Cultivating kingdom work on campus

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Thursday, October 12th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming up next: the challenges of campus ministry. It’s more difficult in some countries than in others.

Resources may be hard to come by. The political climate might be antagonistic. That leads campus ministers to seek help from networks of Christians in other countries.

EICHER: WORLD reporter Amy Lewis takes us to a conference in Southeast Asia to hear about the work taking place on college campuses around the world.

AUDIO: [Muslim call to prayer]

AMY LEWIS, REPORTER: On the northern coast of Jakarta, Indonesia, daily Muslim prayers echo through the smog.

But at a local convention center, nearly a thousand ministry workers from 160 countries join to sing praises to the one true God.

MUSIC: You alone are my strength and shield. To you alone may my spirit yield…

It’s the World Assembly of IFES or I.F.E.S. That’s the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. The ministry workers are here for encouragement, training, and networking.

Every continent except Antarctica is represented here. Dozens of heart languages fill the air.

MUSIC: Marcharemos cheios de coragem…

Many speakers and workshops explore the theme of perseverance—a crucial quality for those engaged with campus ministry in difficult parts of the world.

Like in the case of the IFES-affiliated campus ministry called FOCUS Zimbabwe.

EPHIAS NDAHWI: My name is Ephias Ndahwi. I’m from Zimbabwe.

Ephias Ndahwi is the national director for about 35 colleges around the southern African country of Zimbabwe. He has a bold vision of seeing the entire country transformed by the gospel. One student at a time.

NDAHWI: But if we share the gospel, it brings transformation. And the students are very key, very strategic. Because after studying, they take high offices. They go to different parts of the nation of Zimbabwe. So they go out as ambassadors if we fully disciple them.

It’s that discipleship that’s the hard part—training followers of Jesus in a country full of political, economic and spiritual upheaval. A coup in 2017 threw the country into turmoil. More than 90 percent of Zimbabwe's college graduates cannot find a job. Teen alcoholism and substance abuse is a national disaster. And with prosperity gospel churches blanketing Zimbabwe, Ndahwi has also seen an epidemic of poor Biblical teaching.

On the other side of the world, campus ministers in a dangerous Latin American country persevere under different circumstances. This is David.

DAVID: Tengo veintiséis años…

Gisela Muñoz is David’s supervisor from IFES. She interprets for him.

GISELA MUÑOZ: I am 26 years old. I am a doctor. And I also serve as the General Secretary of Koinonia, which is the Christian student and professional group.

Because of the potential danger to David and his ministry, we aren’t revealing what country he’s from. But when asked what challenges he faces, he doesn’t talk about finances or political oppression. Mainly, he says, he faces discouragement.

DAVID: Uge lanome que…

MUÑOZ: Sometimes for a leader what gives them joy in their work or encouragement in their work is to see how their work flourishes or gives fruit.

Too often he doesn’t have that privilege.

DAVID: Pero in context Latino Americano…

MUÑOZ: But in a Latin American context where everybody’s looking to migrate and so many people end up leaving. And you can’t see the fruits of the work that you’ve invested in students who leave after they graduate. That’s very discouraging.

The ripe field of disciples frequently moves away and he doesn’t get to see the harvest. This is true of most college ministries, but because his students emigrate out of the country, staying in touch is hard.

DAVID: Y muchos me contrantando trabajan tullo, y necesito creo que…

MUÑOZ: And many times I found myself crying and I’ve had, I needed people to come and say and remind me this work is not yours. This is not your work. That’s probably the greatest challenge.

Like any campus minister, he gets to collaborate and partner with local churches.

DAVID: Simpremo…

MUÑOZ: It’s important for us, for ministers to help us maintain the focus on Christ-centered and for us to have the proper doctrine. So we have a lot of support from local churches and pastors.

As part of IFES, David finds encouragement when he meets regularly with ministers in his region. He also has access to global resources and teams who can walk alongside him. He doesn’t work alone.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe team also has international partners.

One of those is a group in Australia. Tim Thorburn has been involved with FOCUS Zimbabwe for the past ten years. He’s worked to establish apprenticeships in Zimbabwe so that students can learn to do ministry by doing ministry.

THORBURN: The idea is as old as Elijah and Elisha. Particularly Paul and Timothy is the place we see it most clearly I think in the Bible. And Timothy has learned ministry by working beside Paul preaching, teaching, being entrusted with a ministry gradually more…

NDAHWI: Well we really thank God for other partnerships from other movements. Australia has been doing this apprenticeship model that we have also adopted and it has been working…

Thorburn continues training pastors and teachers in Zimbabwe-—he'll be there next month. Representatives from multiple churches in Australia regularly meet and pray with Ephias Ndahwi and his team online. They share Ndahwi’s vision to see Zimbabwe transformed by the gospel, starting with college campuses.

CAM: Lord, we thank you that your Spirit has stirred up within us a desire to see students and people of Zimbabwe and come to know you and to come to grow into maturity. Jesus sake. Amen.

Ministry is hard under any circumstances. But offering support and help to people in ministry can have long lasting Kingdom-wide effects.

THORBURN: My hope and prayer is that as they do ministry, they do ministry not only in a biblically faithful way, but they have the vision and the prayer and the determination to raise up the next generation and train them. So, my prayer is that in 20 years’ time, there’ll be a significantly different landscape of Christianity.

MUSIC: Come bend and break us, revive your church, Lord. Oh breath of God, come breathe within, revive, restore in every part. Reveal in every part. The love of Christ, afresh to win, revive your church in every part.

Reporting for WORLD, I'm Amy Lewis in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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