From the January-April 2011 Issue
Pluses and minuses in student work
Leonidas and Irene Kollaros
Among the studentsOur involvement in student work, both at the university and in our church, has been a feature of our ministry ever since we came to this city. Over the years we have had meetings with Christian students who have spent several years here at the university and have also attended our church. It has always been a delight to minister to and associate with these young people. Especially for a small church like ours these young Christians have been an enormous encouragement for everybody, but particularly for the elderly.
Fostering fellowship
They all come from Christian backgrounds and so we cannot claim the credit for their conversion, nevertheless our contribution to their being strengthened in the faith has been our mite. To help these students and cultivate friendship and fellowship among them we have held separate meetings for them, either in our own home or in a little house behind the church building, in addition to their normal church attendance.
During these students’ meetings we have what one would usually expect from such gatherings. We have plenty of singing, Bible study and a time of prayer. Afterwards there is plenty of opportunity for fellowship and some close friendships have been forged over the years. It is always interesting to observe their different personalities, but what I have noticed is the fact that they are simple Christians with a desire to follow the Lord.
Of course not everybody who comes from a Christian background is truly converted. There has been at least one case when a converted student proved instrumental in bringing to the Lord another student who, although coming from a Christian family, was not actually converted when she came here to study.
Moving on
But there is also a drawback to a situation like ours. These students have come here for the specific purpose to study and when their studies are over and they have got “the paper” as we say here in Greece (meaning of course the degree) they leave and return to their home towns. It is a happy occasion when we all attend their graduation ceremony en masse, but a sad occasion at the same time, knowing that we will probably never see them again. We keep in touch with them though, thanks to the utility of Facebook. (It was actually the students themselves who persuaded me to join Facebook. You see, we spoil them by always letting them have their own way and boss us around!)
On the campus
As to the university campus itself and the thousands of students there, I still go there looking for opportunities to approach individuals or small groups and try to talk to them about the possibility of knowing God through His book. We have made tentative steps trying to involve our students in helping in this kind of work, but they are apprehensive about such a prospect. We have to understand that evangelicals are a negligible minority in Greece, are ostracised from society and there is a certain stigma attached to those who are outside the Orthodox Church. Therefore evangelism looms as a formidable and intimidating work; something young Christians, especially in an isolated area like ours, find very hard to do.
Please encourage all of us by your prayers and fellowship in the gospel. This is a barren land. This is not a complaint, but it is a realisation that should make us the more determined to go on with our work. A strong conviction of the truth, courage and stubbornness are three qualifications we all need!