Thank you so much for your support, prayers and involvement in the University of Houston Baptist Student Ministry mission trip to Leeds, England. Without you, this partnership and ministry would not have been possible!
This was the first year the BSM partnered with Anna S. with Initiate Hope, the organization that gave us access to ministry opportunities at the Universities Chaplaincy in Leeds and Blenheim Baptist Church in Leeds, England. During May 17 to June 1, the BSM sent us - a team 2 leaders and 6 members - with hopes we would be able to share the gospel with university students in Leeds, help with the discipleship process with university students at Blenheim Baptist Church, grow in our awareness of and ability to function in cross-cultural ministry settings and encourage the local chaplaincy, church and mission leaders.
This year, we were thrilled to be part of what God is doing in Leeds. Our team had over 75 spiritual conversations with students and accomplished many of our team goals through God’s grace and direction. We wanted to share a few stories with you so that you could get a better idea of what you helped make possible.
Prayer Tent
- For two days, our team hosted an interactive prayer tent in front of the University of Leeds student union. The tent held different activities to teach students about prayer and give them opportunities to worship God. We also gave away free tea and coffee in front of the tent, giving us a way to begin conversations with students and invite them into the tent. Through this, we had several good spiritual conversations with students and were able to pray for them. The following is an experience from Lauren Beard, a sign language interpreting major from UH.
We were hanging out at the prayer tent the first day we put it up when two guys walked up and asked if they could go in. We said, "Of course," and I followed them in to explain everything. I told them they could go through the stations, but they said they just wanted to pray that they have an epic night because they had just finished with exams for their first year of “uni” and they were going to do the Otley Run, a pub crawl.
They then began asking me serious questions about religion and Christianity and my views on certain subjects. They seemed genuinely interested in learning more because they said all the Christians they know are no different than they are. I was able to explain prayer to them and talk about what the Bible says about drinking and gay relationships (they were both gay).
Then they asked if growing up in the church is the reason I have such strong faith. I was able to share my testimony, and how God brought me through all the rough times in my life. I shared with them about my past and how I came to know Jesus, because there was nobody else for me to turn to. They were amazed that someone would be so honest and straightforward to people they had just met. They kept telling me I was the most real person they had ever met, simply because I was honest.
Then came the harder questions...why? If God is so good, why is there war and fighting and killing? If God created us all and loves us, why are there people born with disabilities? My first response was that we can't blame God, because He did not create anything bad. I explained how sin entered the world and how all these things stem from that one bad decision. I also shared how for most of my life I felt like I had a disability.
When I was 18 months old, I stuck my hand in an attic fan. It stunted the growth of my pointer and middle fingers of my left hand and destroyed all the nerves. I was different and I didn't understand why God didn't fix me. Many nights while I was growing up, I would go to bed crying and praying, "God, if you really love me, you would fix my hand. You would make me normal. People say you still perform miracles, so why can't I be one of your miracles?" It never happened.
Now that I have a calling into ministry, deaf ministry to be exact, I realize that God has a plan. What I always considered a disability, will be the one thing that helps me relate to people I need to minister to.
They seemed stunned. They were getting ready to leave, but I asked if I could pray for them, and they agreed. This was the first time an English person voluntarily gave me a hug (or three), and they even took a picture with me. I never saw Jacob or Joe again after that, but I am still praying that our conversation sticks with them. I believe that every time they see that picture, God will remind them of everything we discussed in the tent, and maybe eventually they will open their hearts to Him.
University Student Retreat
- For two days we hosted Re:Treat, an opportunity for Christian students to dig into the Word, spend time in worship, be encouraged by time with other Christians and have a short break from the stress of exams. We hosted a Re:Treat In day at Blenheim Baptist Church where we taught on the importance of the church, what Christian community is designed to be, the role of authenticity and love in the church as well as provided a time of worship and fellowship. The next day, we had a Re:treat Out day where we traveled with the students to Fountains Abbey, a nearby scenic site, to encourage them and get to know them better. It was a very lovely time.
- When asking the British students what they thought about the retreat, one student named Gemma said it was just what she needed at that point in her life. Gemma would be graduating in a few weeks and also revealed that her roommate had committed suicide a few days earlier. We were able to mourn with her, pray for her and love on her during this time. She said it meant so much to her that she was able to join our team at the retreat, be with fellow Christians during this time, be encouraged and have time in worship.
Prayer Walking
- The Leeds Metropolitan University Headingley campus is two miles from the University of Leeds. There is very little Christian university ministry being done here due to a lack of ministers. There are about 25,000 students in this area but less than 1 percent of the students are involved in a church at least one time each month. There is one missionary couple that is pioneering work here but student responses have been slow and difficult. We spent a day prayer walking this campus, praying that God’s Spirit would move in the hearts of the students, that they would respond to His presence, that God would send more Christian workers to proclaim His name on this campus and for a great spiritual harvest to happen there.
- We also spent some time on a few other days prayer walking the University of Leeds campus, praying for students and ministry there.
International Student Club
- On two separate evenings, we joined the chaplaincy’s International Student Club. There we met students from China, Thailand, Morocco, South Korea and Japan. One night, we participated in an outing to Roundhay Park and the other night we enjoyed playing games with students at the chaplaincy. Three girls on our team were able to connect with students from China, Japan and Morocco, setting up additional times to grab coffee or lunch with them. Angel, one of the UH team members, was able to share the gospel with a girl from Japan. She didn’t see her accept Christ but she saw the student have more understanding about God loving her as she is right now. And that is a wonderful thing!
Tea and Coffee Handouts
- On several occaisions we joined Ellie, the Student Outreach Worker with the Chaplaincy, to give out free tea and coffee outside one of the libraries on campus. This gave us a platform to chat with students and attempt to move conversations to spiritual conversations.
Worship at Blenheim Baptist Church
- The Sunday we were in England, we joined Blenheim Baptist Church for worship. During this time, several of the team participated in the worship service. Efrain lead worship, Angel lead in prayer, Lauren read Scripture and Mark helped direct the service. It was such a good experience for the team to participate in another church and to see how Christians around the world worship
- That morning, we were all touched by getting to celebrate in the baptism of a young lady from Iran. She shared her story of moving from Islam to Christianity and it was authentic, challenging and beautiful.
Host Families
- Several members at Blenheim Baptist Church offered to house our team. Staying in host homes allowed our team to get to know other Christians and church leaders in England and hear their perspective on life in Leeds and living out their faith. We feel that this experience was very valuable in helping our team understand Brits and gain a heart for the people of Leeds rather than just seeing the effort as a set of mission objectives to complete. Though we wanted to faithfully carry out our goals, we also wanted our students’ hearts to be influenced. Authentically connecting them to host homes greatly helped with this.
Encouragement
- Ministry in the UK is very difficult, as many people do not take the time to contemplate spiritual things. One of our goals was to encourage the ministry and church leaders we were working with whilst in England. We feel like that was one of our biggest victories and we were thrilled to get to be part of their ministry.
- In an email from Anna sent after we left, she wrote, “At the deacons meeting last night, David (Blenheim pastor) asked everyone how they felt the Houston team's mission was and everyone was so complimentary and had such great things to say. You all left such a great impression and were an enormous blessing to people, even the 'least likely' and I'm so proud of you…. And the deacons were overjoyed at your coming back.”
As we walked through the trip, we felt strongly that we should enter into a partnership with Initiate Hope and make plans to bring student teams to Leeds, England during the next several years to support the university ministry efforts taking place there. We see that God is working here and that the UH BSM can play a vital role in encouraging the full-time university ministers and supplementing their efforts through short-term trips focused on campus outreach, discipleship, and encouragement. We look forward to returning in May 2015 and continuing to be part of what God is doing in Leeds.