As Fusion we often hear stories from churches and student workers of students coming to church for the first time or reading the Bible for the first time. We love these stories but we also love it when we see students stepping out in their faith on campus to do that invitation. Students are of course on the frontline of student mission. Maddie is one student who I have the joy of hearing stories from. Here are two stories from Maddie’s University that show the power of ‘being present ’ and going to where students are.
On Maddie’s campus the Christian Union runs the ‘Cornerstone Café’ every few weeks. This simply involves setting up a table on campus and providing free tea, coffee and treats for students on campus. They also have Bibles that are free for students to take. Throughout May, they were able to have a Cornerstone Café every week, which created great opportunities to start conversations with students about faith.
One week, a girl called Daisy* approached, curious about who the CU were and why they were giving away free snacks and beverages. Maddie was able to have a conversation with Daisy, telling her about CU and Christianity, and asked if Daisy believed in anything. Daisy opened up about her current curiosity to explore religion, believing that there had to be something more to life. She found an old King James Bible that she had and started reading some of the gospels and wanted to find a community to further explore faith with.
Maddie invited her to CU that week, which Daisy came along to. Daisy also came along to a student night in Maddie’s church the following week and began coming along to CU more regularly. She was able to ask more questions and deepen her understanding of faith and after a few weeks went and bought herself a study Bible so that she could continue reading the Bible with a better understanding of what she was reading.
All it took was a simple conversation that allowed Daisy to find a group of people that love Jesus and want to further explore the Bible and faith with them. Such a cool reminder that God will use our willingness – if we make ourselves available, God will bring people for us to have conversations with!
As a church, Anya and Maddie, alongside their student worker and interns, prayed and planned about how they could reach more students in their city and meet the needs of students. They prayed about creating and running a study space for a set number of weeks where they could provide a space for students to study, as well as free tea, coffee and lunch.
After prayers and planning, and generous funding, they were able to make this idea a reality! Anya, Maddie and the student worker and interns were able to run a study space from 10am – 5pm on three consistent Mondays in May. Throughout these three weeks, they were able to cater for over 150 students in the city, and give out gift bags that included scripture, study resources, snacks and some fun, simple fidget toys. Anya and Maddie also ran an optional discovery Bible study on these Mondays after lunch. This created an opportunity to open the Bible together and for people to ask questions and be curious about faith. Each week, there was an increasing number of people that joined the Bible studies, and there were around five people that on different weeks came along and opened the Bible for the first time!
This space created an easy opportunity for students to invite others into a church, and a space run by Christians but also provided great opportunities for conversations and to open the Bible with non-Christians. As a student group, Anya and Maddie, alongside others, saw the need of students in their city and trusted that God would provide a way for this study space to become a reality, and God truly answered these prayers!
*Name changed to protect identity.
