The less-reached and less-resourced: if you’ve been around the EU in any capacity, then you are likely accustomed to this concept. 

Even in Sydney, but especially in other parts of the world, there are regions where the gospel has had little reach, and where there are very few gospel workers to share the Good News of Jesus.

Why is the LRLR so integral to the EU’s gospel vision? Find out from some ex-EUers, who are now gospel workers serving the LRLR, and will be joining us for AnCon.

We’re Simon and Jess Cowell (EUers in the Engo and Law faculties in the 2000s), and together with our kids Lydia, Emma, Timothy and Sofia, we’ve been serving with the Gruppi Biblici Universitari (GBU – the Italian equivalent of AFES) in Bari, Italy, since 2017. 

The EU started talking about and promoting the LRLR while we were still students, and from the get-go, we were both enthusiastic about the idea! Jess had been thinking vaguely about cross-cultural ministry since she was fairly young, and Simon more specifically was thinking about Italy because he’d been studying Italian language and culture, and had also met Andrew Lubbock (a former GBU staffworker, and the very first AnCon LRLR worker back in 2007). 

Humanly speaking, without the EU and LRLR we would most probably not be serving where we are today.  We’re really keen to share our experience and ministry with current students, some of whom (God willing) might in turn dedicate their lives to people in less gospel-reached and less gospel-resourced parts of Sydney, Australia and the world.  

One of the things we’ve really been struck by, the longer we stay in Italy, is just how vital prayer support is. Serving in an LRLR context is difficult – some days you feel like just packing it in. But God continues to give us strength beyond what we have within ourselves, at least partly in response to the prayers of many people back in Australia.  So please do keep praying for us, and for others like us around the world. Pray for perseverance in the face of ministry and cultural obstacles; for patience when gospel progress seems slow; for energy and resilience when we feel we’re making little to no difference; and most of all for God to work miracles in the hearts of the many Italian university students who don’t know (and don’t seem to want to know) Jesus. 

We love the EU! We met as students through the EU back in 2008 and have been grateful ever since for its ministry in our lives and around the world. 

We now serve as CMS missionaries in the small island nation of Seychelles. Ryan is the Senior Minister of the Anglican Parish of Praslin, where he pastors five congregations — leading, teaching and caring for people both inside and outside the church. Lynne coordinates children’s ministry, leads a Bible study, and helps with the youth group. 

We’ve committed our lives to cross-cultural ministry because we’re convinced that God’s word is true. We’re convinced that Jesus really is coming to judge, and that loving our neighbours as ourselves means moving to a completely new context to help people prepare for his return. 

Our ministry depends on the support of individuals and churches who partner with us. Our financial supporters enable us to serve as human resources for the under-resourced church in Seychelles. The work can be difficult, and at times we are tempted to despair. The wise and generous encouragement of our Australian partners helps us persevere in both personal godliness and ministry. 

We’re excited to be joining AnCon this year as LRLR workers. AnCon was hugely formative for us. We can still remember specific talks, conversations and people — including visiting missionaries! — that God used to shape us. 

Please pray for students: that they would catch God’s desire for the nations to bow before King Jesus, and that they would become better pray-ers, carers and senders of LRLR workers. Pray boldly with us that many would feel the urgency of Christ’s return and go to the LRLR with the gospel. 

We hope to catch some of you at the AnCon Supporters’ Night — we’ll likely be cold and jetlagged, but thrilled to see you!

I’m currently serving as a pastor at St Lucia Evangelical Church in Brisbane. Before that, I grew up in Sydney and was part of the EU as both a student and Howie. 

I moved primarily because my wife is from Brisbane, but the EU had been growing my heart for the LRLR for more than a decade prior, such that it was a no-brainer to move to Brisbane for ministry.

Brisbane is a fast-growing city with a huge need for more healthy and faithful churches that are multiplying to see the gospel go out to the lost millions in the city, not to mention the many students and migrants who come from overseas to study and work in Brisbane. 

Recently, God has provided opportunities for me to contribute to raising more gospel workers from within Brisbane through training them as they undergo a ministry apprenticeship. This desire was instilled in me through the vision of the EU Graduates Fund and my own ministry apprenticeship, which was enabled by Gradsfund supporters. 

I’m excited to be part of AnCon to help raise up the next flood of Christian leaders to serve God’s church beyond Sydney!

It was 2010 when Rose strode to the front of Meroo Conference Centre. Along with many EU members, Rose signed her name on a banner in response to Rowan’s call to serve the less reached. We already had our hearts set on serving in South East Asia, but it was the last bit of Rowan’s phrase that stood out – ‘in the next 5 years’. Instead of waiting to move overseas to begin serving the LRLR, we prayerfully decided to begin our married life in a Muslim-majority area of southwest Sydney. 

Despite Rose thinking she may never see a Muslim come to faith, we saw 10s of ex-Muslims baptised during our five years in SW Sydney. Most importantly, we were trained through our practical experience of engaging cross-culturally.

Rose did a Howie apprenticeship at USYD, Frank worked as a tradesman in the neighbourhood, and we both did a year of bible college. By the time we were ready to leave, we had added two children to our family. It was really hard to say goodbye, but we knew the need was greater in Southeast Asia.

The spiritual soil in our new location was very different. Unlike the fertile soil of a migrant community in Sydney, the spiritual soil in P-city is hard and rocky. Islam is the dominant religion, and mosque leaders actively teach against the Bible.

Yet, God is at work. Over the past 10 years, God has grown our team of national colleagues from 2 adults to 8 adults. These national colleagues come from Christian majority ethnic groups in different parts of the country.

God is slowly awakening the church in our country to be aware of the need to contextually share the good news with Muslims, but it is difficult. Those few who have started to follow Jesus face strong persecution.

Please pray for Jesus to sustain these new believers and transform the hearts of their friends and relatives.