International Fellowship of Evangelical Students Welcomes New Head

The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) has appointed its fourth General Secretary at its 2007 World Assembly in Ontario, Canada.

The new appointment will see Dr Daniel Bourdanné of Chad succeed Lindsay Brown, who became General Secretary in 1991 establishing IFES movements in 50 countries until now.

It is hoped that Dr Bourdanné will continue driving forward the commission to fulfil the fellowship's goal of "proclaiming Christ in the world's universities".

2007 sees IFES celebrate its 60th anniversary, and the fellowship has now grown to be active in 152 nations. The World Assembly, running under the theme of 'In Christ. Into the World', saw 18 new movements welcomed into membership.

The Canada gathering saw testimonies come from missionaries operating in the Muslim world. Christian students in one new movement in the Arabian peninsula told how they had been able to hold public dialogues with Muslims, at the Muslims' invitation.

The IFES has renewed its call for its movements to proclaim and to defend the gospel on campuses, saying that evangelism remained the central goal of its ministry.

Throughout the seminars and workshops, students were encouraged to be prepared and equipped to proclaim and defend the gospel in personal friendships, in academic disciplines, in university societies, and in the public square.

Dr Bourdanné gave the closing World Assembly address in French, proclaiming that the fellowship is now ready to engage at a new level with the university.

He charged the students to be 'Daniels' and 'Josephs', those who were not afraid, for "he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world".

He also urged the IFES to embrace the new digital century, and told how it had opened up new ways for students around the world to talk with each other. He pledged two days a year to listening to students and to talking with them online.