IVCF Philippines hosted the triennial East Asia Graduates Conference of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students | 274 delegates from 15 member movements | August 7-11, Tagaytay City
Three years into deliberately rebuilding this ministry, the team’s own word for where it stands is a sapling — small, easy to overlook, but developing real roots. This year, regional graduate representatives stepped up to actually make the Inter-Varsity Council work. And in August 2025, IVCF hosted the East Asia Graduates Conference for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) East Asia— no small feat, given how much changed hands on the planning committee along the way. Several local graduates who attended as delegates have since started their own local graduate gatherings, simply because they tasted what was possible at that conference.
A Faith That Followed Them to Work
The heart of this year’s work was Cross-Current, a discipleship program that helps graduates see their job — not just their Sunday — as a place where Jesus is Lord. Forty-five graduates went through it this year, walking through what it looks like to bring integrity, generosity, and theology of work into ordinary office life. One retreat for graduates of all ages and stages, Inner Compass, drew about thirty-five participants in January and left a lasting mark:
The retreat highlighted the urgency of being consistent in my walk and talk, and living faithfully for the Lord God Almighty moment by moment… I was refreshed and encouraged to continue on in my life’s journey as Christ’s follower to the very end!
— Evelyn Luna, Dipolog, on the Inner Compass retreat
Familiar Names, Familiar Places
If you trace your own roots back to a particular region, you may recognize the rhythm: in Bicol, marking its 52nd anniversary this year, graduate fellowships in Legazpi, Rinconada, and Partido continue meeting, with graduates around the region praying together online every week — and giving financially to support the very ministry that raised them. In Metro Manila, alumni from PCU, Mapua, TUP-Taguig, UP Diliman, and PUP held their first formal graduate gathering since the pandemic, honoring chapter advisers and church partners and recognizing volunteers who’ve quietly kept campus ministry afloat. In Southern Mindanao, fifty graduates, a healthy mix from various generations, gathered for a Graduates Conference in May, organized almost entirely by young graduates.
Where the Work Is Still Unfinished
Two gaps stand out. Many graduates still drift away after they leave campus, simply because there’s no clear next step for them, and no reliable way to even find them again. There’s also no formal program yet for caring well for senior, retiring graduates — the very season many of you are now in yourselves — though the department has named it as a priority for the years ahead.
Our hope for next year: that this sapling’s “trunk and branches” would mature and extend outward, with leaves greening and maybe, just maybe, the first signs of fruit.