Next week over 18,000 new students will step onto Sydney University campus to go to their first ever class. Over the next few weeks these students will make a myriad of decisions: Will I stick with this class or transfer to one that has tutorials later in the day? Will I make this café my regular spot? Will I join this club? Will I attend this party? Will I start going to that small group?

In the Evangelical Union, this is a season of welcoming and loving the first years as they make these decisions, to encourage and care for them as they establish their trajectory for their time at university. This period is key as these trajectories often inform not only their time at university, but their entire lives. First year students will choose for themselves, often for the first time, who they will believe and who they will follow.

This is the time that the flood begins to gather. Our prayer is that under God, these first years will be gathered into the Evangelical Union, will be welcomed to Jesus, and to a community of His people that will love them and encourage them to know and love Jesus better. That as we hand out doughnuts and zooper doopers at O-Week these first years would decide to come along to Public Meetings to be equipped to understand the riches of God’s character through His word. That as we spend time as a whole Union (students, staff and supporters!) under God’s word and in prayer on Launch Day these first years would be persuaded to come along to small groups to be encouraged, challenged and walked alongside in their faith. That as the students run BBQs, welcome picnics, ice tea stalls and Q&A sessions in Week 1 of semester, that these first years would be inspired to come to an Equip course to be trained to read the bible with a non-Christian friend, a friend from another culture or consider the ethical minefield that is the world today. That in a few years, these first years would go back out into workplaces, churches and communities as theologically mature, servant hearted and innovative leaders.

We praise God for your partnership with us in this and would love for you to join us in praying that those gathered in this season would be grown in their love of Jesus, in their skills, and would go and serve Jesus and His people for their whole lives.