Our History

Inter School Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship (IS/IVCF) was first introduced to the Caribbean in 1948, when a staff worker from Canada. Miss Cathy Nicoll, visited Jamaica and helped in starting Inter School Christian Fellowship (ISCF) groups in six schools, and also advised undergraduates of the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) on the formation of a Bible study group. She returned four years later and established the Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) group on the University campus. After a few years of consolidation of the Movement in Jamaica, it was introduced to the rest of the Caribbean; Trinidad, Guyana and then the rest of countries. There are established IS/IVCF ministries in Antigua, Barbados, Belize, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Pioneer work to establish a movement in Dominica took place in 2008.

The rich work in the French Caribbean was consolidated during the 1980’s. The student movement of Guadeloupe started officially with a University Campus group during the academic year 1986/1987. The previous summer students from the GBU (Group Biblique Universities) traveled to Guadeloupe to encourage Christians to mobilize and witness on their campus. Student witness spread powerfully and reached many other institutions. In spite of the reinforcement of French law about secularism where schools are supposed be religion free zones, the work is presently on the university campus and in about 40% of the high schools. AALECG is the umbrella organization coordinating both university and high school work.

At the global level IS/IVCF, GBU and the Jesus Students which all constitute the Caribbean Fellowship of Evangelical Students (CARIFES) are part of a body of over 143 member movements on every continent, united under the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES), headquartered in London. It is essentially a movement in which students reach students for Christ, with the motto “To know Christ and to make Him known”.