Online meetings

Not too long ao, I was amazed recently to see a student show up to an online meeting. Since the beginning of not being able to meet in person, we have lost many students. She was quite adament to not go to online meetings. For her it was either meeting in person or not at all. I completey respected her choice. If I have the choice, I probably would have done the same.

When started to do outings in the park, more students came than to online meetings. This wasn't a surprise. However, I was surprised to see that new students came and the one who disappeared didn't.

I keep a file of pics of our online meetings and in person. Both are valuable. I enjoy every moment that we can meet especially when it comes to interacting with God's word and sharing our thoughts. There is so much to learn and I feel like I've been growing even in adveristy (or challenges of living in times of COVID).

Three Stories

 Jingjing

I met Jingjing a Chinese student through Elizabeth another student from Indonesia, who was involved in the GBU my first year living in Nancy. Even though Elizabeth was from a country where Christians are persecuted, she was excited to share her faith and love for life with everyone. After Elizabeth finished her masters, I stayed in contact with Jingjing and invited her to different events GBU. Sometimes we hung out and had meals together. Since I lived in Macau south east China, I have had a love for everything Chinese.

 

For the most part, Jingjing was mostly interested in coming to the GBU for language purposes. She wanted to learn French and she was already pretty strong in English so she came to the group we have for English speakers. She went to church with Elizabeth a couple times and once with me.

 

We never really read the Bible together but I tried to have conversations with her and other Christians she met did too. I bought her a Bible that I’m not even sure if she read unless she came to the group. I knew that she was skeptical about Christianity but that prevented me to build a friendship with her.

 

She came to one of our GBU Christmas parties, which for evangelistic purposes. She brought along with her some of her Chinese snacks to share. I worried what the students wouldn’t touch them because they aren’t always so open to new things. A student and her friend were standing near the food table near us and asked us who bought the snacks (which were Jingjing’s). We told them and they said they tried each kind! For me I thought that their testimony spoke loudly because she and her culture were accepted and appreciated. 

 

She left Nancy still not yet Christian but I believe that the Lord planted some deep seeds of his love and acceptance in her. I hope and pray that He keeps pursuing her and giving her opportunities to know him more.

 

Tommy

Léopaul a former student leader studies life science. His peers all knew he was a Christian and they would tease for it. He got to know one of his classmates Tommy and started having spiritual conversations with him. One time he asked me if I could arrive early to welcome people because he was going to have a beer with Tommy and his girlfriend and talk about God.

 

Then Tommy started to come to the GBU. He was quiet and timid but he came often. In March just before the first lockdown he came; there were a few of us. He talked a little but not much. I didn’t know then but God was doing something in him because Léo shared with us in September during our leaders’ weekend that Tommy became a Christian. I was amazed. And when I saw him again during at the group, he seemed so different. He was even interacting more with the passage and in the group. He shared more than I ever had seen. It was like seeing something awakened in him.

 

Wen

He’s a student doing his thesis. He faithfully comes to the group and it seems likes he absorbs the word of God like it’s food for his soul. He is either really close to becoming a Christian or has become a Christian without realizing it. He was involved with 2 GBU groups, one in Metz and the other in Nancy where he was doing his studies, but now he’s based in Nancy. I’ve been so encouraged to see how the Lord has used many different students to share the Gospel with him. His understanding of the text is astounding. Yet I can see his humble heart and almost child-like manner of being. We have been praying for Wen for a while to commit his life to Christ, I feel like it’s only a matter of time.

Easter giveaway

For a while, I’ve been frustrated with being stuck at home. I wanted to get out and meet students. So for Easter, we decided to pass out chocolate and tell students about Easter (and the GBU naturally). We had bags of chocolate eggs with bible verses from Luke 24. Amazingly, we went to 6 campuses with 3 different students (2 students were motivated to come out twice). Each day a student came and Sarah came a few day (she’s interning with the GBU). 

 

We had some good conversations and told many students where Easter comes from. There were very few students who could explain the meaning of Easter. Surprisingly some didn’t accept the free candy, but we talked to them anyway. Two students we talked to, who claimed to not be religious (most likely atheists), asked very good questions. Another guy told us he had heard of the GBU because he saw the posters on his campus. There were some students interested in the GBU so maybe they will join us.

One our last day I had a strange encouter with a guy. I was giving away candy on the engineering campus, and I offered a guy a bag of chocolate. He got really sad and put his head down. I continued talking to the girl sitting with him and she took a bag but he didn'tThere was something about the Bible or what I said that made him sad. Pray that Jesus heals his wounds. Pray that we would be more sensitive to students coming to our groups who have been hurt by religion and the church.