A Personal Letter: To Current Students
My expectations coming to NYU were that it would be like when I first met Jesus at 15 in Melbourne, Australia: no one in my daily life following Jesus, just me, God, and a whole lot of people I wanted to know him. Towards the end of high school, which I finished in the U.S., I met friends who wanted to follow Christ. We prayed for revival in our community together, but I was disappointed when towards the end of my last year the prayer meetings died down. So I came to NYU disappointed with God. My plan coming to NYU was I was going to get my social work degree, hopefully see a few people come to Jesus, graduate, and then be able to go see God do big things in the world.
Welcome week I quickly realized God had entirely different plans. I was met by a community of people following Jesus, who said they had been praying for the incoming Freshman. Yes, I was shocked too: students at NYU had been praying to Jesus.
I went to an All-Campus Worship Night during welcome week and found a hall packed with people worshipping Christ. The first meeting my fellowship had was that same week, on a roof-top in the West Village looking out on the Financial District. We prayed in a big circle at the end of the night and someone who has since become a great friend started singing “Holy Spirit you are welcome here”. It was as if time stood still, never since then have I heard New York City quiet down that way. It was like the city wanted to be able to hear God’s children singing to him. The Holy Spirit spoke to me while we were standing on that roof, God’s still small voice said “Lachlan, this is your family”.
Every all-campus worship night, as people stand in the presence of family in Christ and the presence of God Himself, hope arises. Often as the school year goes on and feelings of isolation increase, this hope struggles to survive. I am certain this is not what God desires for us. This is why I was drawn to the CIFC, our mission is to bring unity to the body of Christ so that hope for what God could do in our community would arise.
The longer I have been at NYU, the more I have witnessed God telling us that revival is coming, and the more I have also heard past stories of dreams God placed in students following Christ at NYU. Dreams die when dreamers are isolated, and I have never heard a story of revival that has come from an individual praying by themselves. It typically comes when brothers and sisters come together across organizational lines. The first all-campus worship night I went to during worship week, this prayer of Christ in John 17 was read out: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” The body of Christ comes together at NYU, the community around us will see Christ. Pentecost came when the Christ followers were gathered together. God will pour out his Spirit in the way we long for, the way we know he desires to, when we worship him as one. When the growth of Christ Kingdom is the unified desire of our hearts, then and only then will God heal our school.
There is a prayer room where there is now prayer every morning at NYU. Every Friday there is prayer for the campus. People coming together to worship, praying and fasting is becoming increasingly prevalent. This is something God has started, he will bring it to completion.
I’ll close with these words from the prophet Habakkuk: “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2) In our time, God’s wondrous mercy will pour out on NYU in ways that are impossible to believe without faith in him, I write this all as an invitation:
“come and see”.
Sincerely,
Lachlan Warrell
CIFC Vice President 19’, 20’, 21’