Reaching Students for Christ he akonga ki nga akonga hei ara whakawhiti mo te Karaiti

Rugby Heaven: The Gospel and RWC

TSCF’s desire was to see students using the Rugby World Cup as an opportunity to build relationships and to think about how they could use the event to share the gospel.

From the beginning of the year Ben Carswell, Outreach Co-ordinator, worked alongside staff and students helping them to think through how they might do this. We produced a wall planner in January to encourage students to be praying for the nations that we would be hosting, and in the autumn edition of Canvas we published articles on ‘Make Sport Your Mission’ – how sport can educate, build character and community, encourage discipline and develop perseverance - and also a testimony from world-class rower Debbie Flood on how she integrates faith with sport. (Watch a video of some of our interview with Debbie here.)

Our major initiative was to produce Godzone, a rugby-themed version of Luke’s gospel with testimonies from Christian rugby players for students to give away with a personal invitation to consider and discuss the claims of Jesus.

‘GODZONE’

Godzone is available to student groups, churches and other organisations. Approximately 17,000 copies have already been distributed – our prayer is that many of these will have been given to those who do not yet know Christ with a personal invitation to read it and talk about Jesus’ claims. The gospels are still available for those who wish to receive copies from the TSCF office or through the website.

Godzone has been well-used by Christian groups across New Zealand. A church in Te Puke took 100 people to a match and gave each one a copy of the gospel. A Mainly Music group in Christchurch gave a copy to each of their families. We have also heard of school students giving them to their classmates and teachers. We know that a good number of high-ranking players and officials were given a copy of Godzone while they were here and that there were some good conversations about Jesus as a result of this.

We are delighted that the gospels have also been distributed in a variety of countries outside of New Zealand. The Fiji rugby team took 320 gospels to give to their fans. A church worker in Cork, Ireland who helps at a rugby club is giving one to all their coaches as a Christmas gift. We know of others around the world who have used Godzone with their friends and team-mates.

EVENTS

We want to see students in our groups develop their passion for reaching their communities, their confidence in the saving power of the gospel and inviting people to find out more about Jesus in a whole range of ways – from reading the Bible one-to-one to hosting large events.

Many of the campus groups hosted an event around the rugby – for some groups this was the first time in this generation of students that a larger event had been put on so it was exciting to see groups trying new things.

We were excited to be able to partner with Fijian Rugby captain Deacon Manu who came to speak at three campus events in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland and spoke at the final night of the Pacific Students For Christ, Fiji annual conference.

Mike Summerfield, Otago VCF student said,

‘The evening before he played the All Blacks at Carisbrook, Deacon Manu was hosted by Otago VCF to talk about his life in professional rugby and his faith in God. Deacon was as zealous about Fiji’s draw with Wales as he was about things that shaped him as a person: family, education, different cultures and an unfolding realisation of who God desired him to be. Trained as a scientist, he shared how his faith was as much a reasonable response to the Bible as it was an emotional response to the God he encounters in everyday life. The Christian culture that permeates the Fijian rugby team offers him many opportunities for expressing his heart-felt desire to follow Jesus.

‘About 50 people turned up to hear what Deacon had to say, ask questions and speak to him personally at the end of the evening, and we were able to advertise some of our regular meetings; inviting people to see for themselves the God of Deacon’s salvation.’

Meredith Paterson, Vic CU student said, ‘Ben Carswell interviewed Deacon in front of a crowd of about 60 students. Many were CUers; however, it was encouraging to see the event reaching to others on campus, as a number of people came because of posters or fliers placed around uni.

‘One of the most powerful moments was when the chaplain of the Springbok team (who were due to play Fiji a few days later), was spontaneously asked to pray for Deacon and the Fijian team; a fitting reminder that faith surpasses all barriers and that, particularly in New Zealand where rugby is an obsession for many, it is God whom we worship, not any game or player.’

Reflecting on the RWC initiatives Ben said,

‘Godzone has been a positive initiative. We have given the gospel to thousands of people. Several students have taken bold steps in inviting their friends to read the gospel. We are thrilled that it has been a valuable resource for so many churches and organisations and that they have used it so well – we love partnerships like this. We are encouraged that TSCF has made a significant contribution nationally during the RWC and that this is leading to more conversations about how we can work with others to share the gospel with the New Zealand and the South Pacific through sports.’

‘We are thankful that a number of students grasped the vision for Godzone and used it with their friends, but we are also aware that many students still need the encouragement and help in developing friendships and seeking to share Jesus in them. We continue to build on existing work we are doing to better ready students to share Jesus as part of their everyday lifestyle.’

Thank you to our wider TSCF family who pray and give to make these initiatives possible.

Posted by Rachel Turner on 14/12/2011