As thousands of Christian university students meet for mid-year conferences these holidays, a new ministry called SPICE is giving a fresh flavour to ethnic ministry.
This unique Bible study group that encourages Sri Lankan, Pakistani and Indian Christian Exploration " hence SPICE " is effectively giving students from South Asian backgrounds a taste of Jesus.
There might currently only be half a dozen people meeting at this University of Western Sydney, Penrith-based Bible study group but as UWS Penrith’s Anglican chaplain, the Rev Rob Elder says, "from little things" ".
The group was started when a friend of Rob's mentioned he had met an Indian couple who were interested in supporting university ministry in western Sydney.
"I'd been wanting to initiate some non-Anglo ministry on campus and this just seemed like an answer to a prayer," Rob says.
In semester two last year Rob ran the first SPICE event " an outreach stall during the celebration of Divali, the Indian festival of Light.
Since the beginning of semester one 2007 Rob has run a weekly growth group.
"It has been great for building up fellowship and praying for ministry in South Asia," Rob says.
One student who has been greatly impacted by the ministry is SPICE member Francis Sathiakumar, who recently went on a short-term mission to India.
Francis became a Christian as a 15-year-old in 2002 when the minister at his church posed him a confronting question:
"So you're at the gates of heaven and God says ‘Why should I let you in?’” he recollects.
“After talking with him I saw how wrong I had been about being a Christian," Francis admits.
"Once I put my faith in Jesus I started making changes to my life and then I got confirmed. That was my main turning point."
Francis says he attends SPICE so he can tell the good news about Jesus to people who are also from Indian descent.
"I understand the culture, the needs and the attitude of South Asian people and there’s a big mission field that is fruitful," Francis says.
Bridging the gap
Rob says SPICE’s clientèle were all members of UWS Penrith’s Campus Bible Ministries, which he also runs, but had never been very involved until the new group was formed.
"Forming SPICE has seen them go from being fringe members to active members," Rob says.
Currently, all the SPICE members are of Indian descent, but Rob hopes to remedy this.
"Most grew up in Christian homes but all have Hindu relatives," he says.
"Next semester we hope to promote SPICE more broadly."
Rob estimates about 500 students on the Penrith campus are from "SPICE' backgrounds.
"South Asian students also seem to be more tightly-knit than uni students from other backgrounds so reaching out to them in a meaningful way is a feasible achievement," he says.
Mid-year merging
The SPICE girls and guys will be just a few of the almost 2000 university students meeting at this year's Mid Year Conferences (MYC).
At least four such events will cater to Sydney-based university students over the middle two weeks of July.
Last week David Mitchell, ministry trainee at Wollongong University's Evangelical Christian Union, joined around 400 university students from Wollongong University, various UWS campuses, TAFE, Korean Bible Study and Christians in the Media.
Held at the Merroo Conference Centre in Kurrajong, the conference was called "To belong, to believe' and was a week of study on the church.
David says he was particularly challenged by nightly talks from Dean of Sydney the Rev. Phillip Jensen, a regular MYC speaker for more than 20 years.
"We were told that "the thing we would die for is the thing we will live for'. It has made my wife and I think about what we are willing to give up for the sake of the gospel," he says.
"We also wrestled with the tension of different perspectives on "the church'" the seeker sensitive church, the emerging church, the new perspective and comparing that with the Australian evangelical position."
David says he has already seen the effects of the conference on some of the students.
"After the first day a few guys said they were already challenged to change their lives after what they had heard."
Sam Terry, who is studying Physics at Wollongong University, says he has been challenged to think about how to do church better.
"I need to be more proactive in inviting people to church, organising better evangelistic events and not just relying on the minister to do everything."
Meanwhile, the UNSW MYC this week will have almost 500 people in attendance to learn about ‘Guidance’.
UNSW chaplain, the Rev Paul Grimmond will be speaking at his sixth MYC and hopes that if students only take home one thing from the week it is this:
“What God wants from his people more than anything is for them to be like Christ.”
Making students think mission
Evangelical Union (EU) at Sydney University president Tim Robertson will chair the EU’s annual conference this year.
Their equivalent to MYC will have six main sessions on the topic of resurrection being presented by EU senior staff team head, Rowan Kemp.
Tim says the EU has also arranged to have CMS missionary to Italy, Andrew Lubbock attend as a way of promoting overseas mission.
"Andrew will spend three and a half days with us. We want EU students to understand what is happening in God’s world further afield," he says.
"He has worked with students in Florence so we want to help people to think beyond Sydney and whether they could be involved overseas."
Over half of the EU’s 600 members will attend including 20 Conservatorium of Music students, which is their biggest turnout ever.
"It is the only time of the year where the whole EU gathers so its good to see the group together as one big Christian community or family. To have five days together sitting under God's word looking at one particular point of doctrine is fantastic," Tim says.
"But it's not just a knowledge exercise. It's about being encouraged by other students to think hard about these issues and share our lives together."
