Rich Wilson, 04/02/2010
James Hewitt, 02/02/2010
We want to continue to partner with more local churches to inspire, equip and give confidence to every single Christian student that God’s call is on their lives and they can make a difference if they choose to step out. With that in mind, we believe that it is important that the loveyouruni tour continues. We have events planned in the next two academic years to gather Christian students in university towns and cities from across churches and other Christian groups.
We want to share ideas for mission and sharing your faith from across the country igniting an ideas explosion. We want to gather students together from churches across towns and cities and be inspired that together we can make a difference. We want to impart fresh confidence and a renewed sense of God’s call on our lives to spread Jesus’ love, share our faith with our friends and see our friends become followers.
There are various ideas for how loveyouruni tour events may look next time round from longer ‘stand alone’ events over a whole day or the option of dedicating a Sunday evening gathering to celebrating and getting equipped and inspired to love our unis. If you have some ideas, would like to find out more e-mail me at james@fusion.uk.com or go to loveyouruni.org.
These stories are fantastic but when I was at uni, maybe I was really blessed, but none of my friends were mercenaries, drug addicts or had any criminal connections that I knew of. It wasn’t like I was in a Christian bubble either, I shared a house with a load of guys who didn’t know Jesus yet, most of my mates on my course didn’t know him either. Sure, they had their stuff but by and large, they seemed to be doing OK.
I think that’s one of the challenges of ‘mission’ in the student world. Even though the government aims to have 50% of school leavers in higher education this year, university and the student world is still a pretty middle class bubble and most people are concerned with having a good time, getting a decent degree and popping out the other end into a reasonably well paid career, hopefully in a job that they find relatively interesting. A lot of people just seem to be doing alright and it can be hard to see what would make them turn to Jesus. Still, I know that they would have a better life with Jesus.
We need a vision. What’s your vision for your uni? One of the things I find helpful is to imagine what the lives of people I know would look like if they knew Jesus. Start dreaming with God about who they could be and praying that you can introduce them to him.
Sometimes I think it’s easy to think that the need for Jesus is ‘out there’ somewhere but it’s right here on our doorstep too. Friends in halls, housemates, team mates, the people you sit with in lectures, they all desperately need Jesus in their lives and we have a part to play in showing it to them.
Who’s in your secret congregation, those people you can have the most immediate and significant impact on, and how can you serve them? It might be the people in your hall of residence. Maybe it might start by chopping some of the things you’re doing to make more time for friends who don’t know Jesus yet. Maybe it’s the guys you play football with, or the group your working on a project with on your course. We all have a secret congregation, it might just be 4 or 5 people but imagine if we all committed to secretly pastoring those 4 or 5. Think about how many people that would represent across the country.
As part of the loveyouruni tour we’ve been presenting a seminar called ‘mission styles’. It hasn’t been part of every tour event but hundreds of students have now taken part. The basic idea is to provide an opportunity to start us thinking. How can we work with the grain of who God has made us to be in student mission and how can we appreciate and facilitate the differing approaches to mission that we see and experience in others?
Think about a time that sharing your faith felt energising and effective. For some people it might be when they’re hanging out with a friend at three in the morning and the conversation turns to the deeper things of life. For others it might be the little conversations you have with someone when you hand them a free bottle of water.
Maybe some of you love explaining and having theological debates with people who really want to thrash out the details of the Christian faith. We’re all likely to have preferences and it’s essential because the university population is more diverse than ever. We need to work together and get creative to engage our generation with the gospel, proclaiming the truth and living it, speaking about it and demonstrating it with our lives.
My challenge is, when you think of the time that sharing your faith felt most life giving and natural, make sure you’re carving out time in your life to prioritise opportunities where it might happen again. If you’re a free water fiend, make sure you do that regularly, if late night conversations are your niche, make sure you’re staying up with people after midnight. If you’re struggling for ideas for sharing your faith at all, check out the new loveyouruni guide to 21st century student mission.
I hope the New Year has started well for you. I have a sense of anticipation for 2010 but also for this new decade. I sense a new resolve and purpose in my spirit to make a difference through living for God and have been asking questions that start with ‘in 10 years time…’ and end with things like:…Who will be my friends?…What will my relationship with my wife and kids be like?…Who else will I journey with?…What will I have contributed?…How will I have changed?And ultimately…Who will I have become?Beyond those more personal questions, I have a few more awkward questions. Ones that aren’t easy to articulate but are around being Church, seeing this generation live for God, seeing this generation of Christians live for God, seeing men connect with church, seeing the gospel transform lives and communities. It is awkward because I think somewhere in these questions is the word revival.Nearly two decades ago I really wanted revival because it filled me with excitement, nearly two decades on with some sobriety I really want revival because the church in the UK is one generation from extinction. We’re a nation in need of a doctor who can perform miraculous heart surgery and who can prescribe peace and joy in abundance.A whole generation is waiting ……….and watching.They are filling their lives with all sorts of stuff, but it isn’t working. Fusion’s work among students is only just beginning and we maybe have only 20% of the partnerships we need to see this generation turn to God. I am convinced that it is a ‘fusion’ of churches from across the UK that will create, facilitate and harness a move of God among students. But what is at stake is more than local churches just having a student ministry. It is the ongoing evangelisation of this nation and the releasing of future Christian leaders in the church and society. Let’s rise to the challenge so that today’s 9 year olds who will be enjoying freshers week before the decade is out walk into a move of God among students!So, as we enter into the second decade of twenty first century student mission, we need your help as the ‘love your uni’ project goes from place to place and strength to strength - sowing seeds of the gospel of hope and hopefully seeds of revival. We need your help to prepare each generation of school leavers to live for God at uni. And we need you help to keep going for another 10 years. Thanks for your help and encouragement so far, greater things are to come! May you live courageously this year and the decade ahead and if we can help you do that – we will.For the glory of God,RichFusion Team Leader
Rich Wilson, 28/01/2010
Rich Wilson, 26/01/2010
The scale of devastation caused by the Haiti earthquake is shocking. Yet, as this tragic story unfolds, we are beginning to see some hope amidst the pain and destruction.
Aid from Samaritan's Purse is reaching the people of Haiti and for this we praise God! Our global team spent the weekend setting up logistics to provide emergency shelter and medical supplies to hundreds of people. Already, Samaritan's Purse workers have installed a high-capacity water filtration unit at the Baptist Haiti Mission. Their 100 bed hospital is full to bursting with patients but the filter arrived just in time as the water supply was nearly gone. Praise God that our partners are already there and are able to treat so many patients. In addition, five surgeons, an anaesthetist, and three nurses were part of a Samaritan's Purse team that arrived in Haiti on Monday. Dr. Will Conner who is among the medical professionals simply said, “The suffering is immeasurable, there isn’t a word to describe it.” By the end of next week, Samaritan’s Purse hopes to have enough water filters in Haiti to produce up to a half-million gallons of fresh water a day but we need your help for this to happen. At this time of catastrophe and desperate need, will you join with us and support the people of Haiti?
PRAY: Pray for the survivors of the earthquake, that the aid and relief would get to those most in need; for the Samaritan's Purse team and other aid agencies for wisdom on where to focus their efforts. GIVE: Make a donation to our Haiti Appeal, which has already raised over £100,000 for our relief efforts in Haiti. TELL: Share this story with friends, colleagues or even your church congregation. On Friday, pastors/church leaders will be able to download a church pack from our homepage showing ways their congregation can get involved. Your support means so much to us at this time and on behalf of thousands already receiving emergency aid from Samaritan’s Purse, thank you!
Charlotte Carter, 21/01/2010
Hannah Bowring, 17/12/2009
