Samuel Couper
When I was 16, the Lord spoke to me through Revelation 3:16 and I knew that I couldn't sit on the fence. I decided that whilst everything else that I pursued had let me down, God had always been faithful in my life, and so I committed to following Him and was baptised. Not all my problems went away overnight, but that was a marking moment in my life in deciding to pursue Jesus wholeheartedly.
Around the time of my baptism, I went to a Christian youth conference and came across Open Doors UK, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide. I soon found myself engaged in volunteer speaking opportunities on behalf of the organisation. In 2018 I traveled to South East Asia and came face-to-face with young people who had left their families to follow Christ. Through these opportunities and the prophetic input of trusted church members, I began to discern a calling to speak and explain the Word with clarity and authority, with a growing heart for the nations. When I moved to Durham University for my studies, I was presented with multiple leadership opportunities within the local church and Christian Union and found myself feeling most fully alive when preaching God's Word and reaching out to others with the Gospel.
Participating in the Bible Teachers and Preachers Network provided a space to cultivate a deeper love for God's Word, and form new friendships with leaders across Europe. I have also been particularly blessed by new friendships with older leaders, who have since provided encouragement, and mentoring and sought to open doors for me to pursue God's calling.
My role as a field coordinator with Revive involves mobilising students in wholehearted pursuit of Jesus through the preaching of the Word, facilitating in-person and online gatherings, and pioneering new initiatives within the movement. I am responsible for facilitating the 'Revive our Hearts' retreats which seek to catalyse the work of God in European cities by igniting personal revival in students’ hearts. More widely, I am pursuing a number of opportunities in the Middle East, sharing the Gospel in unreached contexts and connecting with younger leaders in the region.
I am currently responsible for the 'Revive our Hearts' retreats that seek to encourage students to pursue Jesus wholeheartedly in various European cities, which we hope to multiply across the continent. More widely, I am pursuing several opportunities in the Middle East, sharing the gospel in unreached contexts, and facilitating gatherings to build bridges between global youth in the body of Christ.
I have been an active member of the Year-Round Mentoring group for Scripture Engagement Leadership with Lindsay Olesberg. Following the Scripture Immersion pre-Forum workshop last year, I have helped facilitate in-person and online workshops for inductive Bible study with students in my local context (Durham) as part of a Revive Europe retreat