It’s always scary doing something for the first time.
Only two members of Edge Hill CU had run a mission week in-person before. How were they to organise events? What events should they choose? Would students come? But, with the support of their local Staff Worker Abi Andrews and Relay Worker Beth, they prayerfully decided to go ahead.
We caught up with Abi to find out what happened.
Q: What did the week look like?
A: Well, each evening, we had an evangelistic event with food, live music, a testimony and a talk around the theme of Hope given by evangelist Martin Povey.
The talks were:
- How do you find Hope in an isolated world?
- Hope in who I am
- Is there Hope for Justice?
- Is there Hope for what's next?
- Hope for something more
During the day, we ran a 'pop-up café' for three hours, handing out free drinks and snacks and seeking to engage passing students. As part of this we gave out flyers, went around with chalkboards asking questions about faith, and we even had a prayer corner.
We also had quite a popular 'First-contact Jenga', where we put a Jenga set on a table with deep and engaging questions written on each brick. This proved to be a big hit with Christians and non-Christians alike throughout the week!
Q: How did the week impact the CU?
A: One of the biggest things for me was seeing quite how much the CU students grew and changed. They went in very scared and quite stressed, not knowing what it would be like at all – only two of them had ever done or seen one in-person before! It made it very difficult for them to be able to picture what was possible.
They were all quite fearful of stepping out in the lead up and yet all of them grew so much in confidence…
They were all quite fearful of stepping out in the lead up and yet all of them grew so much in confidence; inviting whole flats together, talking to all people on campus, doing lecture shout-outs, serving and engaging in great conversations on the café each day, sharing their testimonies and getting so stuck in.
Q: What about the impact on the university?
A: The students absolutely loved it. The Student Union were great in promoting it and people were coming back each day. One CU member is reading Uncover Mark now with one of the guests and a few people who were totally unconnected with the CU have since been coming back to CU meetings (I'm currently sat writing this at a CU film night and from what I can see about seven people here are guests who were also at various mission week events).
One student called Esther shared:
'Leaving the week I think we all felt highly encouraged and excited. Some people came who had never attended a CU event before, which led to amazing chats and friendships. One major highlight was that a girl who came along to events during the week then came to church, and later found faith! It was such a happy time seeing how Jesus truly works in our lives.'
One major highlight was that a girl who came along to events during the week then came to church, and later found faith!'
In summary, it was a great first experience of mission for the CU. Some mission planners from other CUs in the region also came along to get a taste of mission!