God will open many doors

EN: What is IFES? Could you explain something of its nature, history and objectives?

LB: IFES is a network of evangelical student ministries in 150 countries. In 1947 leaders of ten national student ministries met in Harvard with a vision to see a witness to Christ among students in every country. The largest movement is in Nigeria where close to 40,000 students meet in small group Bible studies.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones chaired the International Executive Committee for 16 years; our doctrinal basis, constitution and objectives were shaped under his leadership. All IFES movements have an evangelical basis of faith and share the same three aims: evangelism, discipleship and mobilisation for cross-cultural mission. There are now just 17 countries with no witness to Christ in their universities. Most are in the fertile crescent running through North Africa into Iran and Afghanistan.

EN: How is UCCF linked with IFES and what contribution has it made to the global work?

LB: UCCF was one of the founders of IFES. About 15,000-20,000 students are members of UK Christian Unions in a typical year.

Throughout IFES’ history, UCCF has made a significant contribution globally through ideas, resources, finances and fine staff. UK graduates pioneered the work in East Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Several UCCF senior staff have later served with IFES. Douglas Johnson, Oliver Barclay, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Sir Fred Catherwood and Simon Webley have made huge contributions at the level of governance.

The UCCF gospel distribution initiative of the 1990s is being used in at least 50 countries at the moment, with particular success in Francophone Africa.

Key year

EN: Why was 1989 a key year and how would you describe the growth since then?

LB: 1989 was, of course, the year when the Berlin Wall fell and Communism imploded. This brought openings for student ministry in more than 30 countries in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It created entry points where other totalitarian systems were in power such as Nepal, Eritrea, Mozambique and Angola. The Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989 led to fresh opportunities for student ministry in China.

The Kuwait war in 1991 created cracks in many countries in the Middle East. The early 1990s saw wonderful openings for the cause of the gospel. God provided us with outstanding pioneers and finances which enabled us to buy up opportunities. I have written about some in my recent book Shining Like Stars: the power of the gospel in the world’s universities. In 1989 we were working in 100 countries, with 275,000 students. Now we have around 400,000 students in 150 countries.

EN: Can you highlight one example of how the work spread in the 1990s?

LB: The Sudanese student movement shows how the sovereignty of God and the zeal of young Christians brought to birth a vibrant student ministry. In 1994 the government in Khartoum was waging war on the nominally Christian south, and closed the main university in the south, in Juba. Many students were moved to Khartoum and forced to learn a foreign language, Arabic, and live under Islamic law. Rather than asking why God allowed this to happen, the believers among them asked a more penetrating question: ‘How can we live and speak in this situation so the gospel of Christ can be advanced?’ They formed many evangelistic Bible study groups reaching out to Muslims and the work developed rapidly. Within five years they were hosting national events drawing 1,700 students. The work has expanded all across the country through these zealous young students and graduates. It is not unlike the story in Acts 11 where the believers were scattered from Jerusalem, arrived in Antioch and gossiped the gospel, leading to the birth of a vibrant church.

Muslim world

EN: What is happening in Muslim lands?

LB: We have had student groups for many years in Lebanon, Egypt and Israel; in the last ten years we have seen God raise up indigenous ministries in several other countries in the Middle East. Since 2000, many have become Christians in Tunisia and Algeria, giving birth to student movements there. A ministry has developed in the Gulf States since 2003, where in the last year alone, 25 students professed faith in Christ.

There are many encouragements, but students have to tread very carefully. Two places where work has apparently gone backwards are the Palestinian Territories and Iraq, no doubt in part because of mass migration of Christians as a result of war. We held several camps and conferences in Iraq just before the current war began, but all this has been disrupted by ongoing tension. A gospel distribution programme is in progress all across the Middle East, modelled on the UCCF initiative.

EN: How do you see the future of the gospel in the world’s universities given the changing political and religious climate?

LB: This is a big question for the world as a whole and I am not a prophet! I believe we will see God open many doors for the advance of the gospel in different parts of the world, alongside there being significant pressure on God’s people. It appears to me that the growing secularism in the Western world will probably lead to increased pressure on Christian Union activity, both in the UK and in North America as we have seen recently. Paradoxically, this may also create more openings for the gospel because as you know, when you try to restrict or suppress Christian witness, it often becomes more vigorous. Because of these pressures, we may see a decline in nominalism and a stronger concern by a larger number of believers to stand for the truth. It may be no bad thing.

I think the gospel will continue to grow in Africa and Latin America and probably in China. The challenges in all three areas will lie in the need for greater depth in teaching and discipleship. The fundamentalist Islamic and Hindu backlash against Western secularism and effete and nominal Christianity may create difficulties for us in Muslim countries and in India; we need to pray students will be wise as serpents and harmless as doves without losing their zeal for the cause of Christ.

I think greater pressure will also come to bear in the former Soviet Union if President Putin’s influence continues. We see evidence of this already in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

The Lord gave us a window of opportunity in the early 1990s. Now we have established bridgeheads, and our future challenge is to deepen this ministry and extend it in the countries in which it has begun.

Student workers

EN: What makes a good student worker?

LB: The best student workers are people who:
* Demonstrate a rock solid conviction of the truth claims of the gospel;
* Show a commitment to advancing the work of Christ;
* Act as coaches to students, as well as catalysts.
A good coach provides encouragement and support behind the scenes. A catalyst inspires and provides vision and fresh ideas. The best staff always combine the roles of coach and catalyst. All good student workers have the gift of encouragement. As Oliver Barclay once said, ‘the patron saint of all student workers is Barnabas, the son of encouragement’.

Life’s lessons

EN: What lessons have you learned from your time as General Secretary?

LB: Firstly, investing one’s life in Christian ministry is a wonderful privilege. God allows us to create ripples of impact which go on forever in the lives of many individuals.

Secondly, God’s grace is the fountain for all service. A grasp of the depth and profundity of God’s grace is what enables us to remain joyful and full of a sense of wonder throughout our days.

Thirdly, to leave a significant legacy, it is important to plant seed, water and persevere. A work of God cannot be built in three years. It requires tending, caring and many years of committed service. There is too much emphasis today on a quick fix, and this sometimes affects our approach to ministry.

Fourthly, I have observed that investment in student ministry is a great investment in the future of the Church. If we take the UK as an example, many of our key church leaders were helped as students in Christian Unions. David Watson and Jim Packer were converted as undergraduates. David Jackman and Jonathan Lamb worked on UCCF staff. Others like John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones have been involved over many decades in ministry. If the Church invests in a strong student ministry, it reaps the benefits for potentially 50 years of service after graduation; that is a wise investment!

On the 50th anniversary of the Japanese movement (KGK), we tried to calculate what graduates of the movement had brought to the Church. In that hard country, the student ministry has, under God, formed 300 pastors, 50 theological educators and many hundreds more elders, deacons and church workers. Others have gone on to serve Christ in the professions. That would be true of many other movements. It is a privilege to have been involved in this ministry in some small way and to have seen evidence of God’s hand at work all across the world.

EN: How should we pray for students?

LB: I would encourage you to receive the regular UCCF prayer bulletin through www.uccf.org.uk. IFES also produces regular prayer news, Praise and Prayer, and sends out a brief weekly prayer item by email. You can subscribe to both through http://www.ifesworld.org/pray. We also have a leaflet for churches, How to pray for students, which we would be glad to send out.

IFES, 321 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7JZ (tel. 01865 292555).