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Gospel on the campus

Evangelism remains high on the agenda of Christian Unions nationwide. EMMA CARSWELL, of Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) reports on the success of recent missions across the country

Thousands of students have heard the Gospel since the start of the year as more than 30 university and college Christian Unions staged evangelistic weeks as part of their regular activities’ programme.

At Macclesfield College, the small CU hosted a week of lunchtime evangelistic events. Martin Povey, who works with further education colleges in the north west, said: "Almost all the students who attended the hour long tutorial-style events had no idea of what the Gospel is. It was really exciting to have the chance to explain the biblical concepts of God, sin, judgement and grace to around 120 students at a time."

Plymouth University also has a relatively small CU, but their mission week managed to make an impact on campus, and saw up to 120 students attend on the final two days. Among those who arrived on the Monday of the mission was a postgraduate student who declared himself an atheist.

Despite disagreeing with the claims of the Bible, he was courteous and keen to hear more. As he did, he wanted to know more and more about Christ. Less than a week after the mission’s launch, he went to church determined to become a Christian.

On a larger scale, the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (OICCU) and Oxford Brookes Christian Unions joined forces for a major mission to students in the city. Unconditional started with a week of lunchtime talks followed by a week of college events. The main talks were given by Rico Tice – of All Souls, Langham Place – in the Sheldonian Theatre.

An evangelistic book written especially for the mission, which included Mark’s Gospel and testimonies of Oxford students, was also distributed to every Fresher. By the end of the fortnight, almost 200 students had signed for the follow-up course, Unwrapped.

For some CUs, running a mission is not part of their regular routine. Newcastle University CU is large but hasn’t had a mission for several years. At the start of the academic year, they organised a series of talks by Nigel Beynon in a marquee on campus. Described by one missioner as "like an open-air meeting with a marquee dropped on top of it”, the cold and blustery setting didn’t deter the "audience” – the talks had to be repeated each day because so many people turned up.

Stockton CU is only five years old, and this year they had their first mission. Ollie Power of the CU Committee, said: "We have had the first of the Explore follow-up courses. It went really well with five non-believers coming, and more contacts who are hoping to come next week. It’s a real joy to have the opportunity to explain the Gospel in more detail with these people. I pray that the CU will carry on with this burden to tell the Gospel on campus."

Nottingham CU, like Newcastle, went for a marquee in a prime position on campus, attracting many students to a week of events entitled Two Ways to Live. A jazz band played in the marquee before the evening sessions which were led by Vaughan Roberts. An estimated 60 students decided to take the follow-up course.

At Reading University, a Christian French exchange student brought along a group of friends to each evening event during the CU mission week. One of them, also from France, became a Christian and another is seriously considering a commitment. Roger Carswell, who was the main speaker at five university missions this year, commented: "At each of the weeks there has been a notable increase in interest from international students – and some from notoriously hard or closed countries. It has been a delight to open a Bible with them and let them see Christ for themselves."

Most CUs welcomed guests or assistant missioners to work alongside them for a week. One such guest at Dundee, Becky, spoke to a non-Christian student who turned up at the first lunchtime event on Monday. Becky got to know her and they met up several times during the week to discuss what had been going on in the sessions. As Becky was travelling home at the end of the week, she received a text from her new-found friend to say she had prayed to put her trust in God.

Among the CU members at a pre-mission evangelism training for Warwick was a student who had become a Christian at last year’s mission. He had never been to a Christian meeting before then, but 12 months on he was growing in faith and keen to share that faith with others. UCCF prays that there will be many more like him.

* Emma Carswell is communications officer for UCCF

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		Gospel on the campus Evangelism remains high on the agenda of Christian Unions nationwide. EMMA CARSWELL, of Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) reports on the success of recent missions across the country Thousands of students have heard the Gospel since the start of the year as more than 30 university and college Christian Unions staged evangelistic weeks as part of their regular activities’ programme. At Macclesfield College, the small CU hosted a week of lunchtime evangelistic events. Martin Povey, who works with further education colleges in the north west, said: "Almost all the students who attended the hour long tutorial-style events had no idea of what the Gospel is. It was really exciting to have the chance to explain the biblical concepts of God, sin, judgement and grace to around 120 students at a time." Plymouth University also has a relatively small CU, but their mission week managed to make an impact on campus, and saw up to 120 students attend on the final two days. Among those who arrived on the Monday of the mission was a postgraduate student who declared himself an atheist. Despite disagreeing with the claims of the Bible, he was courteous and keen to hear more. As he did, he wanted to know more and more about Christ. Less than a week after the mission’s launch, he went to church determined to become a Christian. On a larger scale, the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (OICCU) and Oxford Brookes Christian Unions joined forces for a major mission to students in the city. Unconditional started with a week of lunchtime talks followed by a week of college events. The main talks were given by Rico Tice – of All Souls, Langham Place – in the Sheldonian Theatre. An evangelistic book written especially for the mission, which included Mark’s Gospel and testimonies of Oxford students, was also distributed to every Fresher. By the end of the fortnight, almost 200 students had signed for the follow-up course, Unwrapped. For some CUs, running a mission is not part of their regular routine. Newcastle University CU is large but hasn’t had a mission for several years. At the start of the academic year, they organised a series of talks by Nigel Beynon in a marquee on campus. Described by one missioner as "like an open-air meeting with a marquee dropped on top of it”, the cold and blustery setting didn’t deter the "audience” – the talks had to be repeated each day because so many people turned up. Stockton CU is only five years old, and this year they had their first mission. Ollie Power of the CU Committee, said: "We have had the first of the Explore follow-up courses. It went really well with five non-believers coming, and more contacts who are hoping to come next week. It’s a real joy to have the opportunity to explain the Gospel in more detail with these people. I pray that the CU will carry on with this burden to tell the Gospel on campus." Nottingham CU, like Newcastle, went for a marquee in a prime position on campus, attracting many students to a week of events entitled Two Ways to Live. A jazz band played in the marquee before the evening sessions which were led by Vaughan Roberts. An estimated 60 students decided to take the follow-up course. At Reading University, a Christian French exchange student brought along a group of friends to each evening event during the CU mission week. One of them, also from France, became a Christian and another is seriously considering a commitment. Roger Carswell, who was the main speaker at five university missions this year, commented: "At each of the weeks there has been a notable increase in interest from international students – and some from notoriously hard or closed countries. It has been a delight to open a Bible with them and let them see Christ for themselves." Most CUs welcomed guests or assistant missioners to work alongside them for a week. One such guest at Dundee, Becky, spoke to a non-Christian student who turned up at the first lunchtime event on Monday. Becky got to know her and they met up several times during the week to discuss what had been going on in the sessions. As Becky was travelling home at the end of the week, she received a text from her new-found friend to say she had prayed to put her trust in God. Among the CU members at a pre-mission evangelism training for Warwick was a student who had become a Christian at last year’s mission. He had never been to a Christian meeting before then, but 12 months on he was growing in faith and keen to share that faith with others. UCCF prays that there will be many more like him. * Emma Carswell is communications officer for UCCF © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.