Monthly column on student work

The task of evangelism for most Christian Unions is quite daunting. At Newcastle University for example, the student population is in excess of 15,000, whereas the CU has around 100 regulars this year. It is impossible to expect each of them to sustain friendship with around 150 other students, yet they do want to share Christ with this number. Similar comparisons can be made in the 334 Higher Education institutions in this country.

Matt Walmsley, evangelism secretary for Newcastle University CU was determined to overcome these hurdles. Last summer he developed a growing concern for the crowds of new students beyond the immediate reach of the CU through friendship. He shared this burden with other leaders in the CU and together they came up with 'Firestarters', a programme designed to initiate a gospel conversation with every first year student. Matt said: 'My vision was for the CU to do this each autumn, so that three years down the line every student at Newcastle University had been given the opportunity to hear the gospel.'

The CU was invited to sign up for two sessions of training - on evangelism generally, and 'cold contact' work specifically. They were surprised to find that around 100 people had signed up - virtually the whole CU! Dave Gobbett, CU Staff Worker in the North East, was one of the trainers: 'We put all those who turned up into pairs, providing a balance of experience. Once they were out "on the ground", working in pairs definitely helped new Christians or those who had never done this type of evangelism before.'

Two by two

Over the last term, the pairs worked their way through the student residences, knocking on doors and doing questionnaire work with Freshers. 'A Spanish guy opened the door to one pair', recalls Matt, 'and amazingly one of them spoke fluent Spanish and was able to explain the gospel to him in his own language.' One term on, the CU sees that Firestarters has not only been effective in evangelism but in training evangelists: 'We already have loads signed up to do cold contact during our mission [this month] - and without them being pushed into it!'

Warwick University CU also saw the benefits of cold contacting during their mission last February: 'We know of two people who became Christians after making first contact with us by being handed a flyer in the union and as a result coming along to our mission week events'. But prior to the mission, not all the CU were keen on the idea: 'I remember at the time some people were a bit unsure as to whether or not we should be handing out flyers to everyone, worrying that people may get annoyed. I guess this answers them!'

As the main mission weeks kick in this month, thousands of gospels, tracts and flyers will be handed out throughout university and college missions. Please pray for these - that they will get into the hands of those who are searching and will be used to bring people to Christ. For the Christian students too, please pray that they will be confident in the gospel, bold in making opportunities and dependent on God as they look to evangelise the masses of unreached students.

Firestarters and cold contacts

Two by two

Emma Carswell