Meet The Staff Team
InterVarsity Chapters across the nation are supported by staff who work as campus ministers to the college and university world.
UCF has an amazingly diverse team of such workers. If you have any questions, concerns, or want to get plugged in don't hesitate to reach out!
UCF has an amazingly diverse team of such workers. If you have any questions, concerns, or want to get plugged in don't hesitate to reach out!
Russell Gaither
IVUCF Staff Team LeadThere is one image that makes me continually fall in love with Jesus and the college campus. That image is the dorm room. There is something about Jesus overtaking a simple room and redeeming it for the glory of his kingdom that gives me chills. For most, we see the college dorm room as a hot bed of sexual promiscuity and drug use. Yet, there is a way in which Jesus comes to revamp that room and make it holy ground. Using it for bible studies, prayer meetings, and community building time. It becomes a place where Jesus is invited to dwell, and scour the halls and classrooms, searching for his lost.
I will never forget the night I sat alone in my dorm room and gave my life to Jesus. It was a night that changed the trajectory of my life, ultimately ruining the plans that I had for myself. Jesus always seems to have the last laugh, and for the next three years as a student, I worked tirelessly to plant bible studies throughout the University Of Tampa; my Alma Mater. By the end of my college career, I felt the call to continue to build the kingdom of God on the college campus in a different part of the city; Hillsborough Community College, where I developed students and faculty for 6 years before making the move to Orlando to serve students at UCF. I grew up in Atlanta with a diverse family. My mother’s side is Puerto Rican and my father’s side is white from the States. The mixture of hip hop, alternative rock, and the smooth rhythms of salsa and meringue ran through my life giving me a different outlook on multi-cultural life styles and how important they are in the building of the kingdom of God. |
Camara Gaither
IVUCF StaffI am a California and Florida raised girl from a multiracial family. My background has given me a deep curiosity and passion for history, multi-ethnicity, racial reconciliation, and the restoration of women. I love different eras and genres of music such as Brasilian Samba, Jazz Standards, Motown, American Folk, Hip Hop, and Bluegrass! I also enjoy using the art form of poetry to play with words and inspire transformation.
I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tampa in 2012. As a sophomore student, I sensed an aching emptiness in myself that good grades, pretty resumes, fleeting romances, and an adventurous social life failed to satisfy. It was in this place of hunger and vulnerability that Jesus interrupted my life. God used InterVarsity to equip and empower me with the vision and resources to serve my peers and lead a few bible studies on campus. As I grew more in love with Jesus during my senior year, he began to impart his desire for other college campuses into my heart. Since then, I have worked at multiple campuses in Tampa before moving to Orlando to help lead and serve students within IV at UCF. I enjoy every moment of walking alongside students as they discern the place and people that Jesus is calling them to serve on campus. I continue to see such incredible potential in all of the passions and gifts God has given each of them. I continue to look forward to a fruitful future at UCF. |
Jane Chang
IVUCF Staff InternAs a young girl, I grew up around the Korean Church community. My parents were and still are leaders at their church. There were always tons of people at our house growing up, bible studies and youth groups, lots of food, super bowl parties, and loud singing of Korean hymns. Because of my background, I grew to be curious about God at a young age. I love to write and hangout at bright coffee shops with my husband in my free time. I also love music and singing and am passionate about worship through music.
Though I grew up around church culture; it wasn’t until college that I felt challenged to seek and know Jesus on my own without church leaders or parents to guide me. I attended Florida State University, where I received my Bachelors degree in English (Creative Writing). I joined InterVarsity as a freshman with a broken sense of identity. So much of who I thought I needed to be was based off of what people said. Society had really claimed my sense of self and worth. But God met me in that place; He showed me his heart for taking broken things and making them new. Through InterVarsity, God also revealed to me his heart for multi-ethnicity, the campus, and my distinctive identity and leadership as an Asian-American woman. In college, God met me in ways I didn’t know I needed to be met, and I truly believe that God wants to meet every student with His transforming love, wherever they are in their season of life. I’m grateful to get to witness this happen as a staff with IV. " |
Krista Doan
IVUCF Nurses Christian FellowshipKrista is a Vietnamese American and a graduate from UCF in 2013 with a degree in nursing. She went into the field as a registered nurse until attending Unlocked 2014, a Florida Regional Asian American student conference hosted by InterVarsity, where she felt the Lord calling her into student work. After some faithful time spent in discernment, Krista decided to take a leap of faith and joined staff, working within InterVarsity's strategic branch; Nurses Christian Fellowship. Krista is primarily on campus working with nursing students and is also dreaming about planting more nursing student communities around Central Florida.
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