Hi friend!

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for this month’s edition of The Loop – featuring jazz cafes, cultural differences, spreading the Good News and the stealing of seats. Read on to find out more about this year’s Easter camps and other exciting news!

[ NAU MAI, HAERE MAI ]

This year, Wellington's CU and ICF joined together for what proved to be an awesome Easter camp! After a busy half-trimester, it was a fantastic opportunity to lie low for a bit, taking time to reflect on themes of sacrifice, remembrance and our freedom in Christ. The camp venue, Takapuwhahia Marae, also gave us a chance to hear and talk about Maori culture (for many, the marae was a whole new experience). It was encouraging to see God at work in such a diverse group of students, both Kiwi and international, Christian and non-Christian. I'm so thankful that, for all the differences in background and culture, we could learn of our collective identity in Christ. I thank God too for the many good questions asked, conversations had, and fun times shared by all!
Josh Irving - VUWCU

[ CHILLING AT THE BEACH ]

The weekend before Easter, 18 students from MUCF packed up their bags and headed to a big house at Raumati beach, Paraparaumu. We had a few less chairs than we needed when we sat around to listen to Mark Grace speak on ‘God and the New Zealand Story’, so we routinely swapped, or more accurately stole each other’s seats! Mark shared stories of Christians in our history, and encouraged us to think through how their stories relate to us. We began to understand more about how God had such a profound impact on the Treaty and the way in which NZ is structured, which challenged us to go even further and look into what actually happened when the gospel came. In our ‘free’ time, we played sports on the beach, went on the miniature railway together, sung songs, fished, went to the local chocolate factory and just generally relaxed.
Cristelle Oliver - MUCF

[ FOOD FIGHTS DOWN SOUTH ]

On the 8 March, about 50 students from Canterbury Christian Union arrived at Wainui for a shortened conference on the topic of Guidance. Four scenes from this time will illustrate the conference for you:

• Scene 1) The food hall: tin foil flies through the air and hits Paul Grimmond, our guest speaker from Australia. Quickly he scrunches up his own ball of foil and lets fly at some young upstart. Before long the whole hall is ducking behind chairs and praying that none of the chicken cordon bleu ends up on them.

• Scene 2) ‘Marriage is the reason for the Universe.’ Silence. What do you do with that? Grimo (as we affectionately call him) was of course referring to a bigger picture of marriage than the one we all thought he was talking about. But this challenged how we usually think of guidance, we like to put ourselves first and then factor in God's plan as an afterthought.

• Scene 3) Soft jazz floats through a lounge, interrupted by the occasional sound of grinding coffee beans. Quiet conversations happen, as people start to reflect on the talks so far. Small chuckles are heard sporadically; evidence of a funny anecdote. Our lives are shared as the night wears on.

• Scene 4) Everyone's mind on the journey home. Some talk, some mull. We all struggle to think about the ways we let our little plans become the big plan. We instead learn to think about how we can better submit our lives to what God is doing in this world first, and then deal with the smaller details in turn. 
Dale Wang – UCCU

[ LIVING OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE ]

A bunch of TSCF students from around the country spent a weekend on the Kapiti Coast talking and thinking about evangelism with Nigel Pollock and Ben Carswell. Here’s some reflections about the retreat and you can read more here at the new TSCF WEBSITE.

Out of the many highlights was our discussion on engaging with culture. Drawing on the words and example of the apostle Paul (‘I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some’ - 1 Corinthians 9:22b), Nigel challenged us to venture out of our Christian bubbles while remaining authentic in our faith, and to engage with the culture around us so as to better understand and connect with non-Christians. By taking a deliberate interest in people, what interests them and the language and ideas with which they communicate, all the while remaining authentic in our faith as Christians, we intentionally place ourselves 'in' the world while remaining apart from it.
Chris Watterson – Dunedin Mintern