Arising from the Joy of Encounters with Jesus
After a 27-month drought, I finally had the opportunity to take part in a face-to-face camp in Mexico at the start of June. Fifty students and the support team from Compa Monterrey gathered for a weekend around the Word. We meditated on some of Jesus' encounters around the table. We approached Jesus’ meeting with Martha and Mary from the perspective of discipleship, hospitality, and the role of women. In the story of the road to Emmaus (Luke 24), we spoke of our sorrows over unfulfilled expectations and the place of Scripture in our student movements.
It was a great joy and encouragement to hear the stories of resilience among the students. We walked alongside them in their new challenges of following Jesus at the university. And we experienced a community that is bearing fruit and thriving together.
We listened to the students’ dreams, including those that had been frustrated during the pandemic, and to the social and cultural pressures they face in following Jesus. Yet they did not stay in those challenges. Here they were at camp, looking to the Lord for answers, being resilient, and not getting caught up in their pain and adversity. As they listened to each other, their faces lit up as they shared similar difficulties, and together they looked ahead by the grace of the Lord. How significant it is that, as a global fellowship, we open spaces to listen to each other as resilient disciples and thus recognize God’s presence and actions in our midst.
One of the big issues in Mexico is violence against women. This has generated internal pressure on Christian students. They are increasingly aware of this social problem and, at the same time, often very saddened by the church's response to these issues. This disillusionment leads them to question whether it is worth being part of a Christian community that does not open its eyes to reality or, worse still, continues to be an accomplice with mistreatment.
But Jesus is different. In a context that oppressed women, he rejected that women’s identities are tied to cultural roles or expectations (Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28). Instead, he affirms that a woman's identity lies in being a genuine disciple of the Lord by listening to his word. Mary has the courage to break cultural expectations and sit at the feet of the Teacher. What boldness! She also overcomes her inner noise to keep quiet and listen to the master's word. May the Lord help us globally to walk alongside this generation of students in their struggles and challenges, encouraging them to read the Scripture with fresh eyes and willing obedience.
It was also gratifying to see a living and fruitful community. A local church lent a vehicle for transportation, and some businesspeople donated to support the students. Several graduates served in the kitchen and prepared the food. The staff workers designed the program, so the students were free to sit at the table, to listen to the master’s word, to ask questions and to experience the joy of an encounter with Jesus. Rene, the Compa staff worker responsible for the camp, wrote to me the next day on WhatsApp, "God grant that we will soon see much fruit” from this camp.
Across IFES, each ministry or group bears fruit in its area of mission. And so together we are part of this global student fellowship continuing to grow and bring light into the university classrooms.