Mission Focus - Sue Burt
Sue Bert - Head of Returnee Ministry, Friends International,and International Chaplain Bournemouth University.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Bill Clinton, Colonel Gaddafi, Gandhi, Osama Bin Laden, Salman Rushdie – all names known to most of us as leaders or people of influence in their countries, for good or ill! I wonder if you know that what they share in common is that they all studied in the UK for long or short periods of time? (Colonel Gaddafi was a language student in Bournemouth!). This highlights the amazingly strategic nature of international student ministry. What could have changed if some of these people had been befriended and influenced by Christians? And can we imagine what positions some of our current international students will attain?
As well as being strategic, the ministry can also be sensitive. In just the first week of term this September I met students from Lebanon, Iran and someone whose father had been killed in a Middle-Eastern war. The great privilege of my chaplaincy role is that I get to meet students at all stages of their journeys from inductions to graduations and sometimes some crises in-between. A great joy each week is to run Global Café where we welcome international students for refreshments, friendship and a chance to relax and make friends. Several of those students might then join the Hub international café.
My main role in Friends International involves thinking about students who go home. We have learnt over many years of Friends International ministry that the transition, especially for those who come to faith in the UK, can be a very tough one. A Christianity learnt in the relative comfort of an international café or British church doesn’t always translate easily into what can be a hostile environment back home. So my role involves helping our staff and volunteers think about how to disciple Christian and seeking students for return, or wherever they might go next, and to produce resources to help us all in that. At present we’re preparing for our Big Weekend Away in April where over 3 days in a conference centre in Wales we’ll do some intensive discipleship alongside lots of fun and friendship building. Then, as some of you know, I’m also undertaking some further research through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies to help me delve deeper into some of the issues facing returnees. Prayer appreciated for juggling priorities!
Whether it’s welcoming a new student, researching, or keeping in touch with a returnee, our ministry is all about building God’s Kingdom and contributing to that amazing picture in Revelation 7 where we will see a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. If you’d like to know more or have any questions, please do be in touch: