Over the last few months I’ve been able to see some incredible stories of God working in the South West region. I wanted to record some of the testimonies and, hopefully, paint a picture of what’s been going on.
For the last year I’ve been gathering students in various cities to worship and pray for student mission believing that worship, prayer and mission are closely linked together. A few months ago a colleague and I found ourselves in Falmouth, worshiping with around 50 students and groups from older generations, praying for a move of God. After my colleague shared on mission, students began taking out their phones and inviting friends to try church. As we were packing up the venue stories started coming in of students responding ‘yes’ to those invitations.
Only a few months later, in December 2022, I hosted another event in Bristol with the student worker of the local Elim church. We saw 10 students decide to come back to Jesus that night in response to a talk on the adventure of walking with Jesus and what it means to follow his call over our lives.
Alongside these worship events, I’ve seen God move through specific students who I’ve been journeying with.
One prayer I’ve been praying for the last 2 years is that I’d be able to connect with students who are not only passionate about mission but also interested in discipling their non-christian friends. At the end of November 2022 I met a student who said he’d been praying and felt God ask him to start thinking about mission and discipling others. He asked if I would help him so we talked and prayed together and later that week a friend messaged him to ask if they could read the bible together. They now meet up every week, talk about following Jesus and they are now hoping to invite others who want to explore faith into this group.
Another student I met up with in January shared about how she was stirred to journey deeper into mission. Along with a friend, they recently started handing out coffees on Bristol Uni campus every other Friday. We specifically talked about the Gospel and the power of sharing the hope of Jesus with people. That Friday I received a message from her that she had just shared the Gospel with 5 students, one in particular wanted to know more and asked to come to church on Sunday. After a powerful experience at Church, they are now meeting up regularly to read the Bible together and explore what it means to follow Jesus.
Lastly, I was on campus a few weeks ago speaking with a student from Pakistan who was raised Muslim, now a humanist but currently exploring other religions in the hope of finding the “truth”. Unsatisfied with the spirituality he had experienced in life, he started reading John’s gospel. I asked him if he believed the stories he had read about Jesus. He said he didn’t know if he fully believed they were true, but admitted that something inside of him felt like they were. I offered to pray for him and the words ‘younger brother’ and ‘reconciliation’ came to mind. He said he had a younger brother, sister and older brother. I asked if there was any tension between him and his younger brother and that God might want to heal that relationship. After looking very confused he asked if I meant his older brother instead. The night before, his older brother had called him for the first time in over 4 months and they had reconciled. He was the younger brother. I said that God saw him and knew what was on his heart, that he was loved. He is now coming to Church and we are journeying together exploring what it means to follow Jesus.
These are only just a few of the stories that describe the last few months in the South West. God is moving among this generation. We are seeing more and more students taking hold of the Gospel, not waiting for someone to give them permission to see the Kingdom come.
How can you catch the vision and partner with what the Spirit is doing?
You could find some time to meet with your local Fusion worker to explore how you can play a part in the mission for students. You could book onto the Fusion training days and sign up for our summer conference, Wide Awake, happening on 4th-5th July. You could simply find some resources on our website and bless one of your students, equipping them to reach their friends.
