If you are like me, you have a ton going on right now. You are still recruiting for the Christmas/Winter conference, thinking about Christmas outreaches and you want to end the semester well. You know you need to think about the Spring semester, Spring Break opportunities and talk to students about asking parents over break about going on a summer project. Oh, and you probably are working on your end of the year ask, doing Christmas cards and some shopping and parties…Gotta do the parties! So, how do you do it all?

My friend, Ben Rivera, Student LINC Consultant, sends out a weekly ministry tip to over 600 student and volunteer leaders around the country. His tips are always very practical and cut right to the meat of what needs to be done. So I went to an archive of his tips to see what he had talked about last year at this time. Your leaders can sign up for Ben’s ministry tips.

Here is a check list of his thoughts from some of those tips.

• Christmas/Winter Conference.
  
  • http://godsquad.com/getinvolved/christmas.htm
  • Begin to finalize and encourage people to attend your regional Christmas conference.
  • Do some fund raising to help people go.
  • Arrange rides before you leave for home.
  • Exchange email and cell phone numbers.
    
• Summer Project Opportunities
  
  • http://gosummerproject.com/explore_projects.php
  • Want to potentially have the best summer of your life? Think about a summer project, but don’t wait too long.
    
• End the semester well
  
  • In your final end of year party on campus, take the time to praise God for what He has done this semester.
  • Begin now to plan with your leadership team for your Spring semester. The time will catch up to you quickly. Here are some things to think about:
    
    • Try to reserve the same room you met in this fall, for next Spring.  This will give you some consistency.
    • Reserve a place and the time (first week of classes) to do a campus wide survey. This is always a great start and helps you to meet new people.
    • Print off posters and flyers to advertise your weekly meetings so everyone on campus knows where you meet.
    • Plan a solid monthly evangelistic event each month.  This helps you to keep the gospel message as  an emphasis each month.
      
  • If you are graduating or transferring after this Spring semester, be sure to reproduce yourself into some one else’s life so the movement with continue when you’ve left.
    
• Finally, be sure to have a regular devotional and prayer time during the break. Don’t let your walk with God run dry.
  

That last one is really important. You will want to prepare your students for the break and their time home. The advent season can be a very worshipful and celebratory time as we focus on the Christ’s coming on our behalf. But it can also be a time of letdown for many students if they go home to the rush rush or less than favorable family situations. For all of us, the time spent in the Word is vital.

I realize many of you reading this are at regional staff conferences.  Why not take this moment to forward this to your student and volunteer leaders?  That is who John Mitchell, Southern New England Campus Crusade, sent this out to last week.

Most likely as you read this, you are eagerly anticipating your upcoming Thanksgiving break! Chances are, that you may think there is plenty of time to consider Christmas outreach after Thanksgiving but even with this celebration just over a week away, most of us only have a few weeks before exams end. That means right now is probably just the right time to plan for some Christmas outreaches.  People are usually much more interested in spiritual things at Christmas time, so I encourage you to be ready to share the hopeful “news of great joy” that we have with your friends and classmates.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”" Luke 2:10-11

Some outreach ideas to the campus may include:

• Giving out any remaining evangelistic books and resources and/or give out the Case for Christmas at a table, or bringing them to a weekly meeting or small group and encouraging members to take 2-5 with them to give out to friends.
• Giving out candy canes and/or hot chocolate at a table near the campus bookstore when people are selling books back. (There is an interesting story about the Candymaker using/designing candy canes to tell others about Jesus–not sure if it is true or not but there is some interesting connections in the design.)
• Showing the Charlie Brown Christmas special (there is actually gospel content in it!) or the Nativity movie and having a party where people invite friends. Play some fun games and decorate Christmas cookies (made in advance).
• Get together as a group and bake cookies to give out to non-Christian friends and to the people on campus that you want to thank.
• Use the EveryStudent.com Christmas posters found at http://everystudentpromotion.com/campaigns/20-christmas/index.html to offer students an opportunity to seek Christ this Christmas.
  

One other thing we would like you to consider is taking a few moments to thank those who help to make your ministry possible on campus. (Phil 1:3 “I thank my God every time I remember you.”)
Some of those people may include:

• Faculty Advisor
• The person who approves your posters
• The worker who reserves rooms for you
• The accounting person who you go to with your financial questions and for money
• Etc….
  

There could be many others, but consider how you might show some appreciation to them. A card signed by those in your ministry or leadership team, a small plate of homemade cookies etc. Nothing expensive or elaborate but it shows care, appreciation and the love of Christ.

We pray that these ideas will help you reach out with the love of Jesus in a couple weeks as we enter the Christmas season. If you don’t use one of these ideas I hope it helps spark your imagination to develop other methods of reaching out!

Praying for you,
John

John makes use of a number of coaching strategies.  He visits his campuses once or twice a semester.  He calls his leaders every week or two.  He sends out an email to all of his leaders every Monday with a couple of paragraphs on the topic and a link to his blog where he posts the rest of the content.  These are always very well written and offer great practical coaching for leaders.

You participated in Cross 09.  You found a leader.  You launched a movement.  Perhaps you think that new movement should become a recognized student organization on campus.  If so, writing a constitution is typically part of that process.

Campus Crusade’s Office of the General Counsel recently posted some helpful information and a sample constitution on the Staff Web.   From their experience, problems registering as a student organization often stem from language in the constitution in the areas of membership and leadership requirements.  Their model constitution speaks to those concerns and they believe it has strong legal grounding.

Obviously, we want everyone to be welcome in our ministries.  But it is important for us to maintain leadership standards in keeping with our vision and beliefs.  It is also important for us to see consistency across our ministries.  The General Counsel’s model helps with that language.

On some campuses, recognition is not a big deal.  But for many, organizations cannot schedule rooms or put up posters unless they are approved.  Often the campus provides a constitution template in their recognition information.  You will also want to make sure you have included the requisite topics as you apply.

You have prayed for open doors.  You have made your plans.  You are going to initiate conversations with students or faculty in a different ethnic community during these next three days.  And you are trusting God to launch a movement.

On last week’s podcast from Sam Osterloh and the Cross 09 team, Anna Pratt offered some suggestions for what to do now that you have found a leader or you have some students who want to start a movement.

• You don’t need to shoulder the responsibility for starting the movement.  Encourage the students to take the lead.
• If you really connect with them, you may want to coach them yourself as they lead.  The Student LINC team in Orlando can offer coaching suggestions.  1-800-678-5462.
• In any case, you will want to connect them to the particular strategy for more resources and upcoming opportunities.  There are “go to” folks for each strategy.
  
  • Bridges International: Linda.Woods@uscm.org
  • Destino: Jim.Sautner@uscm.org
  • Epic Movement: Darrin.Mabuni@uscm.org
  • Impact Movement: Scott.Crocker@uscm.org
  • KCCC: Bobby.Oh@uscm.org
  • Nations: Mike.Kelly@uscm.org
    

When you talk with any of these folks, they can let you know the extent of the coaching the strategy can offer you and/or your leader and you will want to let them know the level of participation you can have in the future.  You can find all this information, the podcasts and more here.

And now for something fun!  Stacie Fletcher and the Cross 09 team have put together some ways of passing on stories.  Basically, you can use whatever form of communication you prefer.

• Leave a voicemail or text (321) 895-425.
• Send an email to Godatwork@uscm.org.
• Post to Facebook.
• Upload to AllCallings.
  

They are offering a thank you gift to the first 5 stories submitted and everyone who submits a story will be entered in a drawing for an iPod touch.  They also have separate photo and video contests.  Categories are evangelism, location, movement launching, cross-cultural ministry and best overall.  Visit this contest page for more info.

You may recall what Sam Osterloh wrote in his Cross 09 email last week:

“Where did God find you? Who took the step of faith to tell you about Christ? They were loving you as Christ had loved them. Ask God to give you the ability to lovingly proclaim the gospel clearly.”

This is a faith venture.  We are anticipating what God will do in our own lives as well as raising up new movements.  Thanks to the Cross 09 team for all they have done to prepare us for these days.

I happened to read something last week that was interesting.  No doubt you have seen it.

“Last week, I was invited to a friend’s home for dinner. We hadn’t had a chance to see each other for a while, so I was eager for the companionship, as much as a good meal. Shortly after I arrived, we were alerted that dinner was ready, so we headed into the dining room, When I got there, I was expecting to find some sort of main dish— perhaps a casserole, or maybe some baked chicken. I was also hoping for a steaming dish of vegetables, and maybe some bread, served in a basket. Instead, sitting in the center of the table, with its jagged lid mostly pried back, was a five-pound can of cold green beans. “Dig in!” my friend said.

“Disgruntled may be too strong a word, but I was certainly hoping for more. The beans were fine, and no doubt full of good nutrients. The can itself was sturdy and clearly labeled. But the meal lacked a certain presentation, not to mention flavor…

“Every week, on campuses across the country, our students attend Bible studies that are served right out of the can. This year that “can” may have had the label Cru.Comm emblazoned on it. Cru.Comm is, unapologetically, Bible study in a can.”

This came from the first of seven short, but very helpful, articles on “How to Lead a Bible Study” from the folks who gave us Cru.Comm.

Healthy small groups are the essential building blocks of a growing movement.  That article goes on to explain that quality Biblical content, community, self-discovered learning, progressive life change and outward impact are elements of a healthy small group.  Cru.Comm helps provide that quality biblical content.  But it is the role of a small group leader to bring that biblical content into an environment where community is fostered, life change happens and impact for Christ ripples outward.

These seven articles are mostly one or two pages in length.

1. How to Use Cru.Comm
2. Crucial Elements
3. Preparing the Lesson
4. Planning Your Group Session
5. Designing the Right Environment
6. Ten Suggestions for the First Group Meeting
7. Guiding a Discussion
   

They are a must read for our new Bible study leaders.  Even our veteran leaders will be reminded of how God works in the small group.

For the last few weeks, I have been talking about growing movements in their various stages of development.  We talked about filtering a leader, developing a leadership team and seeing evangelism and discipleship become a part of the movement.  If we hope to see our movements to grow from launched to multiplying, we must give our small group leaders the skills to lead quality small groups.

While the entire curriculum of over 100 lessons, complete with posters, studies, articles and leaders’ guides, is available for only $9.00 per disk, there is a semester’s worth of free sample lessons.  This will give your leaders enough experience with Cru.Comm to confidently invest in the rest.

We are in the middle of a series of tips about going through the various stages of development of a movement.

• I started with explaining those stages and the skills necessary at each stage.
  

• Then we looked at filtering a leader.
  

• Last week we focused on building a leadership team.
  

Today we consider how to grow a ministry from 10 to 50.  Sometime ago, a team put together and sent me a copy of a strategic plan for growing from 10 to 50.  Here is their plan.

Vision:

• Exciting/momentum building to give every student an opportunity to say “Yes!” to Christ.
• It will only take 1% of the student body to influence the whole campus.
• What is most influential group on campus?  How many from that group are involved?
  

Situational Analysis:

• There are examples of growth for 10-50.
• There are specific challenges/obstacles to overcome.
  
  • Leaders with limited vision/passion.
  • Leaders who can’t gather/lead.
  • Beware of becoming ingrown.
  • Want to develop authentic community.
  • The weekly meeting becomes the ministry.
  • Leadership not multiplying.
  • Not looking outside for other critical mass resources/volunteers.
    

Critical Mass:

• A student leader.
• A staff/intern coach.
• Aligned students.
  

Critical Path Steps:

• Prayer.
  
  • Depend on God to reach the campus.
  • Develop real opportunity for worship.
    
• Evangelism.
  
  • Training in evangelism.
  • One on one and large group evangelism opportunities.
  • Exposing the campus with EveryStudent and FSKs.
    
• Discipleship.
  
  • Effective small group strategy.
  • New groups starting.
  • Discipleship happening.
  • Know how to get resources.
  • Bring staff in for training and recruiting.
    
• Sending.
  
  • Attending faith-building events.
  • Expose to vision of others.
  • Cross-pollination.
  • Training.
  • Extended time with staff.
  • Defeats isolation.
    
• Leadership Development.
  
  • Growing from one leader to a team.
  • Instill vision and mission.
  • Asking what the next step is.
  • Invite others to ownership/responsibility.
  • Train volunteers.
  • Keep connected with staff coach.
    

There is nothing complicated about any of this.  Of course, we know that there are challenges and obstacles to growth.  But we start with the assumption of having the right leaders and then we need to be intentional in coaching those leaders in win/build/send and leadership development.

One coach (wish I could remember who) told me that she gives her leaders a bite of the campus in which they can see success (some target area).  She works to move from one key leader to a leadership team.  She makes a point to know GodSquad and sends students there with links to specific resources.  Finally, she develops a master calendar for herself each year where she puts recruiting, sending, events and outreaches on it.  This is really more about helping her help her leaders lead.

As I write this I am flying back from a series of meetings in Eastern Europe where our ministry is looking to expand our ministry down to include high schools.  The one issue that came up more often than anything else was capacity.  How do we do that when we are stretched with everything else.  That is precisely the point when we talk about growing ministries on our campuses.

In last week’s tip, I talked about filtering a leader.  Today, I want us to consider growing a ministry from one leader to a team of leaders.  As we build a leadership team, we build capacity.  Some of these thoughts came from a roundtable of metro leaders some time ago.  We gave them this specific topic of developing a leadership team when all you have is a key leader.

Building a leadership team

• Teach that lone leader to delegate, for their sake (so their burden of work is lighter) and for the sake of developing other students.
• The cell group small group concept naturally lends itself to raising up additional leaders with the different roles in the group, although some staff feel the cell group philosophy is a bit complicated for students to roll out at first.
• Use data from the Key Volunteer Application to understand the leadership elements of your existing key leaders.  It is here that you learn who their friends might be and what other strength areas are needed to complement them.
• Is there a nearby church with a college ministry?  Ask your leader to find out the contact person for you.  You as the coach of that student, or the student could themselves, check with the church to find other potential leaders to come along side.
• Help the student realize if they can just find a couple more people, they are making progress that’s valuable.
• Help currently involved students to take initial steps of ownership, so that over time, leaders can be grown from within.
• Coach them to do simple gathering events, like FSK’s.  A table may surface new leaders.
• Ask key contacts to see if they have other ideas.  This helps them to problem solve.
• Train leaders understand what makes a leader and have them keep an eye out for it.
• Teach seniors to find and recruit freshman.
• Helping the leaders understand the vision for engaging underclassmen as “developing leaders”.  Consider sending emails to the whole student email list of the group, and do some “masses coaching” to help develop the vision of all the students, not just the key contact.  This helps ensure that vision gets ‘passed down’.
  

Some obstacles that keep this from happening

• When our key contact is not able to communicate our coaching to the other people on campus.  (One solution is asking them to copy one of our materials and then just coach them in using that material).  This points to the need to find other leaders to help lead.
• When another Christian group is present on campus, there can be a scarcity in finding more leaders.
• Two-year schools are a big challenge because we don’t have much time to find leaders.  Just because they are at a two year school, does not mean that they won’t be at the same level as leaders we are used to at four–year schools.  Some are simply going there because it is not as expensive as four-year schools.  Two year schools can often provide leadership coming in to our four- year schools, though the time they have with us will be less.
• It can be tough to get the students to practice  “selection” well in recruiting their own replacements or co-leaders.
• Some of our target students still live at home and therefore have less of an adult mentality and more of a “youth group mentality”, or “minister to me.”  During a launch, they lack a model to look to and follow.  However, some schools have adult populations who we could tap into.
• Relational issues tear up student leadership teams and block their synergy.
• A lone leader can sometimes turn into a dictator and become inflexible in sharing power.
• We may not see them do as much one–on-one discipleship, because they’ve never seen it modeled up close.  We will need to think in terms of more group discipleship.
  

Particularly useful tools or tactics that have worked

• Using the transformational community article to show them how we want to go to the whole campus.
• In the late fall, evaluate the movement as you coach it and then go over that evaluation in January with your key contact, helping them think through how they’ll prepare to pass on leadership.
• Go over the critical path steps on the LLCP with your leader and talk about what needs to happen at each step and who might be able to help out. 
• Of course, we rely a lot on retreats and conferences to help in this, opportunity to connect with them and train them in person.
• Many teams do periodic leadership gatherings (monthly or more frequently) where the leaders from multiple campuses meet for dinner and then do training.  This also brings out peer coaching, and all the more if a couple can come from the same campus.
• If you cannot do periodic leadership gatherings, consider doing a “training overnighter” once a semester.
• When you visit the campus, meet with a potential leader to do ministry with them.  Have them share their testimony or lead a segment of a training you might be doing, even helping in a small group.
• We want to look for people who can lead and gather others, we can always train them in ministry skills as we go along.
  

Most of us are on teams.  That is a value in our ministry.  Certainly we want that value to be reflected in our students and volunteers who are leading.  GodSquad has resources designed for them.  This page will lead you to articles on a Picture of a Leader, Servant Team Challenge, Developing a Leader and Assessing Your Leadership Style.  MissionalTeamLeader.com also has a wealth of resources in the Lead Your Team Filing Cabinet.

In last week’s tip, I talked about the stages of development of movements and the skills needed at each stage.  For the next few weeks, I want to double click on each of those stages and focus on specific skills.  Today I am double clicking on Pioneering.  The skill we need to develop is how to filter a leader.

Steps in Filtering a Leader

There are any number of ways that someone might express interest in starting a Campus Crusade for Christ ministry.  Maybe they are the leader of an existing group or they have initiated toward us in some way.  What I am going to describe is what I would do.  You may have other resources and steps, but I think you want to have a process for helping you determine who your leaders are and helping them see that God has raised them up.

Garett found out somehow that Campus Crusade for Christ could help him start a ministry.  When his email reached me, I emailed back to tell him that I was sending him a Starter Kit.  I asked him to fill out the required information and then mail it back to me.  Within a week or so, he sent me each piece filled out and we were on our way to launching a ministry SUNY New Paltz.

Several years ago the Starter Kit was developed as a way to filter leaders.  It introduces Campus Crusade for Christ and explains our vision and plans for reaching every student on every campus for Christ.  It also helps us get to know the potential leader.  The hardcopy version that we have in our office has examples of specific tools for prayer, evangelism and discipleship.  An on-line version of the Starter Kit is found on the Start a Ministry pages of GodSquad. 

We start by looking for the most mature Christians that we can find.  I ask them to read Transforming Movements.  Then I would meet with them as a group to discuss the thought questions at the end and dream with them about how to reach their campus.  I would also walk through or draw out the Local Leader Critical Path.  This helps cast vision for what we are believing God to accomplish on their campus.

By the end of that discussion I hope to find one or two who have distinguished themselves as potential leaders.  The others would hopefully see them as leaders and these leaders see themselves as such.  Then I would hand each potential leader a Starter Kit, walk through it and ask them to prayerfully fill and mail to me the application, sign the Statement of Faith and Key Person Volunteer Agreement.  The application helps us to get to know them.  The volunteer agreement helps them see what they are committing to. And the Statement of Faith clarifies what we believe.

I believe we have two tendencies in this process.  First we can rush to hand them a Starter Kit without taking time to cast vision and instill personal confidence that God can use them.  The other is that we don’t ask them to prayerfully commit to being a leader.

There is nothing magical about the application and agreement as they are written.  But I believe the process is valuable for the potential leader to consider their role.  We must not discount what God does in the heart of a potential leader as they take personal stock of what He might be calling them to do.  There is nothing like the joy of personal discovery as they begin to crystallize their thinking about their vision.

We do learn some things about them if they delay in filling out an application or they are superficial in their answers.  But if they know that we ask every leader to fill out an application they will see this as a necessary step.  Evon took over for another as leader on one of my campuses.  I asked him to fill out each form and he did.  Reading his answers helped me get to know him better and to see how God had prepared him for ministry.

The next step is to have a conversation with them.  The Telephone Interview.  is one way to gather typical contact information, some cursory campus demographics and get to know them.  We get to hear some of their heart and how God has prepared them.  I remember once finishing the interview with Jeff.  He thanked me for taking the time to get to know him when he knew that I was looking for a person who could begin a ministry on his campus.

An optional step in assessing the qualifications of a potential leader is calling references.  On the back of the application, there is a place to list references.  A Reference Questionnaire helps us determine if the prospective leader is qualified to lead the ministry.  It is a good idea to call these references if we have questions about their leadership qualifications.

Now we are at the point where we can make a decision about their being a leader.  A helpful tool for this is the Key Person Criteria.  This page lists several areas and assesses each with a “green light” (Go forward.), “yellow light” (Precede with caution.) and “red light” (Stop.).  It helps to objectify the qualification process to that we can make an informed decision.  Finally, we call them to inform them of our decision.  From here we begin to dream and make plans to reach their campus so that everyone has an opportunity to say “Yes!” to Jesus Christ.

A lot of us have encountered a few of the same pitfalls over the years in launching and building movements. Two of the most common are not having the right leader in place and having to restart ministries because leadership does not transfer to the next generation after the original leader graduates.  It is easy to rush to start with the first person to come along.  We might be uncomfortable asking them to fill out an application or we don’t do references if we have concerns.

The first few times through this, the process can feel somewhat contrived.  But it will cut down on the number of instances where we have the wrong leader.  It will also help us when we or they realize that they are not the right leader, because right up front they know what we are asking them to agree to.  By having a qualification process, we minimize the start and restart cycle.

My pastor used as an illustration Sunday about an exchange someone had with legendary basketball coach, Bobby Knight.  Someone asked how he was able to win so many games.  He must have had quite the “will to win”.  Knight was reported to have said, “The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.”

I think about what’s involved as we prepare to launch and build movements.

First we learn that there are stages of development of movements.  Our ministry uses the following five terms for these stages.

1. Forerunner– When we are trusting God to raise up a ministry on the campus.
2. Pioneering– When we are actively looking and taking steps to start a ministry.
3. Key Contact– We have a student or volunteer qualified to lead a movement on the campus.
4. Launched– We have a leader and five aligned students involved.
5. Multiplying–When we see winning, building and sending taking place and are impacting the campus.

Second, we have to know how to employ different sets of skills for each stage of development.  I go back to Robert Coleman’s, “Master Plan of Evangelism”.  The principles he outlines in that classic relate very well to the various skills, tactics, ministry perspectives and tools that we use along the way as our movements develop.

1. Forerunner– Association.  Skills include networking, visualizing something when there is nothing and being a spokesperson with churches, faculty and administration.
2. Pioneering–Selection.  Skills include gathering, casting vision, being a change agent and motivating others to the vision.
3. Key Contact– Consecration, Impartation.  Skills include recruiting, training, being an effective coach, helping our leaders assess their own skills and needs and how to build a team around them.
4. Launched–Demonstration, Delegation.  Skills include training in evangelism and discipleship, the ability to impart our core DNA into others and effective delegation.
5. Multiplying– Supervision, Reproduction.  Skills include setting direction for leaders and knowing how to set others up for success in ministry.

Much like the skills that we develop when we went through our New Staff Development, the skills required of us change as movements develop.  Our leadership must adjust and adapt to those needs.  As ministers, we must grow in our ability to lead at each stage of development.  The tools we use change with a growing movement.

While our ministry requires us to become proficient at every stage of movement development, over time we begin to figure out how we are uniquely wired for ministry, what our gift mix is and how to steward those gifts.  Some of us are simply better at networking, gathering and recruiting.  Some are better at coaching, training and developing leaders.  This is an interesting tension for us in a ministry like CCC.  With an expectation of proficiency at every stage but a tendency toward specialization, this is where our team comes in.  Hopefully, the team we are part of has the breadth of skills to launch and build movements, but also the desire, some who love to start new things and others who can develop those starts.  You can find great resources to help your team launch and build movements on Missional Team Leaders.

Over the course of this year, I want to bring ways to help you minister over a distance, either culturally or geographically.  I want to help you have a greater influence, to build your capacity to reach further and to do it in a way that does not drain you.  Here is one of those ways.

Maybe you have a friend on another campus that is not part of a ministry.  Maybe you have a partner with a child interested in making a difference on their campus.  Maybe you are a friend with someone on Facebook that you wish you could disciple.  Marilyn Adamson, Director of EveryStudent.com, has a suggestion about how you can minister over the internet.

Today’s newsletter: discipling someone over the Internet.

As we disciple students, how do we teach Christian students ministry skills? First, we go over some training content. Then we model it to them. Right? We show them how to do it. In terms of what we have modeled so far, most of us have shown Christian students only one way to do evangelism and discipleship. And that’s in-person, face-to-face.

But have they seen us minister to someone using the Internet? Since we want to build lifetime laborers for Jesus, we want them to know how to share the gospel and disciple someone online! Here is one way.

http://www.StartingwithGod.com contains great messages for discipleship. As a website, everything on it is free and immediately available to the student and to you! You don’t have to pay for, print, or distribute anything.

So, here’s what you do. You tell a Christian student:

“I would like to show you how to use the Internet in ministry. To do that, I would like to send you a short article from the Internet each week, for the next four weeks, and we will discuss it together, online. How would you prefer to discuss it? By Facebook messages, or by email, or by IM chat?” (Let the student choose.)

They will tell you which way they want to interact. Now you’re going to send them an article. In your email or Facebook message to them, you say something like:

“Many Christians are unsure about their relationship with Christ. This article will show you what Jesus said he would do, once we asked him to enter our lives: http://www.startingwithgod.com/new-life/am-i-christian After you read this article, message me back by Tuesday. And tell me why you know that Jesus is in your life. Thanks. I’m looking forward to this!”

If the student wants to discuss the article by Instant Message, then you might end with,

“Looking forward to talking with you on Facebook IM, this Tuesday at 9pm.”

Discuss the article like you would in a Bible study or in a personal followup appointment. Ask a few questions. Email or message back and forth.

The next week, pick another article to send them. It could be from EveryStudent.com, if you’d rather. Some topics you could discuss:

• Does sin put our relationship with God at risk?  http://www.startingwithgod.com/struggles/fall
• How would you explain Jesus’ deity to someone you’re sharing with? http://www.everystudent.com/features/faith.html
• Are you personally experiencing God’s love this way? http://www.startingwithgod.com/new-life/gods-love
  

In summary: Send them the article. Add a question or two. Talk about it together by back and forth emails, or Facebook messaging, or IM. Do this at least four times with various articles. From then on, it will feel comfortable to them, and to you. And they will be able to do this easily with other students. You will have equipped them with a way to do ministry while on the Internet!! (Here is how to grab the hyperlink to an article.)


Marilyn has other such tips on how to use the internet in ministry.  You can receive her emails when she sends out such ideas by going to http://www.everystudentpromotion.com/ to sign up.  What I like about this is how it takes the your passion and experience and allows you to broaden your ministry so much easier.