Who would you classify as a successful Christian leader? As we send out leaders from the EU, should we hope that they become mega church pastors? CEOs of major companies? Gain prominence and prestige as speakers, authors, itinerant preachers and more? What are our hopes for the students of the Evangelical Union?

One of the core values the EU Graduates Fund holds is that we hope to send out Christian leaders who are servant-hearted. Jesus himself said that he “came not to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 ESV). By setting forth this vision, the Graduates Fund is stating that we think successful Christian leaders are those who continue to serve God and others as Jesus did.

But how do we work alongside students to help grow in them such a quality? There are a myriad of answers to this question. I believe that in the EU we primarily train our students to be servant-hearted by teaching them to serve people well, in particular through a focus on perseverance in serving people which permeates much of the training we do. It is easy to think that small group leading is simply attending a group and teaching a Bible passage each week. Karlie and Christine, EU small group leaders, learnt early on that there is much more intense and sometimes painful work involved in serving people. Over the past year Karlie and Christine met weekly with a girl they met in connecting season to read the Bible, sort through the harder issues of life and investigate Jesus. This took time and emotional resources, but it not only meant that one more person heard the gospel and came to Christ in 2014, but that Karlie and Christine were trained for future ministry in reaching out and serving people in their lives.

Over the past few weeks I have seen many persevere in calling students who never answer their calls or messages. Others are learning to care for students on the fringe or who are dealing with personal struggles. Older students are caring for faculties of over a hundred people, making sure they are all cared for and given opportunities to grow in maturity through various avenues and chains of communication behind the scenes. In all this it is clear that these leaders are growing to see that ministry is more than the systems; it’s about serving people first.

So please pray we produce many CEOs, megachurch pastors, ministry workers in “forgotten” areas, Bible study group leaders, itinerant preachers and more. But above all, pray they may continue always to serve people well, as they flood God’s church in Sydney, Australia and beyond.