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EXPLORE

Dive into authentic stories, ask your questions, and explore faith in a welcoming community designed just for uni students.

If Jesus truly is who he claimed to be, it changes everything. Exploring the truth about Jesus is a quest worth pursuing. We believe every student should have the chance to investigate and respond to the life-changing message of a personal relationship with a living God. University is the perfect time to reflect on your beliefs about life and spirituality. Student Life offers resources and opportunities to help you delve into important questions such as:

  • What’s my purpose in life?
  • Who gets to decide right and wrong, and why should it matter?
  • Why do I need Jesus?

Explore Conversations: Connect with one or two students to discuss what Christians believe about Jesus and why he matters today. Using a conversation guide, you’ll explore your questions and thoughts about who Jesus is.

Friendships: Learning about Jesus goes beyond structured talks and intellectual conversations. It happens in the everyday moments as you build friendships and see Jesus reflected in the lives of those who follow him.

Events: Join us for various getaways and casual socials throughout the year. Each university group offers different events, so check with your local Student Life group to see what’s on their calendar. Everyone is welcome!

Discover

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Stories

4 Videos
Overview
Overview

“I wanted to have hope…”

When Klauss lost two loved ones, anger and bitterness were what he had instead. Persistent strangers, jandals, and a gutting triple denial – what did these have to do with finding hope? Klauss shares here.

Here are some other stories from our students…

DaniOtago Uni
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Trigger Warning: this post discusses mental illness and suicide. . . . “My childhood stability ended at 8 when my mum passed away from cancer. This triggered my dad’s bipolar disorder. Every 2 years, his manic episodes sent him to hospital for weeks. Despite this, Dad was an incredible parent and friend to me and my siblings. His strong faith in God inspired my own. But he kept battling this illness and when I was 17, Dad took his life in a depressive episode. That day I remember saying to an uncle, “I just can’t imagine getting past this. Like, how will this not ruin my life?”. The vast range of emotions – guilt, anger at Dad, God, and myself, utter despair and sorrow – felt so heavy and consuming. For much of that year, life seemed hopeless. I felt abandoned by God and couldn’t fathom how he could let something like this happen to me, twice. Was he really good? I went hard investing in relationships with my extended family and I think God showed me a lot of his care through them. But in the end I found that nobody could meet all my needs all the time; they could and did disappoint me. Moving to Otago for uni when I was 18 was a turning point. There I made solid Christian friends who helped me break down the walls I had built up against God. In the last three years, I’ve realised there is so much hope in Jesus and what he’s done for me! Although we need people to journey with, ultimately God is the one constant source of stability even in the most challenging circumstances. Now I think of grief like a plank in my field of vision. At first I can’t see past it at all. But slowly, as God heals me, the plank moves further and further away. It never disappears but it stops consuming my view. As I grow in my journey with God, I can see more and more of the hope and beauty in my life surrounding my grief. I’ve got full assurance that I’ll see my dad and my mum again in heaven – and there will be no more suffering.”
JeremyAUT
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“Anxiety has been with me my whole life – even before I understood what it was, the feeling was there. It was like a minefield, where I had to tread carefully in case one misstep triggered an explosion of adrenaline and dread. I was always worried about what other people thought of me, of failing to meet their expectations, and of the future. As a high achiever I had the mindset that if I worked hard for things, they would go according to plan. Having anxiety threw that all out the window. When I graduated from uni in 2018, my anxiety sabotaged my ability to find a job straight away like all my other friends. I needed to take a break and recover even if I didn’t want to. Most importantly of all, I needed to learn to trust in God’s reliability and that he has good things lined up for me. After a year of recovery and another year of job searching that involved multiple applications, silences and rejections, I never expected to find my first job as a graphic designer during lockdown, a time where people were losing jobs. Honestly, the journey to recovery from chronic anxiety has been really hard. However as I practice letting go of forecasting all the worst possible scenarios in the future, I can relax as I realise that God is in control and I will be okay whatever happens. I’ve received amazing support along the way from people confident that God has been walking alongside and encouraging me through the minefield- even when I couldn’t feel it. Throughout it all, I have learned to be less anxious about the future where things are inevitably beyond my control. Instead I understand that there will be times of uncertainty and discomfort, but I can trust in a God who loves me and is far more wise and powerful than I’ll ever be.”
EroniOtago Uni
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“I was always going to play professional rugby. That was my dream since I was a boy. I had trained countless hours for it. I had even chosen a degree at university that would work around my game and training commitments. In the space of a few short years, that dream didn’t seem so possible anymore. By 23, I had undergone 5 surgeries from rugby related injuries. My surgeon told me if I kept it up, I might be in a wheelchair at 30. 🦽 I battled with feeling like a failure for a while. Bitterness and hopelessness became my close friends. But during this time, God was working on me. Slowly he showed me that my significance and worth as a person don’t come from excelling at sports- rather, they come from being his child. I’m not defined by my performance. What a freeing revelation! I now live with an outlook of gratitude because of what Christ has done for me. I trust that the Lord has a good life planned for me, whatever hardships it involves.”
DebsCanterbury Uni
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“Who am I, why am I here in the world, what is the purpose of life? 🧐 These are questions that caused me so much anxiety growing up and I craved something more than what I already had. When I started uni, I came in hopeful. Hopeful that I would get to experience new things, meet new people, and find my purpose on this earth. In that first week, some free jandals from Student Life would lead to me discovering that purpose. I learned that I’m here to have a relationship with God, to trust in the path that he calls me to and to put him first in everything I do. There’s no part of my life I keep off-limits to him. Now I get to experience God’s love and know that I have someone on my side every single day. Becoming a Christian is not always an easy ride. Still, I know that it is worth it in the end- through all the hard times and the prayers I pray, God continues to work on me and never shames me when I mess up. I’m confident that when Jesus promises me eternal life, he’s not joking. The sense of peace and stability this brings to my daily life is priceless.” However tough things get now, I’ve got eternity with God to hold onto and look forward to.”
ZereshOtago Uni
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“Ever since I was little I have loved words. I was that kid who read the dictionary for fun in an attempt to learn new words. Even now whenever I’m reading, when I come across a new word I look it up, learn how to pronounce it, repeat it to myself a few times, savouring the syllables and composing new sentences to fit it into. So imagine my delight when I came across someone who “had the words of eternal life.” After speaking hard, difficult-to-understand and politically-incorrect words, he lost most of his followers. When the remaining few were given the chance to leave too, they had this to say: “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life.”* This Lord whose words give life to the full is Jesus Christ, and his words continue to shape how I think and live. For example, Jesus said that whoever comes to him will never hunger and whoever believes in him will never thirst.** 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹. But surely if his words are so important I would be sharing them with others, right? Yet this is what I found so challenging to do. When I discovered the Student Life community, they helped me to articulate and share the life-changing words of Jesus Christ with others. It’s been amazing to pursue him together with them.” *John 6:68 **John 6:35
AprilAUT North
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“Ugly nightmares were a big part of my childhood. I often felt alone and very scared. One night was especially intense and in desperation I turned to God and prayed. Immediately the dream left and I felt so much relief and peace! In fact, I never had another nightmare again. Life looks different since becoming a Christian, both in good ways and hard ways. People can think I’m crazy to believe in God who I can’t even see and sometimes it’s difficult to stand my ground when it means I get left out or disregarded. However, the more I become confident in God’s love for me, the less these fears of loneliness and being left out control me. It’s such a relief to be sure that I’m never left alone. My relationship with Jesus has become the main thing I let define me. I’m hopeful for the future because I trust that he will continue to be with me and help me live a meaningful life.”
ZekeOtago Uni
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“During my first year at uni I only had one goal in mind: to get accepted into the medical programme at Otago and become a doctor. Aim high, right? My Mum’s a nurse and growing up I saw how much she loved her job and loved helping people, even working in Zambia so she could use her skills to help people who needed it. I wanted to do the same. This was such a huge deal for me that I sacrificed every spare moment I had on studying. It meant 6am starts, getting to lectures early and staying at the library until it closed. Study was literally all I was doing- nothing else had meaning. I neglected my interests, my friendships, and my relationship with God. I only squeezed in a few minutes each morning for prayer and Bible reading to say I’d done it. I was doing well academically but by the end of the year all my effort, time, and late nights at the library felt pretty purposeless. Despite finishing the year with an A+ average, I still missed out on a spot in medicine. At first I was devastated. But through this experience, God has shown me that there are much more important things in life than study. Like actually making time to invest in deep friendships with people around me. Like connecting with God because I get to, not because I’ve got to. Like helping others who don’t yet know God to meet Jesus, which I’ve become much more keen and confident to do. In the last year I’ve seen how the more I prioritise closeness with God- the more time I spend praying, letting the Bible influence my life, and building authentic relationships with other Christians- the more I experience how loved I am by God. It’s so good! I have undoubtedly experienced his love for me this year. I’m confident that whatever it is I end up doing, whether medicine or not, my greatest joy comes from my relationship with God.”
UrimAuckland Uni
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“My addiction to pornography began when I was only 10 years old – it took just one innocent search on the internet and I was hooked. Over the years, I found myself watching porn up to 4-5 times a day, sometimes staying up until 4AM. What I watched became more intense, graphic, and stimulating. As a Christian, I knew the Bible taught us to respect women with the utmost dignity because God created both women and men as sacred. Jesus urges us to run from the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, the kind that leaves us more lonely and empty than ever. All pornography did was teach me to see women as objects of pleasure- a means of satisfying my insatiable hunger to feel a ‘bigger buzz’. And the thing was, the more I tried to control my life and fix my issues, the worse my addiction seemed to get. It was only when I was reading my Bible at the end of 2018 that God helped me to understand an incredible truth: Jesus died for me, because he knew that I was going to fall over and over from my porn addiction. He helped me see that finding pleasure in pornography was destructive – it cut him to the heart – and the consequence for refusing to give it up was eternal separation from him in hell. I deserved that punishment. Yet Jesus did what I could never do: he lived an ethically immaculate life and undeservingly died for me so that I could have the opportunity to spend eternity with God, starting now. As I reflected on this reality, my desire to watch pornography simply melted away. It’s been a year and nine months (2020) since I last set my eyes on porn. God truly rescued me from an 8-year addiction I could never break by sending his son to die on my behalf and empower me to live day by day free of addiction. I owe my life to him.”
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