In early March some of the Fusion team went to Manchester to run a Wide Awake night. Churches and student workers from across the city got involved to make it happen. We started the evening in worship and prayer, creating space for God to meet with us.
We shared a picture of people running towards a river made of gold. Some people came to take pictures of the river, some dipped their toes in and others wanted to dive in but chose not to because they didn’t bring the right clothes. Others saw the river and decided to dive in, not holding anything back. When they were in, no one could see the colour of their skin or whether they were male or female, everyone was covered in gold.
This felt like an invitation for the students in the room to dive into the adventure of mission and following Jesus. We invited everyone to think of names of friends at uni that they wanted to pray for and invite to church/small group. Then we asked them to take a bold step and message those friends they had thought of, then and there, and invite them to church. As replies came back from friends responding ‘yes’ to the invitation of exploring faith, joy began to break out in the room. Students were dancing and running around the room by the end of the night.
That Sunday one of the student workers messaged the group to say that five students had come to church that day because of invitations from students at the Wide Awake night.
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As Fusion, we’ve noticed that there is a huge amount of spiritual openness among the student population at the moment. From a survey we’ve been doing, we estimate that 74% of non-christian students would go to church if they were invited by a friend. We know so many students in this nation are waiting for that invitation.
Have you thought about how you or your church could get involved with student mission? Reach out to us to hear more about Wide Awake nights, the survey, and Wide Awake, the Fusion conference happening on the 25th & 26th of June.
