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!

A few weeks ago I met Tom on campus. Tom wasn’t 100% sure about the basis of his faith, so we spent some time talking about how one can be sure of their salvation. Tom and I decided to meet each week to look through the “Knowing Jesus Personally” magazine, to learn more about how to grow in a relationship with God.

Today Tom brought a friend Dennis along to our meeting. I hadn’t met Dennis before, so I didn’t know what he thought about God. I asked Dennis what he thought, and he said he wasn’t really sure. He told me how he was looking for something to help him get on the “right path” in life, someone to turn to in times of need. I asked him if he’d heard about how someone can know God in a personal way. He said no, but he’d be interested in finding out more.

Tom and I talked through the “Knowing God Personally” booklet (a basic gospel presentation) with Dennis. When we got to the point about how to invite Christ into your life, Dennis said that he had never asked Jesus in, but he wanted to! Dennis then prayed to ask Jesus into his life right there!

Events like this make my day! It’s great to see people receive Christ into their lives. It’s even more exciting to see people like Tom wanting to share with their friends! Had Tom not brought Dennis along, the chances of me meeting him would have been slim to none. Tom is still learning how to share about God with his friends, but the fact that he’s eager and taking steps to do so is encouraging!

This is what gets me out of bed in the morning! Please pray that Tom and Dennis would continue to grow in their relationships with God!

Tune In is one of the biggest opportunities we have each year to connect with lost students on campus! Through short questionnaires, we have a chance find students who are searching for something more in life, and talk with them about God. One of the questions asks, “Would you like to find out how tune into in to a personal relationship with God?” In Auckland, we’ve collected about 4,000 completed questionnaires, and have followed up the 2000 odd of those who answered “yes” or “maybe” to the above question!

Some of those people have prayed to receive Christ in their lives! Still others we’ve met are Christians already, and we challenge them to become multiplying disciples of Christ! One way in which we do this is through Action Groups, a chance not only to study God’s word and grow in faith through doing so, but also a time to learn how to share about God with others and put that into action!

Please pray both for those students who have received Christ into their lives, as well as those who we meet that already know Him; that they will continue to grow in their faith and become multiplying disciples; that is, making disciples who make disciples!