‘Would you be interested in our events this week?’
I was offering an information flyer to passersby in the university hallway, a busy thoroughfare en route to lectures. Most students had taken one. Some even stopped to chat, asking ‘What’s this about?’ or having a go on the ‘Question Wheel’ – discussing purpose, identity or love over a free bowl of cereal or cup of coffee.
One girl looked like she was headed our way. As I cheerfully invited her to an upcoming event, she smiled, shaking her head slightly… ‘I’m actually part of the Christian Union!’ she said, handing her bag of milk and cereal refills to the CU member behind the table.
Certainly different
It was my first day as a CU guest with Kingston University Christian Union in south-west London, and so far I’d managed to invite about six members of the CU to their own events! Being a CU guest means coming into an unfamiliar context – and Kingston was certainly different from my previous university experience.
For a start, the city-based campus hosts a range of part-time courses, and many students commute from their family home rather than living in university halls or rented accommodation. It’s a contrast to the colleges and chapels of Oxford University, with its motto Dominus illuminatio mea: ‘The Lord is my Light’. Kingston University is a former polytechnic, where 40% of students come from a Muslim background. It’s far more representative of the diversity of Britain’s universities, especially since increasing numbers of young people go on to further education – 42.1% in England in the years 2015–16. In such a diverse university, where subjects range from dance, business and midwifery to creative writing and aeronautical engineering, CU students get creative with how they engage their peers with the gospel. For them, this meant fewer lecture-style events, and more film nights, question boards in public spaces, art exhibitions and dance displays.
Christian Unions seek to creatively, joyfully and clearly share the good news of Jesus in their university, and students are best placed to know, love, serve and speak into their own context. As a guest, I was able to encourage these students: to pray with them, hand out flyers with them and join them in conversations that point to Jesus as we answered difficult questions. Within this concentrated week of events, I got a whistle-stop tour of the outreach that these students were doing all year round. And as events and discussion boards introduced us to students with no personal link to the CU, CU students like Karen committed to following up with them quickly, making the most of the opportunity to explore the gospel together.
On-going friendships
Students like Karen are why I think CUs work. Their enthusiasm and vision for reaching out to the students around them was irrepressible. Take the two CU girls who had befriended a group of Muslim girls. They shared experiences together and went out for coffee to talk, sharing what they each believed. It’s in this context of ongoing friendships that a spark of interest can lead to a journey of understanding what a personal relationship with God could really mean. In Kingston, this was true for Tim, a boy from a Sikh family who became a Christian last term.
It’s what keeps Rachel, a second-year art student, going in her conversations with her friends. On Tuesday, she brought them along to a CU ‘Quiz a Christian’ night where, after a few quiz rounds, they asked some challenging, personal questions about what Jesus would mean for them. Their real friendship and interest gave her a natural opportunity later in the week to share the piece of artwork she had created for the CU art exhibition. Focusing on the week’s theme – ‘Why?’ – she talked engagingly about her experiences of questioning and finding answers in Jesus.
By the end of the week, I knew a lot more names and faces than my initial flyering experience would imply. However, I’m still convinced that it’s those ongoing friendships, students reaching students, that God will use to make himself known in our universities. Last year, over 46,000 students attended CU mission weeks across a total of 113 locations. 860 of those attended a CU follow-up course. Still more will have had their interest sparked by what they heard and, we pray, will continue to be loved and served by their Christian friends who know them best, and who will continue to point them to Jesus.
