Introduction to the Student Volunteer Movement
September 2, 2008 – 12:24 pm“Every human being is driven by a purpose. What differentiates each person is the purpose for which he strives and his degree of commitment in striving for that goal.”1 (Prov.13:12, 19) This quote from chapter one of For the Sake of His Name is later connected to a struggle that college students have, namely “a lack of focus and commitment to the Great Commission.” The paragraph goes on to say that
the dilemma is not new. Throughout history the body of Christ has struggled with keeping its mission, but God has graciously sent different individuals who would act as catalysts to set the body in motion again. We find this exemplified in the founders of the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM). The founders were college students whose battle cries led many to consecrate their lives for the cause of missions. A backward glance at the lives of the originators of the SVM can afford today’s college student a model of what a life driven with a purpose looks like.2
The intention behind providing the biographical sketches of the founders of the SVM and tracing the story of the SVM is that they would prove to be helpful models for us today, particularly relating to the mobilization of young adults in the cause of missions. Positive and negative lessons can be learned when we closely examine other weak vessels in service to the Master.
