Many universities are welcoming students to the new semester in early February. With the return of many overseas students to Sydney, we are finding a lot more Chinese overseas students in the Orientation Weeks at various universities.
CPC has been supporting campus ministries for many years. Even though for various reasons, not many students have stayed in Sydney and joined CPC, e.g. moving away or returning home, it’s gratifying to hear that many are attending a local church after graduation, and have started to serve in their church. Others have become missionaries. I am especially thankful to God that by His grace, our church can participate in his wonderful and awesome plan to build His Kingdom. God has brought these young people to Australia so that we can share the gospel with them. He then takes them to other countries to be a blessing all around the world. Even though we can only serve these overseas students for a few years, which is but a short stint in their lives, it can still have a profound impact. We are thankful that God can use what little we can do to build up His children whom He has called, to fulfill His plan.
Last week was University of NSW’s O-week, and next week is the University of Sydney’s welcome week and UTS’s O-week. Many CPC-supported missionaries are serving students at various universities. There are many challenges in campus ministry, e.g. how can we build a relationship and share the gospel with students within a limited 2-3 years? How should we allocate our energy and resources to reach out to more students? Should we try to focus on cultivating the ones with higher potential? In this rapidly changing world, how can we capture their attention and share the gospel in innovative ways? Should we give more space for the students to develop on their own, and only support them in the background? Should we bring in more mature Christian co-workers to care for the students in a holistic way? These questions always come up when we develop student ministries. We need God’s guidance and wisdom to know how to follow in Christ’s footsteps in serving the students, leading them to be disciples of Christ. Even if you cannot physically participate in campus ministries, your prayer is still essential. Many overseas students have already come to Sydney this year to study. May God touch our hearts, to continue to support the campus ministries in prayer to fulfill God’s awesome plan of salvation.
2月開始，各個大學迎來了熱鬧的開學季，海外學生們又重新湧入悉尼，各大學的迎新周（Orientation Week）裡也再次出現了許多中國留學生的身影。
CPC支持校園事工已經有好多年，雖然這麼多年來，許多留學生因著各種原因，或者遷居異地，或者學成回國，留在悉尼並且參加CPC聚會的可能並不算多，然而每每聽說畢業後的留學生們在各個地方仍然參加聚會，甚至也在國內的教會中參與服事並加入宣教，總是令人非常欣喜。也格外感謝神，因著祂的恩典，我們教會能夠參與在祂奇妙又偉大的計劃裡，一同建造神的國度。因為是神把這些年輕人帶到澳洲，使得我們有機會與他們分享福音，神又把他們帶到各地，成為世人的祝福。我們服事留學生的這幾年，也許在他們的生命旅程中是非常短暫的幾年，但是卻可以產生深遠的影響。感恩神使用我們微不足道的工作，造就祂自己呼召的兒女，也成就祂自己的計劃。
已經過去的一周，是新南威爾士大學的迎新周（O- week），而接下來的一周，是悉尼大學和悉尼科技大學的迎新周（O-week or O-day），有不少CPC支持的宣教士，分別在不同的大學裡服事留學生。校園事工有許多的挑戰，如何在有限的2-3年時間里和同學們建立關係、分享福音呢？應該如何分配我們的精力和資源，是盡量接觸更多的新學生？還是專注於栽培有潛力的學生？同時，在這個飛速發展的時代，如何抓住學生們的注意力，以創新的方式向他們傳福音？是堅持讓學生們自己發展，同工只在幕後支持？還是引進更多成熟的基督徒同工，全面地關心照顧學生？這些問題，一直伴隨著學生事工的發展。我們需要有從神而來的帶領和智慧，知道應當如何在校園裡跟隨耶穌基督的腳步，服事學生，也帶領學生們一起來做他的門徒。所以即便你不能實際參加大學事工，你的禱告對於校園事工非常重要，今年已經有很多的留學生來到悉尼求學，祈求神感動我們的心，在禱告中持續地紀念校園宣教事工，成就神偉大的救贖計劃。
