CDF Student Pages

As you will have read earlier I took over from Ian Wilson recently as the CDF Student Co-ordinator. Since then I have been busy trying to get on top of the task! I recently travelled to Perth in Scotland for the Day Conference and was delighted to meet many of the students from Dundee. They have given me some good ideas and hopefully a starting point to the future.

One of my first tasks was to assemble a team of people who would assist me in visiting and supporting the students all over the UK. That team is basically in place but I still have a couple of people in mind to increase the number. Unfortunately it would not be possible for me to visit every dental school as often as I would like and so I hope these guys will help me in doing this.

Ian Wilson has agreed to stay on and help as a member of the student team. I will certainly value the vast experience he has gained over the past few years and we plan to abuse his services as much as his new family allows. Ian already has a visit planned to Belfast where we have never visited before.

Sara Clothier is our Student Elective Secretary and will also be a member of the team. She already knows many of the young members of CDF through her present job. Based in Bristol, she is ideally placed to serve the west of the country.

Sarah Robertson is the new Editor of Newsround and will also be part of the student team. Along with Sara and myself she will also be on CDF council and so able to voice student concerns to the rest of the Fellowship.

Dani Garcia-Lucas and Ed Gayton qualified from Sheffield with Sarah and all three have good experience in running a successful student CDF group at their dental school.

Jonathan Kallow and Lois Fulton are recent graduates from Glasgow and also were involved in a "lively" student CDF group at dental school. They are well placed to help with student issues north of the border.

Natalie Murphy is a graduate from Guy’s Dental School in London and currently working in the south east of the country. She has good contacts in the London Dental Schools and will help in these schools.

In mid-April we met together in Sheffield to try and construct a plan for the student work within CDF. I was amazed by the amount of good ideas they all had and I think we have a clear vision for the future.

We want to be available to many dental students all over the country and also try and open up the vast experience of the CDF membership to many students who need support during very difficult and stressful times. We hope that our CDF website can be an integral part of this process since all students have free access to the internet at university.

There are specific times in student life that are alike in every dental school. We would like to use these opportunities to offer our services and experience to all dental students. Although our focus is on helping Christian dental students through university we would also like to widen our advice to any non-Christians seeking help. Every dental student should know about CDF in the same way that every medical student knows about CMF.

I know these targets are big and that it is likely to take a long time to employ but God is a big God and our focus is always on his Kingdom. Please pray for me and the rest of my team as we implement our vision throughout the country.

Steven Murphy

11 Goodman Road

Bedford

MK42 9FJ

01234 313238

sad.murphy@ntlworld.com

For the first time CDF will be holding a Student House Party from November 2 to 4 2001. This will be held in Chawnhill Christian Centre in Stourbridge (west of Birmingham). The weekend will be focused around the CDF Day Conference at the same venue on the Saturday but will start on Friday night and end Sunday afternoon. One of the UK’s leading evangelists, Phil Collins, will be speaking to us during the weekend and we hope to have a lot of fun.

Although called a Student House Party, it will not be restricted to students and it is hoped many recent graduates will also be attending.

We will be writing to everyone soon but put the date in your diary and be prepared to sleep on a church floor and get involved.

See you there!

Steve