• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Recent Issues
      • September/October 2023September/October 2023
      • July/August 2023July/August 2023
      • May/June 2023May/June 2023
      • January/February 2023January/February 2023
      • March/April 2023March/April 2023
      • November/December 2022November/December 2022
      • More…
  • Authors
      • Stuart OlyottStuart Olyott
      • Tony BrownTony Brown
      • Wayne ProbertWayne Probert
      • Sophie KillingleySophie Killingley
      • Sarah EbenezarSarah Ebenezar
      • Kerry OrchardKerry Orchard
      • Tom OlsonTom Olson
      • John SnyderJohn Snyder
      • Ceri DouglassCeri Douglass
      • AnonAnon
      • More…
  • Sections
      • Bible
      • Church
      • Comment
      • Faith
      • History
      • Life
      • Mission
      • My story
      • Prayer
      • Remembering
      • Reviews
      • Theology
  • Subscribe

Reaching The Next Generation – Universities

Elin Bryn WilliamsonElin Bryn Williamson2 minute readJuly/August 2023, page 13

Next September it will be ten years since I became a university student. At first glance, if I compare my experience to today’s student, it might look fairly similar. Yet when we scratch the surface, maybe more has changed than we might realise.

Living on the other side of lockdown, the Covid pandemic sometimes seems like a weird collective dream we once had. It’s amazing how quickly we forget the times of social distancing and restrictions. However, though memory fades, that time did leave its mark. For students today, their university experience, though free from Covid regulations, is still affected by it. Anxiety is a close companion to many students. Life had to be lived online – school as well as socialising. They missed key steps including taking exams, going out with their friends and growing in independence. Now, some suffer from imposter syndrome, worried that they don’t measure up to their grade and others find socialising in person exhausting and the freedom overwhelming.

On the other hand, elements of life that were seen as a ‘given’ are now cherished because of the lost years. While working with Christian Unions (CUs) here in Ireland, I’ve noticed this change of appreciation. The first ‘Weekend Away’ for the CUs after Covid was so encouraging as everyone was so excited to be together again. This has also been obvious in CU events, non-Christian students are happy to come along with friends to socialise and meet people their age and have found the sense of community in the CU really attractive.

Changes in the world over the last few years have brought the big questions about life closer. The pandemic and the war in the Ukraine have brought the reality of death to each student’s doorstep. Along with that, following the rise in ‘fake news’, ‘online experts’ and the ‘cost of living crisis’, there’s a sense of growing distrust and confusion. Many are pondering the question about where the ‘truth’ is found and the loudest answer to that is probably the inclusive society that informs them that ‘the truth is to be found within’ and ‘you are the master of your own truth’.

As lovely and liberating as that may sound, this answer is an empty myth. It does not serve as a solution; the brokenness of the world continues and the brokenness within is only highlighted. What’s left then for the worried young student trying to enjoy life post Covid?

The privileges and challenges that students face might look different ten years on, but the truth has not changed. The solution is still available to be found. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8) and he is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).

As we seek to reach students with the gospel today, our job is to declare that the absolute truth is to be found in Jesus himself and that by knowing him we find true peace. Alongside our declarations we must show that life knowing Jesus and submitting to him as our Lord is so much better. Yes, choosing to follow Jesus will cost, it might mean leaving desires behind, going against the flow and accepting that we are all guilty in need of forgiveness for our sins. Yet, once we ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Ps. 34:8) there’s nothing that can compare to being together with our God, just as we were meant to be.

Found this helpful? Like, share or tweet

Want more like this? Get the latest articles direct by email every week:

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your personal details are safe. We won’t spam you, or pass your details onto anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time.

About the author

Elin Bryn Williamson
Elin Bryn Williamson is from North Wales and lives in Galway working with Christian Unions Ireland helping students share the gospel on campus in the West of Ireland.

Read next

Everyday Mission
by Katie Hadley
Bringing God’s Love Into A Prison
by David Lewis
Home For Good
by Neil Davies
Behold Your God
by Andy Pitt
Lessons For Evangelism
by Adam Thomas, Elspeth Pitt and Jonny Raine
Chasing Away The Darkness
by Nay Dawson
Weary From Serving
by Mandi Archer
Life In The Greenhouse
by Elaine Macdonald

Primary Sidebar

Like us on Facebook

Evangelical Magazine

Latest issue

Other popular articles

  • What is ‘praying in the Spirit’ and how do we pray in this way? by Stuart Olyott
    97 likes
  • Golgotha - Why was Jesus crucified outside the city? by Mark Barnes
    32 likes
  • Success Is Our Only Option by Sammy Davies
  • Until we meet again by Alun Ebenezer
    182 likes
  • Sharing Jesus with Mormon Missionaries by Tony Brown
    48 likes
  • Sharing Jesus with a Jehovah’s Witness by Tony Brown
    107 likes
  • Winter In Your Soul by Anon
  • Why was Jesus baptised in the River Jordan? by Mark Barnes
    76 likes
  • Door-to-door with a difference by Sheila Stephen
    18 likes
  • Mount of Olives: The Suffering and Glory of the Messiah by Mark Barnes
    30 likes

The Evangelical Magazine is published by the Evangelical Movement of Wales.
Waterton Cross Business Park, South Road, Bridgend CF31 3UL.
Registered charity number 222407. View our privacy policy.