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Do you feel well equipped?

By Andrea Becciolini, GBU Staff in Florence and head of Formazione conference

One of the questions asked to the 26 students who participated in the National Formazione weekend (September 26-29) was whether they felt well equipped to take on the commitment of coordinator for the coming academic year. We thank God that practically all of them answered yes. Those who answered otherwise did so by mentioning two principles that we actually present during the training itself: total dependence on the Lord and the nature of the training process that lasts throughout the academic year at the local level, continuing the input received during the training weekend.

The areas in which we wish to equip student coordinators include not only capacity (in articulating the Gospel, organizing events, leading Bible studies, coordinating a group) but also, and above all, an ever-deepening knowledge of God so that they may mature into a character more and more like that of Christ. For this reason, the training is divided into three “tracks”: Knowing God, Coordinating Others, Sharing Jesus. These are three different but interconnected strands that point to the same goal, which is to see students become faithful witnesses of Jesus in the university who lead other students to do the same. 

These truths were reflected in the various seminars, workshops, and activities carried out, in praise, in prayer, as well as in evangelistic exercises—a true evangelistic outreach (also with a formative purpose) on the small university campus in Rimini, a branch of the large University of Bologna. As always before such an outreach, there were fears, doubts, and perplexities related not only to having to approach unknown students from scratch but also to the actual possibility of meeting and talking to them. Thank God, all this was swept away from the moment we arrived at the gate of the campus courtyard, where many students were gathered around the university’s official welcome desks and where, after half an hour, the break from classes brought in other students, many of whom were open not only to talking about their spiritual past in their families and their current beliefs, but also to asking questions about Christianity and listening to the Gospel. Glory be to God!

Let us now pray that all the input received at the National Training Weekend, together with the local training carried out by GBU staff throughout Italy, will bear fruit to the glory of God in and through the lives of the student coordinators as faithful witnesses of Jesus in the university, leading other students to be witnesses themselves.

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Faithfully fulfill your service

By Giovanni Donato, Staff GBU Siena

A new academic year has begun and, like every year, the GBU has organized  Formazione (Student Leaders Training Conference) –  which is attended by all those who will be student leaders for GBU. This year, I was asked to preach from the book of 2 Timothy, which I was honored and pleased to do!

2 Timothy is probably one of the most suitable texts for such a retreat, the purpose of which is to exhort, train, and challenge the GBU coordinators (student leaders). I say this because that is precisely what Paul wishes to do with Timothy in writing of this letter, and every exhortation, every rebuke, every challenge that Paul issues to the young leader Timothy is easily applicable to young student leaders who are about to begin a new academic year with enthusiasm, but not without concerns.

In our four days together we were able to consider and meditate on the entire letter, however below I would just like to highlight two main lessons from 2 Timothy:

The call to Christian leadership is a call to suffering

Several times in the four chapters that make up 2 Timothy, Paul mentions the word suffering; he encourages the young leader to be ready to suffer for the sake of the gospel (1:8) and to patiently endure the suffering he will encounter in ministry (2:3, 4:5). Paul reminds Timothy that he too is suffering unashamedly for the sake of the gospel (1:12, 2:9), that he is also patiently enduring suffering for the sake of the elect (2:10), that his entire ministry has been marked by suffering (3:11); he informs him of the fact that he has been abandoned by all those who had been close to him up to that point (1:15, 4:9-10, 4:16) and how he had been violently attacked by someone whom he had until recently considered his friend (4:14-15). He makes it clear to Timothy that all who choose to be serious about God (“living piously”) will necessarily face persecution (3:12). Wow, put like that the call to leadership does not sound very inviting… However, Paul in this letter is not only saying that the call to leadership is only a call to suffering (thank God!), but it is also a glorious call!

The call to Christian leadership is a glorious call

In his letter, Paul repeatedly emphasizes the importance, honor, and even beauty of serving God. He reminds Timothy that the holy call to serve the King of kings is not received because of good conduct, but solely because of the glorious grace of God (1:9) that has been manifested to the world through the appearance of our Savior Jesus Christ (1:10). He explains to him that such a glorious calling is worth suffering (1:12) and that God is the one who will uphold us by his power (1:8) and guard us carefully until the day when we can lay down our arms (1:12). He exhorts young Timothy to invest time and energy into people who would one day take his place so that the flame of the gospel could continue to stay burning and be passed on throughout the unfolding of history (2:2); he urges him to watch over, care for and protect the body of Christ (2:14, 3:1-9), watching over it with love, humility, patience and consistency (2:15-16, 2:22-25). He called on him to preach God’s inspired Word faithfully and passionately (4:2), to use the gifts God had given him (1:6), and to faithfully fulfill the service the Lord had entrusted to him (4:5) because at the end of this great adventure, entry into God’s heavenly kingdom (4:18a) and the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous judge, would award to all those who joyfully awaited Jesus’ return (4:8)

Through the study of this letter we were able to do what Paul desired to do with Timothy through the writing of this letter: to exhort young Christian leaders to faithfully serve the Lord, not to be surprised or upset when they encounter suffering in their journey, and to always remember that the holy call to serve King Jesus is a glorious call that has been given to us by the grace of God and for which it is worth even suffering and dying, waiting for the day when we will meet him in glory.

Happy New Year and happy service to all GBU coordinators and to all those in the body of Christ who hold leadership and responsibility!

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A JOY THAT SPRINGS FORTH EVEN IN SUFFERING

Elena Montaldo, coordinator of GBU Torino 

As someone who studies Primary Education (ed: education = training), the word “training,” has a special value.

Its meaning is not summed up in the systematic transmission of knowledge, but indicates a desire to render someone competent. In other words, they are able to rework and apply that same knowledge that they learnt in the context of reality. This is possible only if there is a social network that provides those being trained, stimuli to which they can respond.

Student Leaders Training

This year’s Student Leaders Training meant all of the above to me and even more. It was  more than a context where students from all over Italy gathered for three days in Florence to listen to teaching, study the Bible together and participate in various  seminars. Here I even had the opportunity to lead an inductive Bible study, a prayer meeting, as well as planninng events and meetings for the new GBU students and to share GBU with university students in Florence itself.   

For the first time as a coordinator, after years of participation in the GBU, I felt that I was an irreplaceable part of a project that has Love as its engine and People’s Lives as its goal.

The theme

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul speaks as a father who, shortly before his death, addresses his son. The very one who had been the author of massacres, violence and persecution of Christians, after meeting Jesus, finds himself writing in prison, abandoned by all and condemned to death because of his faith in Him. 

An absurd decision in the eyes of many, but not to his own who saw joy flowing from his suffering. With his life, until his last breath, Paul had in fact led many souls to receive the salvation that comes from faith in the One who first gave His life and rose again to give them Life forever.

Reading and studying his words together with other students who, like me, received that same news and chose to believe and live for this same reality – I felt like the recipient,  together with Timothy, of that same letter. 

Let’s start again

During our Student Leaders Training we coordinators were confronted with an example of faith that laid bare our fears, insecurities and worries that anyone, in living to the fullest an ideal that goes against the grain, faces sooner or later, and then removed them. Together we understood the deep meaning of the ministry we believe has been entrusted to each of us Christian students within the GBU.

I realized how much courage and strength it can take to consistently maintain this life choice. At the same time, I realized even more deeply how worthwhile it is to live it out fully so that more and more people will know the Love and grace that the God of the Bible has shown, through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, in order to have a personal relationship with each of them.

Now we are ready to begin again, each where he or she lives in Italy. This time, however, with the knowledge that everything we do in our own small way has a common goal and a joy that springs even in suffering.

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Special Days

The days spent at Formazione GBU were special.

They were rich and blessed because every activity that we experienced was useful (to me). One fundamental part of the training was learning from the interactions and confrontations between the students or between staff members and students; how important it is to know the thoughts of others and to learn from one another!

Formazione was not only theoretical, but also practical! Each student leader had the opportunity to lead a brief Bible study using the inductive method as well as receiving “input” that will be useful for evangelism at our universities.

Also valuable were the moments dedicated to international prayer for various brothers and sisters from different universities around the world; the seminars in which we focused on reflecting on certain ideologies that are taking root within the universities and what the Bible says about them; what methods can be used to to share your own testimony or what one should be aware of when one wants to start reading the Bible with a friend.

All of this was set against the backdrop of Formazione’s theme – The Time is Near.

These words are found within the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, a book that, amongst many other things, refers to love: the love of God that shines through the seven letters sent to the seven churches of Asia Minor, which are also valid for us today.

As student leader of GBU Salerno, a newborn reality, I return home satisfied and enriched.
Thanks to this experience in the grace of the Lord I was able to receive encouragement, as a university student, looking at the work of God within other GBU groups.

During the last few days I have been able to think about some points concerning my personal life that, in other circumstances, I would perhaps never have reflected on.

Guys, God speaks to our hearts and knows very well what our needs, difficulties and uncertainties are. We must never stop having faith in Him because at the right time He answers, at the right time He shows Himself.

I encourage the person reading this article to strive in their GBU, where we share Jesus from student to student. Our efforts in His name are never in vain!

Finally, a special thank you goes out to all the GBU Staff workers who work daily to advance the Kingdom of God within the universities; your presence, your encouragement and your dedication is something I will always carry in my heart!

May God bless us.

To Him alone be the glory!

 

Giuseppe Ambrosio
(coordinator of GBU Salerno)

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Get to work… I am with you!

This year, despite the pandemic, we didn’t want to do without the precious weekend of FORMAZIONE GBU (Student Leaders’ Training) in which young students, willing to serve God at the university, gather to be spiritually charged and start, together, the new academic year. It’s a chance for spiritual growth and training both for “freshers” and for more “experienced” students.

Following you can find the testimonies of two students: Federico Beccati, just getting to know the GBU world and also a new leader in Turin, and Alice Novaria, an experienced leader already on board the mission for a few years now.

Federico writes:

Praise the Lord, I had the opportunity to attend, this year for the first time, Formazione GBU. It was great and encouraging to see fellow students from Italian cities ready and available to serve God also in the context of university campuses. Thanks to the more experienced leaders I had the opportunity to receive helpful advice, both practical and spiritual, to start this task according to God’s will.

I was hesitant at first, being inexperienced, of how I could be of any help to the GBU vision, which is “sharing Jesus from one student to another”.

Instead God responded to my doubts from the very first day with a Bible study on Haggai, an extraordinary text about the devastation the people of Israel were experiencing after the return to Jerusalem from the exile, but where God gives hope: “I am with you” declares the Lord (Hg 1:13). And then Haggai prophecies of the glory of the Lord with the coming of Jesus Christ. Thanks to studying this book I understood fully how everything must be entrusted to God and how we as student leaders are called, in our role, to have only one goal: to give Him glory and to present His Gospel to others.

As I repeated frequently in the days after Formazione, I had never received so much input into my spiritual growth as I did during that weekend. An example of this to which I am thankful for were the workshops on evangelism, for instance through “Sharing Jesus by reading the Bible with a friend”, I found the motivation to fight against my shyness and accept the responsibility of evangelism that Jesus left us after His resurrection.

Another topic that we looked at was how we are called to be leaders, not according to the world’s definition, but according to Jesus Christ. To be a leader is to be a servant who sacrifices oneself for others, whose life is rooted in the Word and who is of encouragement to the other members of the group, helping them to grow.

Although the Covid-19 restrictions limited our interaction, it was good to encourage one another, especially in this new beginning full of uncertainties. I was particularly grateful for the moments of prayer in which we supported one another and I will keep lifting up my fellow student leaders in prayer throughout the year. During the weekend we had the opportunity to share our worries and prayer requests which really reinforced the bond amongst all of the participants.

I want to close by thanking the GBU staff workers who made Formazione possibile, I thank them personally because by being able to attend Formazione, God showed me more so the plan that He has for my life and therefore affirmed the verse that says:

“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go”
(Isaiah 48:17)

Alice writes:

This year God granted my desire of closing my long university journey with what is most important to me – sharing the message of the Gospel.

The GBU has always been a great way to accomplish this and God opened up a way for us at Urbino, a university with no Christian witness.

After a couple of years where GBU Urbino stopped due to lack of “student power”, we are back and this fills me with joy. So I had the opportunity, a few years later, to attend Formazione GBU again. The weekend was a leap into the past, and brought back many memories and some nostalgia too! I was surprised to see a considerable generational turnover in the students who came and also some older friends.

We studied Haggai, a book that I had never personally analysed in depth before. I think that God wanted to equip us this year by reminding us that HE IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE WITH US. He will be with us even when we are discouraged and when all our efforts may seem fruitless or useless, because the work is His, not ours.

Another great teaching that really stuck with me was the example of Haggai and his “hidden service”. Despite the fact that the book we studied is named after him, Haggai is more like an “extra” than the lead in this story, as one might assume. Haggai faithfully reported God’s message without adding or taking anything to His words – he was only an instrument in God’s hands.

The application I took from this (that was provoked by a simple comment during the Bible discussion) is to be humble and faithful to God.

I want to point this out because I believe that Formazione GBU is a rich time filled with input, with every moment having the potential to be crucial for one’s spiritual growth. In every Formazione session that I attended I always observed a strong desire between students and staff to share and exchange thoughts and lessons learnt. Even in the rare “free” moments between sessions or at the end of the evening, it was beautiful to see that Jesus was at the center of our conversations, on the top of our list of priorities.

Along the same lines, I thought that spending time with our only roommates at meal times (due to Covid restrictions) would be a limitation during this particular Formazione, yet this turned out to be a great blessing. Because of the deeper nature of our conversations we were able to establish stronger, more intimate relationships and encourage one another, with God guiding us the whole time.

One workshop that I found particularly useful was “How to prepare an evangelistic message” in which we also had the chance to do practical exercises. And there’s much more that could I say about the prayer evening, the group Bible studies, the sessions on the leader’s role in a GBU, the panels during lunch…

I think that now, equipped so, we have nothing left to do than answer the call of our Lord –

“Get to work, for I am with you!” (Haggai 2:4)

Federico Beccati
(GBU Torino)

Alice Novaria
(GBU Urbino)

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Hold Firm to the Trustworthy Word

When I learned, a year go, that I had been accepted to the University of Pisa, I did not want to go. Now, a year later, I find myself gladly embracing the offer of becoming a GBU student leader in this same city.

It is incredible and wonderful how the Lord is able to change and mold situations, and the way we see them. A year ago I had only a vague idea of what GBU was, I knew that the group was trying to re-launch after a few years of silence, I knew that there was a need for people who had the desire to share Jesus with students. When I came (reluctantly) to this city, I met the group and during the course of the year I also met staff and volunteers and saw their strong passion for the ministry in the university. It was a contagious passion, beautiful to see from the outside, and slowly, the desire to help this project in some way started to grow in me.

In September, when Zach (the Pisa GBU staff worker) asked if I would become one of the student leaders, I accepted and I also signed up for the Student Training Weekend, but I was still full of doubt and fear. Will I be able to manage my time wisely? Will I be a good leader? Will I be able to dedicate myself earnestly to the GBU without neglecting my studies or other commitments? Will I be able to share the Gospel with strength and without shyness? Questions that I’m sure other people ask themselves, too.

Well, I never would have imagined receiving so much in 3 days. Besides the answers to all my questions, I’ve been filled with strength, enthusiasm and motivation to start this new academic year.  I had never studied the epistle to Titus in depth and I would never have thought that these three chapters could contain so much. The answer to my questions arrived immediately: if I hold firm to the trustworthy word, not only the Lord will change me, but He will make me able to encourage others. I cannot be perfect, and never will be, but I can and I must hold firm to the trustworthy word. This is what gives me life, what shapes me and teaches me to face every day of the academic year. I don’t want to worry anymore about the challenges of being a student leader: the Lord only asks for a heart willing to serve Him, He will take care of everything else!

So here I am, in a city that a year ago felt dreary and that now makes me feel joyful, and I have a great desire in my heart: to share Jesus, from student to student!

Blanka Baracetti 
(GBU Pisa)

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GBU Student Leaders Training

It’s just a weekend…

If someone told me that in three days, God would answer so many questions and make me understand so much about my life, I wouldn’t have believed it. When I was encouraged to do the GBU Training Weekend, with the aim of becoming a coordinator, I already had the answer.

For almost any GBU event or activity, my head has had a plethora of excuses: “I’m too busy / I have to study / I have to do exams / I have to graduate / spend money / polish silverware / take my goldfish for a walk …!” As with any event, my head made this ‘useful’ list for me and the decision was obvious …

But thanks to God, he had a different answer in mind. As my head was saying “No,” before I knew it, I had already accepted the proposal and I had the strength (which until a few seconds before I thought I didn’t have), to make me want to begin this new experience right away.

God has plans bigger than I can have for me and GBU Training has given me the ability to understand it more and accept it. I was a little worried and wondered why I was there. Why me?! During these years within GBU, I have met so many coordinators and staff members and I admired their preparation, their seriousness and their organization … Why did God call me to do this?

Now choose life

At GBU Training, I have been given the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, with different ways of doing things, different characters and thoughts, but with the same motivation: to know and to be used by God.

As the feeling of how I could do this got stronger, I was also faced with the beautiful and delicate question – Who are you in God? Not according to yourself, not according to others, but according to God! I am His daughter; we are His children. God had spoken to me: each one of us was created in a different way, but in His image. Each of us has a function and a value that brings light to God’s service. We must leave room for God’s vision, not for our own. We need to understand who we are, not by ourselves but through God.

I still had a question, an uncertainty, and that is why I was very happy that the Bible study we looked at in Deuteronomy 27 – 30 covered this. I asked God that his will be done in my life, but would I be willing to accept it? To obey him? What would I receive in return?

I have seen how God is committed and engaging with me every day, how He blesses me and makes my life great. That is why I have decided to commit myself totally to God so that I can admire His beauty in the awareness that I cannot change by myself, but with the certainty that the Lord is at my side and will help me, as he did with his people .

In this new academic year, I made my choice: To share Jesus from student to student!

Manuela Buffa
(GBU Bologna)

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Ready, steady… go!

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When Giovanni Donato suggested I attend the GBU Student Leaders Training, from 30th September to 3rd October 2016 in the small town of Rocca di Papa near Rome, I have to admit that it seemed a strange idea to me. I thought, “In Ancona (the city where I live), there isn’t even a local GBU group. Why should I receive training for a role that doesn’t even exist and of which there’s no hope at my university?” … But wait, let’s rewind.

In January, after years of having attended national GBU events and activities, God laid on my heart the desire to establish a group in Ancona – a university made up of many departments and, therefore, with a great need for Jesus to be shared from student to student. So I got to work and began looking for Christian students with the same desire that God had given me, both in my own church and in other churches around the city. I managed to forge contacts with quite a few students, but unfortunately nothing concrete was established. I then left Ancona to spend a semester studying abroad, and returned to Italy in August. That brings us to 5th September, the day I had that conversation with Giovanni about the Training. Since many of the students I’d met at the GBU Weekend Away in April had warmly encouraged me to attend the Training weekend, I decided to go.

There were 27 of us students (approx. one or two per GBU group, all from various universities across Italy), and we were all gathered and ready for a weekend of intense preparation to equip us in tackling the upcoming academic year as we lead our local groups. The whole weekend was centred around a single theme: Be holy, because I am holy (1 Peter). Read more