How would you equip a new ministry leader as they begin serving in their role?

In early Feb, over 160 student leaders and staff gathered for the EU’s annual Leadership Summit: a two-day conference to unite, train and send the EU’s leaders into a year of serving Jesus at Sydney University, and equip them for a lifetime of service in God’s world.
The main focus for this gathering was to learn more from the Lord Jesus about what it means, as his people, to pray.

We welcomed Angus Courtney (once an EU leader himself, and now a church minister in Sydney’s inner west) to teach us from God’s word.  We looked at Matthew 6 and Luke 11, challenged to be devoted to praying as our Lord taught us to, and to accept Jesus’ invitation to be ‘shamelessly audacious’  in our prayers. Along with hearing bible talks, students also got to spend time praying, with their faculty cohort, getting a greater insight into different ministries within the EU, and dreaming together about how the EU could keep growing on the road to its 100th anniversary in 2030.

As different students reflected on the experience of the two days, they shared the following:

“Prayer [as a topic] was excellent, foundational and so helpful to spur us on to prayer, and to be bold in asking God to move and work.”
“I loved the big focus on prayer, and instantly applied what I learnt to my youth group Bible study.”
“This was super eye-opening and really helped me see how important it is to emphasise kingdom-centred and audacious prayers.”

It was a privilege to gather together, and striking to witness such a large student leadership community all gathered together alongside our staff team. We have been blessed abundantly with resources for this gospel service! But, we know that our strength counts for nothing unless the Lord is at work, and so we know we must depend fully on him in all of our leadership endeavours.  May our Lord keep teaching us to pray for his kingdom with shameless audacity in 2024 and beyond.

Thou art coming to a King,

Large petitions with thee bring.
For his love and power are such
None can ever ask too much.

– John Newton

– Laura Southam, EU Senior Staff