Southampton student work

My particular focus in actively getting involved with the gospel ministry of Christ Church is within the student ministry. My first taste of this was Student Getaway in September.

Student Getaway runs every year and is a chance for returning students to spend a week together having a lot of fun and studying the Bible together before the university term recommences. This year, 36 of us (including 7 leaders) spent a week in the Kent countryside spending time each day diving into the book of Jonah, reading the book ‘Humility’ by CJ Mahaney, and watching a series of videos on what it looks like to live as a Christian in an ever-changing and increasingly challenging world.

For me, the highlight was considering Jonah and how, despite Jonah’s pride and best intentions to the contrary, God still used him to accomplish His purposes. I found it profound looking at Jonah and considering that, just like him, we are all sinners and none of us deserve God’s mercy and, yet, through Jesus’ sacrifice as an atonement for our sins, those who believe in Him will be saved (Romans 10:9).

On top of this, we had loads of fun including playing games outside, dancing a ceilidh, heading to the beach, and having a murder mystery night one evening (see photo!). As all of the students were returners, I knew them all from last year so I thoroughly enjoyed my time just hanging out with some good friends already as well as deepening existing relationships.

As a student last year, Student Getaway was my highlight of last year and it will take something special to beat that again this year. Time will tell…

Nathan Judson - ministry trainee, Christ Church, Southampton