The Sydney University Evangelical Union aims to make Christian students aware of the nature, needs and challenge of Christian service at home and abroad.
In working towards this goal, the group has organised a trip to a cross cultural ministry setting for the past six years. On the trip, EUers serve Christ for one to two months over the summer break in a culture different to their own. These trips heighten the awareness of Christian service for those students who go, but also have an effect on the rest of the EU as it supports the trip.
The Team
In 2005 we sent a team of 5 students and one staffworker to Mongolia. The team (you may know one of them) is [left to right]: Jason Marriot, Garth Hasler, Clive Lam (staff), Jennifer Fung, Annabelle Lee, Merilyn Pidgeon.
They flew out of Sydney on the 28th of November 2004 and returned on the 17th of January 2005
1. The Purpose
This short term trip is about awareness. Students are at an important point in their lives when they are shaping their values and making decisions about their future. It is critical that Christian service is firmly on the agenda. The awareness cultivated in both the students on the team and the many others who will be praying for and supporting them will have long term effects. Some will make cross-cultural Christian service their life’s work - maybe even in Mongolia. Many others will be lifelong supporters of such work.
It is also about service. The team goes to Mongolia to serve Christ by serving others. We hope they will make a worthwhile contribution to the cause of Christ in the places they visit, and that the team’s visit will enhance the work of our partners and encourage them.
2. Our Partners: VetNet
In choosing locations for the O3T, an important factor is the presence of an established mission organization ‘on the ground’ who have the time and willingness to support the team as well as provide contacts and opportunities for service. This year our partner organization is VetNet.
Until 1989, Mongolia was a country closed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and virtually no Christians were found in that country. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the country opened up and many people come to Christ every day.
VetNet is a team of Mongolian Christians reaching out to Mongolia with the message of Christ through their professional skills. There are over twenty full- time team members and approximately eleven part- time workers. These include veterinarians, teachers, artists, economists, a lawyer, drivers…. reaching out through the gifts that God has given to each of them. Fifty to sixty short-term western professionals will also assist in the work this year. Short-term volunteers include veterinarians, university faculty and administrators, physicians, dentists, nurses, teachers, contractors, agronomists, students, businessmen, and others.
3. What the Team Will be Doing
The trip has 3 phases: Preparation, In Mongolia and Report Back/Debriefing.
Preparation involves training in the months before the team leaves.
This training aims to help the team members to set helpful expectations, to think biblically about Christian service, to build relationships with other team members, to prepare & pray for the ministries we will be helping in, and to get to know a bit about Mongolia and its culture.
In Mongolia the team will visit & help with VetNet programs
After a few days of orientation, the team will spend four weeks teaching English to Vet students at the University with Zola Balginnyam, a VetNet worker and recent part time staff worker with the EU.
Zola has successfully run this course with other short term teams. It has proved to be a very effective way of building relationships and introducing people to Christ. Each time the course has run a number of attendees have been saved. The EU team can be useful here as Mongolian students are keen to learn English from native English speakers.
The team will also spend a few days visiting a rural area with Zola to encourage Christians there and some time resting and sightseeing. Each day there will be a team debriefing and prayer time to help ongoing processing of the experience.
The report back/debriefing phase of the trip involves helping team members process what they have experienced in a way that ensures they get the most out of the trip.
They will also spend some time preparing and giving presentations about the trip to the rest of the EU and other supporters to increase the awareness of others.
4. The Effect
Experience has shown that student trips such as this have a profound effect on those who go. For some it is the first step in a long process of making cross-cultural service their life’s work. Even those who don’t end up overseas in the long term will see the world from a different perspective. Students are forced to trust God in ways they never have before. Their identity in Christ is strengthened as familiar points of definition are left behind.
One student said of their EU short term trip experience:
“Even though I was constantly more stressed, I was less anxious than I am usually at home because I had no choice but to trust God for his care and provision every day”
However, these trips impact more than those who go. The whole EU group becomes aware of the trip as support is raised, as the group prays for the trip and as the participants report back at various occasions in the following year. A recent increased interest in cross-cultural service in the EU has been fuelled by these trips. Our prayer is that the effect will be felt for years to come.
