Sally
Student Life, Dunedin
Dear Church Whānau,
As always, there’s so much that has happened in the past few months since the last newsletter! Campus is pumping, and God is so at work in the lives of students across our cities - from Wellington all the way to Dunedin. It's nearing the end of the campus year, which is a really exciting time for us! I call it harvesting season. It’s the point of the year where we get to see the fruit of what God has grown in the lives of our students as they take bold steps of faith to go on Summer Missions, step into leading others, share the gospel with their families and friends, and for some, it becomes a boiling point where they put their trust in Jesus for the first time.
I would love to share all the things we’ve been up to the past few months, but to summarise the bible studies, evangelism on campus, retreats, conferences, and the one too many coffees - I’ll share one God story and something exciting coming up!
You might remember Christina from my previous update. She’s a student who has been exploring faith with me and another student, Avi, since April this year. Well, on August 12th, Christina put her faith in Jesus!!!
Here’s a snippet of what happened:
During the evening of our fortnightly connect event, Christina and I were chatting, and it was evident that God was moving her heart. Christina quietly shared that the student testimony that evening moved her. She said, “I was touched by how Jack prayed to receive Christ with someone he trusted.” A bit stunned by this, I asked, “Is that something you’d like to do?” She took a small pause, then said, “Yeah, I’d like to.”
The next morning, we met up at our usual spot on campus, and over the hour she shared her uncertainties, fears and unanswered questions. Then she said, “If being a Christian means being born again… what if I don’t change?” This question hit the heart. I think the question felt so close to home for both Avi and me - the struggle of striving to earn our way to God, but the apparent need for God’s grace in our lives. So we sat there for a moment, then shared the hope of the gospel once again; the hope that it’s by grace that we are changed. As we neared the end of the hour, we asked Christina if she would like to receive Jesus into your life. Christina replied, “Yes. I really want to.” In that moment, Christina, Avi and I bowed our heads and prayed.
Since then, we’ve met with Christina to read the Bible and help her in her first few steps as a Christian. We’ve been going to church together and finding community too!
Thank you for praying for Christina. God has used your partnership in the gospel to bring Christina from death to life, from unbelief to belief.