Olivia Rigby

When students are displaced among unfamiliar surroundings and a totally new culture, they are in need of community and they are more open to hearing about a new person, Jesus.

Slovenia is a beautiful country between Italy and Croatia which, despite its Roman Catholic history, has a tiny evangelical population. Slovenia has very high rates of mental health problems, domestic abuse, and suicide rates. It is crying out for the light of the gospel to drive out this darkness.

Currently there is only one staff worker to welcome the 2000+ international students in Ljubljana. Zveš is aiming to support Christian students in their faith at university with the goal of equipping them to spread the gospel to their friends. There is a lot of distrust towards the church so the true gospel is not known by most. We want to work to change this!

Going where the need is greatest

Initially I went to Slovenia because I asked to be sent where the need was the greatest and, in the year I spent there, a link was established that I’ve held on to for the past 3 years.

My aim is to establish an international student ministry where students can be impacted by the gospel and challenged to consider who Jesus is. I hope to support Slovene Christians in their faith, and to help them consider ways they can share the gospel among their peers.

A lifetime of cultural appreciation

I have grown up adoring other cultures having spent my first seven years in the Netherlands. I grew up in a Christian family and made a personal commitment to follow Jesus when I was 14, but my time as a student was really when I took my faith into my own hands and learned to rely on Jesus.

Having studied abroad in my second year of university, I understand the homesickness mingled with excitement that moving to another culture generates, and I’m eager to bring Jesus into the mix for these students who don’t know Him yet.