Mission Week Stories: Waterford CU
This year (2026), Waterford CU organised seven events: three lunchtime and four evening gatherings, centred on the question, “Are You Searching for Something More?” The talks explored satisfaction, belonging, truth and purpose. Students also ran outreach stalls, handed out flyers and started conversations across campus.
In my past experience as a Staff Worker with UCCF, I had never seen a CU of this size attempt such an ambitious programme. With only five or six regular members and no Staff Worker to support them regularly, the committee carried a heavy load, made even harder by several members being on placement. Yet they pressed on faithfully! The speakers included Formation Workers Laura, Mary and Sandra, alongside me. Sandra, the Wexford Formation Worker, already knew some of the students, and in the lead-up to the week, she and I met with the CU President, Simon, and Treasurer, Aizza, to shape the theme, but most of the planning rested with the committee.
The week began slowly and chaotically, with few students available and limited flyers, but we quickly found our rhythm and experienced real encouragement. Here are three examples:
Rob (name changed), a Buddhist student, began attending CU after meeting the group last term. Drawn in by the community, he formed a close friendship with Simon and attended every event so consistently that I initially assumed he was on the committee! During the week, he engaged in several conversations about faith. One moment stood out when Sandra explained sin and humanity’s need for God. Rob acknowledged he was not perfect and began considering a need beyond himself.
During one morning of outreach, we asked, “Does God Care?” on our interactive whiteboard. There we met Steve (name changed). He was hesitant to engage at first, but as we shared our stories, including my own experience of losing my father and how that led me to question God’s existence, but still drove me to see His love more clearly. Steve then began opening up about his own loss. Before leaving, we gave him a copy of Why Does God Allow Suffering? While he couldn’t attend the events, please pray that as he reads, God will meet him in his pain, draw him to Christ, and lead him into Christian community.
Aizza’s friend Celine (name changed), a Muslim student, attended nearly every event last year and returned this year, even on the final day. Aizza reflected, “It feels like a seed has been planted, and we trust the Lord to grow it. That’s my prayer not only for her, but for my other friends who are Muslims or have no faith.” Her faithful invitation was a quiet but powerful reminder that God often works gradually and unseen!
Reflecting on the week, Aizza shared that it was full of unexpected encouragement. She saw how God displays His glory through weakness, and how small numbers and humble circumstances drove the CU to depend not on their own strength but on His sovereignty. The week was a powerful reminder to me that limited resources or minor disorganisation do not limit God! Again and again in Scripture, God works through what seems small: the least of all peoples, a mustard seed, twelve uneducated men. Or as Zechariah 4:10 says, “…whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice.”
Waterford CU may feel small at times, but it is part of something far greater. We pray for the big and long for it, while labouring faithfully in what feels small. Let’s pray that God will do great things in CUs like Waterford, and that students will boldly serve in the everyday, small ways.
