End of an Era

What a wonderful 5 years! I still can't quite believe it, but, I am leaving UCCF. Well, by that I mean I will no longer be employed by them from August 17th, but, as UCCF is a family of Christian Unions, their members, Relay Workers, Staff Workers and Supporters, I will always fall into that last category, having already fallen into each of the former.
I thought it fitting, on my final working day, to say a few words in the public arena of the world wide web about my experience over the last 5 years.

(The picture above looks ominous to say the least and almost apocalyptic in many ways. It will suffice to say, please don't read that into anything I'm about to say! Only the message of the sign has any relevance!)

During my time on staff I have learned so much about the gospel and about myself. There have been many ups and downs. There have even been times when I felt like giving up. But, by God's grace, and by understanding more of what Jesus has done for me, I have reached the end.

One lesson I have learned the hard way is, that no matter what happens, whether CUs grow or shrink numerically, whether the students you study the Bible with grow in Christ-likeness or decide to give up on Jesus, whether they all attend a training conference or none of them do, my standing in Christ before the Father does not change! The Father loves me as He loves His own Son no matter what! How that truth is beautifully liberating and wonderfully joy-giving. That is not to say I always remember this and live it out accordingly, but even grasping it initially changed my approach to my work, relieved the stress and kept me going.

The privilege of working with so many gospel-hearted, Jesus-loving and Spirit-filled people is beyond amazing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the family in this role, but those thank yous I will save for another post.

No organisation is perfect. Not even UCCF. But, when an organisation is led by people who love Jesus, who are seeking to submit themselves and all they do to the Lord's will and are seeking to live by the Spirit, you can't get any better than that. I am sure that they would be the first to admit that they are not perfect, there have been mistakes made and there are still things to learn and change. But I can absolutely say that working for UCCF is excellent. They really care for you as an person. The study program is not just for you to gain head knowledge, but to warm your heart and develop your character. They model Christian generosity and make sure you have your priorities in place. For example, when you work overtime for a weekend, if you don't take time off in lieu, you're in trouble! Or, take the fact that I have been repeatedly told that my primary ministry is not my work with the students that I get paid by UCCF to do, but my wife and child. That, sadly, can be rare in Christian organizations I'm afraid to say.

There are many more things I could say, attempting to wax lyrical about the virtues and benefits of such a great organisation whose passion for the so called 'missing generation' is infectious. Their untold benefit to the church at large in the UK as well as to thousands of students and parents is enormous. But I think I have given enough of a flavour already and if not, their mission, vision and values speak for themselves.

Feel free to use the comments to ask any questions if you want to know more. Those who have had my prayer letters will know more specifically some of things I have learned and some of the experiences, good and bad, which have shaped me and my ministry in this area over the last few years.

Oh UCCF, how I will miss you, but long may your work continue!

Planning fun but serious thinking done

A quick post featuring some of the things Sunderland and Teesside got up to on our planning day at the end of April.

Gathering pictures and phrases from newspapers and magazines to build a profile of the type of students they are seeking to reach with the good news of Jesus on their campus. Also at the same time getting a feel for the university culture as a whole. You need to know who you are reaching in order to most effective relate to them.

One of the profiles, along with a map of the university campus with coloured dots indicating where students spend their time studying, hanging out in both the day and the night and also where most students live. The aim of this was to get them to think about where they run events, what time of day they run them as well as practical ways they can really care for those on their campus.

Honesty and humility was required for this section. The CU health-check. Not to make them feel proud or despairing, but in light of the gospel analyse where they feel their CU is doing well and other areas where work is needed. They also spent time praying, thanking God for His work in and through them and for the Spirit to help them change in the areas where they are weakest.

Here we have the stadium model which helps CUs to see where the balance of their outreach has been. It has 5 sections: 1.Hospitality tents where the aim is to introduce people to Christians to show that we are normal human beings and not weird! 2. Back of the Stands. This type of event is aimed at answering questions people may have which are really far back, may question like "Could thee even be a God?" or "Isn't Christianity totally irrelavant?" 3. Front of the Stands. These are events answering deeper questions which the gospel speaks into: "How could a loving God allow suffering?" "Is Jesus the only way to be saved?" 4. On the Track. At this point people believe the gospel is true, but need to be challenged to respond to Jesus and hear what is means to follow Him. 5. In the Race. Opportunities for people to begin studying the Bible, meeting with other Christians and getting support as they take the first steps in their walk with Jesus.
We don't emphasise events as the only ting to do, we wholeheartedly believe that evangelism is a way of life and that we must live distinctive and integrated lives building real friendships and loving people. But we do also know that events help people along the way and are key for reaching those without any Christian contact.

This is just a bit of fun. Post the planning and dinner together, a couple of the students were testing their logical skills using my daughter's toys! The concentration was etched all over their faces and provide much entertainment for the rest of us as we observed.









Suffice to say it was a very enjoyable and productive day. I pray the Lord will use is for the furthering of His Kingdom and that the Spirit would bring many to know Jesus through the CUs next year.