From there, it all went downhill. I started doing ecstasy and cocaine a lot and got involved in some pretty heavy stuff. Before this, I was a virgin but I started sleeping with a 24 year old guy who also happened to be providing me with the majority of my drugs. I have always considered myself to be a Christian. I never doubted that God existed during this time in my life, I wasn’t angry at him; rather I just didn’t see his presence in my life. I rarely prayed or thought of Him and I was living my life on my own accord.

My drug and sexual habits progressed for a while until I got a kidney infection. Because of my illness, I slowed down and stopped doing hard drugs and sleeping with random guys. My infection was definitely a painful blessing in disguise from the Lord. However, I continued to smoke weed and abuse alcohol. The whole spring semester, I was immensely depressed. I would have days were it literally felt like there was a hole in my chest. It physically hurt and I would feel a sense of longing for something but I had no idea what I was longing for or how to find it. About a month after my illness, early one Tuesday morning, my best friend attempted suicide by jumping out the top floor window of the Cuic dorms. A friend and I restrained him and I called the police and they calmed him down and escorted him away. I was a complete emotional mess. I think that was the first day in a long time that I actually prayed. The next day, Wednesday, I was told about Greek IV and decided to go. In retrospect, I believe that God knew I couldn’t have gotten through the situation without him. I grew to love Greek IV and continued to come and now I’m a leader!

I didn’t have one defining moment that made me come to God. With the knowledge I gained from Greek IV and the conversations I had with people about God, I began to feel his presence more in my life. I met with another Greek IV leader a few times and she helped me to see God’s fingerprints in my life. Another big thing that changed is I started talking about God a lot more. Anytime I had worries or anxiety, I would go on late night drives with my Greek IV friends and God would always be the main topic of these talks. I learned a lot about myself and the Lord during those drives. I went from going weeks without having a thought about God to thinking about Him and praying on a daily basis. My life has transformed and I am so completely happy in my faith now. I am currently looking into starting a House Ministry within Delta Zeta. I know there are women in my sorority who have questions about God but don’t know where to go. I want them to feel as though they have a place where they can share their doubts, concerns, and questions without feeling judged or hypocritical. I don’t have all the answers and I’m not perfect. But I am growing and learning in my faith every day and I am so excited for what God has planned for me!

This fraternity, Robbie, and the others… will never be the same again.

Thankfully, we were able to meet with the 27. Now we have five guys plugged into an Inter-Fraternity Bible study that I am leading, and our student leaders are leading their own brothers and sisters in discipleship and GIGs. From this, we are hoping to see their faith deepen, and hopefully even more ministries take root as a result!

To read about Grant, a Pike who got plugged into an Inter-Fraternity Bible Study at Purdue, CLICK HERE!