undivided life – not separating the secular from the sacred, or presuming that God’s call was limited to traditional forms of

church-based ministry. Inspired by the example

of a Christian professor, he embraced the calling to be

salt and light in the workplace, working in the New Zealand Treasury,

in public sector health organisations, and most recently leading World Vision NZ, the country’s largest faith-based humanitarian organisation.

Much of Chris’ work over the years has been cross-cultural. He is passionate

After a lengthy search and discernment process, the IFES Board will put Chris Clarke forward to the Fellowship for confirmation as IFES General Secretary at World Assembly next month.

Chris was born and studied in New Zealand, where he was active in the national IFES movement – as a student president, national board member, president and conference speaker. He writes of his involvement in TSCF New Zealand: “Simply put, the Lord – through IFES – has shaped much of who I am and how I live today. My love for Scripture, my sense of vocation, my world view, my conviction that the gospel is good news indeed, my heart for justice and for those who do not know Christ, were largely formed during my university years.”

An evangelist and pastor at heart, Chris assumed that he would serve God through full-time Christian ministry. But it was through TSCF that Chris first came to appreciate the importance of living an

One of the biggest challenges faced by many IFES movements is that of limited resources. Given the expansion of higher education globally, all of our movements have opportunities to expand their ministry, yet have to carefully choose which to pursue. In response to this need, IFES set up the Indigenous Support Development (ISD) program, led by former NIFES Nigeria staff Kehinde Ojo, to train national movement staff in fundraising in their own context. The program also includes a matched funding program and in the last year has expanded to include e-learning modules, making the training available to more staff in more countries. So what has this program helped our movements achieve?

Yuliya, Eurasian movement: “Studying the Bible passages had a big influence on changing perspectives and helped to deal with fears in fundraising. As a team we really grew in

INDIGENOUS SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT

Above, Chris spent seven years as head of World Vision NZ, (Photo courtesy World Vision NZ) and, left, Chris, Karen, and their sons.

IFES GENERAL SECRETARY DESIGNATE

IFES Board Chair Chris Collins, Daniel Bourdanné and Chris Clarke

PRAISE PRAYER&June – July 2019 | ifesworld.org

continued overleaf >>continued overleaf >>

INDIGENOUS SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT continued...

ISD program beneficiaries: Left, SLEFES Sierra Leone students from Kamakuwe, Magburaka and Kono. Middle, IS/IVCF Guyana students have benefited from new groups and programs. Circle, Kehinde Ojo who leads the ISD program.

IFES GENERAL SECRETARY DESIGNATE continued...

PRAISE & PRAYERJun - Jul 2019

about growing Christian leaders who are Biblically-grounded, socially-aware and globally-engaged. At TSCF conferences, Chris caught the vision for the global nature of God’s salvation plan. He recalls being particularly captivated by a presentation about student ministry in Russia, hearing about the worldwide reach of the gospel and its transforming power. Yet it was day-to-day interactions with international students that proved to be most formative. His eyes were opened to the challenges and opportunities of being part of a global movement, sharing a common faith. Since then, Chris has had the opportunity to live overseas and travel extensively.

Chris is married to Karen who shares his passion and sense of call to support the ministry of IFES. Karen has also served in various roles with TSCF New Zealand and she is currently leading youth and young adults’ ministry for the Anglican Diocese of Auckland. They have two adult sons.

Chris is looking forward to joining IFES and says: “IFES has played such a significant part in Karen and my lives that it feels like we are ‘coming home’. I am pleased, humbled and more than slightly daunted by the opportunity to serve the

understanding that God expects us to be able to give not just to receive as it was years before. In the last two years due to the impact of the ISD training and mentoring, the staff team grew from six to 12 staff!”

William, SLEFES Sierra Leone: “We appointed resource mobilization volunteers and charged them to reach out to new donors through our Christian Union groups and graduates. The ISD training materials on church mobilization helped in our partnership with churches [so they now] view us as partners instead of competitors! We have now developed a strategic plan to pioneer student

Fellowship. Each generation must find fresh ways of communicating and living the gospel. At the very time the rest of the world is building walls, we need to be digging wells - finding ways of sharing and living the gospel in ways which are winsome and compelling. As I look around IFES, I see so many examples of faithful students doing just that. What a privilege it is going to be to join them.”

As we welcome Chris, it is important to remember the huge contribution that current IFES General Secretary Daniel Bourdanné has made, both as General Secretary and in previous roles with IFES Francophone Africa, which we will be celebrating in the next Praise & Prayer.

Daniel has spent time introducing IFES to Chris. He shares: “I am confident Chris’ clear calling by the

ministry in many more campuses that have emerged in recent years.

Flemlyn, IS/IVCF Guyana: “The IFES ISD program has made amazing contribution to the growth of student ministry in Guyana. The “Matching Fund Initiative” of IFES stimulated us to reach beyond our comfort zones and explore previously untapped opportunities. We improved significantly on our relationships with partners by making it more convenient for them to give, and by providing adequate feedback and updates. As a result, we have been able to serve more students, travel to farther counties and initiate new programs.”

CONTACT DETAILS

ifesworld.org

IFES International Services (UK) 5 Blue Boar Street Oxford OX1 4EE United Kingdom

+44 (0)1865 263 777

L’IFES est une organisation déclarée à Lausanne, Suisse. IFES is a registered charity in England and Wales (247919), and a limited company (876229).

Lord to serve the Fellowship will enable IFES to flourish in the fast-changing student world. I give thanks to God who granted IFES with the gift of a new leader and am delighted to welcome Chris.”

Please join with us to thank God for Chris and for Daniel, and ask that God’s presence and guidance be with them and their families in this time of transition.

These three seem to get along - the transition is in good hands!