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#loveyourunipodcast
Want to be in the know with what's happening on the ground in universities, amongst students and in local churches? We're talking campus, faith, life, and sharing our best stories. Subscribe to the loveyouruni podcast now to join the student mission conversation with Miriam Swaffield and Luke Smith.
Small print: It is advised that you don't listen whilst eating, drinking or operating heavy machinery. We cannot be held responsible for any consequences related to unforeseen outbursts of laughter.
New Fusion Team members
We’re excited to be joined by three new team members. Ella Phillips is our new Student Mission Developer, based in Bath. Viki Tailor will also be a Student Mission Developer and is based in Sheffield. Last, but certainly not least, Paul Eaton joins us a Student Work Developer and he will be based in Exeter.
Are you called to work with students and the church?
Favourite tweet
Genuinely so grateful for the @Student_Linkup app would never have found the church I'm at now without it 💕
— Laura (@LauraMcintosh24) January 17, 2017
New Resource
What are you praying for that is impossible without God? Who are you discipling? Which non-Christian friends are you intentionally spending time with? Are you getting enough sleep?
When was the last time someone asked you tough questions? We think it’s important that every student is being provoked through discipleship questions. That’s why we’ve come up with 52 questions, and printed them onto a deck of cards. These are in design now, and will be released later in the spring. We can let you know when they're available here.
Almost 22,000 Students Linked to Church
Since Student Linkup started it’s helped 21,986 students find churches near their uni. The majority of these students have been in the UK, but now increasing numbers of students are linking up around the world. Recently, we’ve heard of students finding churches in Thailand, Germany amongst others.
Waiting, Dating, Mating Course Reaches 50 Students
More than 50 students, many not-yet-Christian, have attended an exciting new relationship course run by Open Heaven Church in Loughborough.
Waiting, Dating, Mating runs over five sessions and explores topics including singleness, the ‘Friend Zone’, defining a relationship, good communication, porn, ‘sexpectations’ and relationship goals. It helps students to consider how to apply their values to their relationships.
The course has been made possible through the church’s own good relationship with Loughborough Student Union as Joe McSharry, a member of Open Heaven’s leadership team and creator of the course, explained: ‘We’ve run Club Mission with the Union for a while, so we have regular contact. I had an idea that we have quite a bit of experience around relationships through our work with students in church, and I wanted students who aren’t Christian to benefit from this. God gave me the whole course contents in about half an hour; it all came into place very quickly. That enabled me to meet up with the Events Manager at LSU and make a really clear proposal of what the course would involve.’
His reaction was really positive: ‘He said “I know it’s different to Alpha, but this could be the new Alpha!” He sees it as something that could be really popular, just like Alpha.’
There has been lots of positive feedback: ‘We had once person who came to uni and had a break up really early on, and the course helped them to handle it well. Others said it was like the Sex and Relationship Education they’d never got in school.’
Looking ahead, what does Joe think comes next? ‘I’d love to develop a discipleship- focused course. Something where we can have our bibles open and be Christ- centred. At the minute we’re helping people to make their own value-based decisions. I’d love to do something that starts by asking ‘What do healthy relationships look like through the lens of Jesus?’
Joe would be happy to talk to anyone who is interested in running a similar course about how Open Heaven has done it. Get in touch below.
Fuse Magazine
Read the full magazine and previous issues here.
