God is on the move on university campuses, and as a student worker I’m biased, but I think reaching students is the most exciting thing to do. They’re our future world leaders, teachers, politicians, actors and if we win them to the Gospel, our world will be transformed.
Over the pandemic, at New Community Church we had the joy of seeing two students give their lives to Jesus, one was from a Christian family and one had never been to church before, both had their lives turned upside down by the gospel, we also had the privilege of baptising five students. One of the students who gave her life to Jesus is called Megan, she was in her student house, scrolling on Instagram when she saw a video of one of the guys on her course chatting about Jesus, she watched for a bit but kept scrolling.
“I didn’t have anyone to share Jesus with me until I came to uni. I saw the impact that faith had on my friends, and I thought that if it works for them, it could work for me...”
A few days later the same thing happened but a video of a girl on her course popped up, she decided to watch the whole thing. As her coursemate spoke about God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things and how having a relationship with Jesus was open to all, Megan just knew it was true and she gave her life to Jesus, by herself, watching an Instagram video having never been to church.
She ended up connecting in with the student community and coming along to Sunday services. She was baptised a couple of months ago and at the end of her testimony, she said “I didn’t have anyone to share Jesus with me until I came to uni. I saw the impact that faith had on my friends, and I thought that if it works for them, it could work for me. Back then, I didn’t realise that everything would change just because they were open about their faith.”
This year has made me think a lot about the part we have to play in seeing the Kingdom of God break out. God is the only one who can save, but how exciting is it that he invites us into this crazy adventure, that the little offerings we give might radically change the course of someone's life. An Instagram video, offering to pray for a friend, inviting your neighbour over, sharing your whole life with people, God uses it all to see his Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven
You have a part to play in seeing students come to know Jesus. They’re so open, they’re so ready to hear the gospel. How can you equip students in your church to share their faith? What bold, creative things could you do to make sure students know they’re invited to church and into a relationship with Jesus? Will you pray for young people going off to uni as they enter into this mission field?
