Student Perspectives

Student Perspectives

A Single's Perspective

An interview featuring a single student living in the Oak House Halls.

Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Marita and I am from the Faroe Islands which is a tiny country in between Iceland and Norway. I am 23 years old and am studying here for my degree as a single student.

Why did you choose All Nations?
Since I was a kid I have always had an interest in helping vulnerable people and I’ve always had a fascination for mission work. At the age of 20 I started to study fashion design as I have a passion for this. I later realised that I didn’t have to choose one or the other but that I could combine both passions. All Nations seemed like the perfect place to do this, their training ethos is holistic and they too are passionate about using the arts in ministry.

How have you found studying at College?
Studying at All Nations has really challenged me. The personal growth programme and living in community has made me stronger in my identity in Christ. The courses have taught me so much and have given me fresh insight and broadened my ways of thinking. The practical ministry programme gives me the privilege to use what I am learning and put it into practice. I know I still have a lot more to learn but I now feel a lot more confident that God can use me, my skills and passions outside of this college.

How has it been studying & living on site as a single student?
I love it! I am a massive people person and it feels like we are a whole family living together. We are a very supportive community. I live in in Oak House where I can have my quiet time if I need, whilst at the same time there’s plenty of opportunity to socialise!

A Married Couple's Perspective

An interview featuring one of our students who lives on site with her husband.

Tell us a bit about yourself
I am Kinya Leong from Macau In China. I have lived on site at All Nations with my husband for two years whilst studying on the BA programme.

Why did you choose All Nations?
Me and my husband met on the OM ship and chose to come to All Nations because we feel called to serve in long term mission. We knew that we would need strong, foundational training for this, and many of our friends from the OM ship had come to All Nations to train and would always recommend it to us as the place to go. The tutors at All Nations have a lot of experience in mission, so we were confident that here will be the right place for equipping ourselves.

How have you found studying at College?
We found it really helpful for us to consolidate our mission experience in the past, and also provide a deeper reflection and critical evaluation for mission.

How has it been studying & living on site as a married couple?
We are in the community of All Nations which we are thankful for, at the same time we have enough private space for us as a couple. Couples live along the “couples corridor” in the main house and we get to share a communal kitchen to use at our convenience. Sometimes we like to break away and cook our own Chinese food!

Any other comments?
Our neighbours are other married couples as well. This is special as we can naturally get closer to each other for fellowship and support, so that we can learn from one another’s experiences. This helps us grow together as a married couple.

A Family's Perspective

An interview featuring one of our students with a young family that is living near College.

Tell us a bit about yourself
I'm Chris, I'm married, we have one son, and our second child is due! Before coming to College I worked as a Barrister and my wife worked in international student recruitment and marketing.

Why did you choose All Nations?
We had spoken to lots of people about which Bible College we should attend and sent off for prospectuses, but All Nations seemed to most clearly fit our training needs (we hope to be involved in church planting and other ministries in Japan) and we had several friends who had attended and recommended it to us.

How have you found studying at College?

It has surpassed my expectations! I found the initial adjustment of returning to studying more difficult than I expected, but an assessment early in the first term helped me gain confidence and understand what was required of me. The diversity of subjects covered is a real strength of the course here and having lecturers who have great experiences of different cultures means that every lecture is related to cross-cultural life and work.

Having said all that, the friendships that we have formed and the chance to be around other students who have experience of mission and really godly lives to learn from are probably the highlight.

How has it been studying as a parent?

We moved to our College flat, 10 minutes drive from College, when our son was 8 weeks old and started College when he was 12 weeks. Loads of our friends told us we were crazy, and we were very apprehensive (especially my wife), but it has been brilliant.

We both find it hard to imagine a better place to have young children. There is such a community feel and our son loves having lots of 'Aunties' and 'Uncles' to play with. We have had such support from all our friends and All Nations staff who really understand the pressures of having small children.

We do have to be very disciplined in our studying, especially in the evenings when our son is asleep, to make sure that we fit it all in. This has meant that we see less of the social side of College, but we still feel involved and it is great to have a home that we can invite people who live in College to.

Alumni testimonial

The Bishop of Woolwich shares how his studies at All Nations Christian College were transformational for him, and his mission and parish work. Take a listen below!