The L∞P

This year, Christian Fellowship at Victoria has been meeting every week and sharing food and fellowship. We’ve talked about what it means to follow God as a Christian at University, and now we’re going through the book of Ephesians.

We went to a camp with the Palmerston North OCF just after Easter, which was really inspirational and fun—it’s really special to meet students from other universities who are thinking about the same things that we are. I also really enjoyed the drive to Palmerston North and back, because it was an excellent opportunity to get to know some people better, and talk about a whole lot of different things (shoutout to Ben, Andrew, Sam, and Miya, who put up with my talking).

One of my favourite things this year has been praying for each other and wider issues in the world, which we do at the end of each Bible study. It’s a time when we are invited to be really brave and vulnerable and share pieces of ourselves with other in the group, and I really appreciate the sense of wholeness it gives me each week.

AUTCF has maintained an active presence on all three Auckland campuses—City, North and South. Over the first semester we held weekly Bible studies, studying the books of Psalms and Luke to discover more about who God is. We also hosted other fun events.

Earlier this year we met Mel, a law student from South campus, at the Launch event. She discovered TSCF via YouTube, when she went looking for videos of John Stackhouse speaking. He had visited New Zealand in 2015 and spoke at the Summit conference, so after finding those talks, Mel contacted TSCF to see if a group existed on her campus.

The Palmy Overseas Christian Fellowship crew started the year off with a little get-together called Launch, to catch up with old friends and meet new people. The first event of the semester was Takeoff, a night of dinner, games, and meeting more new people. Throughout the semester Friday meetings started with dinner, followed by games and worship, and ending with Bible studies in the book of John.

Last semester we focused on Bible studies and explored what evangelism can look like for us at university. We started the semester with only three members at the orientation week stall, but it went really well. By the end of the semester we had about 10 regulars at our weekly meetings.

Though the group is still small, it is encouraging to see people wiling to take time out of their busy university life to come together and study the Bible. We look forward to the semester 2 clubs week and the students we will meet then!

KYCF stands for Korean Young Adults Christian Fellowship. We are tertiary Korean students from all over Auckland. Our purpose is to spread the gospel to Koreans on campus, as our meetings are held in Korean.

Every Thursday we meet for worship, a sermon, and small group sharing. We invite people and try to reveal God through the love that we share within our community. Most of our members are Christians who wish to worship God on the campus and meet fellow Christians who share the same goal.

Our members are really tight. Every Thursday and Friday after the meetings, we go out to eat together or hang out. On Fridays, student leaders meet, and other members have discipleship training.

We also run camps and events throughout the year. Our biggest event of the year was our annual camp in April. About 60 people came together at Chosen Valley.

Auckland OCF

Our vision for the year is “Grounded to Glorify.” We want people to have a better understanding of the gospel so that they learn more about God’s character and are equipped to glorify him with their lives as they serve others. Our vision verse is Mark 12:30-31: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. … Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” To see people discover more about God through his Word, we began last semester with a series on the Gospel.

We want people to understand the basics and roots of Christianity, so we ran a series on Christian Living, focusing on various aspects of our Christian walk such as why the Bible is reliable, how and why we should pray, and glorifying God in the workplace. God is so good. We have been encouraged as people become more interested in exploring what the Bible says and learn how to apply it to their lives.

The team, from left, included Riven, Caesar, Chris, Kate, Michael, Becky, Christina and Annelise.

Bula vinaka.

In December I was part a TSCF Fiji cultural trip along with other university students and Lincoln-based staff Chris and Kate. We partnered with TSCF’s sister organization Pacific Students for Christ, who did an awesome job of planning and organizing our two-week stay in Suva.

In the first week we split up and were billeted with Fijian families. I was blown away by the hospitality of my hosts, who were joyful and generous. I joined the engineering campus’ Christian Fellowship executive meeting as they planned for that week’s fellowship, and saw how similar this was to the meetings I am part of at Lincoln University Christian Fellowship. On Sunday I was invited to my host family’s church. It was difficult to understand the sermon and singing as it was in Fijian, but I saw their passion for God’s word.

During the second week we all came back together and stayed at a campground next to an orphanage, St Christopher’s Home for Children, along with several Fijian students. We helped run evening Bible studies for the children at the orphanage, and built and painted fences around the property. I also went to a men’s prison with an Australian man who runs a week-long course for inmates focusing on dealing with trauma. Lastly we went to Homes of Hope, which offers a place to stay for teenage mothers and women who are at risk of sexual abuse.

One moment that left a lasting impact was hearing the children sing at the orphanage. That first night they had prepared a few worship songs to sing with us. Those 20-30 children were louder and more passionate than many churches filled with hundreds of people, mics and speakers. Tears came to my eyes after I got over the initial shock of the pure joy that these kids sang with. I wasn’t the only member of the team with tears in their eyes. I aspire to having such sincere joy in my worship to God.

TSCF has long supported PSFC’s work, and I enjoyed being able to see how this support is helping change lives. By hosting a team from Fiji at SPARC 2016 and sending our own team to Fiji, we are building a strong relationship between the organisations and growing young men and women in Christ across the Pacific. I long to see the work of PSFC continue to be supported, so that when the next team goes they will be able to witness how God has used our faithfulness to grow his kingdom.

As the second trimester at Wellington TSCF came to an end, we had an eventful year to be thankful for. We are so thankful for Max, Mei, and Kim and their devotion to this group, for further involvement from our members, and God’s everlasting goodness.

We had so many great events to end the year with such as the Mark Drama, which is a re-enactment of the life of Jesus, and Breathe, a combined worship night for members of the university to relax at the end of the trimester and prepare for exam season.

We also had a celebration at the Botanical Gardens, seeing off the year with a fail-safe combination of games, good talks, food, and glowworm viewing that lasted into the night.

It has been great to see how the group continues to grow in friendship, fellowship, and very importantly in their passion for God, His gospel, and His mission. We are looking forward to the plans God has for us next year.

Over the past semester, Massey University Christian Fellowship in Palmerston North has been looking people of faith who, through faith, have responded to God’s call in their culture, and how God used those efforts in often lasting ways for His glory.

I particularly enjoyed the discussion we had surrounding Augustine of Hippo, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The first was thrust into the role of bishop, which he didn’t seem to want, and was suddenly expected to perform public duties. He faithfully performed them and thrived in doing so. The second was discouraged from speaking up due to political opposition, but chose to be faithful in preaching truth.

They were very different men in different times, but each sought to fulfill his duty to God in faith. In each man’s story, we were challenged to think about how we might have responded in their situation and, more importantly, how we are to respond in how we live our lives in our culture. I have continued to think about this over the summer as we look forward to the coming year, and I trust others are too.

Please pray especially for the leadership team, as they seek to rest and refresh their vision for the group over the summer months.

Zane Norvill

In December, members of fellowships at Waikato University (Amy, Joel, David), Wintec (Candace) and Toi Ohomai in the Bay of Plenty (Kaleb), along with Dave and Nick (TSCF staff) had a weekend retreat next to the beautiful Lake Taupo.

We began Friday night with prayer and praise to prepare ourselves for the coming weekend. On Saturday we spent most of the time reflecting on the past year and planning for the future. In between sessions we enjoyed (albeit briefly due to the cold water) swimming and kayaking. Most of the group left on Saturday. On Sunday the rest of us attended church and spent a quiet morning and afternoon cleaning up and talking.

A key theme was how to increase the visibility of our fellowships on campus. We tend to grow by association, however those who did not make contact on orientation day find it difficult to join or even to find out about us. Our discussion revolved around subjects like Jesus Week, orientation, Easter, debates and public lectures.

A second theme was the idea of forming stronger connections with other campus groups so that we can strengthen and encourage each other. We had trialed this by holding a joint worship event with the Student Life and Waicath clubs, with a good measure of success. By moving the focus off our groups to be more outward looking, we will be better able to reach out and proclaim Christ. We hope to begin training people how to share their faith, run Bible studies and events, and challenge the secular worldview of our age.

This year looks to be an exciting one and we look forward to what God has in store for us and our campus.

Toi Ohomai, Bay of Plenty (Windermere campus)

The highlight for me so far would have to be going to Summit, meeting people and seeing the heart of TSCF.

I’ve found it hard to be a part of the group as the people are not the normal group I would hang out with, but I know the body of Christ is made up of different people. I love the talks and getting into the Bible and the way it’s taught is done really well. The events are hard to get a lot of people to.

Prayer requests would be leaders standing up and building a greater connection with one another and also that people would see Christ as something they need in their life.

Palmerston North OCF enjoyed hosting Kickoff together with MUCF at the beginning of the semester at Massey University. It was a good opportunity to welcome new students and fellowship together over food and games.  

Throughout semester one we studied the letters of Paul to the Philippians and Galatians in our small groups. Galatians was a bit more challenging to work through, but it encouraged some very interesting discussions!

During the mid-semester break in April we had a joint Easter camp with Hamilton and Wellington CFs.  We spent the weekend reflecting on God’s incredible work of grace from the beginning, at creation, all the way through to the cross and our future in Christ. We also had workshops with topics ranging from how to live out our faith to what worship and missionary work really are. We left camp refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the semester with minds filled with glorious Gospel truth. 

Wellington CF at Victoria University has so much to be thankful for. As the year started we put ourselves out there at orientation and made opportunities to connect with students. We didn’t know what would come of it but trusted that God would use our effort for his glory. This marked a start of great growth for CF with many new members, especially internationals and non-Christians.

VCF

Varsity Christian Fellowship studied the Psalms in semester 1, which allowed for a bunch of different kinds of meetings like a bonfire on the beach with worship and sharing psalms. This semester they are studying the life of David and trying to reach out to students on campus through events and one-on-one meetups. Pray that God’s will would lead the group and be the centre of the weekly meetings, and that the students we reach would be drawn closer to God.

OCF

The Overseas Christian Fellowship in Dunedin studied Genesis and the life of Abraham in first semester. The Easter retreat was a great highlight and a time of growing closer to God. They have also had a number of outings such as a trip to Tunnel Beach and a hotpot night.

Pray they would see God bring along more international students to weekly meeting, and for some current members to step into leadership positions.

CMF

The Christian Medical Fellowship had an encouraging first semester with plenty of second year students coming regularly. We have had plenty of opportunities to bond as a group, forging good relationships through potluck dinners, pizza lunches and our first semester retreat.

Weekly meetings vary from hearing speakers within the Medical school to studying the Bible together and meeting for prayer with the other health sciences groups.

Pray that the group continues to follow God and meet its potential in terms of outreach and equipping future doctors to take their faith into their workplace. We are thankful that God has raised up a committed group of second year leaders going in to second semester.

DCG

The Dentistry Christian Group meets each week to study James. It’s been great seeing new faces, and they now have people representing all the different areas of dentistry. They will also be welcoming students from Malaysia who are joining for the rest of their degrees.

A particular highlight was the retreat just before Easter. Coming up they have a bake sale to raise funds for IFES groups overseas, and would appreciate prayer for this and the other TSCF-wide outreach they are involved in.

PCG

The Pharmacy Christian Group has heard speakers from the school of pharmacy talk about how faith interacts with being a pharmacist. The group provides a great opportunity for students across the year groups to interact and support each other. They would appreciate prayer for God to raise up new leaders from within the  group for next year.

* * *

As a whole, TSCF students at Otago University were really encouraged by the midyear Summit Conference and the team of Californian InterVarsity students who stayed with us in the following week. We were stretched in so many ways by their Story Project outreach, which required us to go up to passing students and invite them to have a conversation with us about God and different stories from the Bible.

We kicked off semester two with a quiz night and the Barn Dance outreach. Please pray for all the leaders, that God will lead them and that we will be able to take all the opportunities provided by these events to share the gospel.

Pray for the students we have already reached, that God will touch their hearts.

“It requires a direct dispensation from Heaven to become a walker” (Henry David Thoreau)

TSCF Hamilton is walking with God and with each other. This act of walking, an active process of seeking, of exploring, of moving towards...it comes only by the grace of God. 

This past semester, we are privileged to have our brothers and sisters with us to embark on a new theme: "Laying the foundation, Bridging the gap, Living it out". We have studied the book of 1 John and the attributes of God (infinite and personal) which have been a great insight and help with our walking. We can only pray that this walk will continue on towards eternity with our beloved Lord and Saviour.

In early September EU had its annual retreat. We headed out to Huia Lodge for a few days of fun, friendship and learning centred around the theme “Work in Progress”. It was a pleasure to welcome new people, hear from our excellent speakers Andy Shudall, Reuel Baptista and Robyn Drake and just spend time together away from the city. 

Despite the chilly weather, we made the most of the outdoors with several hikes, exploring caves and beaches and a glow worm walk one night. The committee provided us with some thrilling activities including clay modelling, building Noah’s Ark in lolly form, a murder mystery challenge and lots of fab games like Mafia.