G2, York

Eli Bailey

eli.bailey@g2york.org

Elinor Bailey took on the Multiply role from Ado Martinez in September 2024. She is leading a small team of students and continues to go out and have informal discussions on campus with students weekly. They have follow up conversations over coffee for those interested and have invited a number of students to dinner parties and now offer evening groups to discuss questions of God and faith together.

Here more about Eli and what attracted her to the Multiply role below:

Please introduce and tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Elinor and I’m the student worker at G2 York. I studied in English Literature at university in the city and absolutely fell in love with the people and place - when I graduated, I didn’t want to leave! I stuck around and worked part time so I could give two days a week to serve my church. Over that year, my heart broke for students in York and when the opportunity to do student work came up, I jumped at it! 

What attracted you to this role and Multiply?

Students are culture-shifters and ground-shakers. They are a force to be reckoned with and will shape tomorrow in all sorts of ways. Seeing them discover hope in Jesus and helping them to find home in the local church is such a blessing and the best part is that there is always more to do! There are over 30,000 students in York, most of whom don’t know about Jesus - so the harvest is plentiful! This is also a standout moment in the student mission field - the spirit of God is doing something incredible and we are seeing students waking up to Jesus in dreams and visions all across the country. It is such a privilege to serve this movement in such a time as this!

How have you experienced your first few months?

The first few months have been crazy busy! I started straight into Freshers week and have built a small group of students who keep coming back, which is always encouraging! We’re reaching out to students on both campuses in the city, offering prayer and asking them about their spiritual experiences and ideas about faith. It’s been a really long time since we met someone who didn’t believe in anything, so the conversations we have are always interesting. We’re also starting up a new student gathering to equip new and exploring Christians for the student mission field and are looking to introduce a regular Bible and Brunch group for students who are exploring faith.

What are your hopes for the future with this role?

We want to see more students living for Jesus in York! And part of this is inviting students to hear about him and creating spaces for them to encounter Him in different ways. I’d love to keep finding new and different ways to do this to reach more students, as well as share the vision for student mission with more people and churches to get them excited about reaching students too.