About FIFUL

Our History - FIFUL began as a simple experiment by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff in 1991 in getting college students out of their well-controlled campus environment into the real world of urban America as a form of discipleship training. We wanted them to learn about God's love for the city, meet Christian leaders who were making a difference in our toughest neighborhoods, and craft a discipleship that would make a difference in an increasingly urban world.

We began with a short service project (FUMP - the Fresno Urban Ministry Project) that combined the chance to live, serve & sweat together with the chance to study the Scriptures. We partnered with World Impact, an inner-city mission and church planting organization. The next year (1992) an alumni of this urban project decided that they wanted to serve year round in the Lowell Neighborhood, Fresno's highest crime, highest poverty community, so we started a tutoring program - The Wise Old Owl Tutoring Program - which later expanded to a second site. In 1993, we launched the Fresno Urban Internship program (FUI) which placed students with agencies such as Habitat for Humanity, World Impact, Evangel Home, and other places where they could get exposure to God's work in the city. These summer internships also contained a demanding curriculum. That same year, Randy White and his family moved to the Lowell Neighborhood where they lived with students and began to learn ministry from the inside.

In 1995 IVCF and First Presbyterian Church entered a partnership with each other in the preserving and renovation of a large, pink apartment complex on church property which was to become the Pink House Center for Urban Ministry Training. Students and community leaders live there year round and pursue leadership development, biblical community and urban ministry. That same year an advisory council for FIFUL was formed, a calendar of workshops, seminars and classes was scheduled probing urban ministry related themes, and the public was invited to participate. Today FIFUL is growing and has become an important component in the citywide constellation of training opportunities that the Lord is raising up to address Fresno's most intractable problems. Is to provide ethnically sensitive and financially accessible training in urban ministry and Christian community development to the multi-ethnic body of Christ in the central San Joaquin Valley and beyond.

Our Philosophy - that is, those organizing principles, beliefs, values and methods that drive us -- is actually a rich combination of models, ranging from John Perkins' "Three R's of Christian Community Development", Bob Lupton's understanding of relocation and city-building, John McKnight's theories of community building, Jim Westgate's and Harvie Conn's urban theology, and a host of national leaders ranging from Tom Skinner, Dr. C.T. Vivian, Chris Rice & Spencer Perkins, Ray Bakke, Ron Sider, H. Spees, to name a few. Our educational philosophy centers on a few key principles, including inductive discovery, group discussion, hands-on learning environments, exposure to practitioners and working models, and mentoring.

Theology - We consider ourselves to be evangelical, that is, we take the scriptures seriously, feel called to follow Jesus and to encourage others to do so, and love to worship in the full fellowship of other believers. Our theological mentors include, Walter Bruggeman, C.S. Lewis, Harvie Conn, Ray Bakke, John Stott, Robert Linthicum, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to name a few.

Values - Our values include, the Dignity and Worth of Human Beings, Racial Reconciliation, Indigenous Leadership, Christian Community, Relocation, Redistribution, Partnership with the Impoverished, and Incarnational Ministry.

Vision - Students Transformed, Campuses Renewed, World Changers Developed

Mission - We exist to equip college students to become urban leaders by engaging the Gospel in an inner-city context. 

 
Program - Our Program is multi-dimensional and includes hands-on, neighborhood-based experiential learning as well as more standard academic options leading to a Diploma in Urban Ministry.