Every week, each OCCA student is required to serve in a ministry placement. My assignment this term is to support the Text a Toastie outreach run by the Christian Union (CU) at Exeter college, another of Oxford University's colleges. These students reach out to their classmates by offering them an opportunity to ask their questions about God, Christianity, etc and engage meaningfully on these topics. As an incentive for questioners, submitting a question confers the delivery of a free toasted sandwich (like a grilled cheese, but with many more options) of their choice, to their dorm room. The CU student who delivers the toastie will be invited in to discuss the question while the questioner eats their toastie.
The CU guys at Exeter have a deep desire to see their friends and classmates respond to Christ- its a privilege to serve with them. The few of us (3-6) meet briefly to pray in their gorgeous cathedral style chapel at 8:30PM on Monday evenings, before moving to the common room, our base of operations, and getting the toastie station set up. Some people text in their room number, toastie preference, and question. Others just come down to the common room themselves, put their info on the roster, and hang out on a couch until one of us brings their snack over and enters into discussion about whatever inquiry was on their mind. I love the way that this outreach concept encourages students to be thinking about what they believe, and offers a legitimate space to engage with their questions.
My very first night I had two stand out conversations with two different young women. One of them had vehement objections to eternal judgement- asking over and over what gave God the right to judge or make demands. The other had been raised in a religious home and wanted to somehow retain the virtues of the Judeo-Christian value system while neither positing nor submitting to the God in whom they are inextricably rooted. It was a fascinating discussion.
This past week I was in a conversation with several students and they wanted to know why you would live without sinning if you could just sin all you want and then decide to believe in God and repent before you die. Their argument exposed the real issue at stake: I find again and again its not so much lack of belief in God's existence, but the desire of the human heart not to have to submit to that Him. They already believed. They were unwilling to acknowledge; acknowledgement would necessitate obedience- the giving up of their perceived autonomy.
I'm really blessed to have been given this particular ministry placement- not only is it a wonderful way to engage students and share Christ with them, but it is excellent practice for me. It is a blend of conversational apologetics and Q & A... areas in which OCCA is definitely committed to seeing me grow during my time here.
In other ministry news, please be praying for our upcoming OCCA mission week - we are going to be doing outreach in Cardiff, Wales. Details to follow soon!
