These UvA students found solace in the church: “It can be quite tough being a Christian in the student world”
A larger percentage of young people describe themselves as religious than the generation above them. This is a striking break with tradition, because ever since these figures have been recorded in the Netherlands, the percentage of religious people has declined with each generation. Folia therefore spoke to three UvA students who, as young adults, (re)discovered the Christian faith.
Jan Dongelmans (28) is a history student at the UvA and a member of the Co-Cathedral Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Amsterdam. “I wasn’t raised religiously, although there were still some remnants of cultural Catholicism in our family. I encountered this occasionally at funerals or weddings, and in certain traditions. Still, I never really identified with it that strongly at first. In secondary school, I even went through a period of militant atheism. Eventually, I became a bit more moderate. I felt a kind of emptiness in the West. A lot has been thrown overboard, even though Christianity is the foundation of our civilisation, so I wanted to know more about it.”
“When I was twenty-one, I started officer training in the navy, and that’s where the seed was planted. It was there that I first came into contact with Christians, and I noticed that I was starting to defend the Catholic point of view in conversations. During that period, when we had no contact with the outside world for weeks, we were allowed to go to church on Sundays. That was when I first understood the added value of that. A moment of silence, being together, I really enjoyed that.”
Community
“Eventually, I left the navy and moved back to Amsterdam during the coronavirus lockdown. I fell into a hole and felt that my life lacked purpose. I experienced a lack of security and community in society and decided that I might want to be baptised at St. Nicholas Basilica. At first, I didn’t immediately believe in God, but as the process progressed, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. At some point, I realised that I had actually believed in God for months. I was finally baptised during Pentecost in 2022.”
“Some friends have only known for a few months. For many people, it is far removed from their experience, so I didn’t tell everyone right away. I have also had some unpleasant discussions about it with fellow students. You often have to defend yourself, which can be tiring at times, but it can also be a way of passing on your faith.”
“Although I notice that a large proportion of my peers are not interested in it at all, we are also seeing a trend in our church of more and more young people joining. I think people are realising that the secular world doesn’t always have the answers to questions about the meaning of life. Materially and scientifically, we know more and more about the world, but spiritually, we know less and less. In that sense, the church is an institution that has stood the test of time.”
Atheist family
Julia van Waard (28) is doing her internship as part of her master’s degree in medicine at the UvA and is a member of the Protestant Amsterdam City Church. “I come from an atheist family. No one in my family practised any religion. When I was nineteen and started studying in Amsterdam, I moved in with a Christian housemate. We talked about it a lot, but it didn’t appeal to me. I had a typical student lifestyle, going out a lot and enjoying myself, and there was no room for religion in that.”
“Faith had always been around me, but I wasn’t open to it. I felt it wasn’t for me. Until three years ago, when I broke up with my Christian boyfriend. After that, I decided to read the Bible myself and go to church with a friend. I’ve never left since. I finally felt the space and peace within myself to start believing.”
Rational
“When I first told the people around me, they thought it was just a phase. I loved gospel music, so they thought I was mainly going for that experience. It was only when I kept it up for a longer period of time and told them about the Bible and my prayers that they realised I was serious. My mother was very open to it, but my father and brother are more sceptical. They are very rational and scientific, which makes it difficult for me to talk to them about it.”
“In the medical world, it is sometimes a complicated subject. For example, Jesus is often used as a curse word because people assume that young people no longer believe. Issues such as euthanasia and abortion are also complex. I would like to be able to have those conversations, but I am still so new to the faith that I sometimes feel insecure about it. Older people can quote Bible verses and have an answer for everything, but I’m not that confident yet.”
Distance
Christie Amin (23) is studying for a master’s degree in Real Estate Finance at the UvA and is a member of the Evangelical Arab Church in Amsterdam. “I was raised as a Christian, so I always knew that faith was something special, but when I was about fifteen, I distanced myself from it. My personal relationship with God became less important, as did my Christian values and norms. This was evident in my behaviour, my language, the people I associated with and my way of thinking. I became more interested in worldly things and wanted to try everything. Parties, romantic relationships, I wanted to know how it all worked and tested the boundaries of what was acceptable according to my faith.”
“I also didn’t agree with everything that was said in church anymore; it didn’t interest me as much as it used to. When I was twelve, for example, I felt very close to God. We always said grace before dinner at home, but when I got older, I stopped doing that. So I communicated less with God, which created a distance. That’s how I strayed from the Christian path.”
Identity
“I started to struggle more and more with my identity. I have Egyptian parents, was raised in the Netherlands, and am Christian; those are three different identities that I carried with me. I tried different things, sought fulfilment in worldly things, but found it difficult to know what was right for me. Until, at a certain point, I heard God’s words very clearly in my head and realised that I am His daughter. That’s when it clicked. Until then, it hadn’t really appealed to me, but I felt a change in my heart. God became the most important thing in my life. He gives me everything I need, which makes me happy.”
“It can be quite tough being a Christian in the student world. People often have a traditional image of Christianity, everything according to the rules and very boring. That’s why it’s great that I’m now the person who can prove the opposite. I’ve also asked a classmate to come to a youth service at my church. That way, I can change that traditional image by telling my story.”
