Joseph could still hear the laughter echoing down the hall as he rushed out of the classroom. The words of his classmates rung in his ears.
“If God is so powerful, why would he let you fail the module?”
“Guess you should have just partied with us anyway since you ended up failing the class.”
“Look who isn’t so perfect after all!”
Joseph had done his best to respond to their jeers, but he did not know what to say. He loved God and wanted to serve him, but he had never been in a situation like this before. Going to university had changed everything. He had no desire to participate in the heavy drinking culture that was so pervasive on campuses in Zimbabwe. When he did not join in, his classmates responded by constantly challenging his faith.
The dilemmas he faced on campus led Joseph to sign up for the IFES Engaging the University e-course. Through this course, Joseph became connected with other university students from around the world who wanted to take a more active role engaging with issues on campus and in society. The course encouraged participants to think biblically and critically about their university context. They were also challenged to consider how they could use their discipline of study for the gospel. As a result, Joseph was equipped to be salt and light when engaging in tough conversations with his classmates.
Many students like Joseph encounter challenges once they go to university. Not only do they face opposition to their faith, but they must also confront difficult issues on campus and in the wider society. This week let’s pray for university students like Joseph who are starting classes in the next few months.
Pray for students entering university to use challenging circumstances to grow in their faith.
Pray that students will be salt and light as they engage with tough issues on their campuses.
Pray for the new cohort of students taking the Engaging the University e-course, beginning in September.
Do you want to be equipped to engage the university? There is still time to sign up for the Engaging the University e-course. Send an e-mail to engagingtheuni@ifesworld.org to sign up or learn more.
Many children in Zimbabwe feel forgotten. Since the arrival of HIV/AIDS in the ‘80s, the number of orphaned children in the country has increased dramatically. When their parents pass, other family members usually take care of them. Unfortunately, these relatives are often unable to provide for their needs and they end up on the street. As a result, they fall behind educationally and even socially. Older students as well as very young children turn to sex, drug abuse and alcoholism. This has grave consequences to their health and future. One glimmer of hope is education, but many do not have this opportunity. The cost of tuition is high, and scholarships are few. But for those orphans who do manage to receive financial assistance, education is life-changing.
Engagement Turns to Action
Godfree Shuro, a part-time staff member with FOCUS Zimbabwe, wants to make education accessible to orphaned children. He says IFES’s Engaging the University e-course inspired him to look for opportunities to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of his community. For a course assignment, Godfree created an initiative that would provide financial assistance for the education of orphaned children. He drew upon his own rural background to begin the Broiler Project. He and 20 other students began raising and selling broilers (a type of chicken) to raise funds. The money from the project currently covers the tuition of three primary school students for the next 6 years, and the monthly costs of school supplies for 20 secondary school students. On top of this, the group regularly gathers donated items from university students to give to primary and secondary students in rural areas.
Godfree says that they chose to raise chickens because it is an efficient way to earn money. It takes about six weeks to mature a chicken and the process is fairly low maintenance. The project is practical because there is a high demand for the chickens, and they can easily sell them in markets and to the university kitchens on campus.
The Broiler Project has also allowed the FOCUS students to put their own education into practice. Those studying agriculture raise the chickens, while the students who study business do the accounting and financial reports. He also notes that many of the students have a special interest in the project because they were orphaned. One such student is Innocent Gwatura, who works as treasurer for the project. He was fortunate to have received money from a trust for his secondary education, and he wants other orphans to have the same chance he did.
“When you are an orphan, it is more likely that you will be deprived from enjoying certain things in life. Being an uneducated orphan doubles this problem. So, I push to help other orphans to receive education because I want to show them that […] they can still do great things in life.”
Earning a Platform
In addition to meeting a physical need, the project gives FOCUS a platform for sharing the gospel. Godfree says,
“The project gave us the opportunity to talk about God in primary schools. Every time we visit, we get time to share the gospel with all the students. We also encourage them with different topics having to do with healthy life habits.
Godfree says that by working to alleviate a social need, more people are willing to listen to them.
The project also gave us the opportunity to share the gospel with all the staff members. They really appreciated the student initiative. I learned that if you do a good thing for a community, people start to give ear to you.”
Because of the pandemic, FOCUS is unable to visit schools. Fortunately, through social distancing measures they can continue raising the chickens. The group has also used money donated from a partner group to buy food for children who have been financially affected by the virus. Godfree believes that every little bit they can do counts.
“We are trying to grow. It is still small, and we are starting small, but we are looking forward to growing big to impact the community.”
The Broiler Project shows how a movement can take small steps to make a big impact. What are ways that you can meet a social need around you?
“It is just too much to handle.” That is a common sentiment in Nigeria, where the poverty rate is among the highest in the world and many students have dysfunctional families. For this reason, mental health issues are prevalent, yet few recognize them. Many students believe that their feelings of anxiety or depression are caused by a force of evil. They often feel shame when their depression and anxiety do not vanish with prayer, which makes the problem worse. They are unequipped to realize they are dealing with trauma.
NIFES Nigeria is responding to this problem through organizing mental health classes for students, leaders, and graduates. Through the training, participants learn to recognize poor mental health and its contributing factors. While the classes do not devalue the importance of prayer, they show participants that God can bring healing through counseling and therapy. Hankuri Tawus Gaya, the area director who organized the initiative, says that it is vital that people understand the link between faith and mental health.
“If you are a part of mental health therapy, it doesn’t make you less of a believer. Rather it affirms that you are a Christian who believes in what God has provided. There is no separation between our faith and mental health. In fact, if there is anyone who should drive the message of mental health, it is Christians.”
Once they had the tools to recognize and deal with their trauma, some students experienced deep healing. Winnifred, a student who participated said that the course helped her to see mental health differently.
“The mental health course was indeed a transformational journey for me. The class gave me another perspective of viewing life’s problems the way God views them.”
This week, let’s pray for NIFES students, leaders, and graduates.
Pray that the participants of these classes would share what they learned with their friends. Pray that future trainings would be used as an effective outreach for nonbelievers.
Pray for NIFES students, graduates, and staff who are burdened with financial and relational issues. Pray that they would reach out for help when the burden is too great.
Pray for the NIFES National Director, Mr. Rex Onuh, as he provides leadership during the new reality of COVID-19.
I grew up in a broken, polygamous family in Uganda. My mother left me when I was six months old with my stepmother and my father. My stepmother only cared for her biological children. She didn’t want my father to support my siblings or me in our education.
In my third year of secondary school, my father stopped paying my tuition fees. My siblings and I had to stay at home and work. I started doing odd jobs around the village to earn some money.
I also started praying.
Hope and loss
Eventually my father agreed to let me attend the school where he was a teacher – a Muslim secondary school. I finished secondary school with good grades and was given a loan to study at university. My uncle offered to pay for my transport, accommodation and food. It was a good first semester. But it didn’t last long. My uncle passed away suddenly, and my support stopped.
I felt so helpless. I questioned God. It seemed like he had abandoned me after lifting me up. Without money to pay for transport, I had to walk several kilometres to attend my lectures. I also had to start working part-time to support my upkeep.
But then my own mother heard about my hardships and started working again. The money she gave me allowed me to rent a hostel room near campus, and everything changed.
A new chapter
The day I moved to the hostel, I wanted to thank God for his grace to me. I joined the local IFES Christian Union (CU) and started to serve as chief usher.
Soon after that I was appointed as the general secretary of the CU.
Through the CU, God has taught me forgiveness, courage and love. That’s changed me. I’ve learned how to align myself with the Lord and pray for my academics and family.
I have been hurt in the past by people I loved the most, but that does not stop me from showing them love and kindness. Today I still go back to the village to visit my stepmother and my siblings. I do not get angry with my dad for neglecting me because, through the CU, I’ve learned that the love of God is sufficient for me. I had never experienced so much love like the love I receive in the presence of God.
I want to serve the Lord with all my heart. I would like to be a leader in the Church.
As Toose’s student days drew to a close, his life in Liberia looked set. After graduating with an economics degree last year, he was offered a good job with a local bank. For financial security and an impressive status, it seemed an obvious choice. But much to the surprise of his friends and the disapproval of his family, Toose turned it down and joined the LIFES Liberia staff team instead:
“Ministry is my passion. I couldn’t choose any other job over that. If I need to make sacrifices so that others can hear about Jesus and be saved like me, then I’m willing to do it.”
Toose is one of eight LIFES staff who support student ministry with 16 student fellowships across five regions. He wants to see students growing in Scripture engagement and leadership, the way he did at university.
Toose asked for prayer:
The hearts of many students are hard because of false teaching they have heard and believe. Pray that students will receive the true gospel and apply it to their lives and study.
Pray that Toose would have strength, courage and wisdom in his work, as well as financial support and safety in traveling long distances between campuses.
LIFES would like to expand their ministry into five new regions in the near future. Pray for more workers.
The classroom walls are bare. Five or six teenagers crowd around each small wooden table, reading. Their teacher is not much older than them – Helena. She’s just graduated from university and is spending a year serving a community in northeast Ghana, as part of the GHAFES Ghana STICS program.
Helena is there with another graduate, Bright. Together they’ve set up a reading club, two youth clubs and a library – besides their ongoing work of teaching in the local school, serving in the four churches and sharing the gospel with the 95% Muslim population.
Graduates Peter and Faustina are serving elsewhere on STICS programs, teaching and working with the local church and community. The area they’re in is 98% Muslim. There is no internet, no lighting. Temperatures are regularly well over 40°C. It’s not an easy environment.
But Peter and Faustina have been able to start a reading and writing club, preach regularly at church, offer career guidance and counselling for high school students and speak at community durbars (meetings for the local community where issues like education or hygiene are discussed).
Will you pray for these GHAFES graduates this week?
Thank God for the 35 graduates taking part in STICS programs this year, seeking to bless rural, poor communities in Ghana.
Pray that God would sustain and equip them. Their workloads and responsibilities are great!
Pray that these communities would be changed as people hear the gospel.
2009. James and Albert had just graduated from university. A huge change lay ahead. They packed their belongings and moved to Abrewankor, a village in rural mid Ghana. Abrewankor had no electricity, internet connection or proper road network. The two young graduates were to spend a year teaching at the local junior high school.
It was not going to be glamourous. Most of their friends were doing their national service placement year in the city, in jobs that would better their career prospects. But James and Albert were volunteering as part of the GHAFES Ghana initiative STICS (Short-Term Involvement in Community Service). They wanted to make a difference.
Light in the classroom
The school did not have a good reputation. It often ranked last in the district for its exam results. But slowly, things began to change. James and Albert bought a computer and a diesel generator to provide the students with light in the evenings. Albert used his electrical engineering skills to provide the school with wiring. They also shared the gospel with the students.
At the end of the year, the students’ results were the best ever. The school ranked second in the district league table.
A monumental goal
A year later, four other STICS graduates moved to Abrewankor to continue the work James and Albert had started. Exam results improved further. They then set themselves the goal of producing university graduates by 2015, a huge challenge academically and financially.
To raise the required funding, the STICS team set up the Abrewankor Education Fund and mobilised the community to contribute to it by donating a share of their crops for sale. They also raised funds from GHAFES networks and from their own pockets.
To date, over 80 Abrewankor students have benefited from the fund and 60 students are studying at university. 12 will graduate this year – five of whom are expecting to join the GHAFES STICS program.
Victoria: a lamp, a laptop and a drop-out
Victoria was posted to the local junior high school of Monyupelle in 2009 to teach religious and moral education, as part of the STICS program. Her parents wanted her to find a better placement, but she declined. With a rechargeable lamp and a laptop, she had everything she needed for teaching and evangelism. Every evening the students would gather around Victoria’s lamp to do their homework until the light ran out. Then they would listen as she shared Bible stories with them, before returning to their own homes.
There was one boy, Simon, who would join the students on a regular basis. Victoria found out that he had dropped out of school. She decided to enrol him in their school, aged 14. Simon excelled academically and eventually came top of his class in the final year exams. He is currently awaiting further exam results and would like to study medicine.
GHAFES Ghana
Clement: impacting a Muslim community
Clement’s STICS placement was to Zua, a predominantly Muslim community, in 2013. There was no electricity there, no church and no Christian witness – nor were any Christian activities allowed. Clement taught in the school and mobilised the youth for developemental projects in the village. He ran seminars for the young people, where he invited experts to come and speak about different issues in the community.
The chief of the community and his elders recognised the work that Clement was doing. They decided to offically welcome him as a full member of the community and as the Development Chief of Zua.
This has resulted in improved school exam results. Some students are now studying development studies and other degree programs at university. Clement is still a teacher, and is also working on a hospital development project in Zua which will serve Zua and four other communities in the area. The community in Zua have now allowed a church to be planted there.
How STICS came about
In Ghana, all graduates from tertiary institutions must complete a compulsory one-year national service. Most students (and their parents) are keen to secure urban postings to institutions where future job prospects are high. But GHAFES believe that Christian students and graduates can and should make a difference to change the world, given the right support. GHAFES wants its graduates to be models for young people, helping to transform communities for Jesus.
Since the STICS program began in 2009, 159 GHAFES graduates have chosen to take postings in deprived, rural areas. What’s their motivation? Simply a love for Jesus Christ and a deep conviction that they have been called to be agents of hope.
There are currently 35 graduates serving with the STICS program, working in sectors such as agriculture, co-operatives, education, health, church leadership and church planting, local government and rural development.
A model for Ghana
In a recent public lecture organised by GHAFES, the stories of these four STICS graduates were shared, along with several others. Ghana’s Finance Minister was present and gave a short address, requesting 100 such GHAFES graduates to join the country’s revenue department:
“I hope that Ghana will follow GHAFES for its Ghana Beyond Aid agenda (current financial development plan).”
Africa’s Eden – you can find it floating off the coast of Gabon: the tropical island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. With its spectacular beaches, vast stretches of rainforest, dramatic volcanic rock formations, and vast array of fruit, marine life, birds and plants, it really is a tropical paradise.
In the university world however, it’s a different story: these two small islands still have no university student witness.
A moment of breakthrough
After a decade of praying, two EPSA staff members finally had the chance to visit last year. Lawrence and Frederico met the chaplain of the national secondary school. He had been longing to see a university fellowship start up. He showed them around four university campuses and introduced them to local evangelical pastors. They had the opportunity to share the IFES vision and were welcomed warmly. The local pastors had been praying for this too!
There were other answers to prayer: two of the local pastors with experience in financial institutions were willing to help with graduate ministry. Lawrence and Frederico also met some local students who were excited to get prayer groups started. The students now have inductive Bible study guides in Portuguese, and the EPSA staff hope to return soon to provide leadership training to ten students.
A long road ahead
It’s an exciting start, but Lawrence and Frederico know there will be challenges ahead.
The islands are predominantly Roman Catholic and only have a small evangelical population. The church is financially poor. Lawrence and Frederico have not yet found a local Christian to coordinate the pioneering work in a full-time capacity, and there is no guarantee the university authorities will allow the new fellowships to meet.
Please pray with us that these challenges can be overcome, and that God would establish a thriving student movement in São Tomé and Príncipe.
Give today to support IFES pioneering initiatives in unreached countries like this one:
In Sierra Leone, student union elections are often violent. Last year, students of SLEFES, the IFES movement there, launched a successful non-violence campaign in the run-up to the elections at their university.
Elsewhere, SLEFES students have been speaking out against the widespread exam malpractice, encouraging fellow students to study and score grades they deserve. SLEFES students on another campus initiated a project to provide offline library resources for students on campus, since internet connectivity was a challenge.
What do all these stories have in common?
They are all examples of students thinking bigger – or ‘engaging the university’.
Matthew has been working with SLEFES for nine years. He had always thought that campus ministry was just about evangelism with students. But through the IFES Engaging the University (ETU) course he came to see the bigger scope of university ministry: everyone on campus needs the gospel: students, lecturers, faculty and staff. And it is the Christian’s role to bring a biblical perspective into every conversation, every discipline, every program.
Matthew writes:
“The ETU course served as an eye opener into how Christian students can be involved in the on-going conversations in their universities. Now I am helping SLEFES students to creatively and biblically engage in discussions happening on their campuses.”
Give thanks for the ETU course and for the way it helped Matthew better equip SLEFES students to live faithfully as Jesus’ disciples in every aspect of university life.
Pray that through these SLEFES initiatives, students, lecturers, faculty and staff – as well as campus life in general – would be transformed by the gospel.
Sona* was just one of the students impacted by GBU student ministry in Guinea Bissau. Through attending GBU Bible studies and training events, Sona felt called and equipped to serve both in the law courts and through opening the Bible with others.
Guinea Bissau desperately needs more graduates like Sona, committed to living as disciples of Christ, and transforming their workplaces, churches and communities. The West African country is one of the poorest in the world and faces problems of infrastructure, political instability, and drug trafficking. Most people practise animism or Islam.
In July this year the student movement officially joined IFES. While there is much to celebrate in reaching this milestone, the GBU movement needs our prayers as much as ever.
There are currently five GBU groups across the country, but this year numbers have declined. Universities do not have campuses, so students tend to go home straight after their classes finish. They would like to be able to offer students snacks during the meetings but cannot afford to do so. Please pray for breakthrough:
Pray for more students to attend and lead GBU groups as the new academic year gets underway. Pray that groups can be started on new campuses.
Pray that God would provide the financial support needed for the ministry to flourish.
Pray for wisdom for the general secretary and those who work with students in Guinea Bissau.
Pray for more graduates like Sona, committed to living as disciples of Christ in in their workplaces and communities.
