As restrictions are strengthened again and Covid cases rise on campuses, forcing halls and homes into lockdown, it may feel there’s little to be optimistic about as a student. However, as a follower of Jesus you can be a light to those around you in dark times. As you spend more time with your housemates, both in and out of isolation, here are some tips for how you can bless and bring hope to your household in this season.
Serve Well
Serving someone is one of the best ways to honour them - it shows they are valued and have worth. When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet He built them up in love and humility. When we emulate Jesus and serve our housemates, looking past inconvenience, we are giving them an insight into God’s abundant love. Cooking a meal, doing their washing up, collecting a parcel - whatever it may be - how can you be serving your house?
Be Generous
Although this can be difficult with a student loan, generosity allows for God’s provision and infuses both the giver and receiver with His joy. What's more, generosity begets generosity. Two students in Nottingham saw one of their housemates tweet that he really wanted a Five Guys, so without saying they got an UberEats delivery for him. The kindness of this shocked their housemates, so much so the culture in the house shifted as people started regularly buying things for one another!
Pray and Fast
Prayer and fasting are vital to changing what feel like unchangeable situations. As John Piper puts it: ‘prayer causes things to happen that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t pray.’ And when we fast too it deepens the urgency and devotion of our praying. Do you make time to pray and fast for your housemates? So whether you offer in person or quietly intercede behind the scenes, praying for your housemates will have an impact on whatever tough situations they are facing.
Build Community
Community is essential to our well being, especially now as social distancing is the norm. However, living together doesn’t always create life-giving community. It’s surprisingly easy to just stay in your room, so building community takes work. Why not be the one to organise house social time, arranging for everyone to eat and have fun together? Maybe find a project you can all collectively get involved with? From a games night to a house dinner party, you can make sure your house or flat is somewhere people enjoy isolating!
Invite to Church
Church is hard-wired to offer people hope. If your church is meeting in person then invite a housemate as they may be more open to it than ever before. If you can’t leave the house you can still ‘go’ to church with most still streaming online, so why not ask your housemates to watch a service with you in the living room, or invite them to small group, whether on Zoom or in person if they can be part of a six. Another student in Nottingham invited his housemates to watch church with him when lockdown began, which they did for a couple Sundays. They were really interested by it, so when they moved back home they all watched a service on racial justice on their own, finding it very thought-provoking which opened up more opportunities for him to share faith.
Engage in Conversation
Being stuck indoors more is a great chance to have deep meaningful conversations with your house or flat. You can go beyond small talk and get to the heart of what’s actually going on in your housemates’ lives. Look for chances to ask great questions. You’ll learn from, relate to, and be challenged by the people you live with - and vice-versa - allowing them to feel known and stirring their curiosity in why you believe what you do. If you don’t know where to start then check out the DMC Deck!
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
