Friday Friends & Faves #9

Friends:
My friends Heather and Cam work for Student Life - a Christian group at work on a number of university campuses throughout Australia. God used time in Student Life small groups and one-on-one with SL staff, way back in the mid-90s, to change my life forever. And Heather and Cam were at uni with me and involved as students with SL.

Now, years later, they continue to share the love of God, the salvation gift of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit with new generations of uni students. They do it on campus...and off (as you'll read below). And it is their heart to share the life-giving and changing message of Christianity that has challenged me in the past couple of weeks since I read the email below.

I hope that as we head into December...a time for remembering Jesus' birth and all that event sparked....we might take to heart Cam's example and have a real boldness and passion for sharing the faith we have.

A recent trip to Victoria by Heather and Cam was marked by this little gem in their journey. They shared it in a recent email:

Well, we’re not even in Victoria yet (still staying with friends in Sydney) but Cam has shared his faith multiple times – with servo dudes and a guy we met on the bus on the way to see the sights of Darling Harbour. Cam’s still dripping from the apartment complex pool where he shared his faith with residents Athol and Zumi. I’ve learned to substitute prayer for panic whenever Cam is taking longer than I thought in the shops, or down town or even in the toilet. He’s just sharing his faith (or in the case of the toilet, reading apologetics books). But Cam would be quick to remind you not to be in awe of his gift of evangelism (or ablutionary reading), but to ask God to give you courage to step up to bat. He would say that remembering to ask the Golden Question – have you had much to do with Christian things? – is a matter of practice and courage. So fresh from the pool, here’s how the conversation went 5 minutes ago...

Cam: Hi I’m Cam. Do you guys live here?

A&Z: yes. What about you?

Cam: I’m from Toowoomba and I’m on my way to Victoria to help Christian uni students reach out to schoolies and see if any of them want help connecting to God. What about you? Have you had much to do with Christian things?

A&Z (positively): we’re Hindus, but we’ve just been to Hillsong Church, our first experience of Christian things.

Cam: was that a positive experience for you?

A&Z: it was great!

Cam: what did you like about it?

A&Z: people were so alive and enthusiastic and loving. And we’ve got Christian friends now.

Cam: how does that affect what you think about Christianity?

A&Z: we like it, but we don’t think it’s right to just follow a religion.

Cam: you mean a religion where it’s all about following rules?

A&Z: yes. It doesn’t seem right to have to follow a lot of rules to get something.

Cam: I’ve got good news for you: the essence of Christianity is actually relationship, not rules. It’s all about having a friendship with God. Following rules can lead to problems like pride and thinking you’re better than others because you’re following rules well. But Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So I had a close look at Jesus to see if what he was saying was true, and I learned that the way we go through Jesus to God the Father is through Jesus’ forgiveness for things we do wrong. This leads to us being humble, which puts us in a better position to extend friendship to others.

A&Z: wow! That makes sense. It would stop a lot of wars and things.

Cam: now, because I’m grateful for forgiveness, I make choices to do what God wants, not because it’s a rule, but because of my friendship with God. So are you interested in finding out more about a friendship with God through Jesus?

A&Z: yes!

Cam: do you have an iPhone?

A&Z: yes!

Cam: go to the Apps Store and get a free application called Knowing God Personally (gospel presentation developed by Campus Crusade for Christ)

A&Z: Great! I’ll do that!

Favourites:
My sister Megan has put her talents to work this year and been very creative....with material. I really admire her efforts, particularly as Home Ec was not my strong suit in school and I spend way more time unpicking than sewing if I ever do it. Megan's on-line store has lots of cute items for kids and if you're looking for a special Christmas gift, check out Tail Endz Even if you're not in the market for kids' clothes and bags, have a look anyway, just for the "Awwwww....cute" buzz:)