Region / Country: North America

“Leave your comfortable, safe, secure life for the chance to live an extraordinary life, full of risk, stepping out into the unknown. I will be with you throughout it all, and as you go where I send you, the world will be changed forever!”

A thoughtful quiet filled the room. At this Bible study, Trevor Kouritzin, a (post)graduate student at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, had just paraphrased God’s invitation to Abram (Genesis 12). Now, the dozen graduate students were processing what it meant for them to follow God in the risky places where they feel called.

“Graduate students face very specific challenges,” says Alan Chettle, staff worker with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Canada. He notes how most are expected to work hours far beyond what is reasonable. And, despite their great achievements (the University of Alberta is one of Canada’s top teaching and research institutions), many still struggle with imposter syndrome – the anxious belief that one’s success is undeserved or unrelated to one’s efforts or skill.

Having studied for a Master’s and PhD, Alan can identify with their pressures and offers spiritual direction on what rest and self-worth look like from a biblical perspective. He has also been able to share from his own experiences of talking about his faith as a graduate student. After one Bible study, he received a text message from Sarah, a PhD candidate in Human Nutrition: “These Bible studies have really ministered to my spirit… If we are present and available, God will open doors to share.”

Evangelism is a challenge for graduate students: in contrast to the large numberof undergraduates who have wide social interactions, they spend much of their time in labs or offices, behind locked doors. Yet this can have an upside: smaller research communities present an opportunity to forge deeper relationships and build the trust needed for any talk of faith.

Indeed, speaking about Jesus is one of the risky places that the graduate student group have felt called to embrace despite feeling ill-equipped to speak—and anxious about how they might be perceived. Therefore Alan, along with three student leaders, will guide the group through some InterVarsity/USA training materials (which have been adapted for the Canadian context) in the coming weeks.

Here is a handful of students taking part in an ordinary campus Bible study. But this is where God is doing business – calling ‘the brightest and the best’ to step out and change the world.

You can find out about graduate student ministry in Europe here.

All around the world, students are displaying God’s love in practical ways. In the DRC, they use sports, in Cuba, they use comedy, drama and sweets, and in Canada, students are using gifts of groceries to demonstrate God’s love to students who are struggling financially. 

Naomie is a final year student. Originally from Cameroon, she has been studying in Trois-Rivières in Quebec, Canada, for three years. She’s part of GBUC, the Francophone student movement in Canada. She is also president of Le Bon Camarade, a GBU initiative which delivers food parcels to students in financial difficulties. The demand is high; already with over 100 beneficiaries, a new person is added nearly every week. Most of these are international students, who are less likely than domestic students to have support available from their families or home communities.  

While most of the student beneficiaries work, they often don’t earn enough to make ends meet. Helping students with the basics, explains Naomie, allows them to concentrate on their studies, while enabling them to save a portion of their earnings. One beneficiary testifies that if Le Bon Camarade hadn’t helped him at university, he wouldn’t have been able to start his business.  

‘One of the pillars of GBU’, shares Naomie, ‘is to share God’s love. We have a weekly table with Bibles and Christian books that anyone can take. It’s great that we’ve now been recognised as an essential service at the university. Something that also helps is the fact that our office is located very close to the cafeteria, so we get lots of people coming through. In addition to food, people also come to us for information about university life. We want to help create community.’ 

It’s not always easy. ‘The demand is very high compared to what we have to offer’, says Naomie. ‘We can’t give very much, and we try to do a little bit extra at Christmas. We fundraise so that we can afford to give out gift cards, as well as New Testaments and other Christian books.’ 

However, a commitment to the ‘pillar’ of God’s love has, in the past, also caused problems for Le Bon Camarade. Their supplier was hesitant to work with them if they continued with religious elements, believing that the initiative was designed to trap people into Christianity. While this tension existed for several years, the whole team was adamant that Le Bon Camarade exists, first and foremost, to demonstrate the gospel. Finally, a few months ago, with misunderstandings worked through and one partner moving on, the future was secured. Naomie calls it a miracle. ‘It really strengthened our faith to see how God is working in our favour.’ 

‘When I first came here, I was afraid I would lose my faith in a new country. But praying together, seeing the beneficiaries happy, seeing the difference we can make, and seeing how God has helped us through challenges, has made me believe again that he answers prayers.’ 

Pray with us for Naomie, Le Bon Camarade, and GBUC Canada: 

This edition of Prayerline is guest written by Tasia, a student from the InterVarsity Canada undergraduate student group in the University of Ottawa.

‘This year I have felt more confused and overwhelmed than I am happy to admit. Actually, I lost a lot of my joy and hope for the future. I desperately wish that I could say that my faith was so strong that the trials that came with this year didn’t affect me, but that simply isn’t true. I have spent most of it sad and overwhelmed. I’ve been sad to see the world dividing, with so many people (especially within the church) arguing, and overwhelmed because I couldn’t see a way out. I guess I knew the answer was Jesus, but I was so plagued by the issues that this didn’t reassure me.

‘While I continued to pray, I stopped being open with God about my fears and worries. I was afraid he couldn’t solve them. I couldn’t bring myself to give it all over to the evermore capable hands of Jesus, because I had lost my faith in his ability to change things. I avoided the issues at all costs, which isolated me.

‘In my confusion, there was one Bible verse that kept reappearing to me – ‘come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matt 11:28). It had to come up a million times over several months before I really understood, but one night, I heard God tell me these problems are too big for you to carry. Let me take care of them for you. Finally, everything became clear to me. I realized that even with my greatest efforts, I could not resolve problems between my friends and family, let alone in the whole world. So that night, I gave my worries, confusion, and sadness to God, and chose to let him resolve them for me.

‘The InterVarsity community were understanding and welcoming, encouraging me to stay connected to God, when I wanted to hide away. A leader regularly met with me, in some of the only times I felt I could unload my heavy thoughts. I was scared to bring them up elsewhere. My leader graciously listened to me, offered me unbiased and godly advice, and gave me the freedom to be honest without judgement. When school opened again, I was so encouraged to go to the worship nights and see that I wasn’t the only Christian in the world. It was amazing to see a bunch of young people simply worshiping God, despite the state of the world. It reminded me who God is, and what his promises are for this world. He never leaves us alone.

Pray for students like Tasia, and the work of InterVarsity:

A version of this article was originally published on the InterVarsity Canada blog, which you can visit here.

Have you ever been in a situation where no matter how hard you try, you feel like you will never succeed? That is how William felt as a student during the pandemic. An international student from Cote d’Ivoire, William knew that receiving an education from a Canadian university would improve his prospects for the future—if only he could pass his classes. 

William was an excellent student. He did his best to complete his coursework on time and with care. Even so, his classmates were creating a challenge. When classes moved online during the pandemic, several students resorted to cheating on their exams to pass their courses. This raised the class average, which drove up the mark needed to pass the course, so many other students started cheating just to be able to pass.  

Just by keeping his integrity, William’s mark on the midterm had fallen to below average. As a result, he was close to failing. With final exams around the corner, he needed a strong finish to recover his academic standing.  

He had a decision to make. He could take his academic career into his own hands by cheating, or he could uphold his values and honor God. It was a tough choice to make, but he did not have to make it alone. William brought his problem before his GBU and was touched by the way they prayed for him, encouraged him, and shared stories of their own difficulties. Strengthened by their fellowship, William decided not to cheat on his final exam. And by the grace of God, he passed. 

Students around the world frequently confront situations which test their integrity, in and out of the classroom. Pray with us for students like William who are choosing faith over momentary success.