Happy Father’s Day, y’all, by the way! I am coming to you this morning from Madison, Wisconsin where I am serving as program staff for ONS (Orientation to New Staff). This year GFM welcomes 11 new staff at ONS. You’ve heard me talk about my staff recruiting needs this year. When a potential staff member winds up saying YES to InterVarsity, it’s often a not so brief on-ramp to actual employment with IV. The first steps are provision appointment and support raising. So the five staff in my small group (the pic where we’re around a table) have been making the trek to paid staff and are enough on-board to be welcomed to this year’s ONS.

So just WHO is joining InterVarsity Graduate Faculty Staff?

See if you can match the descriptions with the picture. One new staff member just finished her Masters of Divinity, she is transitioning out of her work as a medical doctor and will be doing medical faculty work in her town. Another currently works at a library but will be on GFM staff at Northwestern University in Chicago. He has a PhD in Old Testament and has done some adjunct teaching. GFM staff will be his hopefully-full-time-gig once he’s totally funded! One person in that pic (also completed his M-Div) is joining the GFM team at Harvard and will be working with three of the many grad student fellowships there. A fourth person who is currently at the University of Minnesota, teaches at a Christian Studies Center part time and will be working with students and faculty hopefully full time. She received her M-Div at a theological school in Kenya, Africa and has worked in publishing. The final person in my ONS small group is a former Pharmacy professor currently living in Laramie, WY. She’ll be doing faculty and professional student ministry at the Univ of Wyoming.

This has been a very fun week for me to be with these people! It inspires my staff recruiting to be around such incredibly gifted and well-trained people who God has led to be on staff with GFM. I WISH I could just take this small group and transport them to my area, but alas, that would be staff worker theft (pretty sure I’d get in trouble for that). I have another three days before I get back home. Pray for my travels. YES, I was able to bring a bike with me on the trip and have been enjoying some forays out into the countryside. Thanks so much for your prayers!