Campus Ministry
The amaZioni stick together. This is one of their greatest strengths.
All over Southern Africa, Zionist university students have formed on-campus groups to support each other, hold services, prayer meetings, and weather the challenges of attending secular universities.
These groups are good news. They show initiative, and provide a place for Zionists to get together and keep the faith. Some of the groups are tied to ATEZ (Association For Tertiary Zion Students), which provides a broader governance structure, but bottom line: they are their own leaders. This independence—while an overall positive—can mean a lack of resources or mentorship, and the students crave truth.
Enter: ZEMA.
The hand of providence laid inroads for InterVarsity veteran Kit Tischler to connect with some of these campus groups and provide them with Bible commentaries, resources, training, mentoring, and all-around comradery.
Kit hasn’t taken over leadership of these groups. He views his role as coming alongside to support the students in their desire for truth.
In the wake of Apartheid, a phase in South Africa known as “Born Free,” students have access to resources and opportunities unknown to the generations before them. They can get a good education. They can pursue their dreams. In this mindset, young amaZioni are hungry for spiritual knowledge of their own. They honor their parents’ faith, but they want to know, believe, and practice Christianity for themselves.
ZEMA’s vision for the future of this campus ministry:
- To see more missionaries actively engaging and discipling students in the Zionist university groups.
- To see spiritual health and growth for the students.
- To see open doors to the churches of these students, building further connections for ZEMA to partner with local pastors and leaders in guiding their congregations to Biblical truth.
- To see some of the students go on to attend ZEBS and become strong Christian leaders in their communities.
- To see these students—committed, passionate Christians with real life skills in business, engineering, teaching—influence their communities, places of work, churches, families, and social circles.
Through these students, see restoration of family units in Southern Africa. Healthy families mean a healthy society. People with community and financial skills, solid family values, and a passion for Jesus can have a powerful influence in the whole of South Africa. What a privilege it is for ZEMA to be a part of this transformational movement.