7,000 people hearing the gospel. 66 school lessons. 23 youth groups. 8 assemblies. Hundreds accepting Jesus into their lives! This is what Message School of Evangelism (MSE) is all about.
Coming from eight countries, across five continents, 28 MSE students, all with a heart to tell people about Jesus, have been trained, equipped and sent to share the gospel with the least, the last and the lost. And as they’ve done this, many have had their lives changed by God.
As they dug into the Bible and learnt more about sharing their faith, the students got to put everything they were learning into practice from day one. From doing talks in youth clubs to running gospel-packed schools lessons, they headed out on mission sharing the hope of Jesus with those they met.
One group of students headed into primary schools with a pantomime musical that told the kids more about Jesus in a fun and accessible way. At the same time, another group of students headed into the local community making over gardens. As they tidied their garden one student, Tobias, got chatting with the family and the daughters said they’d seen the pantomime in school that day. As they shared what they’d learnt, the girls said, ‘Jesus is the best person in history. We love him!’ It was great to see how the work of the two teams overlapped, showing the family Jesus’ love in word and action.
Wanting to grow in boldness and pray for her community, Naomi went out on a prayer walk. As she prayed, she asked God to direct her to who needed to hear about him and felt like she should talk to Kelly. It turned out that Kelly had just started going to the local church because she wanted to find out more about Jesus! Naomi offered to pray for her and looked out for her at church that Sunday.
After the service, Kelly signed up for Alpha and gave her life to Jesus while on the course. Kelly’s now been baptised, serves regularly in church and is bringing her friends and family along too, so that they can experience the love of Jesus in the same way she has! It’s amazing to see what God’s been doing in Kelly’s life since Naomi felt she had to speak to her.
Also out prayer walking, another MSE student, Hallimat, met Louise who shared some of the challenges she’d faced in life. She said, ‘I wouldn’t have survived if someone higher wasn’t looking out for me.’ Hallimat was able to grab the opportunity to share that she believed it was Jesus protecting her and about how much he loved her. She invited Louise to church and as they prayed together, Louise said she’d love to come.
Whilst these can often seem like small conversations, each is a seed planted for Jesus. Over the course, the students had thousands of moments like this praying for people, encouraging them, inviting them to church and sharing Jesus’ love with them.
As the course went on, the students spent more and more time on mission, heading out on placements across the UK as well as internationally. This year, students headed to Zambia, the Netherlands and Germany.
The students that went to Germany spoke at festivals, schools and conferences, getting to share the gospel with 2,200 people and seeing 75 give their lives to Jesus! Whilst in schools, they led lessons on identity and resilience, performed truth-filled tracks and shared their testimonies of what God has done in their lives. Every young person was invited to an end-of-week gig and 110 came along to hear more about Jesus. There, 25 accepted Jesus into their lives!
In Zambia, a group of students travelled to remote villages where they got to spend time doing crafts, chatting to the villagers about Jesus, and sharing their stories. As they did this, people responded to the gospel. Many, having not heard about Jesus before, had questions so the MSE students started impromptu Bible studies where they unpacked the Bible for the villagers and pointed them to scriptures that would encourage them.
On their way to another village, the team got to go into a school and share the gospel with 60 pupils. The students asked if any of the young people wanted to give their lives to Jesus and 20 of them said ‘yes’!
As well as heading overseas, the students got stuck into placements across the UK using every chance to tell people about Jesus as they worked with Eden teams, in Community Groceries, ran creative mission workshops, and so much more.
Whilst in Sheffield, some students met Nixon. As they talked, he shared that he was feeling a lot of shame from things he’d done in the past. The students were able to tell him about the forgiveness and hope they had found in Jesus, and prayed that God would set Nixon free from all that he was battling. After they prayed, Nixon immediately said he felt a change in himself and gave his life to Jesus! The team connected him with a local church so that he could continue growing in his faith.
Out in Wythenshawe town centre, student Rinki felt God encouraging her to chat to Dawn who she’d spotted walking past her. As they got talking, Rinki felt God saying that she needed to tell Dawn, ‘Don’t give up on God. He sees you and is with you in everything.’ Hearing this, Dawn started to cry and told Rinki, ‘You’re the third person who’s said this to me. It feels like everything is against me right now. I was in an abusive relationship, got kicked out and now I’m on the streets with my one-year-old child. Things are so hard, but I think God is trying to speak to me and telling me to put my trust in him.’ As Rinki chatted more with Dawn, she invited her along to church – and she came! Since then, Dawn’s been regularly coming to church, finding the support she needs and growing in her faith as she discovers more about Jesus.
Do you know someone who’d like to join us on MSE? Visit message.org.uk/mse
