Many students ponder answers to life’s big questions, although they wouldn’t necessarily admit it. The Big Ask is the name of a video series that we’re going to be using in the second semester to create discussion on some of these questions. Things like “Where’s God in all the suffering we see?” is an example of an issue that’s tackled by the three interviewed in the videos – Rob Bell, Lee Strobel and Philip Yancey (they’re interviewed by New Zealand’s own Rob Harley).

Our course is going to be run over several weeks, and like the Alpha course that you may be familiar with, this is a great place for students to bring their non-Christian friends along to, where they can feel safe to ask questions. Starting on the 6th of August, we’ll be running this each week with a light meal, showing the video, and then breaking off into discussion groups. The point is not to “give all the answers” to those who attend. Rather, we’ll pull back a bit on this front; through the relationships that we establish, we can answer questions in a more personal setting.

While we will be doing a big advertising campaign on campus, we’d like our students to bring along their non-Christian friends. Pray that they’ll be prompted by the Holy Spirit about those who they can ask to come along with them.

There’s a promo video available online for The Big Ask.

I.D. is Student Life’s conference for 2009. It’s a regional thing, with both a North and South Island event taking place. It’s one of my highlights every year! Along with students from Auckland (both Auckland Uni and Massey), we’re also going to see students from Waikato and Wellington attend. The conference is a great opportunity not only for students to be discipled and learn how to apply evangelism to their context, it’s also a great place for them to meet students from other campuses and make lasting friendships!

It is more than likely — and I’ve seen this time and time again — that a student who attends this conference will see their life changed. Students come away with a new/renewed sense of vision for the Kingdom of God; they want to honour God with their own lives, and as a part of that, take opportunities to share it with those that matter to them! They’ll come away with a vision that is bigger than just for their campus. (Although that it important too!)

The North Island conference runs from 1-8 July (for staff), it’s at Totara Springs. We’ve been busy preparing for the last few weeks (and months in some cases). My jobs include filming/editing video, photography, first aid, and a talk to senior students on full time Christian service. Of these, the filming/video editing and preparing my talk are taking up most of my time beforehand, the others during. Please pray that I can get everything done to a good standard, and done on time!

Please pray especially for students, that God will work in their hearts, both in preparation for and during the conference. Please pray for safe travel for everyone! Please also pray that swine flu will not be an issue for us at this conference. We are of course taking measures to prevent and deal with anything that arises, but with 200 people in a single location, there is potential for a major problem here.

Your prayers are appreciated!