Manchester CU students woke up on the final day of Home, their February mission week, to a Facebook review that was painful to read. A student, who had attended events during the week, had written: ‘I can’t fault the friendliness of those helping with the week … but Home has put me off Christianity more than any other engagement I’ve had with faith.’
An estimated 50,000 students will have attended a Christian Union (CU) mission over these past few weeks. Across the country, CUs have sought to give every student an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel through high-profile, focused weeks of engaging, persuasive and creative evangelism. As the Parable of the Sower tells us, the response will be mixed. This Manchester review was a sobering reminder that, despite all the CU’s efforts to bring people to Christ, some seed falls on the path and is immediately snatched away.
Alexi Andriopoulos, UCCF Staff Worker in Manchester, writes: ‘That’s what happens in a week like this – we tread the line between encouragement and discouragement every day. However, we ended the week with so many encouraging stories to tell and thankful hearts in praise to the Lord Jesus.’
Making disciples
One such encouragement is Tom*, who said: ‘Honestly, I think that my life has been totally transformed by going to those Home events. I just want to love God more and more.’ Wonderfully, such professions of faith have been reported up and down the country.
Jack stumbled upon Oxford Brookes CU’s mission week. He subsequently went to every event he could and on the Thursday said that he wanted to give his life to Jesus. He decided not to pray a prayer of commitment that evening because his birthday was on Saturday and he wanted to know that the first day of his new life with Jesus started on his 19th birthday!
As official student societies, CUs are able to have a visible presence on campus, enabling curious students – very often from other countries – to ask their questions. ‘I believe in a God, but I don’t know which one. I want to find out more,’ was how one Muslim student from Malaysia introduced herself to students in Birmingham.
In Manchester, two Iranians turned up to a CU international event where the speaker happened to be a former Muslim from Iran. Both went to church with him the following Sunday. Meanwhile, a Chinese student is now going through the Uncover seeker Bible studies after saying: ‘In China our government doesn’t allow us to learn about Christianity. I know nothing.’ Of course, the prayer for all these students is that they are ‘good soil’, hearing and understanding the word.
Training disciples
Often these weeks are as life-changing for those doing the reaching as they are for those being reached. Whether handing out flyers in blizzards in Strathclyde or trying to keep the marquee in Aston from being blown away by Storm Dennis, thousands of CU members have had a taste of all that comes with sowing the seed. Many have grown in confidence in the gospel as they’ve invited others to come and look at it. One Manchester student exclaimed: ‘Ten of my friends have come through the doors. I’ve fallen in love with evangelism this week!’
