“England has been called the most godless country in Europe.”

I was watching the closing ceremony of the General Conference Session— “Mission on the Move”—and I was shocked to hear my home country described in such a way by Audrey Andersson, the Executive Secretary of the Trans-European Division. “Only 7.5 percent of adults attend church, and in the last 20 years church closures have averaged six per week.” England is definitely a mission field!

How are we to reach the majority population of England? This is a question that is constantly at the forefront of the British Union Conference’s deliberations when it comes to evangelism, along with the two conferences and three missions that make up its territory.

A very high percentage of Adventists within the United Kingdom come from other cultural backgrounds and have emigrated to this country. In many cases they have been surprised at the lack of Adventist churches compared to their home countries and the secular and materialistic worldview that greets them.

Perhaps one way in which England can be impacted is through God-fearing young people attending university and standing up for what they believe. I was amazed how God worked for Alex Browne, niece of Audrey Andersson, when she faced an issue with one of her classes being scheduled on a Friday night. This is her story:

“On receiving my university timetable, I discovered that one of my classes fell on a Friday night. It was a class that I particularly wanted to take, so I rang my personal tutor to explain the situation and to see if there was any viable alternative. I had been told time and time again that I was simply a little fish in a big university pond, and that no one would heed to such issues. Nevertheless, I decided to try. My personal tutor was not just sympathetic to my dilemma, but she went above and beyond to ensure not only that that particular class was changed, but that for the rest of my academic career I would not have any classes that ran into the Sabbath hours! Not only that, but in her efforts to change my initial class, she rang up the British Union Conference to find out exactly what the Sabbath was so she could understand where I was coming from!

I later discovered that my tutor was an outspoken agnostic, who, in one lesson studying Tacitus’ text about the emperor Nero, suggested a re-enactment of the burning of the Christians, starting with me. Nevertheless, God moved within her heart in order to ensure that being faithful to the Sabbath was not only possible for me, but that it wasn’t a problem. This initial contact about the Sabbath led to other opportunities to talk to her about Christ and to sow gospel seeds.”

Many of the world’s leaders have studied in the UK. In 2012/13, non-UK students made up approximately 600,000 of the 2.3 million students attending the 162 universities in the UK. Imagine what could be achieved by a strong public campus ministries program.

In some of the countries we supervise, dedicated young men and women are enrolling in universities with the specific intention of being used by God to sow seeds of gospel truth. Join me in praying for a revival in Europe. It truly is a mission field!

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