{"id":28911,"date":"2023-09-05T09:30:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T08:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/?post_type=prayerline&p=28911"},"modified":"2024-02-29T08:43:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T08:43:21","slug":"graduate-students-hear-gods-call","status":"publish","type":"prayerline","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/prayerline\/graduate-students-hear-gods-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Graduate students hear God\u2019s call"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cLeave 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!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cGraduate students face very specific challenges,\u201d says Alan Chettle, staff worker with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship<\/a>, 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\u2019s top teaching and research institutions), many still struggle with imposter syndrome \u2013 the anxious belief that one’s success is undeserved or unrelated to one\u2019s efforts or skill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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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: \u201cThese Bible studies have really ministered to my spirit… If we are present and available, God will open doors to share.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Evangelism is a challenge for graduate students: in contrast to the large number of 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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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\u2014and 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Here is a handful of students taking part in an ordinary campus Bible study. But this is where God is doing business \u2013 calling \u2018the brightest and the best\u2019 to step out and change the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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