The end of each year sees EU students and staff head out to various churches for Summer Missions, during which they spend four to ten days in another church, often in a ‘Less Resourced, Less Reached’ area. The vision for these missions is for students to see what God is doing in another part of the world, to serve their sisters and brothers there, and to be the church together in the fellowship of Christ’s body. The teams engage in a variety of activities, including various outreach programs, providing activities for kids at church Christmas events and participating in Sunday services.

James Chen, a 3rd year Arts student, said this of his mission experience in 2012:

Going to a church in Mascot was a humbling experience. It helped me reexamine what I believed church was about. It was a combination of factors: working as a young first year with a diverse and loving team, doing walkup evangelism in an area of Sydney I had never been in, teaching the youth group, and getting to to pick the minister’s brain about serving his church. The biggest influence was the relationship I developed with the people I stayed with. Over several days and many conversations (sometimes funny, sometimes teary, always edifying) they shared their experience of walking with Jesus for several decades. I can’t wait to see what God is doing as I serve on another EU Summer Mission this year.

Between November 23rd and December 15th about 120 students will head to a wide variety of locations, including Adelaide, Narrabri, the ACT and various churches across Sydney. Please join with us in praying that students will learn from the churches they visit, that the churches would be encouraged, and that together they might witness faithfully to the gospel of Jesus Christ in their local area.