For a year of my degree I exchanged Irn Bru, ceilidhs, and a campus of 6,000 students for ice hockey, two feet of snow, and being one of 37,000 students at the University of Alberta. I also left behind a thriving Christian Union that packed in a good 200 each Friday night. In Canada, I didn't meet one Christian student.
This summer, thousands of students will be heading overseas on exchange schemes or as part of their degree. For the Christians who are leaving this can be a make-or-break experience. They often depart as unprepared missionaries, who struggle to find a church or Christian students they can meet with. Too many feel isolated and doubt their faith, or compromise their integrity.
Richard, a student at Queen Mary's College, London, is currently teaching English in a small Austrian town. Although he has found Christian friends, he has no regular teaching and admits to being very lonely in his faith. Another student described his time as 'five months in the wilderness'. The results can be devastating.
