Human cannonball acts are well known for being dangerous, but are not widely regarded as a safe method of transport. If your Aunty Edith needed to go shopping you wouldn’t suggest cannoning her down the high street. But now you are thinking about it, which is bad.

Imagine being a human cannonball. The anticipation when you are inside the cannon, looking around the dark, cold  gun metal. You hear the announcement of the launch, the roar of the crowd, the hiss of the fuse, boom! The launch itself would be a blur, I suspect, until the landing. This hopefully goes well but it is not guaranteed. Danger is often exciting but not always necessary. 

This autumn, many of us will launch young people from our churches, homes and schools to university. And my prayer is that we won’t launch them like human cannonballs around the UK. Let’s not just pummel our kids off into oblivion and hope they land safely. It is not good enough. Their anticipation is immense. Everything is a bit of a blur as they leave home. It feels dangerous and exciting, but surely it should be different.

This summer, I am buzzing round the country with Fusion, working to help hundreds of local churches send thousands of young people to university really well. We have a preparation for uni course that you can do in a youth group or even one-to-one. Have a look here. 

Going to university is a fantastic time of life, full of adventure, excitement and firsts. It is even better when plugged into a local church as well. A home away from home. A life line of God’s family, when your’s are far away. So if you are going to uni this autumn, or if you know anyone who is, please go to Student Linkup and register for free. We will then help you find a local church in the place you are going to uni.

What we need is a bridge to help people span the gap form home to uni, one church to another, adolescence to adulthood. We need more bridges, less cannons. Go to Student Linkup and help us bridge the gap.