When in Babylon

My experiences as a young Christian going through university.

My delinquent friends and I at the Smuts Formal.

I live in Johannesburg and matriculated in 2018, having attended a private school in Kwa-Zulu Natal. It was during my first year of boarding school that I became homesick, and felt like I didn’t belong. It was Christ who welcomed me home.

In 2019, I began studying Biology and Marine Biology at the University of Cape Town. Since then, I have experienced many of the typical challenges that young Christians face.

The day before I flew to Cape Town, I was offered a place in Smuts Hall. I didn’t take it too seriously, as I was determined to follow my tribe to Campus Key, which is modern student accommodation. But my Dad and older sister, who were both in residence at UCT, strongly advised that I go to Smuts. After some argument, I accepted the offer. With hindsight, I can see that the opportunity to spend my first year in Smuts Hall was a providential blessing.

On the first day, I met the guys living next to me, who were from Sri Lanka, Durban, Khayelitsha, and Grahamstown. I am still very close friends with someone that I met that day. We got to know everyone quickly because of the vibrant res life. In the first week, a bus arrived and took us to the fine establishment Mzolis, which is a bar in the heart of Gugulethu. We ate shisa ‘nyama, drank Zamalek, and tried to dance to Omunye. Throughout the rest of the year, we had socials and formals, sold magazines for RAG, and spent time in Smuts’ pub, the mighty George. I also joined the Smut’s band and rugby team. 

My cooking skills in first year were horrendous, and I found myself surrounded by other equally useless males. But luckily for us, at every meal time we would head over to Fuller to dine with the fine ladies. Needless to say, the catered meals were a huge benefit. In addition, both reses were on upper campus which meant that I could literally wake up at 7.50am to make 8.00am lectures!

This lifestyle was vastly different to Campus Key, where most of my school friends had gone, and where my younger sister is currently living for her first year. The students in Campus Key are generally from private schools. This creates a social bubble, giving them little chance to meet people from Sri Lanka.

I started my university career with the aim of showing secular people that Christians can also party and have fun. Unsurprisingly, this led down a path that challenged my faith and dishonoured God. But the revelry would no doubt have been worse if I had lived in Campus Key, because the partying there never stops, and guys and girls live next door to each other. For a young Christian man, the temptations are everywhere – more I think that in UCT reses.

Excessive partying left little time for other things that interested me, like tennis, hiking, and water polo. It took me months to pick up my trumpet, and my academics took strain. Other consequences included losing my ID in Boogies nightclub, and of course wasting much of my allowance on regular carousing.

My older sister was in her fifth year of study at UCT when I arrived. She attended Rondebosch Common Ground church, so I naturally started going there with her. Truth be told, she lured me in by giving me a ride to church and then buying me ice cream afterwards. But I am grateful that she did.

Common Ground had a large congregation and the preaching was informative. We attended the evening service which was popular with students, while the morning service was more for families. A mate and I joined a Bible study for young adults who assembled weekly. I met many people this way, and being a part of this Christian community was essential for the growth of my faith.

In my second year, I went into a digs which we christened the “Ramapozie” with four of my best mates. The pressures and temptations of girls and drinking was a problem right from day one. Every weekend there were parties; usually at the Ramapozie. We once had a dress up party, and I saw someone who I thought was dressed as a policeman on the dancefloor. No surprises there, it was a real policeman who had come to shut us down!

Digs formals are common in digs life. They are blatant debauchery, with the fig leaf of formality. The combination of drinking and digs’s inevitably leads to burglary. Student living in Cape Town is safe if people are switched on. My comrades and I, however, were not. We got robbed twice during our stay in the Ramapozie. The first time, we went out to Springboks pub and left our gate and front door wide open. Someone’s prayers were answered that night.

The second robbery was a forced break in, which we heard about on Christmas day 2020. It was after this news that I made the decision to move out of the Ramapozie for third year. Of course it was unsafe, but my primary reason to leave was because of the constant temptations in that environment. Every week my faith was being needlessly challenged.

I was unsure where I would live for the following year, and while my mates made plans to live together, I waited and trusted God to provide something more honouring to him. I didn’t wait long, and soon moved into a secure complex with two Christian guys, with whom I’m still living. Life since then has been safe, peaceful, and enjoyable.

At the beginning of 2021, I left Common Ground and joined Every Nation in the City Bowl. I started attending a men’s group of six who meet weekly to talk about Jesus. The first thing I quickly realized is that my challenges are not unique to me - all men face them. I was receiving Godly strength to conquer the temptations of alcohol and lust that came through the power of accountability: “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”¹

Just like the Israelites in Babylon, Christ calls us to live out our faiths in the secular world. This is a relentless Christian battle, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, friends, and family, it has the potential to lead us all to greater things.

From my university experiences so far, these are my key takeaways on living the life Jesus calls us to, amidst the chaos of the world.

Carefully consider who you live with. Making friends is important, but it is also important to choose them wisely, and to not live with people who will compromise your faith. South Africa is a wonderfully diverse nation, and so we should try to interact with people outside our circles. Jesus calls us to do this.

Jesus calls us to boldly proclaim His truths and to love people. To effectively do this we need grounding and support from a church community. And we need accountability in a Bible study, to “put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”²

I was blessed to get into these habits early, as things can quickly overwhelm us. Two of my mates from school have been in rehab for alcohol and drug abuse. A Christian friend of mine went to study in the UK and lost his faith there. The addiction to porn is likely the most widespread and destructive habit. A loving community and accountability are essential to keep us on track and help us live out God’s will for our lives.

I do not say these things to make parents feel overly protective or students to feel afraid, but the reality is that we live in a fallen world. It makes our discernment as Christians ever more important.

Jesus doesn’t want us to be fearful, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”³ He wants us to be brave and bold, and to seize this opportunity that we have to enjoy an amazing student life in this beautiful country. He wants us to speak of His truths in places that need it.

Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned over these years is that when we honour God, He honours us. 1 Samuel 2:30 says, “Those who honour me I will honour.” And in honouring Him, although difficult at times, we see that His ways are the best, His ways lead to “unspeakable joy”,⁴ and through His ways we find life itself. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”⁵

I graduate with honours in Biology this year from UCT, and am grateful to God for guiding me through this crucial stage in life. Thanks and praise be to Him. He is good. He is worth everything.

~ Michael Herbert, July 2022

1. Proverbs 27:17

2. Ephesian 6:11

3. 2 Timothy 1:7

4. 1 Peter 1:8

5. John 10:10