In many ways, international student ministry this year remains the same.

Once again euFOCUS has been welcoming new students from all over the world; helping them settle in to Sydney and Sydney Uni; helping meet their needs for friendship, support, a patient, listening ear to their second (or third or fourth!) language; being local and international students Buddies, greeting them with openness, acceptance and trust, loving them in Jesus’ name. Meeting practical needs – a trolley to walk groceries home. Navigating USYD administration (we all need help with that!). Help buying a new SIM card, finding somewhere to live, knowing where to eat, shop, buy bubble tea, find food like home.

Once again we’ve been reading the Bible with people – trying to bring home the relevance of God’s good and gracious Word into unfamiliar cultures and worldviews, bereft of the goodness of biblical foundations, yet revealing glimmers of eternity, echoes of common grace. Third year student Janet* from Indonesia works as a Resident Adviser at her Uni Student Accommodation village and has been caring for fellow international students there, bringing them to euFOCUS’ Thursday Night Come Home Dinners online – even celebrating someone’s birthday with us all one week with cake! She’s also been running a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) group there on Saturdays. One Christian member has been considering starting another group, while another still investigating Jesus (he was in my online DBS last year) has registered for AnCon.

But international student ministry in 2022 is also different.

The borders are open, so in February Welcome Week was heaving with newly arrived students. But alongside the students freshly beginning their studies were scores of students who had already completed some of their course online from overseas – usually one or two semesters, but up to two years. New opportunities to connect, love and share God’s love in Jesus with them arise from their palpable relief at finally being here in person, having endured the boredom and hardship of studying online in a foreign language, so now more keen than previous cohorts to make and develop new friendships. And the joy of embodied presence, allowing body language, facial expressions (though often masked) and the concrete expressions of love in sharing cups of tea, Asian snacks evoking fond childhood memories and bowls of rice (or congee or noodles!) to create loving communities in which students experience as well as hear the gloriously good words of God’s grace – this has been a welcome and longed-for contrast to the last two years of screen-mediated cross-cultural ministry.

But amidst these new challenges, the same love of the same Saviour Jesus Christ compels us; the same conviction that he died for all that those who live in him should live for him and not for themselves urges us to continue lovingly proclaiming Christ; his same God and Father is powerfully at work by his same Spirit in students’ hearts and minds, growing faith, hope and love as we share his same gracious gospel.

Yet significant disruptions from ongoing COVID infections and isolations, extreme weather, public transport and university industrial unrest, have compounded the already usually patchy attendance of overseas students feeling the weight of family expectations and the pressure of living and studying in an unfamiliar language and culture. Political tensions and the effect of two years of isolation have left many students more suspicious, and less open to Jesus and his people, and it appears at least that fewer new students from East Asia are here or involved. Online options for classes and even exams tempt students to spend less time on campus, and to prioritise personal convenience over community life and growth.

But amidst these new challenges, the same love of the same Saviour Jesus Christ compels us; the same conviction that he died for all that those who live in him should live for him and not for themselves urges us to continue lovingly proclaiming Christ; his same God and Father is powerfully at work by his same Spirit in students’ hearts and minds, growing faith, hope and love as we share his same gracious gospel. And the same angels rejoiced with us as three of God’s lost students from the nations came home as they trusted in and began following the same Son. So please join us in prayer to our same merciful Father that there might be many, many more.

And all this has been enabled by your same prayerful, generous gospel partnership.

Thank you, and praise God!

*Name has been changed.

Ben Lim

EU Senior Staff