Three Personal Ways to Connect Students to Christ
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Transcript of Three Personal Ways to Connect Students to Christ
Three Personal WaysTo Connect Students
To Christ
What If?You could connect your freshmen to a
community to meet their needs and fears about college before they step
foot on campus??
Freshmen FearsMaking Friends, Missing Home,
School Success
Cru!
Connect freshmen with a community to meet their needs and fears about
college before they even step foot on campus…
1.Find the Freshmen 2.Add and Message 3.Care for them and
introduce them to the community that is Cru
NortheastUniversity of New Hampshire went from 100 at first few weekly meetings last fall to 175 at their
first meeting this fall, then it dropped to 130 where it's stayed steady.
Syracuse went from having 80 at their first weekly meeting last fall to 100 this year.
Babson University went from 12 involved
freshmen Fall 2013 to 25 involved this past fall.
Story from staff person at University of New Hampshire about Julia:
“If one Facebook message could result in a girl trusting Christ 6 months later, it’s worth it.”
https://vimeo.com/112886665
California State Schools
Access (Almost) Denied
1. Joined campus Facebook group of “Class of 2019”
8, 556 members
2. Searched for students who “LIKE”…The Bible, Christianity, or Christian Music
3. Added & Messaged
30 Campuses
458 Freshmen Messaged
63 Signed Up to Get Connected
24 Different Universities
16 Beginning a personal relationship with Christ
24
Interested in sharing their faith
Want to do this strategy?
Send an email to [email protected] and I’d be glad to help you directly OR go to
http://tinyurl.com/p7hw4zq forstep-by-step instructions.
What If?You could teach your students to be
real and intentional in sharing Christ’s love with their friends
through Instagram and Snapchat?
Be Real
It’s so easy for us to display only our picture-perfect worlds, the
pretty parts of our lives.
Relatable Difficulty
Reminder of Truth
Ask For Help or Prayer
Be Intentional You have the chance to
engage your friends’ hearts with God’s heart for them,
and the world.
Comment on Friends’ Posts Ask Questions Pray for Others
Be Light in our World& Culture
Grace & Peace-Filled Posts
Snap! For God’s Glory “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible
means I may save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22
Snap! For God’s Glory Ways that Deb, student at Michigan State University, is already using Snapchat
for God’s glory…
Snaps pictures of verses that she’s trying to memorize to her friend for accountability.
Snaps an instant video praying for a friend and sends it to her.
Snap! For God’s Glory Before and After
12 Spiritual Conversations started with friends over Snapchat
Before and After 3 hours 15 students 3,500 exposures to their testimony
70 Spiritual Conversations
Before and After “I texted my friend the video of my before and after story, and he loved it and said “It was very powerful and has helped to start my path towards God. Thank you so much for sending me this.” He called me the next day and explained that he went through the same things I did in order to realize he needed God. He agreed that drugs were fleeting sources of happiness as well, and wants to meet up with me when I get home to talk about it more. He kept thanking me for sending him the video, and it was really encouraging to know God used my video and my broken past for His Glory.” ~Cat
Before and After “I sent my Before & After video in individual Facebook messages to several of my residents at ASU. As the leader among 75 freshmen residents, I have always been very outspoken about my faith and my identity as a Christian, but I hadn't realized that a lot of my non-Christian residents were curious about what it means to follow Jesus.After sending my video, one conversation was particularly encouraging. Geological sciences major Karyn commented, "Because I was not raised in a Christian environment, I do not always understand what exactly it means to be Christian or what God's role is in people's lives, and hearing stories like yours always helps me look at Christianity in an understanding perspective." I used that as an opportunity to share the gospel with her through the Falling Plates video. She said she enjoyed and understood the video for the most part, but wanted more information on what it means by "eternal life." I explained the Bible's definition of eternal life in John 17:3 and how it is all about choosing faith in Christ, not works. Having this conversation with someone who does not believe in Christ, and to see her understand Jesus's message and truth (even if she may not believe it yet) was incredible. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to share my story in such a simple, personal way, and continue spiritual conversations.” ~Annie
Before and After “For me, the scariest part of Before and After outreach was sending videos to specific people, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court decision. Surprisingly enough, the people I had the best conversations with were two of my gay friends. One of them had felt like an outcast at his church after he came out, and while he wanted to pursue a relationship with God, he only went to church to make his grandparents happy. Thankfully, when I shared my testimony with him, he was able to see the attitude of love that God has given me. I'm optimistic that he and my roommate will come to church with me next semester, and grateful that he even thanked me for reaching out to him. The second one has a bit of a reputation for being grumpy, but he was willing to listen to what I had to say. This was where I truly saw the merit of the Before and After outreach: by opening up a personal, vulnerable part of ourselves to other people, they are much more willing to return in kind. Instead of feeling like we were forcing our beliefs on them, both of my friends saw our conversations as an open exchange of information; my faith was something hugely important in my life, and I wanted to share how it had developed through love, friendship, and my status as a witness. Not through judgement or self-righteousness: a beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.” ~Matara
Want to do this strategy?
Send an email to [email protected] and I’d be glad to help you directly OR go to
http://tinyurl.com/p98udyb forstep-by-step instructions for the
Before and After Strategy.
What If?Your team showed up on your international summer mission
with hundreds of students ready to be engaged?
Limited TimeBut Often Extremely Effective
Identify a Need or Attraction for Students Examples:
Practice English Meet Americans Culture Exchange Interested in Christianity
The ad resulted in finding160 students who indicated they
wanted to practice english with someone (and would be willing to meet up to have conversations).
We also had 11 students indicate they wanted to practice english
with someone and talk about something of a spiritual nature.
Practice English with Friends
Setup a Facebook Page or Event
Invite Students Through Relevant Communication Place Facebook Ads Care for Them Well
Expose Students to Something Spiritually Igniting
From fallingplates.com From globalshortfilmnetwork.com
FallingPlates
FallingPlates had over 17,000 views in the first 2 weeks and over 1,000 Facebook Page likes.
Thousands of students were publicly liking the Facebook page and 50 were engaged in a discussion about it in the comments section.
The YouTube video (not promoted on Facebook Ads) currently has 680 views. The Vimeo video we used with the Ads has 17,300 views. The Facebook page has around 1,500 likes.
FallingPlates
FallingPlatesOver a year later, with no promotion since, there are: 500 more views
New Page views and likes every week.
Talk with Students Through Their Communication Preference (when possible) Care for Them Well Be Intentional
Use What They’re Using
Want to do this strategy?
Send an email to [email protected]
and I’ll walk with you step-by-step to do a strategy like this.
Resource Links: globalshortfilmnetwork.com
JESUSFilmMedia.org FallingPlates.com
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”
Colossians 4:5