Brothers and sisters in Christ, it fills me with such joy each time I consider your generous support of the Evangelical Union and its ministry at the University of Sydney. Thank you for uplifting us both prayerfully and financially by providing for our wonderful staff, who the EU could simply not function without.

I was recently struck by the fruit of your support while attending the 2025 AFES Student Committees Training Conference just before NTE. It was there that I was able to meet many other AFES committee members from every state and territory of Australia. Many of whom I discussed the EU with were blown away by the scale at which it operates, with some of the groups having fewer members than the EU has staff. This revelation served as quite the encouragement to them (and me) that there are so many people willing to support the EU to allow for such a reality.

As further encouragement and fuel for the praise of God, numbers and engagement with the EU have bounced back since the unprecedented ministry experience that was the Covid-19 pandemic. With the university now well and truly filled to the brim with students, the harvest is certainly plentiful. We have recently been supported in working in this harvest field by six new Howies beginning this year, for which we are very thankful to God. 

A recent shift in the dynamic of the university is the number of international students. The last few years have marked the first time in the University of Sydney’s history in which there are more international than domestic students. With this change in dynamic, the evangelistic experience has also shifted; many are talking to fellow students who have never heard the name of Christ, never seen a Bible, and never heard the gospel. The recent unprecedented opportunity for the gospel before us is to share it with those who would have had very little opportunity to hear it in their home country. God has ended up bringing people of every nation, tribe and tongue to us. This has resulted in growth in the ministry to these international students with euFOCUS, in which fellowship is being shared over food, and conversation resonates with the word of God. 

As the EU prepares for its centenary in 2030, we are looking to our Big Kingdom Vision as a goal for what we prayerfully wish the EU to look like when we reach this great milestone. Directed by the objects, we are wanting the EU to be deeply suffused in prayer and utterly dependent upon God, wanting to see his name glorified on campus.

In light of this, we ask that you help us pray for powerful spiritual revival on campus, that many will come to know Christ and to know him more deeply than ever before. Please join us in praying that there will not be a single student who does not hear the gospel on campus this year. With so many international students, we hope the EU will be a place where the gospel will cross cultural and linguistic boundaries as it has since our Lord ascended. May it be that the EU is a place where the nations can come to the foot of the cross. Pray that we will have a rich grasp of the gospel, living lives of profound service and generosity, all for the love of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Thank you again for your partnership in seeing the University of Sydney come to know Christ. 

Grace and Peace,
Jasper
EU President 2026