Students on university campuses across Victoria will be hit by a sweeping evangelistic campaign this month.

The campaign has been designed by student Christian groups to encourage students to talk about Christ and to present the message of the gospel. The mission centres on topics such as ‘What if God really exists?’ and ‘What if God really judges?’

The Rev Ian Powell, Rector of St Barnabas’, Broadway, will visit six university campuses over several weeks in August to engage with students and present the talks. He will also be the guest speaker at Euangelion, a youth event for 1000 people at the Forum Theatre on August 20.

Greek for ‘gospel’, Euangelion will involve skits, creative multi media, a band, testimonies from students and a message about Jesus Christ, all geared towards youth groups and the university aged.

“University is an incredible place to get people thinking about Jesus because it’s where you decide what kind of [person] you are going to be,” Mr Powell said. He was 19 when he began thinking about Christianity, after the sudden death of his friend. “I began to realise that life was not just a theoretical game. I wanted to work out what came after, I wanted to find the truth about life.”

Christian Union Staff worker and mission organiser at La Trobe University, Julie-Anne Laird, says God answered many prayers through last year’s inaugural Euangelion. “I kept on praying that one person would come to know Christ and incredibly God answered that prayer 22 times,” she says.

Lori Clarke, a former student of Deakin University, gave her testimony in front of 800 people last year.

“I received emails from people who had brought friends to the event that had been touched in some way by my words. I take absolutely no credit for it – the night was full of speakers who God obviously used to reach different people.”