Not Alone

The Fellowship of Evangelical Students, or “FES” may not be a name that really rings a bell with most UTAR CF members. That is not surprising since most of us enter university just after secondary school, so we are usually more familiar with our own church organizations or maybe Scripture Union.

The FES is actually a Christian organization that specializes in working with university students, and through many ways they are a group that has really helped me in my fledgling walk with God.  If you stay with me and read on, you will see through the lives, words and experiences of myself and other fellow UTAR CF-ers why I say this.

My hope is that you will be encouraged and be aware that there IS this group of Christians who are constantly praying for you and offering guidance and support to our Christian Fellowship, though the interactions may mostly be with the student leadership due to constraints of time and personnel.
One thing that distinguishes the FES from many other groups is their commitment to building spiritual relationships with individuals: “Impacting lives, one student at a time” is something I’ve heard many different staffworkers like David, Lian Chui and Esmond say.

In spite of the fact that UTAR Kampar is quite a distance from their headquarters in Penang, KL and Melaka, it really is quite something that committed staff workers can make the time to meet up with students. Huan Min, a UTAR CF alumnus says, “they’ll always find time to meet with us if we’re looking for them”.

I can actually recall every single meeting I had with FES staff while I was still a student, and they are so memorable and important to me, probably because as university students, we don’t have that many “older folks” around. I did not know what it was like to run this race, but they did.

UTAR CF-ers with David, our former staffworker

Besides that, I can also vouch for the assistance that God has given us through the experience and example of the staff workers. Jensen (2008-2011), calls them “a pillar of support” for the CF work on campus. One of the UTAR CF Kampar pioneers, Renjie (2007-2011) also affirms the FES as a source of great encouragement and guidance.

Gin Mah, a former committee member, once remarked to me that "even though there is only one staff worker for each campus, the contribution that they have is immense because of their experience and knowledge,”

Recently, a few of us from UTAR CF had the privilege of joining the FES Jubilee Celebration in Petaling Jaya. We, who are in our twenties, bore witness to the testimony of many who shared about 50 years of FES ministry, what it meant to them and what it meant for our nation.

Gin Mah: " See you again in 50 years"

The warmth we felt that night while worshipping and mingling with “unfamiliar yet familiar” faces send across a clear message: We are not alone, and we have “family members” all over the country praying for us and doing God’s work in expanding His kingdom. This is a lesson to me that I think started when I had my first ever chat with David, our former FES staff worker, back in 2011.

Even as we become busy over the Christmas season, we can take heart that God is doing His work all over the nation, and that we have Christians praying for Christians and for those who will hear God’s word and come to know Jesus over November and December.

“In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”

Colossians 1:6