In most of the universities I met a few students either from Africa itself or of African heritage. I will mention some under Islam and Roman Catholicism but here want to point out an African group of which we need to be aware – those who are scarred by the prosperity gospel. This is, of course, no gospel at all but a false teaching. In its milder forms it is repeated by poorly trained pastors who are simply not reading their Bibles carefully, leading to disappointment and disenchantment. In its extreme forms it can involve serious child abuse and even murder. In between are a host of different churches and denominations, many of which have a presence in the UK. Young people are coming to university in the UK from a background that is heavily impacted by such groups.
On the one hand there will be those, like a young lady I met before in Leeds, who are sceptical of the claims of the gospel because they have never had their questions answered. Prosperity preachers confuse the gospel with material success and seem to have no inclination to engage with the difficult questions that are pressing to their young people – sexuality, climate change, work.
On the other hand, there will be those, like a young man I met in Newcastle, who have been badly burned by their experience of church. Jim, I will call him, recounted how he had gone with his mother to a big event at the O2 Arena as a child and been thoroughly turned off by the obvious fraud that was going on – fake healing etc. He now considered himself an agnostic.
So young people from such backgrounds arrive at university with a shaky faith (if any) and a tenuous attachment to church. Reaching out to such students in their early days is vital if they are not going to be lost altogether.
Even still, however, events weeks will pull some along. They will listen. They will ask questions. Are we sufficiently aware of these folk and ready to handle them sensitively?
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