Welcome Week 2022 goes on campus!

by EU GradsFund

Each year the EU seeks to welcome first years coming to Sydney Uni. Our aim is to invite Christians to join us and reach those who are interested in investigating Jesus through the Bible. In the past we have mainly tried to do all this in Welcome Week (formerly O Week, the week before semester begins) where as one of the clubs and societies on campus we are allocated a stall to inform and invite new students to join us.

By the end of 2021 Covid was still ruling out any gatherings on the Uni campus. It was still uncertain whether and what restrictions would remain in 2022. As a result the EU decided to make a bigger effort at contacting Christian students who were seeking to enter Uni through their various networks. We aimed to invite them to two welcome events run before the beginning of semester.

Under God, the EU Welcome team managed to gain contact with about 130 students over summer, of which about half attended our welcome events. The new students really valued learning about the EU, good bible teaching and practical advice on making the most of their Uni time, as well as making some new friends to kick off their Uni life.

To our great joy, towards the end of 2021 the Uni administration informed everyone that they were planning to reinstate in-person on-campus teaching for 2022. To encourage students to return to campus they were planning expanded Welcome Week events. This instigated for the EU a last minute decision to run a stall during O week as well as a Launch Day Event for new students and returning students on the Friday of Welcome Week. 

The Focus team ran the stall for Welcome Week with the special aim of connecting with the many international students who were returning to Australia. It was very exciting to see many international students wish to join the EU, many of whom are not yet Christians, as well as lots of other local students as well. 

Please pray with us that 2022 sees the faith of many reignited and that evangelism on campus is revitalised.

Our hope for Launch Day was to have new students, returning students and students who became disengaged from the EU due to Covid, gather together to ignite their faith in Jesus and revitalise evangelism on the campus. We praise God that these plans succeeded! We have connected with over 300 students thus far.

I met two students who came to our Launch together, a first year and a second year who never really got involved in 2021 due to Covid restrictions. Both of them now keen to get involved with the EU. Please pray with us that 2022 sees the faith of many reignited and that evangelism on campus is revitalised.

Moussa Ghazal

EU Senior Staff

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