In Depth:  Ben Carswell

The doctor prodded and poked, asked many questions and performed various tests. After about half an hour, my New Zealand Immigration medical was all over.

All that needed to be done was send the results away to New Zealand Immigration and my state of health would be assessed. I’m pleased to say that, aside from a few small concerns, I was passed with a clean bill of health. It seemed no time before I was on the plane bound for New Zealand with a visa to work with students sharing the gospel.

As I sat in an Edinburgh pub, waiting to meet my friend Ruth, I pondered on our friendship. We'd met in my first week at university, when we were placed in a project group together and our friendship had continued throughout university.

We had endured some of the typical highs and lows of a university friendship - the highs usually occurring at the end of the final exam before the summer, and the lows when we received the resulting grades! On numerous occasions as we'd talked, our conversations had been about spiritual issues, and when the Christian Union held their mission week, Ruth attended several events. However, all this had occurred without her ever seemingly showing any genuine interest for herself. Since leaving university, my friendship with Ruth had continued, albeit at a distance, and generally by email and the occasional phone call. I was visiting Edinburgh and had suggested we meet up, as we'd not seen each other properly for almost two years.