Hope Street Wrexham is a church plant who have a heart for people to encounter God, to find home, to find meaning and to make a difference. They want to be a people of hope, who follow Jesus and give themselves away to see Wrexham renewed.
Since planting a church in Wrexham, they’ve intentionally wanted to reach and serve Wrexham University. They have done multiple things to reach the students on their doorstep. Despite the slow and difficult aspects of church planting, students have been coming to faith and been drawn to church. Nathan from Hope Street told us the story of a student called Luke*.
Luke walked into the church cafe just off the street wanting to speak to someone about church. He then went on to share that he had been on a faith journey by himself, growing up struggling with depression and poor mental health. A year prior to him coming to church, he was just coming out of a really difficult patch when he basically said to God (not necessarily the christian God, a God if he exists) that “if I make it through this time I’ll start exploring faith and will have a look at what’s out there.” By the time he came to church, he had explored and experimented with different faiths and landed on Christianity. It was through TikTok videos that he came across Scripture, ended up ordering himself a Bible, and started reading it on his own. It was only one year later that he found the courage to finally come into church and to ask about what it looks like to go to church and be a part of one.
A week after that interaction at the church cafe, Nathan met with Luke over coffee and prayed for him. At that moment, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and got very emotional, confessing that he’d “been a christian over a year and this was the first time anyone had ever prayed for him.” Since then, he’s been coming to church regularly and church is a home where he is inviting his friends to as well.
As fusion, we love hearing and sharing stories of how students are coming to faith and finding a home in a local church. Luke’s story is an amazing example of real life, complete transformation through the amazing work of God and the local church.
*Name changed to protect identity.
