National Training Event (NTE) is an annual conference hosted and organised by the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES). This year it is “In the Regions” which means students from the Sydney and Illawarra area will come together to be transformed by the gospel, trained in the gospel, and sent with the gospel.
Keen to come to NTE? Please fill out both forms below!
NTE Frequently Asked Questions
A typical day at NTE involves spending time in the morning with your strand group, made up of 12 other students from across Australia led by two staff workers who will train you in how to read and teach the bible. After lunch we’ll have campus time where everyone at the conference from Campus Bible Study will gather with the purpose of planning for NTE mission and summer. You’ll also get some free time in the afternoon before attending an elective on a topic of your choosing. After dinner everyone at NTE will gather for the night session involving singing, interviews and a bible talk. You can then chat with people over supper about what you’ve been learning, before going to bed and repeating it all the next day!
Transport arrangements will be arranged using the CBS NTE form at https://campusbiblestudy.org/nte. Whatever your transport situation, it would be super helpful for you to fill in the form – whether you’re organising your own lift, needing a lift, or driving yourself. This will help us to make sure everyone safely arrives at Katoomba and on to mission locations.
NTE is being held at Katoomba Christian Convention. This is about 2hrs 30mins out of Sydney in the beautiful Blue Mountains. There are some accomodation options onsite (camping / dorm / ensuite) and you can indicate your preference for these options via your AFES NTE registration form.
Yes. NTE doesn’t provide tents, just the camping ground so make sure you BYO sleeping bag, sleeping mat and tent, or find a friend who has camping gear that you can camp with or borrow their gear!
NTE does have bathrooms with showers and all meals are provided so you don’t need to bring cooking or cleaning supplies.
While you have freedom to organise this, we recommend that for the sake of loving and including others you make use of the NTE accommodation options at KCC – see it as a fun bonding experience! Also note, transport will not be provided by the conference organisers, so if your accommodation is not within walking distance please organise your own lifts.
If financial difficulty is a barrier, feel free to talk to Haydn St James at haydn.stjames@campusbiblestudy.org and we’ll try to help you as best we can.
NTE conference and mission are both very short this year (and after UNSW exam period!) we highly recommend you to come to both, and it is our expectation that most people will come to both NTE conference and mission.
Mission is a really great way to put into practice what you have learnt from the conference part of NTE. In fact, many people find NTE mission to be the best part of NTE!
Mission involves serving alongside a partner church, with a group of other CBS students and trainees. This can involve helping out with the kids church or youth group, leafleting or door-knocking, walk-up evangelism, Christmas events, and being interviewed at the Sunday service. Members of our mission teams will typically be hosted by church members, who generously provide accommodation.
Please fill in the CBS NTE form at campusbiblestudy.org/cbs to be allocated to a mission team.
Plan to be on NTE mission and organise for someone else to cover your responsibilities at your home church. Ask someone to swap or let the rostering team know in advance you won’t be there. Commit to coming for the whole of NTE mission (12th – 15th December).
Each university Christian group will have their own mission team. So it is the expectation that most people will go along with their own university. This helps us to serve and partner with the people we serve and partner with each day at UNSW. However, if there is a particular reason you’d like a friend to join with CBS mission speak with your CBS trainee or pastor.
Generally, we encourage you to go through the strands in a progressive way. Start with ‘Strand 1’ and keep coming back to NTE each year to work your way up to ‘Strand 5’.
There are however some exceptions to this rule of thumb. Have a chat with one of the trainees in your faculty if you are eager to do a different strand!
If you have more questions, please check the official AFES website at https://nte.org.au/syd-illawarra/. Or please talk to your CBS trainee or email Haydn St James at haydn.stjames@campusbiblestudy.org.
