Video game or training event

The story of Thaís from ABUB Brazil

In a country as large as Brazil, and with the current difficult economic situation, it is a real challenge for students and staff to attend training events a long distance away. A group of students from ABUB Brazil prayed, and God answered. Read Thaís’ story to find out how.

My name is Thaís Breternitz Lino, and I am part of the local ABUB group of the city of São Carlos, called ABUSCar.

Our story started with a group of students of the São Paulo/Mato Grosso do Sul region, who became aware of the challenging financial situation of their region and the nation as a whole. In face of that, we decided to motivate people to think about the importance of giving and of being generous.

Since we lived in different cities, we decided to meet online once a fortnight to talk about the situation and to pray for it. We then had the idea of making a video explaining the way a donation travels in the student movement and how it is used. We wanted people to understand the needs of the ministry and how their contribution could make a difference. We wanted to motivate students to start or continue giving.

We continued giving thanks to the Lord for all the support He had already given to the movement and asking Him to make the hearts of students more generous. Not too much later, we started to hear stories about generous attitudes all around the state. I particularly loved hearing about a student who sold a video game to pay the transportation for his entire group of friends, enabling them to attend an ABUB training event 563km away.

More students live in the state of São Paulo than anywhere else, so most of the ABUB events happen there. The long distance between the two states is a real challenge, making it hard for students from Mato Grosso do Sul to participate in training events. It is equally as hard for staff members to attend these trainings. Knowing that, a group of students raised money by selling sweets on campus in order to pay for the travel of two staff members to attend and help at a training event on Mato Grosso do Sul. They also received a donation from an individual student that together made the trip possible.

These are just a sample of the stories of generosity that are happening here in Brazil. We have seen God moving hearts and making students understand that we are generous because God has been gracious to us. From all the stories we are hearing, we see students sharing their resources in order to serve others, eager to see the student ministry grow and the spread of the gospel. As a group and students of this movement, those stories motivate us to keep praying and looking for ways to reflect God’s generosity in our region and nation.

Respond

• Is your student movement facing similar challenges as the ones Thaís described? This World Student Day, why not decide in your student group to take a collection to help send a few staff workers to a training event, or some students to a conference in your country or overseas. Invest in each other, pray, and see how God answers!

Join in World Student Day

Find more ideas to take part on World Student Day at ifeswsd.org