A Story of Sacrificial Love for Brothers and Sisters in the EU

by EU Graduates Fund

More than half of Sydney University’s 25,000 international students are Chinese, and for many years, euFOCUS has sought to share the gospel with these students in simple English. However, we ran into a problem. Although Mandarin-speaking students at Usyd were, by God’s grace, being saved, they were finding it difficult to pray or have fellowship in their heart language or belong to a church.

In answer to many prayers, God blessed the euFOCUS team with two Mandarin staff members, and this year we launched euFOCUS Mandarin bible study groups. But these groups needed Mandarin speaking students to lead them. In late 2017, a call went out, searching for mature leaders, who were willing to choose to serve here, rather than investing more time in their home faculty. Here is what Mimi Lee had to say about her choice to answer that call:

“Serving as faculty leader for ArtsPlus was great, and I especially learned a lot about pastoral care and faculty ministry. It was a blessing to see new leaders being raised up. ArtsPlus has a great cohort of older students this year, so I felt okay moving on to a faculty that has less resources. I felt that FOCUS has so much potential for harvest and fruit, and one of the things I felt I didn’t have time for (last year) was sadly evangelism. Ultimately it was a decision of where I could serve best with the gifts God gave me and where the most need was, so I joined euFOCUS Mandarin.

Language played a big role. One of the things that helped me reach the final decision of joining euFOCUS Mandarin was the summer mission to Campsie last December. I connected with a few non-Christian ESL class ladies simply because I could speak Mandarin. I think I hadn’t realised the impact that speaking someone’s heart language could make until then. The ability to read and write in Chinese are all blessings that God has given me. So I asked myself: why not use it for His Kingdom?”

Please pray with me in thankfulness for God’s answer to our prayers, and that he will continue to raise up leaders who will sacrificially love their brothers and sisters in the EU.

Written by Xanthe Reid

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