Our work this spring

Aberdeen

Cooper* was putting his bike away on campus when Relay Worker Tom handed him a flyer for the CU’s mission week. After a 20-minute conversation, Cooper agreed to read Uncover with Tom. He came to various events during the mission and stayed for hours afterwards, chatting with CU members about the talk. After one of the talks, he said it was ‘exactly what he needed to hear’. Towards the end of the week, he met up with Tom for their first Uncover study. The CU were thrilled to receive a text from Tom, simply saying, ‘We have a new brother!’ Cooper had decided to follow Jesus. They’ve continued to study Uncover together since then and Cooper has joined a local church too.

Bath

Praise God for Ari*, a student from Central Asia who was a Muslim. Towards the end of last year Jesus visited him in a dream,

which prompted him to visit a local church. He heard about Bath CU’s mission week by receiving a flyer and from the first event on the Monday lunchtime, he attended almost every talk. By the end of the week, he even started helping clean up after the events and praying with the CU. He has come to faith and is excited about his new life with Jesus.

During Bath CU’s mission, the CU were thrilled to see Mila* and Lois* come to faith too. The week before the mission, Lois woke up one morning with a sudden urge to go to church. She heard about the mission week, came along and put her faith in Christ. She is eager to learn more about Jesus through His Word.

Cambridge

Li Na* is a Chinese student who attended the final international dinner during CICCU’s mission week. She agreed with the Bible’s diagnosis of the human condition and asked questions such as ‘How can I receive the forgiveness that Jesus offers?’ She spoke with local church worker Aaron about receiving Jesus with faith, and they prayed together after the event.

Edge Hill

A student called Joe* came to Edge Hill CU for the first time for their world mission night in January. Here Boaz (the NW Team Leader) spoke with him and realised that he wasn’t a Christian but was keen to find out what Christianity was all about. Joe started attending a local church and CU and began reading the Bible with a local church worker. He has now come to faith.

Oxford

Hanni* came to OICCU’s mission week and heard the talk, ‘Is there evidence for a creator?’ In the Q&A afterward she said, ‘I agree with everything you just said. What do I do now?’ She is now attending church with her Christian friend from college and is excited about reading the Bible.

University of South Wales, Treforest

During the CU’s mission week, Relay Worker Nyasha gave an evangelistic talk on, ‘Is being “good” good enough for God?’ A student called Rohan* was at the event; he met the CU at their mission last year and came back this year. After the talk, he chatted with a CU member and gave his life to Jesus.

*Name has been changed

Surrey

Self-described atheist Marco* dropped in to Surrey CU’s afternoon café in their mission week, just wanting to chat. At the beginning he was closed to the answers that CU members were giving, but after chatting for several hours his demeanour completely changed. He came back the next day, saying that if Jesus was real, he wanted to know Him. He has since attended a local church.

Leeds Beckett

During the CU’s events week, Rory* introduced himself with, ‘Hi, I’m Rory; I’m a hard-core atheist but I like thinking about Christianity.’ He had come to the carol service at Beckett CU before Christmas. He later said he likes coming to the CU’s events and is ‘always hit with overwhelming kindness’, and he can’t say a bad word about the Christians he’s met. He has also been going to a local church and to a seeker course that has been running there.

Coventry

Diana* came along to only one night of Coventry CU’s events week, but since then she’s joined a CU Impact Group. She’s gradually opened up and has asked lots of questions, on topics ranging from creation and the resurrection to heaven and hell. The group members have enjoyed answering her questions and having opportunities to share their testimonies too. They’re praying her questions would continue and that she’d come to know Christ.

Birmingham

Melissa*, an international student from China, heard the story of the Samaritan woman at the well at the University of Birmingham CU’s events week. She pondered, ‘I have never heard of a water I could drink and never be thirsty again.’ This was the first time Melissa had ever heard of Jesus – she was fascinated.

Exeter

Justin*, a Chinese student who had been attending Exeter ECU’s international café for a while, was one of 82 guests at their international track. Interested in faith and with some knowledge of Christianity from his Christian relatives back in China, after one talk he reflected, ‘This sounds good, and I want to believe it, but I need evidence.’ He then discussed the evidence for the resurrection with local Staff Worker Jon and returned to an evening talk on that subject.

West Scotland

The CU’s mission week, Hope, was a really encouraging week, and they were particularly thrilled to meet several Muslim students. The CU told us, ‘We had the chance to share with them what the mercy of Jesus is like and how radical His grace is! Please pray that they come along to our Impact Group soon!’

York

Bea* was invited to York CU events week by a friend from the CU. Throughout the week, she was engaged in the talks and began deep conversations, which she has continued at the follow-up course and a local church. When asked where she felt she was on her journey, Bea said she would liken it to how one might learn about apples for one’s whole life, but only by eating an apple would one really taste it for oneself. She explained that having studied Philosophy and looked at faith from the outside, she now felt able to taste it for herself.

*Name has been changed

When I was younger, I was raised in a Catholic household and was baptised at a very young age. However, as a teenager, and especially around the time of Covid, my relationship with God really began to falter and I began to view church and prayer as more of an annoyance that I was forced into doing by my mum. As I prepared to head to Durham for university, God strayed further and further from the forefront of my mind.

Towards the end of the first term, I was talking to my friend Andrew. The subject of Christianity was brought up and I mentioned that I had been brought up as a Christian.

Andrew invited me to church; this was the first time I had connected with God while in Durham.

Over the next term, Andrew started a small group Bible study in Collingwood College, where we read through Mark’s Gospel. For the first time in my life, I truly studied Jesus’ words and actions in the Gospels, something nobody had guided me through when I was younger.

Towards the end of my first year in Durham (although I couldn’t pin the exact date or moment), I finally began to accept within my heart the truth of God’s Word and Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross.

Where I had once been blind to the truth of God’s Word, I could now see.

I’m now in my second year at Durham and I hope to continue to find new ways to strengthen my relationship with God and new ways in which to serve Him and spread His truth.

People are ready to hear the gospel, and it often only takes a friend to suggest opening up the Bible together and sticking with it. Joey and the others were so open and gracious in bearing with my inability to answer all their questions. Even if it doesn’t seem obvious, God is changing hearts and drawing us closer to Himself – Andrew, Joey’s friend

Each spring, a new cohort of CU students agree to take on the leadership of the Christian Union. For many students, their time as a CU leader is their first experience of Christian leadership. These roles provide opportunities to shape the activities of the CU (by planning weekends away and mission weeks) and to grow in confidence in leading Bible studies, outreach and evangelistic events.

Regional Forum training conferences

During March this year, we ran nine Regional Forum conferences across Great Britain. Each of these weekends was an opportunity for students to meet other leaders from across their region, to be trained for CU leadership, and to share ideas and spend time praying together. Year on year, these training events prove to be an important moment, building students up and giving them confidence as they prepare to take on leadership roles. Here’s a snapshot of the student response this year.

Forum Cymru (Wales)

Forum Cymru was so helpful in building an image of what we are to use the CU for. I learned that we’re here not as a social club, but to spread the good news of Jesus on campus; we’re here for mission. Studying John the Baptist taught me that, for us as a CU, it isn’t important how many people come to our events: even if just one person hears a talk and a seed is planted, that’s all that matters; it’s less about the appearance of success and more about humbly serving God and allowing Him to use us however He wishes, no matter how big or small our contribution. It was such a valuable weekend for equipping me and the CU for our roles, for developing ideas together, for learning more about serving Jesus, and for having an awesome time of fellowship with other CUs in Wales.

Millie, Aberystwyth CU president

Forum Midlands

The Forum Midlands weekend was amazing. To see so many students from different universities gathering in one place, all for Jesus, was just so encouraging. It was a great reminder that my walk with Jesus, my faith, is not just for me but for others as well. We were able to affirm the main aim and purpose of the Christian Union: to share the gospel on campus. The conference encouraged me to put into practice what I’ve learned and gave me insight into how to actually do that.

Ashley, Northampton CU

Forum North East

A highlight of the weekend was the teaching on ‘A life of faith’. This was encouraging and helpful, reminding us to trust God’s plans and not our own and that our leadership roles are serving under the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. It was particularly helpful to look at Romans 5:1–5, remembering that in Christ we have peace with God. Alongside teaching from the Bible, the weekend provided role-specific training and seminars. Next year I’m taking on the role of Publicity Coordinator, so I went to the publicity training track. This helped me to learn more about the role and think through how social media can be used to communicate information to a range of people and also as a means of sharing the gospel. Over the weekend we had time to pray with students from other CUs, as well as ‘CU Forum’, a specific time for meeting with the leaders from my own CU. I found this so helpful: it was wonderful to hear what everyone had learned and to share new ideas and perspectives. I left the weekend exhausted, thrilled, built up and excited – my housemates and I debriefed in the car on the way home. What a weekend and, even more, what a God! Hallelujah.

Shannah, University of York CU

Forum Scotland

A key highlight of the conference for several students was the opportunity to meet others in the same position as them. Donald, CU leader at Glasgow University, highlighted, ‘Meeting up with CUs in Scotland has been beneficial in getting to know other people who are in the same position that we are, moving into leadership, which is something new and a new way for us to serve God.’ Isaac, president at Glasgow University CU, highlighted how he found this valuable for CU vision and planning: ‘The chance to meet other CUs is great and bouncing ideas off each other does happen. I was, like, no one is going to meet other CUs and chat about CU stuff, but actually you do, and you get other perspectives.’ This proved to be particularly helpful for the smaller CUs. Amy, president at UHI CU, highlighted, ‘For UHI, having committee meetings after the talks was helpful; the small CUs seminar was awesome as well. We could really focus on the issues facing UHI and other small CUs in general.’

Praying for CU leaders

Please join us in praying for this new generation of CU leaders, that the gospel witness of CUs will remain vibrant and fruitful for years to come. You can use our daily prayer points to join with us throughout the year.