Developing Mission Opportunities in Your Back Yard

By Chad Vandiver

I will never forget March 12, 2004. That is the day I visited “L,” a Muslim neighborhood in a European country where I served.  I walked into “L” and instantly felt the cold harsh presence of Islam. I was invited into a West African restaurant where I joined these immigrants watching the events unfold on television. I met with key leaders in the Muslim community who would later serve as my persons of peace. The Lord used these persons of peace to open doors of opportunity for sharing the truth of Jesus Christ wherever Muslims were meeting, including inside the walls of the mosque. However, this ministry amongst Muslims in ”L” did not begin on March 12, 2004. Instead it began when teams of college students from multiple Southern Baptist churches prayer walked the streets of ”L” for five years before I ever arrived on the scene. These teams never engaged Muslims with the Gospel but rather prayed that their hearts would be receptive to the truth that Jesus Christ is not merely a prophet but the Savior.

Mission opportunities begin with prayer. It is the foundational strategy God has given us for sharing the Gospel with people of any nation, tribe or tongue. We students must be about the business of prayer walking the streets of our communities. Immigrants and refugees are moving to a neighborhood near you. It is vital that the streets of these neighborhoods are covered with prayer. Where will you be prayer walking today?

Coming up with helpful new ideas for the new school year…

As the new school year is rapidly approaching, college ministries around the country are preparing for some new ideas that they are planning to implement.  It may be useful to have a couple of measuring gauges in place to help evaluate the best ideas within your ministry.  Benson Hines wrote an article, found here, which provides a list of five aids for ministers to use when evaluating these new ideas.  The list is as follows:

1.                 Get students to take a look at our materials and/or plans, with complete freedom to offer suggestions, “edits,” and ideas.

2.                 Ask another college minister for the same kind of input.

3.                 Ask advice from different types of people.

4.                 Sleep on it.

5.                 Observe your materials (or plans) from various real-life viewpoints.

These suggestions are quite practical and should help you refine your ministry this school year into excellence.  As always, you should also saturate your ideas with prayer so that God may direct you towards the best idea for your ministry.  May God do some amazing things in the state of Texas this school year!!!

Back to the Basics…

One of the most stressed points I heard repeatedly during college, while at Louisiana Tech, in the engineering department was KISS, which stands for keep is simple stupid.  While this wasn’t the most encouraging of acronyms, I have found it to be useful in both engineering and ministry.  When looking at college ministry, it seems that more often than not, the simpler ideas are the most successful ones. 

Recently I came across an article by Guy Chmieleski which reminded me of the success of simplicity.  In his article, Lunch of Opportunity, Guy reminds ministers that one of the most advantageous events that he finds in collegiate ministry is spending lunch with the students.  “We’ve all got to eat lunch” he reminds us and then suggests that we make the most out of these lunches.  Now whether it’s going to meet your students on their campus or taking two or three students out to lunch during the week for discipleship, students react positively to ministers who try and get involved in their lives.

So during this week, I encourage you to spend a couple of lunches with your students and invest in their lives.  While it may seem obvious and simple to us, remember the simplest ideas are often the best!!!

Determining Purpose for Every Fellowship

By James Myers

Fellowships, gatherings, huddles, hang-out time, community time- call it whatever you want, but we all have them.  Some times they are strategically planned and heavily funded, other times they are more organic and led out by your students.  The problem isn’t that we all have them; the problem is that many of us don’t know why we have them. 

There was a time when I held events simply because it was expected, or because it is what my students requested.  The problem with basing your events largely upon the demand of your students is that we forget the world they are coming out of.  Many of our college students are still clinging on to their favorite days in student ministry, where their spiritual growth was like a roller coaster ride predominantly impacted by the events they attended.  It is our job to love our students enough to tell them that you are convinced that events and fellowships are not the best way for them to grow and to sustain growth in their spiritual journey.  Does this mean we should limit the number of fellowships we have?  Maybe, but I will leave that for you to decide.  What is does mean is that we have the responsibility of ensuring that there is a purpose behind every event.   

For my own benefit I have broken events into the following 3 categories: Outreach, Community, and Spiritual Growth.  Every fellowship or gathering you have probably fits into one of these categories.  I would encourage you to plan out events 6 months in advance and label them in categories similar to mine.  If all of your events fall under the categories Outreach and Community you may be in danger of leading a spiritually shallow ministry.  The idea is to have a balance.  You need outreach and community events to reach guests, build relationships, and connect with your students.  But, your students desire more than just being entertained, and they trust that you have a plan for helping them mature in their faith.  So the question is; do you?   

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity.  If you have any questions contact our offices.