Hi Brothers and Sisters, I am Frank a Yr4 Aerospace Engineering student. Today I will be sharing how community in university has impacted my faith journey. I am a cradle Catholic and eldest of 3 children. Since young, my family was active in parish and tried their best to nurture our faith as a key part of our lives. I was active in parish ministry since young and did not have many major obstacles in my faith journey. Looking back, I saw myself as having a spotless report card and could pat myself on the back for being a Good Christian Boy.
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However it was during my time serving NS where I began to realise that beyond the nice picture I had painted for myself, I did not really have a personal relationship with God. Although I spent a lot of time in Church, my faith was very superficial and shallow. My experience in NS left a desire to know who God really was and have a deeper relationship with Him.
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Although there was this desire, entering Uni brought a lot of hesitation to give God my time. Although I was searching, I was very comfortable being where I was. I was afraid that giving God my time would take away the “Uni social life” I wanted. So I was heavily involved 1 school CCA, 3 hall CCAs and 3 hall sub-comms. As a result, I was not really involved in CSA during my first sem.
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However, I was blessed to meet a couple of CSA seniors during my CSA FOC who were staying in the same hall as me and were also from the same hall OG. During the sem, these seniors and other seniors who stayed nearby would meet every night in one of their rooms to check in on their day, socialize, speak truths to each other and end the night praying compline. (This was before compline clusters were a thing). Although I was usually busy and not around the rest of community, these friends would always bug me to join them to pray. As I spent more time around them, I saw their lives radiating this joy and love that could only come from knowing God, even as they faced difficulties trying to live out their lives as disciples in school. Faith stirs faith, and it was these kingdom friendships that planted the desire for a deeper relationship with God.
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Spending more time in CSA, there were many times when I felt challenged to live out the call to be a disciple. But each time I hesitated taking the next step towards God, these friends would lift me up in prayer and challenge me to take the next step in faith. At times when I felt like taking a step back and running away, they would encourage me to look towards the cross and walk the next step with me.
Their promptings pushed me to signup for the School of Christian Leadership in 2018, which is a 10 day stay in discipleship school held by OYP during summer. During the retreat God revealed to me feelings of unworthiness, fear and hesitation to take the next step closer to Him, recognizing my own brokenness and struggles with sin. Through each day’s sessions, I felt God welcoming me back home. He reminded me of my identity as His son and that my worth lies in Him, not how I saw myself. He revealed different areas of my life that He desired me to hold to higher standards, and granted me the grace to align my desires to His. He gently but firmly challenged me to surrender more of my heart to Him, to allow Him to heal my brokenness and take His place as the captain of my ship. It was not an easy process, but my brothers and sisters in community were there to encourage and walk with me through the struggles.
As shared by 1 of the brothers on 1 of the nights, in the parable of the paralyzed man, his friends lowered him through the roof to meet Jesus and seeing their faith Jesus healed him. It was not just the faith of the paralyzed man, but also the faith of his friends that changed his life. Faith stirs faith. Looking back, it was the faith of community that carried me to Jesus. When I was paralyzed and afraid to take the step, they were there to carry me to Him. In times when I wanted to run away, they pointed me back to the cross. The next 3 years in uni had their own challenges, but every time I was faced with setbacks and found it difficult to keep walking, he sent brothers and sisters to walk with me and carry me closer to Him.
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CSA has been the greatest gift in Uni for me, being vessels of His love and truths through these 4 years. Today I am a very different person from when I first entered CSA, convicted in my identity as God’s child. The Lord continues to challenge me to desire a deeper relationship with Him and to walk with others on journey of discipleship, just as He had sent others to walk with me. Our journey of discipleship is personal, but definitely not private.
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So brothers and sisters, will you allow this community to challenge and carry you to Jesus when you feel hesitant take the next step?
Our journey of discipleship is personal, but definitely not private.