Region / Country: Europe

Friendship behind the veil

Student Camps in Northern Europe

“Who are you, God? Are you there at all? If you’re there, take me to a place where I can find answers.”

God heard Alfred’s* faltering prayer.

It wasn’t long before he had the unexpected opportunity to leave his Muslim community and move to Northern Europe to study for one semester. There, he heard about a camp some Christians were organising for international students. Alfred decided to go along. He was curious. He wanted to know more about the God these Christians worshipped. He wanted to see for himself what the Bible said. Could it be true that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was the only way to be forgiven?

Over the following months he continued to meet up with his new Christian friends, asking them questions, watching their lives. They cared for him. When he injured his ankle, they visited him. They spent time eating together, playing games, chatting.

There was another camp at the end of the semester. Alfred delayed his return flight so that he could attend. On the last night the students heard the story of the Prodigal Son. Alfred knew that he wanted that relationship with God as His Father; he wanted the new life Jesus offered. That night he prayed for forgiveness and put his trust in Jesus as his Saviour.

The very next day he shared with the other campers how God had been working in his life over the last few months. He spoke of the change Jesus had made in his heart, of the hope and joy and peace he now felt, of his new desire to love and serve God.

Now back in his home country, Alfred is continuing to read his Bible and pray. But he has no Christian community there. Please pray for protection and for fellowship for him. Pray that he’d have opportunities and wisdom in sharing his new faith with his family and friends. It’s not going to be easy for him.

*name changed

Hospitality in Eastern Europe

I had never intended to work with Muslim students. I didn’t know much about Islam. I didn’t particularly want to. But as I opened my home to host international students, I was surprised to find that half the students turning up each week were Muslims. And so, I sort of stumbled into this exciting ministry, learning as I went.

Apart from the social activities we organise, we also offer a weekly English Bible Study. Although the Bible studies are open to all international students, it’s the Muslim students who are regular. Over the past few years, we’ve had the chance to study the Bible with Muslim students from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Yemen, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso.

One thing I’ve realised is that working with Muslim students doesn’t require a lot of training, or a certain type of personality, or big outreach events. We’re just ordinary Christians. We try to make our Muslim friends welcome, asking them questions and getting to know what they believe. Because religion is a big part of their lives as well, talking about spiritual matters happens surprisingly naturally.

Small things make a real difference: making sure we cook without pork; waiting to eat dinner together after sunset during Ramadan. Hospitality is such an important part of Muslim culture. Sometimes they cook for us too — once we had eight Yemeni students come over to cook us traditional Yemeni food!

I’m so grateful that God brought these students into my life. I know that God is at work in all of the international students in our groups, but it seems more apparent with the Muslim students. I encourage everyone to become friends with a Muslim student or two, and see how God will use you to have an impact in their lives, and them in yours.

Mission trips to North Africa

It was my first time going to North Africa. I was totally captivated on arrival.

The heat, the noise, the smells, the colours! It was so different from what I’d ever experienced in Europe. The people on the street were warm and friendly. But I was also struck by the poverty of many. Such a contrast from the wealth I consider normal back home.

The five days went quickly. We got to know one young Muslim woman. She had suffered a lot, having been treated badly by some of the men in her life. We talked to her about God’s love for the broken and the lost. We were able to give her a copy of Luke’s gospel before we left, and she and I have stayed in contact since. She’s invited me to go back and visit in the future.

We also met a local man who had converted from Islam to Christianity, along with his wife and two daughters. He had spent time in prison because of his faith. His children were being excluded at school because they didn’t wear the headscarf or take part in Ramadan. And when his family met up with other Christians, they had to do it in secret. It was incredible to see his strong faith, enduring real suffering with joy, for the sake of Christ.

It made me ask: why am I so afraid to talk about my faith with my friends back home, when the only thing I might lose is my self-image and not my life?

Coming back, I have a new appreciation of the privilege of knowing Jesus and of the freedom I have to talk about him in Europe.

International Student Forum in Eurasia

Earlier this year my friend and I travelled to a neighbouring country in Eurasia to help out at a camp for international students. There were more than sixty participants from 12 countries. Many were from closed Muslim countries that we can’t go to. There were talks explaining the Christian faith, and lots of other fun activities throughout the day — sport, national dances, games, music, drama!

We were both helping to lead small discussion groups. During those group times we discussed big questions such as, ‘Who is God?’ ‘What is sin?’ ‘How can we be saved?’ I was able to share what it means for me to be a follower of Jesus and why I decided to follow Him.

As we chatted together I believe that the Holy Spirit was at work in the hearts of these Muslim students. Some of them shared their reflections:

“God helped me to find myself through this forum. I found out who I am.”

“After this forum I’m starting to get an interest in relations with God.”

“I am really eager to find the Truth after this forum.”

Please pray for these students.

Discussing the Quran and the Bible in France

Why would they only discuss the Bible and not the Quran?! The Turkish student was furious and said he’d never come back.

That was what prompted me to try something new.

We now have five discussion groups across the country. Muslim students and Christian students come together to discuss what they believe in a friendly, respectful environment. They ask questions and learn about each other’s faith. We look at topics such as ‘What is faith?’ ‘Who is God?’ “Men and women in the Bible and in the Quran’, and ‘Prayer’.

French universities welcome more than 70,000 students every year from Muslim countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Senegal. There are also many French students of Muslim faith. Over the last three years, 60 Muslim students have participated in these discussion groups. We praise God for these 60, but are all too aware of the vast numbers yet to be reached.

Pray that more groups would be started across the country. Pray that the Muslim students who have already heard the gospel would come to faith in Jesus.

These discussion groups are known as ‘ABC’ groups (Autour de la Bible et du Coran). There are resources available in French for students wishing to start discussion groups at: http://croissance.gbu.fr/?cat=74.

Buddy program in the Netherlands

It was an everyday sight. A group of students, laughing together, as they slipped and skidded around an ice rink. But what made this group unique was that half of them were Dutch Christians; the other half were Middle Eastern Muslims.

The buddy program, linking up international Muslim students with local Christian students, has prompted many new friendships. The ‘buddies’ meet up at least once every two weeks. It’s more than just an opportunity to practise Dutch. It’s genuine friendship. And through it, the Muslim students are getting the chance to hear about the God of the Bible for the first time in their lives.

There have also been dialogue evenings organised for Muslim and Christian students, to learn more about the others’ beliefs. Big questions get discussed:

“What does it mean for you to pray?”

“Could God forgive you if you kill someone?”

“What do people in the church here actually think about us Muslims?”

Many have been keen to know more. Some have also been willing to read the Bible.

And with the recent arrival of many refugees (including students) from Islamic countries, the opportunities to reach out to Muslims are abundant. Pray that we would make the most of this unprecedented opportunity to share the hope that we have with those who are lost without it.

Travel in tandem with God’s heart

“Where did you go over the holidays? What are your plans for the summer? What’s on your bucket list?”

These are the questions that fill conversations on campuses across Ireland. Many students eat, sleep and dream travel. When we’re not travelling, we Instagram old photos of our last trip, or we look at flights to see where we might go next.

But what is God’s heart for travel? For the last few years I’ve been reflecting on what it looks like for staff and students to travel in tandem with God’s heart. And that led me into action.

Intentional holidaying

As Christians we know that God loves the nations, the ‘outsiders’. And yet we don’t always share that love. Having seen how hard Christian students here find it to reach out to Muslims on their campus, I decided to use my holiday to explore the Muslim world. That first trip was an incredible experience — the culture, food, scenery! I met up with missionaries as I travelled around the country. At various points along the way I stayed in something like a ‘homestay program’ with a local Muslim family for a few days. I came back feeling rested and refreshed by God and his creation. But I also came back feeling challenged — waking up each morning at 4am hearing the call to prayer from the mosque had got me thinking…

Keen to return

The following year I decided I must do something similar. This time I went with another adventurous student who was interested in learning more about Islam. Getting stuck in the desert with no petrol, being followed up a mountain by a gunman and being surrounded by wild dogs were just a few of the more exciting moments. Off the back of this trip, we came up with the idea of doing an outreach program with the local Christian student groups and churches in a city in Ireland.

Mission on your doorstep

“To Ireland? There aren’t any Muslims living here!” was the comment of many on the team when we first told them about it. But as we went around the local area, we found that over 5% of the city is Muslim. Many of the team had Muslim neighbours they’d never been aware of. It was an eye-opening experience. The program went well, and has happened every summer since.

Four years later, we now have an international student ministry in the city that helps reach some of the least-reached Muslim students in the world, with the gospel. We also have small prayer groups meeting to pray for Muslim friends. We encourage each other to intentionally build friendships with them and share the good news of Jesus. And because of it, several students and graduates have moved to the Muslim world to live and work.

Come and see

This year we’re doing something a bit different. We’re taking a team to a country in the Muslim world to see what running a business there would look like.

We’re linking up with someone who has decades of business experience in that part of the world. The team will consist of some business students from across Ireland and the UK, and a few others from campuses with high Muslim populations who want to learn more. We’ll head off together to get a flavour first-hand of what living in such a culture and “loving our neighbour as ourselves” would be like. Please pray for us as we go.

“I’ve already got a profitable business and I hope to have several more over the next few years. But instead of enjoying it all myself, I would love to plough the profits back into helping build the Church in places that don’t yet have Church. Or even to run my businesses there too. This trip will help me see what that might be like.” (Irish student)

What can you do?

How are you using your time off from university to travel in tandem with God’s heart? How could you spend your holidays growing in your heart for reaching the least-reached students on earth with the good news?

Peter works with students in Ireland, blogs about faith and travel at www.aljabr7.wordpress.com and longs to see the most unreached peoples hear something of the good news.

Learning to lead in a global world

Balancing time. Managing tensions. Making decisions. Keeping going.

Leadership is hard. Especially when it’s all new.

At IFES we believe in investing in our young leaders. We want them to be empowered to exercise their leaderships gifts with boldness, integrity and godliness. We want them to love and lead their teams well. We want them to have wisdom as they navigate the complexities of cross-cultural campus ministry in a fast-changing world.

That’s why the Global Leadership Initiative (GLI) exists. 26 March 2018 marked the end of the first GLI program. 18 young IFES leaders had been selected from each of the regions across the world to participate. The group met together three times over the course of 18 months. It has been a formative experience for all of them. One reflected:

“This has been a life-changing experience for me. I have grown so much not only as a leader but as a believer in Christ.”

Three of the participants shared what impact the GLI program had had on them and on their ministry.

Mary Olguin — Compa Mexico, Head of the national office & regional staff worker

I’ve always enjoyed working with IFES, but a few years ago I was ready to quit. I just felt that I had finished what I needed to do; and there were already new leaders who could take on my role. I wanted to do something new. But then I joined the GLI program. During our first meeting together we spent some time considering what our strengths were, what gifts God had given us. I realised that God has made me a pioneer; it’s what I love to do and what I’m good at doing. Maybe that’s why I often get the urge to move on and do something new! Soon after that an opportunity opened up for me to stay with IFES but to focus on pioneering within the national office. And I knew it was the right thing for me.

I also oversee some of the field staff of the movement. After learning about teamwork strategies at the GLI program, I met with my field staff in one city and shared with them what I’d learned. They were excited and decided to try out the new strategies together as a team.

So when they met six months ago they agreed on some changes. They agreed that they’d hold each other accountable. They agreed they’d make plans and help each other to keep to them; that they’d turn up on time. They agreed to give feedback to each other after every event. They agreed not to talk behind others’ backs but have those difficult conversations openly.

The change has been huge. Not just for team morale, but also for the students. The team being more committed has made the students more committed. The students know the events planned are going to happen; it will start on time and finish on time. That makes a difference.

Team relationships have improved significantly too. They used to struggle with the same issues many teams face: team members not pulling their weight; people turning up late; people feeling annoyed with each other but not saying anything; making plans that never materialise. One of them was so unhappy she wanted to leave the team.

They are a much healthier team now. They communicate; they support each other; they really enjoy working together. New staff want to join and old staff want to stay. They’ve realised how much they need each other if they are to do the best they can for God’s kingdom on campus.

Lawrence Gomez — FES Gambia, General Secretary

At the start of this year, I became the General Secretary for FES. GLI has been hugely formative for me as a leader. Taking the time to work out what my gifts are and what they’re not was such a helpful exercise, and one that I’ve brought back to the office. We’ve since moved people around a bit so that they’re in roles where they can play to their strengths. Discovering your strengths at an early stage of life saves you from a life of mediocrity.

GLI has helped me to be a better leader. In the past if someone wasn’t doing their assignment, I would just do it. But now I try to encourage and empower them to do it. We check in every day. How’s that project going? What’s holding you back? How can we help?

If you do it alone you might do it fast; but if you do it together you will go far.

Christian Pichler — ÖSM Austria, General Secretary

As a new General Secretary, one of the big challenges is discerning priorities. There are many good things to do, but which one is the best? Which one should you start with? It really needs wisdom and patience to lead a national movement in the right direction, one step at a time.

And that’s particularly true given that we live in such a global world. The teams we lead are often cross-cultural; the students we try to reach are both local and international. We need to deal with global issues. We need to learn to be leaders in a global context.

That’s why GLI is such a strategic and unique program: the participants are from all over the world, from different cultures and backgrounds. We all do leadership differently.

Learning in community with the other young IFES leaders really was the highlight for me. I learned so much just through conversations with them over coffee or lunch. Hearing about the challenges they face and the way they address those challenges made me reconsider my approach to leadership in my own cultural context.

GLI helped me to have a global vision. That’s so important for leaders today.

Hungary: five weeks of events in budapest

Students of MEKDSZ Hungary put on events across different campuses in Budapest over five weeks. They chose five thought-provoking titles to get people curious to find out more:

Independent; Unbound; Undecided; Unclothed; Irretrievable.

Student Aron told us more:

“The purpose of the five mission weeks was not only to put on great events, but to invite students into Bible study and conversational groups. So the story did not end with the events, it only started there!”

Their creative events included a Christian escape room challenge, a lecture about religious relativism, a talk with a Jewish Christian and an Arabic Christian on the subject of peace in Christ, and a debate between Christian and atheist lecturers, to which 240 people came.

The IFES Innovation Project supported this and many other student initiatives to share the gospel on campus in creative and innovative ways. Find out more about how IFES is supporting student evangelism around the world.

Pray for follow-up in Portugal

It’s truly a wonderful thing when a student turns to Christ. But in a sense, that’s just the beginning. Young believers desperately need Christian friends around them to disciple them, encourage them and answer difficult questions, like: Do I need to get baptised now? How can I explain my new faith to my parents? What kind of church should I join?

GBU Portugal students are thanking God for the three students who professed faith last month at one of their mission week events. But they know that for these three, follow-up is essential. Follow-up is also key for those who heard but have not yet decided to follow Christ – they still have questions.

Student groups across eight cities in Portugal put on evangelistic events in March and are now following up with the contacts they made. Some student groups are running follow-up Bible study courses (20 are attending one in Coimbra); others are following-up one-to-one with individuals.

Please join us in praying:

  • Pray for the three students who professed faith, that they would keep trusting in Jesus and be discipled well.
  • Pray for all the students who attended mission week events, especially for those who have started coming along to follow-up groups.
  • Pray for a better training structure for students to engage more effectively in evangelism, not just during mission weeks but as a way of life.

Thanks for praying with us!