About NTE

Haven’t been to the National Training Event (NTE) before? Wondering what we do in those 5 days during the conference? Here are just a few things we get up to each year…

WHY NTE Exists

University is about more than lectures, grades, and future careers.

It’s a season where big questions are asked, convictions are formed, and where you’ll be making decisions that will shape the rest of your life.

NTE (National Training Event) exists to help uni students lift their eyes beyond the busyness of campus life — to meet Jesus, be shaped by his gospel, and learn how to live for him at uni and beyond.

We believe God uses ordinary students, in ordinary conversations, to do extraordinary things, and that careful, biblical training matters.

Transformed. Trained. Sent.

NTE’s mission is simple.

Transformed by God’s gospel.

As we open the Bible together, God is at work — growing faith, deepening convictions, and shaping hearts to love Jesus more.

Trained to live and speak for Jesus.

Be equipped with practical skills and biblical confidence for everyday uni life — whether that’s sharing faith with friends, leading a Bible study, or persevering as a Christian.

Sent back to campus.

NTE finishes, but the mission doesn’t. We head home (or straight to post-NTE missions) ready to live distinctly, speak clearly about Jesus, and trust God to work through us at university.

WHAT Makes NTE Different?

NTE is about creating space to open God’s word, ask honest questions, and be thoughtfully prepared for life and mission at uni. Not about hype and high-pressure decisions.

Throughout the week, we’re encouraged to:

  • Think carefully and Christianly about the world around them
  • Grow in confidence with the Bible
  • Learn alongside other students from across Australia
  • See their university as a place God is already at work

Everything at NTE is shaped by a clear conviction: the gospel of Jesus is good news, and it’s worth living and speaking for — right now, on campus.

What happens at NTE?

Each day, we have all-in sessions, spending time together worshipping in song, hearing from and praying for students and ministries across Australia and the world, and most of all hearing from God’s word.

These are the bread and butter of our time at NTE! Spanning most of the day, you will be grouped up with other students at a similar stage to learn how to read God’s word and how to teach God’s word.

Electives allow you to learn and explore more about topics within local and global mission. With a choice to choose from, you get to hear from missionaries, ministry workers and organisations who have a rich repertoire and experience in different areas of mission. Electives help set our eyes towards living out and sharing the gospel on campus, as well as shaping a mission mindset beyond university.

While we serve faithfully on campus, we also have the opportunity to serve alongside our global mission partners. Each year, we seek to support them: through prayer, financial giving and forms of encouragement.

At NTE we have an ACT NOW space to learn more and support the various projects we have going on with our global mission partners. ACT NOW helps set our eyes to God’s wider mission for all nations to know His name and began the practical step towards global mission.

Visit the expo space for opportunities to meet workers from other ministries including theological colleges, bible translators, missionary organisations and more! Find out more about these ministries and see how God could be using you in these areas for the future and now.

Also be sure to also visit the bookstall where there will be plenty of books for you to consider reading that may be beneficial for your growth in reading and teaching God’s word.

FOCUS is AFES’s ministry to international students. Most people communicate and understand best in their own native-language, but for many of these students, English is their 2nd, 3rd or 4th language. So, in line with the Bible’s principles of ministering to people in ways that are intelligible (1 Cor 14) and with cross-cultural sensitivity (1 Cor 9), we run FOCUS-specific talks, seminars, and electives in simple English or other languages, tailored to their cultural backgrounds. This also helps prepare students to share God’s word with others from their own national groups, both back home or elsewhere.