The Globalscope team in Birmingham, England, made some major changes in its programs in January, and as a result, they are seeing God do amazing things, report Canvas campus ministers Derrik and Abby Sanders.

“One of the biggest changes is in letting our students take over some of our events,” said Abby. “We took a major risk in allowing our student serving group to be completely responsible for our Thursday event, Hangouts. This includes cooking for 50 people and planning the structure and activities for the night.”

This serving group is made up of eight students at varying points in their faith journeys, and they are very intentional about making sure that the events have options for all types of people.

“They are sculpting Hangouts to be truly what they and the students want and desire,” said Abby. “So far it has been a huge success each week.”

The team also wanted to allow the Christian students to have the opportunity to really stretch their faith, so they re-structured the Canvas church service – held every other Monday night – so that the students can eventually lead the whole event.

“They are involved in leading the time of communion and offering right now, but soon they will lead in worship and facilitate the teaching,” said Abby. “We changed the sermon into a short teaching time followed by break-out groups. This is much less daunting for a student to facilitate.”

The team has been excited to see the changes in the ministry and the students’ lives as a result of these program development.

“It is such a joy to watch these students step out and be pushed beyond their comfort zones to lead their peers in their journeys of faith,” said Abby.