At graduation, students carry all the formation of their university years into a new phase of life. For those who have met Jesus at university, this is their first opportunity to navigate discipleship in transition. For Yukino, a Japanese student at the University of Leeds, graduation felt particularly intimidating. “I was afraid to return to Japan at the end of my year studying in the UK, because I thought Japanese culture might shake my Christian faith. I can get easily influenced by people or the environment around me. I was only thinking about how my faith could survive.” Heading back to Japan meant taking her faith back to a country with few believers and a strong heritage of community-focussed culture, including an emphasis on conformity. The well-known Japanese proverb ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered down’ perhaps sums up some of what Yukino feared her experience may be.
Along with Yukino, Salome from Ecuador, Olga from Russia and Nikki from China all took part in Transformations’ Apprenticeship Programme for graduating international students. For Yukino it was transformative - “I learnt how powerful God is. That Japanese culture and Christianity are not completely conflicted with each other. That God can actually contain and hold Japanese culture and more than that, God can add more salt and flavour to it too! I didn’t need to be afraid. I feel that I trust God more now.”
“It helped me understand my own cultural worldview and how to transfer worldview biblically” shares Nikki. For Olga, learning what it meant to live for Jesus throughout life was key - “I learned how to be a Christian everywhere, all the time, not just at the church on Sundays” she says. Salome was excited about the ability not just to live out her faith but to share it with others - “We need to share the gospel according to the culture we’re in, because it differs from culture to culture”.
Students finding hope in Jesus and home in the local church is not just for their uni years. The legacy of these years stretches out for a lifetime, impacting relationships, workplaces, communities and nations. Equipping students, especially those returning to international communities, with confidence, insight and support makes a huge difference. What might it look like for you to support and champion those graduating this year, especially those in the international community?
If you know international students graduating this year or next, find out more about the Transformations Apprenticeship programme.
