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‘The best of times and the worst of times’: most of us can associate with Dickens’ words at some period.

For me it was my three years at Durham University. The amazing highs of new experiences, friends, and opportunities all sadly twinned with lows of wasted time, missed chances and wrong decisions. Without a doubt they proved vital in my Christian discipleship. I owe a huge debt to those of an earlier generation who decided CUs should be student-led.

The Irishnman, Andrew Trimble, has quickly become a household name in the rugby world.

Thanks to his speed, agility and tough tackling, the young rugby giant has propelled himself to the centre stage of both club and international rugby. As the Six Nations Championship drew to a close with Ireland’s defeat of England, Jonathan Carswell, caught up with him to find out what the real ‘Trimble’ was like…

?I wish I?d known it would be like this; I would have brought a bus load!? This was just one comment from a student after attending the recent missions conference for university students at New Tribes Mission, North Cotes.

Students gathered from universities all over the UK and indeed Europe, to be part of it. Until they arrived they were not quite sure what they were letting themselves in for, as it was the first conference of its kind ? but a pleasant surprise for waiting ? it was a super weekend.

The radio was still on when I opened my bleary eyes. I must have dropped off to sleep the night before without turning it off. The last few weeks of term had been hard work. I rolled over, giving myself ten more minutes under the duvet. Then it hit me ? ten more minutes wasn?t an option.

John Wesley arrived in Newcastle upon Tyne on May 28 1742. He noted the following in his daily journal: 'We came to Newcastle about six, and after short refreshment, walked into town. I was surprised; so much drunkenness, cursing and swearing (even from the mouths of little children), do I never remember to have seen and heard before in so small a compass of time. Surely this place is ripe for Him who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.'

250 years after Wesley arrived in the North East, it is fair to say that little has changed, perhaps it is even worse. Visit any of the university campuses, not just at the weekend, and hundreds of students will be consuming copious amounts of alcohol, having numerous sexual relationships, but having little or no regard for their Creator. However, surely we must respond, not with condemnation, but like Wesley did, with the attitude that these people are 'ripe for him'.

For Christian students who are a part of the 2.7 million in Further Education (FE) colleges, CU life can be a hard slog.

The group is almost always small in number, they are less well-resourced than school or university CUs, and colleges are often deeply secular environments not used to the concept of a CU. However, as we have seen in recent years the labour is producing fruit, even if progress is slow.

During a recent trip to the UK, Phillip Jensen, Dean of Sydney, was involved in various student evangelistic outreaches.

Prior to speaking on 'Atheists are fools and agnostics are cowards' at Durham University Christian Union, Jonathan Carswell caught up with him in a Durham coffee shop.