Uni has been an interesting experience for me. It was such a ride, meeting new friends, settling into a lecture-oriented teaching style as well as learning to write proper assignments along with non-plagiarising references.

But one thing I found is, I feel very much closer to God than I ever was. I can observe the changes that the Holy Spirit has done within me, and my actions has slowly become more Christ-like. I am so eternally grateful for Him always being beside me and guiding me along during tough patches of my life, as well as for the Spirit who intercedes to God for me when I am too busy to give thanks for what He has done.

But what really helped me was the KickStart orientation camp in February which subsequently led me to attend the weekly Bible talks held by the Curtin Christian Union. These people really bear the image of Christ in everything that they do, and I find them to be a very valuable part of my life. They have helped me grow tremendously in my faith and have helped me to see that God really does love me and gave His Son to die for me on the cross.

God has really helped me through my studies, as well as using me as His instrument to bring others to Christ. Nasir is a Muslim friend in my Laboratory Medicine course. While not really staunch religious person, he holds to the faith closer than most people. But he found out about me being a Christian through Ahmad, another Muslim, and so we became closer as friends and we shared with each other the differences as well as the similarities between our religions.

Nasir was willing to hear me out, often asking questions as well as offering his views on differing opinions. He even went to talk with Brad Vigus, our CCU staffworker and asked a lot of questions. Then Jordan's talk this week really struck me, with him saying to his Muslim friend: 'Does your God really love you for what you do, or because of who you are? If it's because of what you do, then you better get praying 5 times a day or Allah won't be happy!'. I even posed this question to Nasir and he gave the same response: that Allah loves him for what he does.

A quote from C.S. Lewis: Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it (taken from Mere Christianity, 1952). This gave me so much courage to tell more people about Jesus and what he has done for me, because of the uncertainty of the time in which God chooses to unleash His complete wrath and send all unbelievers to Hell.

I have also been praying for Eunice, who I dearly love as a Christian sister to realise that God is a much greater priority than study, which is an excuse she hides behind to avoid TBT. I know it must be hard for her to trust the Lord especially when she's struggling to pass, but Philipians 4:6 says 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God'. I will have to admit that it's already hard for me to do that in my present circumstance, due to my sinful human nature of not trusting immaterial things, and so I understand some of what she's going through. I can only hope that God will work in her heart and convict her to serve Him in a way that is pleasing.

I continue to pray that God will give me the strength to be bold in front of my friends and that He will give me the right words to say if according to His sovereign and foreordained will.