Life-shaping Experiences

In the work of student ministry, I believe there are a number of significant activities which lead to the shaping, moulding and making of student leaders who will make an impact on their campuses and beyond. Two of those activities are the regular "one to one" intentional discipleship and the larger scale camps & conferences.

I have promised that I would report on the TSCF Mid Year Conference a little while back. However, I felt it best to couple it with a more recent outworking of the discipling I have been involved in.

This year, the theme of the Mid Year Conference was "This is Jesus". It was a time when we took time to look at Jesus' life and its implications on our lives today. Each morning, we met in small groups to study a passage from John's Gospel, before Nigel spoke to us from that passage.

As usual, he was simple, creative and clear in his explanation and application of the text. In the evenings, it was over to dad to teach on sharing Jesus with our unbelieving friends and family in a way that makes sense. It was good to have dad speak & bring his enthusiasm and energy for the task of being witnesses to Jesus.

This is me "welcoming" dad to our TSCF Conference with a hongi. Nigel's welcome is more affectionately known as "a Glasgow Kiss"

We long to see the gospel at the heart of NZ & NZ at the heart of world mission. As part of this bigger goal, we had a special session led by Mark Grace on "The gospel & the NZ story", where he shared how NZ's foundations are built on gospel work done by those who initially came to these shores. In sharing his own passion, he communicated a desire that the gospel would be at the centre of NZ and how we think and tell others our nation's story.

Each day, we enjoyed "Skype the World", where through the wonders of Skype, we spoke with different people involved in missions work around the world - hearing their story, their needs & God's work in their part of the world. It was a highlight of the conference & was great for me a few weeks later to be involved from the other side, being Skyped by the EMW Extra Time conference in Aberystwyth & asked to share our story of God's work in our lives out here in NZ. It was also a joy to have several guests (staff & students) from around the South Pacific & renew our friendship and partnership with them. Below are Tom (General Secretary of TSCF in Papua New Guinea), dad, Nigel & Arteca (on staff with PSFC, Fiji).

Over the week, there was a real sense of momentum gathering as students caught the vision for what could happen on their campuses and in their lives, and understood for themselves how God chooses to use them as His witnesses in spite of all their weakness. As we left from the conference, there was a desire to attempt great things from God, whilst we expected great things from God. It has been my privilege in the weeks after the conference to follow up conversations with staff & students as to how we can make the most of every opportunity God gives us.

As with many of our conferences, it was a real joy to hear of a couple of students coming to faith during the week itself. Whilst our conferences aren't specifically aimed at unbelieving students, it's always a thrill to meet a number who come along with friends, and particularly when we see God working in their lives. It's an even bigger thrill (one we share with the angels in heaven!), when those students come to know Jesus for themselves.

Of course, conferences aren't just about learning. They also provide a time to enjoy fun together. Karaoke has never featured strongly in either dad's or my life (or maybe it has, and dad has never told me?). However, I'll not forget duetting with dad on the Village People classic "YMCA" as we entered the Karaoke competition. It may be fun to stay at the YMCA, but I'm not sure it's fun to hear the YMCA sung by us.

Since conference, it's back to the day to day activities my work entails. Amidst the busyness of all that my work encompasses, it's important never to forget it's about people. Two of the significant people I've been involved with in Wellington have been Josh & Peng. They've been mentioned before on here & in our prayer letters. Peng is a final year Architecture student from Malaysia and former President of the ICF group here. Josh is in his 2nd Year, studying English & History. He's a Wellingtonian through & through. On a weekly basis, I meet with them individually to open God's Word together, to chat through student life and ministry & to help them go on & grow in their walk with God.

Some time back, I felt it would be good to have an extended period of time investing in them. Both are leaders and it seemed prudent to spend a weekend with them talking & thinking about leadership. Over the past weekend, we looked at the book of Nehemiah together, using it as the basis for our thoughts on leadership. I loved opening this great book again & enjoyed Raymond Brown's simple & simply brilliant thoughts on it in his Bible Speaks Today commentary on it.

However, I wanted to ground the lessons learned from Nehemiah's leadership in real life examples. Film is such a powerful tool in illustrating lessons, and given our time constraints worked well in what I was seeking to achieve. We looked at the lives of 3 characters, Sir Ernest Shackleton, William Wilberforce & Eric Liddell. The 3 films based on their lives, Shackleton (with Kenneth Brannagh), Amazing Grace & Chariots of Fire, formed the basis of our thoughts. As we looked at good leadership v godly leadership, it was great to be challenged by their lives, leadership & its impact.

For me personally, these 3 men was a fresh reminder of the potential influence and impact of godly leadership. It was good to read Leonard Sweet's helpful work "Summoned to Lead" before the weekend - in it, he uses Shackleton as an example of good leadership, but more significantly, takes a look at leadership from the audible perspective, rather than a visual one. I need to revisit the work at a later date, but his clarity and fresh angle was helpful to me.

Time away has the potential to be life-shaping. Only time will tell how significant the weekend was for Josh and Peng, but for now, I'll leave you with their thoughts on the weekend, which I share for your encouragement & prayers.

"It was a real privilege to get away for a weekend with Peng and be led in study and discussion by Ben. Three great films, ‘Shackleton’, ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Chariots of Fire’, together with God’s Word (Nehemiah) shaped our understanding of leadership with clear and memorable examples from history. We talked a lot about ‘good’ and ‘godly’ leadership, identifying the qualities necessary for each and the differences and crossovers between them. The three of us aspired to become better, more disciplined and compassionate leaders – men of God.

I was struck by the fact that, often, God’s idea of success can be very different to our own. Shackleton and Liddell, two leaders we looked at, actually failed in what they set out to do, but what they achieved was far greater than anyone could have imagined. I have been challenged to think seriously about God’s calling for my life, that God might lead me and exceed my expectations. Also inspiring was Nehemiah’s passion for Scripture and his discipline in prayer. God was always Nehemiah’s first port of call when confronted by opposition or a daunting task. I am committed to turning this inspiration into action.

I am hugely grateful for all that was organised beforehand, for the food and facilities that allowed for such an enjoyable and productive time away. It was awesome just having the chance to be boys, to share in fellowship and relevant learning. Thanks heaps!" (Josh Irving)

"Ben has been such a huge support to the ministry here in New Zealand! Aside from being an excellent speaker at many of our events, he has been so faithful in working one to one with students, mentoring them, and slowly disciplining them to have a long lasting robust faith. I am so thankful that for about 2 years now, Ben has been meeting with me every week to study parts of the bible, going through topical issues that I may be struggling with, taking the time to know and understand me deeply, praying together, and helping me focus on walking in Jesus' footsteps.

Just this past weekend he has taken the time to organize a retreat for just me and another to look through themes of what Godly leadership means. As well as its similarities and differences with a worldly understanding of leadership. It has helped challenge my walk to be more disciplined in my spiritual faith journey, and I will definitely take lessons learned into my working life and leadership roles. I really appreciate his focused efforts with students this way, as I see it to be very strategic in furthering the work of the gospel. I consider Ben as an important mentor to me, and an honest friend who I can confide with and lovingly rebuke me if I am straying off Gods path. And through this relationship we have, I feel I can also do the same with him." (Peng Wong)