Entrusted With The Gospel

Steph writes:

At the beginning of this month 1500 uni students descended on Canberra for the annual AFES National Training Event. This year’s theme was, ‘Entrusted with the Gospel’. The main speaker was Don Carson who worked through the letter of 2 Timothy. We learnt about how those entrusted with the gospel are to preserve it by faithfully passing it on to others. We also heard from Richard Chin about the gospel claim that all authority has been given to Jesus and the commission to go and hold out the gospel to people.

The heart of NTE is the strand groups that students meet in each day to learn how to understand the Bible better and teach it to others. I co-led Strand 3 with my trainer Jen. Strand 3 looks at Systematic Theology whilst focusing on the topic of the resurrection. It was challenging to be faced with lots of tricky questions and parts of the Bible I have never really got my head around. It was great though to sit under God’s word with a lovely bunch of girls and learn together about the significance of Jesus’ resurrection and to hope of the resurrection to be revealed on the last day. Matt led a Strand 1 group with Steve, a fellow MTS apprentice from a local church in Wollongong.

Matt writes:

After the conference we took a team of mostly Science and Engineering students out to Kingswood in Western Sydney for a 5 day mission. It was great to see all the students working out of their comfort zones, trying new things and making the most of the opportunities to share and live the gospel that came our way. We were involved with feeding the homeless and needy, some kids ministry, a carols service in a nursing home, a bit of prison ministry, a men’s event, a BBQ for international students, a bit of door-knocking, some walk-up evangelism at a near by shopping centre and the church’s Carols in the Park. It was a great opportunity to put in to practice the challenges and training we received at the main conference.

I personally got the opportunity to preach at the morning service on our calling to suffer because Christ suffered (1 Peter 2:21-25). I tried to give people a taste for the Strand 1 material, working through the steps we used to understanding, apply and communicate God’s word.

The Carols in the Park was well attended (despite clashing with 2 other carols events in the area). There were lots of locals there and there were many good opportunities to share the gospel. I ran into an Indian man that I meet last year and was able to talk to him a bit about his religious beliefs and Jesus. Here is a photo of a couple of students dressed up as Mary and Joseph for the kids talk and a photo of some things the kids made which I think are meant to mangers:

Lunchtime Bible Talks

This month we are giving you a snapshot of one of ECU’s key activities, the weekly Lunchtime Bible Talks.

Steph writes: As part of our role in working alongside ECU, Matt and I serve on the Lunchtime Bible Talk committee along with two students, Matt and Karina. We are responsible for putting together the Lunchtime Bible Talk (or LBT) each week. The Lunchtime Bible Talk happens every Wednesday during uni session. Students come to meet together and hear God’s word taught. We are blessed at ECU with two great Bible teachers, Richard and Rob who share the preaching at LBT. This year we have worked through Malachi, 1 Peter, 1 Thessalonians and Rob has just fininshed Isaiah after 3 big years of working through it with us.

My role on the Luncthime Bible Committe involves organising students each week to do various jobs like MCing, reading the Bible, praying and welcoming. Thankfully there are many students willing to serve in that way. I also help photocopy and fold the bundle of things that people get each week (The Page, talk outline, comment cards). I have a learnt a lot about finding joy in admin and learning to remind myself that the work is done in order to enable God’s word to go out and bear fruit.

Matt writes: We have also been responsible for producing a one page handout aptly named The Page each week. This consists of an article usually written by a student, some prayer points and any up-coming events. This year we’ve had articles on religion, the bigness of God, Good Friday, Toy Story 3, bible reading, hope and many other things. (click here to see the latest one to go online and many others.) Each week we also run what is known as preLBT (pre-Lunchtime Bible Talk). Here a group of us meet to read through the passage for the week, discuss it a bit and pray all to prepare ourselves for hearing God’s word.

IN OTHER NEWS: What’s happen ing in 2011?

We are happy to announce that we both have been accepted to study at Moore Theological College in Newtown next year (Steph is enrolled for 3 years and Matt for 4). We also have been offered housing at MooreWest in Parramatta. And we also also have been offered student ministry placement at Oatley Anglican.

Jesus Hates Religion

(even more than you do)

Last month was all about ‘Jesus Week’. ‘Jesus Week’ is ECU’s targeted evangelistic campaign for campus. It was held in week 4 of session (16th-20th August). The theme for this year was ‘Jesus Hates Religion (even more than you do)’. We had hoodies, banners, chai tents, talks and lots of conversation all with the aim of people getting to know the real Jesus. Here are some of the highlights of the week.

Steph Writes:

For the three days during ‘Jesus Week’ we had two Chai Tents operating at two key points on campus – outside the library and on the McKinnon Lawn. Our aim was to engage in conversation with people on campus about Jesus. We offered people a cup of chai tea and there were plenty of ECUers around to start up conversations with people. We asked people what they thought about the statement, ‘Jesus Hates Religion’ and got people to rate their view of religion on our scale.

It was great to see Jesus being talked about so much on campus. It was exciting for me to be able stand back (whilst keeping the chai production going) and watch heaps of ECUers chat with people about who Jesus is and why he is important. The boldness of the students in proclaiming Christ really stood out this ‘Jesus Week’. We also discovered that it is quite easy to get Jesus into the conversation when his name is in the title!

Matt writes:

During ‘Jesus Week’, Ray Galea gave two talks on Jesus’ hatred of religion. He clearly and faithfully proclaimed the gospel using some of Jesus’ confrontations with the Pharisees as a spring board. Across both talks there were around 350 people in attendance – many Christians who we don’t usually have much contact with and a bucket load of non-Christians.

Reactions to what was heard seem to  be pretty mixed, with some  being confirmed in their unbelief and rejection of Jesus and at least one guy being convicted to check out Jesus and the accounts of his life for himself.

The Missing Month

You may wonder why we haven’t posted anything for 1 and a 1/3 months – partly we have been rather busy and partly we have been on holidays. But now that we are back into the swing of things, here is a little bit of what we have been up to.

Steph writes:

Way back on the 7^th of June, the girls of ECU gathered at the beginning of stuvac to think about the topic of ‘Sisterly Love’. A couple of students along with Jen, our senior female staffworker and my trainer, organised a lovely morning of fantastic breakfast food (including homemade muesli and real coffee for those so inclined). I had the opportunity to speak at this event, seeking to help us women think about how we love our sisters in Christ. It was a challenging topic for me to prepare, being confronted with the insecurities and pride that often get in the way of me truly loving the girls around me. But it was great to be able to look at 1 John and see what true love is, “that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 Jn 3:16) We thought a lot about how this works out practically and key idea that came up was loving our sisters by having conversations about real things – being prepared to move beyond superficial to things that matter in life.

Matt writes:

A fair chunk of our time over the past month has been prep for Mid Year Conference (or MYC), a week long conference involving Wollongong Uni, the UWS campuses, UTS Kuringai, USyd Cumbo and Christians in the Media. The topic this year was the Cross of Christ – what exactly happened on it and what does it mean for us to live as Christians in the shadow of the cross.

The conference had three main parts – talks from Ephesians by Phillip Jensen, seminars on the Cross, and small group bible studies on John 18-20. MYC is consistently described as a brain explosion – we work hard at helping the students to see passed what it is that they think they know and to approach God’s word afresh. We never want to anyone to think that they know all there is to know about the Cross – the Cross of Christ impacts every facet of our lives.

Steph and I together ran a seminar on ‘The Cross & Discipleship’ on how our life and priorities ought to be shaped as we take up our cross, deny ourselves and follow Jesus. We also each ran an elective – Steph on ‘The Cross & Depression’ and me on ‘Living With Non-Christian Family’. I also organised the music for the week and Steph organised the UOW welcoming team.

It was great to see the 120 or so students from Wollongong grappling with the deep mysteries of God’s word, and it was great to get to know some of them better.

The Face of Student Ministry

This month we wanted to focus a bit more on some of the students that we meet up with 1-to-1. To that end, we got them to write a little bit about themselves and what we have been doing together. Also included are some ways that you can pray for them under PRAYER and a re-vamped FINANCES page.

Shannon, 3rd Year Science writes:

This year I have been reading through the book “Humility: True Greatness” by C.J. Mahaney with Matt. This has helped to change my understanding of what greatness is and reminded me of how great God is.

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Kyra, 1st year Exercise Science writes:

This session Steph and I have been looking at Judges and also Titus. I have been challenged to look to older women for guidance on everyday life, also to continue to look back to the Bible to truly understand how God wants me to do things and fulfil His will. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Dan, 2nd Year Electrical Engineering writes:

Matt and I have been reading 2 Corinthians. As we’ve read 2 Corinthians I’ve been challenged to keep my mind on the important things in life. During the difficulties of life the words of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 have been a timely reminder. I’ve also been encouraged to share the gospel with others. God has chosen to use us to share the gospel with other people – what an enormous privilege that is!

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20. See also 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 and 2 Corinthians 4:7.

Karina, 3rd Year Creative Writing writes:

This session I’ve been meeting up with Steph and Amy to work through a booklet called ‘The Blueprint’. This booklet contains short studies looking at the doctrine of Christ. It has been really useful to me as it has helped to clarify the important truths of the Bible, and has revealed to me how sometimes people can just be so wrong in their understanding of God and His teachings when they make it fit their beliefs, instead of conforming their beliefs to what God says. I have been challenged to continually ensure I do not do this, but am allowing myself to be transformed by the Spirit for God’s purposes.

Amy,  3rd Year Creative Writing/Media & Cultural Studies writes:

This session Steph, Karina and I have been going through studies based around the AFES doctrinal statements- which I’ve personally found incredibly helpful. I’ve found it particularly helpful looking at redemption and the importance of Jesus’ death (and what can happen when you don’t cling to this truth).

Sam, 3rd Year Mechanical Engineering writes:

Doing 3 subjects gives me a fair bit of time for bible studies and the like, which is why I meet up with Matt every Tuesday, to read the bible and pray. We have also been looking at ‘Disciplines of a Godly Man’ by Kent Hughes. From this, I have been particularly considering the chapter on integrity, and how I should be fighting to keep mine in a society that does not really expect it from you. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Naomi, 2nd Year Nursing writes:

Steph and I have been reading through the book of Galatians. I have been challenged to remember the power of the gospel. Not to treat it like a ‘story’ that I have heard so many times. Something else I have been challenged with and reminded of each week, is that my relationship with Christ is based on faith. This response is further attested to by trusting in God. Not depending on myself. I often forget to commit the hard (and good) times to the Lord, for His help.

Togetherness

This month we want to focus a bit on the groups that we are involved with at Wollongong Uni. Ministry is all about people, so we wanted to show you some of them.

Science/Health

Our science/health science group meets together Thursday lunchtimes on the McKinnon lawn. The science/health science faculties are pretty broad so people in our group are studying  all sorts of thing from nutrition to nanotechnology (although we have noticed that almost all the guys are studying Chemistry).

This year we have been trying to think about what it looks like to be a Christian in the science world. We’ve done this by looking at beginning of Genesis as a foundation to how we understand the world as created by God. Shannon, one of  our 3rd years has been leading us through these studies. We’ve also thought about the Science and Chrisitian worldviews and spent a couple of weeks looking at a Christian ethical framework and applying it to issues such as abortion.

It’s been great this year to see this group grow in its commitment to coming along and in number as 1st years have joined. Steph is still enjoying asking (apparently) ridiculous questions revealing that any understanding of science she had was left behind in HSC Physics. And most of all it has been great seeing everyone thinking about how to interact with their courses as Christians.

Engineering/Informatics

This session there have been two separate Eng/Inf groups meeting on Monday and Thursday. In both we have been working through the book of Romans. The Monday group is predominantly lead by older students and Matt leads the Thursday group. It has been thoroughly challenging as each week our the rebellion of our hearts has been laid bare and the hopelessness of our slavery to sin has been hammered home. Thank God for Jesus who is the righteousness of God, in whom we “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Rom 3:24-25, ESV)

It has been interesting for Matt, being an ex-Arts student, getting into the rigid mind of the Engineer, but it has been a lot of fun and very encouraging. The key difference between an Engineering group and an Arts group is that in Engineering you work hard to get people talking – in Arts you need to work hard to get them to stop.

Weerona College

A week or so before uni started this year we became involved in the bible study that happens at Weerona College. Weerona is one of the residential colleges of Wollongong Uni and is in Gwyneville (about 5 min drive away from campus). Every Monday night we have been meeting together and Matt has been leading us through 1 John. This group has been a great joy so far this year. It has been fantastic to see how quickly the group has gelled.

In the group there are a couple of older students who previously lived in college who come along. They are able to share wisdom on living in college (Plus we eat at their house each week beforehand. We’re sure pretty they enjoy the weeks when Steph cooks – some much needed fresh vegetables). It has been interesting for us, who never lived in college, to get an insight into what it’s like and the challenges and opportunities that are there for the Christian.

2 Ways to Live

In the past few weeks, there has been a student-lead initiative to start a couple of 2 Ways to Live training groups, one of which Matt been running. 2 Ways to Live is a sort of concise, pictorial gospel summary and together we have been learning it with a view to sharing the whole gospel, particularly as training for walk-up evangelism. The group has only been going for 2 weeks and started small-ish, but exploded for the second meeting, which is heaps exciting. May God continue to put  the need to take the gospel out on the hearts of the students. Matt is beginning to think they need to find a better place to meet than next to a busy coffee shop outside Subway at lunchtime…

Wisdom & Atheism

Steph writes:

‘Generation Wise’ was the theme of Reload for 2010. On the 19^th-21^st of March we headed up to Fitzroy Falls for ECU’s annual weekend away. Reload is about getting to know each other, welcoming 1^styear students and being grounded in God’s word for the year ahead.

Our speaker Ben Pfalhert brought us talks on the topic of wisdom from the book of James. His teaching was really clear and challenged us to think about the kind of people we are going to be. Are we going to follow the world’s wisdom, chasing after careers, money, and status? Or are we going to follow God’s wisdom, living humble lives and broadcasting the gospel to the world. Over the weekend it was great to hear about what people were learning. One girl, Rachel, who I interviewed on the Sunday when asked, “What have you learnt from this weekend?” responded with her top 4 things that she’d narrowed.

Reload as always made for some shenanigans: hanging out with people, the engineering/science soccer game, singing round the fire, and this year we also had a photo hunt. We spent a couple of hours in groups running around taking some very creative photos. Under the category of ‘What The?’ came the photo you see before you where Shannon, one of our student leaders, and I display our spectacular ability to put our fists in our mouth. Always a crowd pleaser!

Matt writes:

2009 saw the birth of the Wollongong University Secular Society (affectionately known as WUSS).  The description on their Facebook page describes them as:

“a club that can discuss religions from outside their own framework, that give a platform to those who ascribe themselves to a notion of god that doesn’t fit the norm, or don’t believe in a god at all… dedicated to promoting rational and evidence based enquiry into the things that matter in our lives. One that says it’s ok not being religious, in fact you should be proud of it.”

On the Monday night of Week 3, ECU and WUSS co-hosted a debate between Greg Clarke (Christian apologist, from The Centre For Public Christianity) and Dan Barker (prominent atheist and ex-preacher, from the Freedom From Religion Foundation).

The debate format, I think, is not a particularly great one for a Christian who is seeking to proclaim the truth of the gospel of God, without resorting to rhetorical trickery and poor reasoning. Greg, though a self-professed inexperienced debater, handled himself humbly and graciously, consistently referring us to the Jesus of history.

Dan Barker, on the other hand, sort to score points through the heavy use of rhetoric and by downloading far more information than someone could adequately process, without providing any real evidence for the majority of his references. A comment I heard quite a lot from the students present was that he failed to answer many of the questions asked of him and in the end failed to specifically address the topic of the debate. (Most of the debate can be found in 7 parts on YouTube, but the quality is not great.)

The debate achieved two really great things. Firstly, the ball has started rolling on the relationships between ECU and WUSS which hopefully will continue to God’s glory. Secondly, the interest and conversation of the over-crowded (and over-heating) room of 300+ people was stirred and many opportunities for the gospel have followed.

People, Fairy Floss, Sun & Fun!

Steph writes:

Last week marked O-Week. Under the hot sun for 3 days, we talked to the hundreds of people that came by ECU’s stall. It was great to get to talk to so many people and it was really encouraging to meet Christians who are coming to Uni for the first time this year.

As part of our stall, ECU gave away free fairy floss. UOW Clubs and Societies people provided everything, we just had to run it. Despite the fact that I don’t think I will be able to look fairy floss for a while it was a great attracter of people to our stall, allowing us to talk to people who wouldn’t normally come up to speak to the Christian group.

O-Week is a crazy week of names and faces but I love it and it’s a great way to kick off the uni year.

Matt writes:

A new year and a new staff team. We said goodbye to a few people, but welcomed James Kerr and Phuong To who both are going to be working with FOCUS, the international student arm of ECU. This photo was taken at Staff Attack (…as opposed to Staff Retreat, get it…?)

February was in some ways a frustrating and lonely month of administration and preparation – so it was great to kick of the year with UniStarters’ Day. This is designed to welcome first years and give them a taste for what ECU is all about. I didn’t count, but if I had to guess I’d say we had around 60 people in attendance (someone can correct me on that if they want). We got to meet many new Science/Health/Engineering students.

Please check out the ABOUT page for up to date information on what we are doing this year, the PRAYER page for some suggested ways you can pray for us this month and the FINANCES page to see how our finances are going at the moment (all above).