Richard Chin: Reflecting on 30 years of Student Ministry

In his role as National Director of AFES (Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students) Richard Chin has had a front row seat to what God has been doing on Australian university campuses, and beyond. At a recent Principal’s Hour, Derek Brotherson asked Richard a few questions:

You’ve seen God at work on university campuses for a long time. Looking back, what are some things that stand out?

“What always stands out are people turning to Christ over those years. I can think of just a gazillion stories of that… constant stories of people turning to Christ because of his word, his powerful gospel.”

What do you notice about the new generation of students?

“We live in a society that is quite ex-Christian but they have the values of Christians without knowing it and without knowing its roots and wanting to get rid of the origin of Christianity yet imbibe Christianity itself in terms of values.

“But the new generation anecdotally also seems to be more open to Christian conversation, and so walk up evangelism is actually fruitful these days in a way that it wasn’t even a decade ago.

“I’ve taken the pandemic actually helped as well… now they’re actually open to conversation because they were quite lonely going through that time…

“But the new generation anecdotally also seems to be more open to Christian conversation, and so walk up evangelism is actually fruitful these days in a way that it wasn’t even a decade ago.”

“But what hasn’t changed, I think, is the openness of our international friends.

“So just one story, he’s a Pakistani Muslim who’s been in Townsville, and he was a journalist and for three-four years he’s been there. I spoke at their midyear conference two years ago, but just last month he turned to Christ. It’s just amazing… now even the staff are afraid for his life because he’s just so courageously sharing the gospel.

“There’s something about the gospel that transforms lives to the point where the best evangelists are often the ones who’ve just become Christians.”

What would you like to say to people who are considering student ministry?

“I do want to say to you that that stage of life for university students, 18 to 23 or thereabouts, really is a strategic point of life.

“It’s a time of life when they’re actually making those kinds of big decisions. It’s that critical time. And so, it’s a strategic time to get involved in their lives… That’s why I love student work.

“There’s only one big thing on the agenda, on God’s agenda, coming up and that’s the return of Jesus, isn’t it? So, what do you do between now and then? You’ve got to go to the nations.”

“What’s going to change society is the gospel through people. And so, the strategy of student work is… being able to share the gospel at an opportune time. That’s why we’d love you to consider it, if you want to.

“But we’re here about wanting to see the gospel go to the ends of the earth, right? And student ministry is one of those ways. It’s not the only way by any stretch of the imagination… One way is student ministry. There’s only one big thing on the agenda, on God’s agenda, coming up and that’s the return of Jesus, isn’t it? So, what do you do between now and then? You’ve got to go to the nations.”

What are some of the things you do to cultivate your personal walk with Christ?

“I want to say the obvious things, but with a slight kind of nuance. God speaks to us in His Word. And we’ve got to hear his voice, and we’ve got to do that regularly somehow, someway. Whatever method it is, just make sure that you spend good time in it.

“There’s a friend of mine who captured this phrase from somewhere else. It says, “We’ve got to recapture the art of wasting time with God.” Don’t know whether you’ve heard that phrase or not. But my understanding of what he means by that phrase is that you’ve got to spend unhurried time with God somewhere somehow in your schedule on a regular basis”

“You’ve got to spend unhurried time with God somewhere somehow in your schedule on a regular basis.”

“There’s a lovely story of a man named Peter Adams, who some of you will know, he’s from Melbourne, a retired Anglican clergyman there, and he just speaks of a time when he just read one of the psalms.

“The first verse was “I love you Lord”, and he thought when do I say that? I don’t think I say that often enough. And he just thought about all the things about why he could love God more… He just walked his dog for an hour and a half thinking about why he loves God. And he said that was the best hour of his week, because it was unhurried time with God.

“So, I’m trying to do something of that somewhere sometime. You know, the weekend is probably better than through the week. But you can do that while you’re swimming laps as well. Those of us who are swimmers… You can actually pray and think about that or, if you’re one of those joggers who can actually jog without dying, and some of you are like that, you can actually think thoughts about God, can’t you? And so, use the exercise to do that. Wherever it is, spend that unhurried time with God. That’s what I’m trying to nurture.”

In the video above, hear from SMBC graduate, Kit Ng, now serving in AFES university ministry in Sydney.