73% of Christian students don't connect to a church at Uni*
Much is at stake in our nation and particularly amongst school leavers and students. We invite you to partner with us in helping every wave of school leavers prepare for this transition, connect with a local church and continue their discipleship journey to see a generation of students turn to God.
Here are some practical ways you can help your young people prepare for university:
Run a Student Linkup event
Fusion’s Trainer Packs are a resource with everything you need to run four sessions to prepare your young people for university. It includes pre-recorded talks, discussion questions and response suggestions as well as a copy of Studentscape and the A-Z of starting uni.
Remember, they may have friends who would benefit from coming along too, or why not see if other churches locally have one or two going off who might benefit from joining you?
You can order Trainer Packs from our resources page.
Get some help for preparing an individual student
Studentscape provides 13 bible studies looking at foundational principles such as money, stress and friendships. If you mentor a school leaver you might want to study a session a week/a month with them, or just leave them to it themselves and be available if they want to discuss the topics further. School Leaver Packs are available as gifts for individual School Leavers and include Studentscape along with other Fusion preparation for uni resources.
Get them to linkup
Finding a church can be daunting, confusing, and sometimes dull for Christian students. They often don’t know what they want, where they should go, and who they might go with. Studentlinkup.org connects them with churches in the cities they’re going to who will contact them when they first arrive and help them find somewhere that suits them.
Pray for them
Its so exciting to hear of and meet youth workers and parents who are passionate about seeing their young people’s faith go beyond their teenage years. They are the leaders, the influencers, and the disciples of tomorrow as well as today, and it is key that we pray for them as they take this big step. You may not be able to go with them, but God is. Lift your worries, your hopes, and your dreams to him and trust that He hears and is eager to see the same! In the last year I’ve met two students who have been baptised and have said that their parents were praying diligently for them throughout their youth and student years. Prayer is powerful, let’s not forget it!
A little something for you
More information and advice for you is available in the resource, ‘University : The Big Challenge’, available from our resources page. This includes articles from parents, youthworkers, and church leaders about this whole issue. Also have a look here for more advice.
God bless you as you prepare for this next move with the young people you care for.
*Christianity and the University Experience: Findings from the National Survey 2011
