Reaching a Country for Christ - one student at a time
D., Link staff in Eurasia juggles a variety of ministry opportunities
2008-06-02
First of all, our football (soccer) ministry has moved outdoors, and we are now playing with a large group of guys from the surrounding neighborhood. It's a unique opportunity for us to reach out to people who are unlikely to set foot in a church or move toward anything overtly "Christian". While I speak their language, I'm still trying to figure out how to "speak their language"!
Secondly, my church held its first street evangelism project just before Orthodox Easter, and I participated with a couple of my students. We conducted a short survey about Easter, told the Easter story, and invited people to join us the next day for our service. Although no one came to Christ that day (as far as we know), that experience helped many of the participants to get past their fears and speak out for Christ.
Also, “Debates”, one of the regular student-led meetings, has found a permanent home in a Christian café. The cafe offers their facilities and tea for free to our students every Monday night. Their meetings had outgrown the apartment where they met, and this gives them the chance to continue to grow.
Ministry also involves a lot of traveling: I took a group of students from my city to the city of M. to share the IFES vision* and to invite them to form an IFES student group in M. The students from a local church organized a meal for us, took us on a tour through their city, and hosted the vision gathering attended by over 30 students. I've given the students some materials to help them begin outreach in their dorms and I'll be able to visit them again soon to follow up.
The pastor of a church in L. (a small town) is the father of one of our freshmen. My visit to L. this month strengthened our relationships with that church. And I was able to preach the Gospel to many young people from surrounding towns.
Another city, G, already has a solid, growing student group. Last month my dad (who was visiting us) was invited by student leaders to speak about his travels. (My dad was an astronaut!). We preached, calling students to receive Christ. Over 100 students attended the meeting and several of them came to Christ!
I'm making at least one more trip this semester, to the city of B. to speak at an evangelistic meeting of our student group there.
*The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) exists to reach students in every nation with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to send them into the world to bear witness to Christ and his teaching. IFES is a community of national student movements who are committed to being partners in global student witness. We share three goals:
Evangelism – proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord and God to students in every country in the world where there are universities, and leading students to personal faith in Christ.
Formación – promoting a life of discipleship and a growing maturity among students associated with our movements and equipping them for a lifetime of service in the family, church and society.
World mission – equipping and encouraging students to take the good news of Christ to every nation on earth and to be part of the Church’s witness of the good news, in order to become witnessing communities of salt and light in every area of society and culture.
