Three years ago, two young FES Malaysia staff moved to Timor-Leste to help pioneer student ministry and the IFES student group Kernels of Wheat began. It’s been a steep learning curve for them, grappling with a new language, culture and pastoral issues. Students often come with a history of broken relationships, of physical or sexual abuse at home. Those wanting to find out more about the Christian faith risk further abuse from family or people in the community.
Recently there have been some encouragements. Over the past year, 10-12 students have been attending the weekly Bible study group. Two of the regulars were actually from other campuses. They wanted to see groups start up there as well. So now there are three Bible studies happening across three different campuses. They’ve called the groups Liafun Moris, which means ‘Living Word’ in the local language.
Pray with us for the students of Timor-Leste as they look together at God’s word each week.
Pray that these three Bible study groups would grow in numbers and in love for Jesus over the coming year.
Pray for the redemption of broken families and communities.Pray for the Kernels of Wheat (KOW) team to have wisdom and perseverance as they make plans for the year ahead.
Bolortsetseg grew up in the west of Mongolia, a region known for its stunning mountainous landscape and strong Buddhist influences. It is common for families to start the day by boiling milk tea and leaving it in cups in front of household idols. It is not common for people to become followers of Jesus.
Bolortsetseg is a medical student in Ulaanbaatar, the country’s capital city. Her Christian friends encouraged her to go along to their FCS Mongolia group. Bolortsetseg went and was amazed to hear what Christians believed: through Jesus alone you could be accepted by God. There was no need for daily sacrifices or rituals. Jesus’ sacrifice was enough!
This news was too good to keep to herself. It wasn’t long before Bolortsetseg started reading the Bible with her non-Christian friends and sharing the gospel with students she met on campus. Sometimes they laugh at her, but she keeps going. She is now keen to start up a group in the medical school.
“God is so mighty beyond our imagination. My life has been greatly transformed by Him. Before I came to know God, I was very lonely. It felt like there was something missing. But ever since I met God and felt His love, I’ve found what was missing.”
Please pray for student ministry in Mongolia:
Pray Bolortsetseg would continue to grow spiritually and share her faith boldly with friends and family.
Pray that university authorities would start to allow FCS groups to meet on campus.
Pray that many more students would come to know Jesus through FCS evangelistic events in the coming year.
Pray that new FCS groups can be pioneered in other cities in Mongolia.
It is not unusual to hear stories of ministry to international students. But it’s not every day that we hear stories about the ministry of international students.
And perhaps that’s understandable. It’s not easy being an international student. Just going about your daily student life — catching the bus, buying your lunch, going to the library — these normal activities can be lonely, bewildering and overwhelming. In that situation many of us would be concentrating on just surviving — not on evangelism. Besides, you probably don’t speak the language very well; you don’t understand the culture. To share the gospel with local people seems impossible. You’re just an outsider. Unqualified. Right?
Meet Kristine.
Kristine is 25 and grew up on the tiny island of Guam in the South Pacific. She’s an international student in Tokyo, doing a Masters in literature. And she loves Jesus.
Gaikokujin
The first semester was the worst. Peaceful island life seemed a world away from life in this sprawling, sleepless city of 38 million people. Yet Kristine felt alone. Her exchange friends were only there for a short time, and they liked to go out and get drunk. Kristine didn’t know about the Christian group on her campus. She wanted to get to know local people but struggled to move beyond ‘acquaintances’ into real friendship. They called her ‘gaikokujin’ — outsider. It was a daily reminder of her identity as a foreigner. She realised that no matter how good her Japanese language got, she would never be considered one of them.
“Why am I here, Lord?” she wondered.
Kristine soon discovered that her ‘outsider’ status was not necessarily a disadvantage. On the contrary, God was using it to open doors ‘insiders’ couldn’t access.
The mother of Kristine’s host family teaches English to people in her neighbourhood. She was planning a special lesson for Christmas and Kristine was invited to go along as a native-English-speaking guest. She agreed to let Kristine tell the Nativity story during the lesson and give out Nativity comics to the children. They listened attentively.
Another day Kristine met an elderly lady on the bus. The lady was intrigued by the foreigner. They got talking and swapped numbers. Two years on they still meet up every couple of months. Kristine is open about her Christian faith and asks this elderly lady how she can pray for her.
In the Japanese culture, it’s hard to share the gospel. Most people don’t want to hear it. Especially not from another Japanese person. It doesn’t fit with their expectations of what it means to be Japanese. Yet for foreigners, those social expectations and restrictions don’t apply in the same way. As an outsider, you can get away with more. Sometimes people are more willing to listen to the gospel when it’s shared by someone coming from outside their own context. And outsiders like Kristine have the added appeal of being fluent in English. Rather than being a hindrance to evangelism, the language barrier can be a useful tool, providing a way to meet people, build friendships and share lives together.
Investing on campus
After she had been there a while, Kristine discovered the KGK Japan group. A number of them decided to start meeting together every morning before class for a short time of Bible study and prayer. Two students were particularly regular and became close friends with Kristine. Each morning they’d share how God had answered their prayers of the day before. One of them enjoyed it so much that she started doing devotions with her family. Once a week she’d cook her parents breakfast and then sit down with them to study the Bible together. The other student was a new Christian, and the only believer in her family. Those morning devotions were a time of exciting spiritual growth for her. She decided to get baptised, and has started praying for her family to turn to Christ.
One-sheep mentality
This life-on-life approach takes time, commitment and effort. But that’s the kind of investment Japan needs. 99.4% of people in Japan are not following Christ. That’s not going to change with a hit-and-run mission approach. They need to see life with Jesus lived out authentically, day after day, year after year. Kristine knows she might never see large numbers of Japanese people turning to Christ. But she’s willing to stick it out, for as long as God calls her to stay. She talks about having a ‘one-sheep mentality’ — a willingness to go all out just for one person, patiently sharing and living out the gospel, praying for the miracle of salvation.
For Kristine, this foreign country has become her home. She even found herself supporting Japan in the Football World Cup! Though it’s hard always being viewed as an outsider, she recognises the unique opportunity that that status affords to reach people with the gospel. As she’s spent time investing in friendships and praying for Japan, she’s grown to love its people more and more.
KGK staff-worker Yasu longs to see more servant-hearted international students moving to Japan:
“I think international students have the potential to influence the Japanese church and campus ministry positively. They bring new passion, energy, and perspectives. That will be key for the gospel to advance further in Japan.”
International students might seem unlikely people to share the gospel, given the language and cultural barriers. But Kristine’s story is a reminder that God is more than able to use us in our weakness, as the gospel is proclaimed among the nations.
Every city in the world needs Christians committed to living out the gospel. But the overwhelming majority of graduates end up living in a city where there are already many Christians and thriving churches, while millions of unreached people continue to live beyond the reach of the gospel. Staggeringly, a third of the world’s population are still living outside the reach of a church.
Some graduates have prayerfully and proactively chosen to live and work in places where they can bring God’s light to those living in darkness. Read on to meet graduates who have done just that.
After graduating Sophie* landed the job of her dreams. But before long she started to feel uncomfortable. She felt that her job mattered more to her than Jesus. And it didn’t satisfy.
A few months later Sophie heard about a short-term mission trip taking Bibles in to a country in East Asia. It struck a chord with her. She’d always loved exploring new countries and cultures, and she signed up to go. But she didn’t expect those two weeks to have quite such a significant impact on the direction of her life.
Fast-forward one year and Sophie is now preparing to go back for the second time. This time she’ll stay for at least two months. She’ll be working with a Christian organisation doing a job that encompasses her skills, experience and passions: nursing, food research and environmental sustainability, all in one.
Sophie leaves a lot behind. And it’s a dangerous place for Christians to live. Is it really worth it?
“Yes, it’s worth it, because Jesus is worth it”, Sophie says. “I’m very conscious of how much the Lord has done for me. I have no reason not to trust Him. He’s always provided for me. And this opportunity seems tailor-made for me!”
Would it not be easier just to go back to the job of her dreams?
“The world tells you to get the best job you can. And I did that at first, but it didn’t satisfy. The only thing I want now is to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.”
In Moldova, around four out of five graduates move abroad in search of a well-paid job and a better quality of life. But Tanya didn’t. After completing her Masters studies in mathematics, Tanya and her husband (who was working as a policeman) felt that God was calling them to go back to their village to live and work.
They said goodbye to their comfortable city life and moved back to the village. No running water. No sanitation system. No heating during the cold winter months.
Tanya started working as a maths teacher in a high school. She got involved in the lives of the pupils there. They were needy. Some of them were living with alcoholic parents. Others were being brought up by grandparents or other relatives.
Tanya began to pray for them. After class she’d talk to them, give them attention, encourage them and show them the love they were lacking.
Tanya and her local church now help children from socially vulnerable families every week. They organise activities through which they can share the gospel, and they help them with their homework.
Praise the Lord for such graduates, who were missionaries amongst students during their student days, and now have chosen to take the gospel back to their villages.
South Asia: Bringing Jesus to places where He is not yet known
After graduating, my church went through the journey of Paul’s life. As I sat there every Sunday, I was challenged. Paul’s life was far from comfortable. A life truly following Jesus is not meant to be centred on comfort and worldly security. But at that time, my life was heading in that direction; it challenged me and made me uneasy.
So when I graduated about four years ago, my husband and I decided to move to a mega-city in South Asia. We started a company to raise health awareness. We see ourselves as business owners who love Jesus.
For us, our business is both our work and our ministry. We work eight hours every day alongside our employees who don’t know Jesus. Daily, we are faced with challenges of cultural misunderstandings, corruption and fraud. Our employees see how we face these challenges with God, and when they see Jesus in us, it is life-changing.
Families and friends are not always supportive. It seems crazy to them for us to leave behind a good job and home. And that can be tough. But when life gets hard, I look around me: most of my local friends here live close to poverty and desperately need to know of the freedom of life in Christ. Our Father sees this and He is calling out for disciples to go to these nations. We consider it such a privilege and an adventure to partner with God to bring Jesus to places where He is not yet known.
Ireland: Being intentional in the workplace
When I heard the local hair salon was advertising for a junior stylist, I decided to apply. It wasn’t a great career move. I could have earned more money working for a big chain. But my church had a real heart for reaching out to the community, and I thought this would be a good way to meet local people.
As I started the new job I wanted to see the salon as my mission field. I wanted the way I worked and the way I spoke to point my clients and colleagues to Jesus.
In my hometown, when you go to get your hair cut you’ll always be asked the same questions: why are you getting your hair done? Are you going somewhere nice tonight? But I wanted to really get to know people, so I tried to stay away from those dead-end questions. I would ask things like, ‘How’s your week been going?’ or ‘What have you been up to today?’ Then I’d try to remember to ask about those things the next time they came in.
I found it hard at first. But I’ve become a bit more comfortable with taking risks in conversation. The way I talk about what’s happening in the news, or what I did at the weekend — those can be opportunities to speak about Jesus. Maybe they’ll think I’m weird — but maybe they’ll ask questions and want to know more.
Moving strategically
In our increasingly globalised world, taking the gospel to the nations doesn’t necessarily mean going overseas. Universities are places where the nations are coming to us in vast numbers. Are there international students in your classroom or dormitory that you could get to know better?
And as you prepare to graduate, why not prayerfully consider moving strategically to a gospel-starved country or city or village? Could you use your degree and skills in a place where most people don’t yet know Jesus? Could you do business, teach in a school, work in a hospital or do further education in an unreached place?
It might not be easy, but, as Sophie says, it’s worth it.
The summer months of the year are usually the time when students enjoy their longest extended break from lectures, studying and exams. Many take the opportunity to go on short-term mission trips to experience another culture, get a flavour for overseas mission and serve the local church.
Tricia, a social work student of FES Singapore, was one of six students who went for a mission exposure trip with SONOKO Cambodia last year. The team spent a month meeting with local missionaries, praying together, helping with outreach events and teaching English to local children. Tricia shared her reflections of the trip:
The reality of cross-cultural missions
While we were in Cambodia, we spent time with local missionaries. It gave me the opportunity to see the struggles and joys of the mission field first-hand. It was no longer about simply ‘knowing’, but actually seeing and experiencing it for myself.
I saw what loneliness on the mission field looked like. For foreign missionaries, even after many years of language study and partnering with the locals, the challenge of assimilating into a community remains. Much time and effort are needed to understand a culture deeply in order to contextualize the gospel and to share it. I saw how daily strivings are not always matched with instant returns. I was overwhelmed by the many things that you have to consider, to give up, and to invest, in order to win people for Christ.
I also witnessed the beauty of community. When the Lord’s workers came together there was real joy, tight embraces and happy chatter. Even though ministry is often lonely, the Lord blesses with community.
As I reflect on their sacrifice, I keep coming back to these questions:
How much do I desire for people to come to know Christ? And with careful calculation of the cost, how much of my life am I willing to put into sharing the Gospel?
FES Singapore
Prayer walking
Some of my favourite experiences were the prayer walks that the SONOKO team led us in around the universities. Prayer walking was new to many of us in the team. At first, without knowledge of the culture and context, we did not know what to pray for. However, as we walked, we learned how to pray. We prayed for God to move in the hearts of the students. We prayed that they would come to know Him as their personal Saviour during their time on campus. And we also took the opportunity to invite them to the outreach events coming up at the weekend.
One image that remains fresh in my mind till this day was of one of the staff-workers during our prayer walk. It was in the middle of day. The streets were noisy and busy. We were all walking in single file on the pavement. As I walked behind her, I saw her running her hands along the campus walls, her mouth moving silently in prayer. That left a big impression on me. It conveyed the quiet trust and powerful confidence she had that God is moving in the campuses.
Student ministry in Cambodia
While we were there we learned about the history of the movement in Cambodia, SONOKO, and some of the challenges it faces today.
They have a saying: ‘To be Khmer (Cambodian), is to be Buddhist’. Unsurprisingly then, it’s difficult and rare for someone to profess their Christian faith publicly. National identity and religious allegiance are intrinsically linked in Cambodia. So if you take Buddhism out of a Khmer, will that person still be considered Khmer? When a Khmer becomes a Christian, how do we address their sudden identity crisis and their exclusion from mainstream society? These are some of the challenges that SONOKO must grapple with.
Hearing from the staff of the movement was a moving experience. I was touched to see their emotion when they were praying for their students. I was humbled when they asked us about our student fellowship in Singapore, wanting to learn from us.
It opened my eyes to the bigger picture of worldwide student ministry. It’s way bigger than just my fellowship group, meeting on a Thursday on our campus!
And it changed my perspective. Back in Singapore, we have air-conditioned seminar rooms and lecture theatres to hold our gatherings. We have workshops that help us to develop an eternal perspective on issues like mental health, broken families, and social mobility. We have plenty of resources — just look at the FES library! Yet how often do I appreciate and give thanks for my fellowship?
FES Singapore
Being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable
I would say to any other students considering going on a mission exposure trip: Go for it! Let’s strive to be curious, to ask questions, and to be teachable. Let’s try to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. All to know a greater love, all to love with a deeper love.
Tricia is just one IFES student who was changed through a short-term mission trip. Read more stories of students using their holidays to serve outside their comfort zone and share the gospel with people in different cities, regions and countries.
For further reflections on using holiday time to explore God’s world and catch His heart for the nations, read this article.
The ancient city of Solo in Indonesia is considered by many to be the centre of Javanese tradition and identity. Today it’s home to 500,000 people. 80% are Muslims, and that percentage is rising. Though outnumbered significantly, Christian students are praying the tide will turn. They’re praying their friends would be willing to hear about Jesus Christ. They’re praying for open doors.
During Ramadan, PERKANTAS Indonesia students have been gathering together every day in Solo and other cities, to pray for the Muslims on their campus. They’ve also been meeting once a week for training to learn about Islam and how to share the gospel with Muslims. They hope to have opportunities to get to know Muslim students more deeply and start up conversations with them.
While open doors are few, there have been some encouragements. Graduates and alumni have had opportunities to share the gospel through medical home visits and through a counselling ministry with Muslim students. They pray on for the harvest.
Join us in praying for students in Indonesia:
Pray that God would encourage PERKANTAS students as they gather each day to pray for their Muslim friends.
Pray for open doors to share the gospel on campus and for courage to speak.
When they found the book in her bag, they were furious. They didn’t realize their daughter had actually been on this journey for years.
Curious about Christ
It began when she was in high school. That was when Mila* first started to question the Muslim faith her devout Muslim parents had instilled in her. It was part of her Indonesian identity. But she had doubts and felt a growing desire to know about Christianity. She was curious. She had often talked with Christian friends about spiritual things. She had been along regularly to the Christian fellowship in her school on Friday nights.
One day her friend brought her along to an event at our student centre. That was the first time I met Mila. She stood out — the only one wearing the hijab in a room full of Christian students. I asked her if she’d like to join our Bible study group. To my surprise, she agreed.
Meeting Jesus through the Bible
We began our learning with the stories of the prophets. Starting from Genesis, we read how God had sacrificed an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve after they had sinned. We read how God provided a ram in place of Abraham sacrificing his son. We read about the sacrificial rules God gave to Moses and the Israelites. We read the story of Isa Al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah), the perfect sacrifice, who fulfilled the requirements for our redemption and reconciliation.
At that point I asked her what she believed about Isa Al-Masih. She confessed that Isa is God and Saviour.
After that, Mila continued to be discipled and attend our Bible study groups.
Inner struggle
But then one day Mila’s mother found a Christian book in her bag. Her parents were angry. They were afraid of their daughter becoming an apostate. Since that day they’ve become very protective. They don’t allow her to see her Christian friends anymore. Every day Mila must meet with the Muslim chaplain to learn Islamic doctrine again and restore her to her Muslim faith. However, Mila continues to meet and study the Bible with me on campus.
In her ID card, she’s still a Muslim. And she’s still wearing the hijab. But on the inside, she’s struggling. She knows that following Jesus means being willing to suffer persecution, but she’s afraid that this will break her relationship with her family. She’s afraid to hurt the people she loves.
My prayer is that she’d find the answer through our Bible studies and that her heart to share the gospel would grow. We’ve started praying together for her family and her friends. I’m praying that God would use her to reach those in her inner circle. This is the best strategy to reach out to Muslim people in the Indonesian context.
One of many
Mila’s story is just one of many. There are many Muslim students who have become believers even though they remain Muslims on their ID cards. And more are searching for the answer to their questions about faith.
Please pray for our country. Pray that Christian students would have a heart to befriend and guide their Muslim friends on campus to find the answer in Jesus. Pray that, as in Mila’s story, God would be working in the lives of more and more Muslim students.
Japan is well-known for its technology, its food, its cherry blossom, and its pop culture. It’s not known for its Christian faith. Less than 1% of people follow Jesus Christ. The majority of university campuses have no Christian witness at all.
Now is a great time of year to be praying for students in Japan, as their new academic year gets underway. Many KGK groups will be holding new student welcome events on their campuses over the next few weeks. They’ll be putting up posters, distributing flyers and organising events.
On some campuses, however, that’s not allowed. Problems with cult groups in the past have made universities wary of ‘religious activity’, and in some places Christian groups are not allowed to be officially registered. In such cases, KGK groups use local churches as venues for events, and rely on alumni to connect them with new students.
Please join us in praying for Japan’s 3.2 million students at this critical time:
Pray for new Christian students starting university to get connected to a KGK group.
Pray for new students to capture a vision for living out their faith on campus.
Pray for favour with campus administration, so that all KGK groups can be recognised officially.
Pray for protection from cult activities – they too are active in ‘recruiting’ during this season.
It’s not easy being a Christian student in Cambodia.
You’re one of a tiny minority. There are no other Christians in your class or in your dormitory. In this Buddhist country, your teachers frequently scorn the Christian faith. You’re not allowed to meet publicly with other Christians on campus. You feel isolated. On top of that, money is tight. You have to balance studying with a part-time job, and that makes it difficult to get to your fellowship group. Just keeping going is hard.
That’s why the annual FES/SONOKO Cambodia student conference is such an important time. As student leaders come together from different universities across the country, they’re reminded that they’re not alone. They’re reminded that they have a great God and a great gospel to share. They’re reminded of God’s heart for the lost. Last year one student at the conference said:
“If we want to reach all universities, why are SONOKO student groups only in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh? If we want to reach more students we need to go to other cities too!”
In a couple of weeks’ time, around 30 students will attend this year’s training conference: ‘Walk with Jesus on campus’. Local staff will lead workshops on discipleship, inductive Bible studies and leading small groups.
Join us in praying for this conference and for the needs of FES/SONOKO:
Pray that that students attending would be envisioned to live and speak for Jesus on campus.
Pray that students would be equipped to start leading Bible studies.Pray that student groups would be started in other cities.
Pray for FES/SONOKO as they work on the process of affiliating with IFES.
Good music. Fun games. Free food. Friendly people. Students the world over love these things. That’s why more than 200 students were drawn to IVCF Philippines weekly Thursday Café. It was a safe place to chat and ask questions, a safe place to find out more about the person of Jesus. It was a highlight of the week not only for the guests, but also for the Christian students serving there week by week, learning to share the gospel with new friends. As a result of the café, five small group Bible studies have been started.
The IFES Innovation Project supported this and many other student initiatives to share the gospel on campus in creative and innovative ways. Find out more about how IFES is supporting student evangelism around the world.
