Relay blog: welcomed into community

Kez is a Relay Worker, supporting Cambridge Inter-Collegiate (CICCU) and Anglia Riskin University CU (ARUCU) this year. As she looks back on the start of term, she notes God's generous and expansive invitation to Christian community and new life in Him.

There have been times in the past couple of months that I have felt like a fresher all over again. I have entered a new stage of life, with a new place to live, new housemates and a new schedule. It’s felt overwhelming and chaotic at times, and I’ve been unsure of what I’m meant to be doing when as I’ve navigated a new timetable.

God has blessed me even in this; I've been able to empathise with the new students who have arrived in universities right across the country.

The start of a new stage of life – while exciting – can feel disorienting at times and it's in these times that being welcomed into community is vital. I’ve had the joy of being welcomed into the new team that I will be working with for the year ahead – through paddle boarding trips with the UCCF Central team and lengthy conversations with my Staff Worker in our supervisions. The transition from being a student to working with students is a strange at times, but the warm and gentle welcome from my new team has helped me through that change, and I am immensely thankful to God for them.

Both CICCU and ARU have been busy welcoming new students into their communities. From freshers' fair stalls to three course banquets, the CUs have been making every effort they can to reach out to new students arriving in Cambridge. Their aim? To give every student in Cambridge the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus and respond to it themselves. A monumental task, but not one that is beyond the ability of our all-powerful God. The first CICCU central prayer meeting of this term was so well attended that we ran out of breakfast for everyone. As the words of When I survey the wondrous cross echoed around the old church and we huddled in small groups to pray for conversions in Cambridge this term, I couldn’t help but get excited for that God has in store for this new generation of Cambridge students.

Attending ARU’s freshers' fair was so encouraging. I saw the CU committee members grow in boldness over the course of an afternoon as they approached students and invited them along to their events. By God’s grace, many came! A couple of years ago, the CU group in ARU had on average five regular attendees to their weekly meetings; so far this term around 20 students have been coming along to their Impact Group Bible studies. I attended my first of these a couple of weeks ago and met Alec (name changed) who told me that he had become a Christian over the last year through the work of the CU and a local church in Cambridge. It was such an encouragement to hear Alec share his story, and be reminded once again that yes, God is at work!

One thing that has never failed to amaze me, both in my time as a student and now as a Relay Worker, is the openness of students to spiritual things and the seemingly endless opportunities to share the core truths of the gospel with people who have never considered it before. A highlight of the last couple of months for me was the CICCU international welcome dinner. I was on a table with three students from China who had minimal knowledge of Christianity. What a joy it was to be able to share with them what it means to be a Christian, and to see them begin to think about this, perhaps for the first time!

I know firsthand that this term is the most full-on and tiring of the year, but I also know and trust that it poses some of the best gospel opportunities with new students. So please pray for energy, both for the students and the UCCF team working here – that we would be sustained by joy. Most of all, pray for the good news of Jesus to go out in power, and for people to not only be welcomed into the CU community, but into the Kingdom of God.