Gilbert's Coaching Tips

New location

2006-04-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

All future posts will be found at http://gilbertscoachingtips.wordpress.com/

Summer Survival Guide

2006-04-24T07:51:00.000-04:00

My oldest son, Rick, is graduating in ten days from the University of Florida. He is coming home to raise his support to be an intern back at UF next year. Last week over Easter, he met with a old college buddy for his first support appointment. That will be the first of many such conversations with his Christian friends. Every summer he has been able to grow in his faith and be involved in various Christian groups and activities. But not everyone involved in our ministries has such close networks. The first page of the "More Than a Summer Survivor" feature of GodSquad reads: "Let's face it. Summers can pose a major challenge to our faith and obedience to Christ. Summers can be:

a very spiritually isolating time because you are away from the environment and friends that have helped you grow spiritually this past school year
dangerous time to your faith and your future
or they can be a great experience as you see your faith tested and increased and take some key steps on your own (1 Peter 1:17)

"What makes the difference. The decisions you make now can put you in a position of advantage and strength as you go into the summer. As a Christian, we can embrace challenges the summer brings because we recognize the opportunity to trust God in new ways and see our faith grow in ways that we would have never seen otherwise."

The "More Than a Summer Survivor" guide provides perspective and resources to help make the difference. The introductory article of the survival kit

tells about three essentials with practical helps and further resources:

self-discipline
the right fellowship
daily time with God and His Word

Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Concerted and consistent time in God's Word will change our lives. Abraham Heschel writes in God in Search of Man, "The Bible is the frontier of the spirit where we must move and live in order to discover and to explore. It is open to him who gives himself to it, who lives with it intimately."

Jeff Bridgforth, GodSquad Webmaster, has a great Bible study on the survivor page of GodSquad. This study of the book of Nehemiah

reveals principles about prayer, faith and personal leadership, just what our campus leaders need to take into next year. Other available resources that you can offer include:

A weekly schedule planner.

A study on the Attributes of God.

A weekly prayer guide.

Connecting with a local body of believers.

Let's do the best job we can to prepare all of our students to grow in Christ this summer.

Fall Planning Resources

2006-04-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

I happen to be reading through Ben Rivera's last GodSquad Weekly Ministry Tip. He usually has a reference to the current month's "Roadmap". It lists the essential ministry steps to accomplish for the current month. This week, he recommends planning for the fall semester and to complete the choosing of leadership for next year. I like the priority that he gives to preparing for the first critical weeks back on campus. The link to the GodSquad page on "planning for the fall semester", lists several key planning questions and resources. Planning for the Fall Semester 1. Transitioning to next Fall. What leaders can you count on? Do a brief study and summarize the "Transformational Community" article. Use the discussion questions to guide your study. Make enough copies of the article for each person in your study/weekly meeting. 2. Vision Next, for personal perspective, read and study "Developing Vision for your Movement". Turn this into a study for discussion. Establishing vision and motivation is important for your students. 3. Plan Finally, in preparation for the fall, look at the "First 6 Weeks". This will help you to specifically plan for your fall semester. Be sure to do the surveys the first week of classes. This will be your most important event to gather new people into your ministry for the year. Read "Two Essentials for the First Week of School". My boys' high school cross country coach was fond of saying that the things the runners did in June determined what the runners would be doing in October. This is just as true for us, too. The things your student leaders do this week to prepare for the fall, will make a difference in how things go in the fall.

DaVinci Code

2006-04-10T07:48:00.000-04:00

I received an email on Friday afternoon asking if it was still possible to order DaVinci code materials and were they still free. The answers are "Yes." and "Yes". So I am guessing there are more who are wondering the same thing. I asked Dan Hardaway, Director of Strategic Partnerships, if he would write something concerning outreach surrounding the world-wide release of the "DaVinci Code" movie on May 19. Here is what he wrote. What would it do to your movement next fall if every student saw someone trust Christ this summer? Let's use the next few weeks to equip our students to be able to see that happen. There are three components of our DaVinci Code outreach. 1. The Companion Guide. A mini-mag to bridge from the movie to the gospel. It includes original artwork donated by Sony Pictures and the tone is engaging, not too serious. They are great to give a friend or family member after the movie. 2. Josh McDowell’s Book. Out of the 16 books written to battle the fiction in the The DaVinci Code, 15 of them are written from a modern propositional point of view. If you show one of those to a non-believer, he says, "So what! It’s fiction!" Josh’s book, A Quest for Answers, took a different approach. It’s about 3 students stumbling out of the theatre and they decide to read the book and see what is true and what is not. It ends with Josh’s testimony. It works. You can probably read through it in about 2 hours. If you have never read The DaVinci Code, this will help you understand the issues. When Rob Gunn in Utah gave these out to students at a recent event, he said they were really excited about this. Quality throughout! 3. The 4 Video’s. Three weeks ago, in a warehouse in LA, Josh sat down with a group of college students and started answering their questions. It is right on the money. At the end of the shooting, I told Josh, welcome back to the campus ministry. They are perfect for casting vision at a bible study or weekly meeting. They will be sold to hundreds of churches at www.sermonspice.com. But they are free to you. Check the web and look for them on podcast. These videos will be available later this week to download. Brad Fulton at Berkeley thought the "Seek Truth" video really set up the distribution of the books. If students or staff don’t feel the need before this 8 minute video, they will after. Craig Johring appreciated the fact that you can bounce the url and instructions out to multiple campuses without the trouble of distributing the printed materials. There are no plans at this point to make hard copies of these videos. So these are the three tools to help every student in your ministry be equipped to know where the truth ends and the fiction begins in the movie and share to Christ with their family and friends this summer. For an update on resources as they become available go to www.godsquad.com/davinci To order the books or companion guides go to www.godsquad.com/davinci.htm The next deadline is April 17th. Spanish versions will be available late April. Hopefully, later this week, you will be able to order the Spanish materials. PS As a ministry we cannot officially endorse or promote the book or movie. Mark Gauthier did a great job with a newspaper interview that has been circulated in over 2 million papers from Washington DC to Los Angeles to Florida. His talking points are available on GodSquad. PPS If your church or others would like to purchase the printed materials the can do so at www.davinciquest.org. If they would like to use the video components, they can be purchased at www.sermonspice.com who will be promoting these like crazy after Easter. I asked Dan what was realistic for staff to think about in ordering for their ministries. He would give every student involved in our ministry 5 Josh's books and 5 mini-mags to take home to give to their friends. We have enough money and supplies to make that happen. And finally, Dan said that he would want to train his students to know that there is fact and fiction in The DaVinci Code, that it is a good story, that Christians will want to be able to give an answer to some of the fiction about the hope that they have in Christ and that we want to engage in dialogue with our friends, rather than argue them around to our way of understanding. So if you have not ordered yet, or you need more materials, you still can.

The Las Positas College story

2006-04-03T08:38:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the semester Daniel Curran, new to the San Francisco Metro team this year after many years at UC Berkeley, sent me an update on what has been happening at Las Positas College. It is a cool story. I asked if he could fill in the details a bit more so that I could share the story with you. In less than 24 hours after posting my email address on the "ministry locator" my first week with SF Metro, I got an email from Brendan introducing himself. He asked if I could help him with a dream he had of seeing a Christian group begin at his college. I emailed him back that night...we exchanged phone numbers...I called and introduced myself…we struck up a friendship that very week. We next met at a party at my house where he brought some of his friends and they got to meet students from other colleges in our area. I drove down to meet him and some of his buddies at his college group. I invited him to our SF Metro Fall retreat. While there I trained him and three on his "core" team how to lead Groups of Three (www.metamore.org) The G3 training was key. I went down for two weeks in a row and modeled what a Group of Three was. In two weeks he said "I'm ready to do this on my own. I've only focused on students who have made themselves available to be trained in how to lead G3's. We now have 3 women G3's and 4 men's G3's going strong. A G3 is at least three students meeting once a week for 45-50 minutes on campus to do 3 simple things:

Reach out to their lost friends with the Gospel.
Share with one another how they are growing and what Jesus is teaching them.
Praying for their lost friends and for one another's grow.

They love the G3's. They have been our basic operating units.

Las Positas now has a yahoo groups list of 76 people. (Their group is at http://groups.yahoo.com/ChristonCampus/) Three students have come to know Christ. They are growing like weeds and are learning to become missional ("sent ones"). A third year student exclaimed, "This is my best year at college. I've shared Christ with more people in the last two months than I have in the past two years." They have a major campus outreach planned this coming week called "The Biggest Easter Egg Hunt in the History of Las Positas" They are hiding 500+ eggs around campus with Scripture portions and invitations to a Gospel meeting, ...and prizes to claim (fsk materials).

I simply coached, prayed, trained and befriended. I focused on one key leader, and coached and led the other leaders through him. God caused the growth. I think it's been the parties at my house where they saw other students wanting to reach their campuses, where it all became real and they realized they were not alone. It's been a great year. I've coached them to involve returning students in leading the outreach and leading the G3's because now is the time to do that. You know, they never had a typical "normal" weekly meeting on campus. It was all decentralized...it was all organized around discipleship and evangelism and parties…this is the secret to why things grew in my opinion.

Daniel Curran

And now some of the principles:

Daniel placed his name on every campus in his scope. Without that first critical step there is no connection between Brendan and Daniel and, likely, no dream realized.
He has regular gatherings (parties) of student leaders from his campuses for connection and shared vision.
He has the right leader in place and let the leader lead.
Daniel used the proven G3 strategy that taps into the desires for community and impact.
He invites them to conferences where they will see their faith deepen and their vision grow.

Launching, Evangelism, Coaching Sites

2006-03-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

John Waidley, ESM RD Pacific SouthWest, emailed me last week asking if there was a ready list of websites for launching ethnic ministries, coaching leaders and evangelism. I sent him a few ideas and then he wrote back later saying that with just 10 minutes of looking, he had a pretty good list. Here is his list with some of my own annotations. Ethnic Ministry websites:

MovementLaunching.com Formerly called ESMhelp, this site is a good starting place for understanding ministry within different ethnic communities.
This site also includes all the information that is found in movement launching books for Bridges, Impact, Destino and Epic. Finding Key Leaders & Building Bridges Movements Finding Key Leaders & Building Epic Movements Finding Key Leaders & Building Destino Movements Finding Key Leaders & Building Impact Movements
Specific sites for various ethnic communities. BridgesInternational.com Information and resources for working with International students. DestinoMovement.com Resources for launching and leading Destino movements. MyDestino.com Destino's evangelistic site. EpicMovement.com Specific information about Epic opportunities. ImpactMovement.com Well-developed site with resources and opportunities. Check out "Coaches' Corner"

Evangelism websites

EveryStudent.com Naturally.
ESCmedia.org The posters and articles. Also a list of newspaper editorials to create discussion on campus.
Godsquad.com/squadroom/evangelism Lots of training, articles and resources.
EvangelismToolbox.com More resources both within and outside CCC.
LeaderU.com Articles on a Christian perspective for use in the classroom or for research. Espanol.LeaderU.com The Spanish language version. wri.LeaderU.com Understanding other religious beliefs.
WayMore.org Life on campus, relationships and real life.
5Clicks.com How to write your personal testimony.
4Greeks.org Some resources for ministry within the Greek system on campus.

Coaching

GodSquad.com/staff You will need the userid and password that you use for other CCC sites.
staff.CampusCrusadeforChrist.com Go to Resource Center, then to Lanes/Lines, then Catalytic Resources, then Staff Resources, then Catalytic Field Training, then Look, Launch, and Lead
Blogs are popping up all over the place. MovementsEverywhereRant.com Shane Deike's blog. GilbertsCoachingTips.blogspot.com Okay, so I added this one as a shameless plug!

I am guessing that this list will evolve significantly from person to person. You probably have your own list of favorites that you like to pass on to your leaders. If not this might be a good starting point.

1 2 1 Evangelism ideas

2006-03-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, Eric Dellaire, Student LINC Consultant to campuses in the NorthEast and Great Lakes, shared some thoughts on evangelism in one of our staff meetings. He was working on a list of very simple ideas for our students opening doors of conversation with their non-believing friends. If his ministry leader thought that this was easy to do, then more students would participate in evangelism on our campuses. His initial list of what he calls "1 2 1 (One two one) Evangelism" includes these 12 ideas. Since this is a faith exercise, Eric also listed some specific things to pray for as students take these steps to share their faith. 1 2 1 Evangelism 1. Pray and choose five students of the same sex to pray to come to Christ 2. Invite them to an event (Pray for their availability) 3. Do something for them (Pray that God would show you what to do) 4. Invite them to a Christian party (Pray for availability and their wanting to go) 5. Mention one thing that God has done in your life recently (Pray for a good opportunity to talk) 6. Invite them to a small dinner at your "home" 7. Ask at least one of the following questions: Do you ever read the Bible? How often do you think about God? or Look for an opportunity to share your personal journey with them (Pray for uninterrupted time to talk) 8. Ask if there is anything that you can pray about on their behalf (Just do it) 9. Try to get them to say the word "God" in conversation (Pray for God to work in their heart and open them up to talk about Him) 10. Ask their opinion on a Bible verse of your choosing 11. Ask a "Sometime" Question about their spiritual journey (Pray for openness and opportunity) 12. Ask them if they have ever heard what the Bible says about how to know God personally? (Pray that God would provide opportunity and conversation) For more on inviting friends to Christian events see Tim Henderson's article on Community 2:8. And for more on understanding the role of "Sometime" Questions read the "Embarking Together" card in the CoJourners Equipment Pack. There are other good thoughts on asking questions on the "Power Tools" and "What's Your Story" cards. If you have other ways to make evangelism easy, why not post your thoughts on my blog so that others benefit.

Joy of Personal Discovery

2006-03-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

As a new believer involved in the CCC ministry at Penn State, I was strongly influenced by Howard Hendrick's leadership messages. One principle that was inculcated early was about the "joy of personal discovery". Hendricks illustrated this by what a student told him in class one day, "Look what I found in this passage, Prof." Hendricks listened as if he had never seen that before. The student went on, "That's not all. Look what else I found!" The joy of discovering on their own a teaching or principle or personal relevance of a passage is to be nurtured in others. At a recent gathering of our Catalytic Vertical Team, Sam Osterloh, Catalytic National Director, led us into our time where he wanted faith to be infused into the discussions. Sam is a great teacher. But, rather than lead a devotion where he shared faith principles or his own insight, or, more to the point, the perspective that he wanted us to have, he broke us up into small groups to talk about various faith stories in the Bible. Each person was to think of two stories. The objectives of the time were: 1. What are the similarities of these stories? Differences can be noted as well. 2. How did the person/people know what they were supposed to do? 3. What personal and organizational connections do we need to make? Here is what I liked about that. Each person had to take time to personally wrestle with God's Word. The Holy Spirit used that time to take the Word and massage it into our hearts. Many of us enjoy teaching and some of you are gifted at it. But sometimes what our student leaders need more from us is the environment where they make personal discovery rather than hear our insight. It has been said that "Telling is not necessarily hearing" and "teaching is not always learning". Are we developing an environment in our ministries where God's Word is being studied and applied to hearts? If you would like to try this with, say, a leadership team of a ministry, here are the stories that the group I was in discussed:

Caleb--spying out the land and eventually taking a mountain once in the land.
Esther 4--took faith to be a part of God's plan and to go before the king for her people.
Gideon--had his plan and God took people away before he was ready to trust Him.
Hannah--wanted a child and believed God.
Abraham--went looking for a land and a city without knowing where he was going.
Abraham--another story about sacrificing his son, Isaac.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch--taken from a fruitful ministry for an apostolic work in the desert.
Nehemiah--acted personally on all the things that God had laid on his heart.

Another good study for a leadership team is Ben Rivera's Life Focus studies. These have lots of Scripture and are great for allowing the student to percolate God's Word through their hearts so they can hear from Him. The first one on Biblical Purpose is pure genius. Very simply, it has one column with 12 passages on purpose and the other column is for recording insight. At the end, the student answers the question, "Based upon your reflections, write out your Biblical purpose." As we seek to develop ministries that are staff coached, locally led and student owned, allowing students the joy of personal discovery helps build ownership.

Manathon

2006-03-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

One of the challenges for any kind of ministry today is building authentic community. I read recently how the Sioux Empire Catalytic Team had over 30 guys attend a creative event at Southwest Minnesota State. Their purpose was to build commitment to Christ and to each other as well as grow leadership and community among the men on various campuses. Travis Waltner wrote to tell me more about their "Manathon". What is the Manathon? The Manathon is a combination of different ideas from different people. Every man comes to the Manathon wearing a white T-shirt, and then proceeds to eat as many barbecue ribs as he possibly can without any silverware and only a t-shirt as a napkin. Following the meal, an award is given out to the dirtiest man. This helps encourage men to achieve the highest level of filthiness they possible can. I can't even show you a picture of the dirtiest man from this year! After the award ceremony, the man games begin. We first start off with a castle building contest. The men get to use duct tape, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and paper clips to make the most manliest, dangerous castle they possibly can. The men absolutely love this part of the competition. One group this past year, actually made a castle with a working draw bridge. The castles are then judged and destroyed. This event really reaches a man’s heart for building and demolition. After the castle building competition, we have a rousing tournament of dodge ball. The rules are the same as you remember in grade school, only this time aiming for the face is actually encouraged. Our final even of the night is a timed car pushing competition. Now, I can just hear you all saying, "How does eating ribs and man games further the kingdom of God?" …There truly is a spiritual reason for the Manathon! [Hebrews 13:1] says, "Let the love of the brethren continue." The Greek word for "love of the brethren" is one that will be quite familiar to you, Philadelphia. (Ah....Now I understand why Philadelphia is called the "City of Brotherly Love, but I digress) As I read this verse, I was struck with the lack of brotherly unity on our campuses. Some men on our campus never form any authentic relationships with other men. They never know the joy of having a male friend. King David says in 2 Samuel 1:26 after his friend Jonathan dies, "I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother, you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women." Men on the college campuses are so blinded by playing X-box and checking out girls that they don't have time for the amazing God of the universe. The Manathon was created as a high energy event that would attract all kinds of X-box playing, girl chasing men to a place where they can be set free to be men and hear about God’s plan for their lives. The part of the evening I left out was the devotion time. The devotion that you give can vary from each Manathon, but the one we gave was centered on the above verse in 2 Samuel 1:26 on the importance of your relationship with other men and your relationship with God. The devotion is very interactive, not a time to give your best sermon. I have attached a devotion we used during the Sioux Empire Manathon. The most important step of the Manathon is following up with the students after the event. At USD they had very few men involved in their movement, but then they got 10 guys to come to the Sioux Empire Manathon. This provided a great avenue to follow up with these men and get them more involved with Cru. The Manathon is a great out of the box event that helps gather men that usually will not go to a regular Cru meeting. It also deepens male bonding that might be lacking on your campuses. So what are you waiting for? Start your first Manathon today! Travis Waltner Sioux Empire Catalytic Team As we seek to build movements everywhere that are staff coached, locally led and student owned, a Manathon could be one of those fun events where lots of students could shoulder small amounts of responsibility. Responsibility breeds ownership. Thanks, Travis. If you are interested in seeing the devotion they did at the Manathon, let me know and I can send it to you. And now, for you women. Feel free to send me your ideas that attracts and builds into women as well as creates vision and leadership for your ministries. I will post one of your ideas in the coming weeks.

God going before in New Orleans

2006-02-26T23:04:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Kathryn Taylor, Oklahoma Catalytic, sent me a fascinating story. She and Pete Kelly will be moving to New Orleans next year to lead the newly formed New Orleans Metro team. It seems that God is already moving in New Orleans. You gotta read this. I got to share some of the fun things that are happening in New Orleans with Debbie last week and she asked me to share those with all of you in an email. I hope it encourages you as it has me - it's all shown me that God really is going before us and preparing the way. So, last week when I was suppose to be working on support, I started searching the New Orleans campuses on the web instead:). As I was searching through the University of New Orleans' web site, I discovered that Campus Crusade for Christ is already a registered student organization at UNO! After a little research, I found out that our former forerunner, Will Walker, had met this guy who started CCC there 3 years ago. This student, Nick, had wanted to start a Christian group and found CCC on the web. Will thought he was doing a great job and was so busy with the forerunner job that he just told him to keep up the good work and let us know if he needed anything. I called Nick that day and he called me back. He is still a UNO student. This spring, the Christians on campus are all uniting and praying for God to work on their campus. Starting today, they are doing 8 days of continuous prayer for the campus - having prayer walks and wearing bracelets to remind them to pray. He said about 100 Christians on the campus are doing this to ask God to show His glory at UNO. He feels like this is a real unique semester for them because of the hurricane. He said there are probably somewhere between 12 & 25 students are still around who are involved in CCC. He also has 3 guys from New Orleans seminary volunteering with them (a strategy Pete and I had already talked about employing!) I told him about Katrina Spring Break which really excited him. I started telling him about our team coming next fall and how we'd love to really start movements all over the campus to reach out to students. He said "I'm sorry, I've got to go, I've got an appointment, but we did just start Epic". The next day, I talked to Antonio and Josh - 2 students at [another campus in New Orleans] who had contacted us via the Godsquad. Antonio became a Christian last spring and really wanted to start a ministry on his campus. When the hurricane came, he went to Brown and went to CCC meetings on that campus.........after that he decided that he wanted to start CCC. He and Josh somehow met 3 weeks ago and discovered their mutual interest to start something on their campus. They did quiet a bit of research and decided that it would indeed be CCC. Antonio contacted us via the godsquad. He told me that they meet every morning at 7:30 to pray for their campus and about 15 people are showing up! They had their first bible study last week and 40 people attended! Antonio is graduating in August and I asked him what he was going to do after graduation - he's hoping to defer med school for a year and intern with CCC!!! I'm already blown away with how God is moving in New Orleans. I'm excited and honored to be part of the ministry there!!! Kathryn Some observations:

A student is leading and had only an initial conversation with a staff member.
That ministry is flourishing without the usual props that we assume they need from us staff.
These students know how to look for other resources beyond the normal means of connection.
A student-led ministry had launched another ministry.
Students who are already leading may be those God calls to join with us.

I know you are busy and I know that you may not have the time to take on a weekly visit to another campus. But what would you think about something like this? Why not visit a campus this week where you have not been for a while just to see if there be any Nick's or Antonio's or Josh'es that God has been preparing to begin a ministry. If you run into someone, don't make any promises about coming very often. Instead, offer to coach them by phone call or email to give them the resources they need to lead their ministry. Together, let us trust God to work beyond our present reach to reach more for Him.

Delegation and developing new leaders

2006-02-20T08:03:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, John Mitchell sent out a coaching nugget on raising up new leaders. The emails his team sends out to their students leaders are very good. I asked him if we could post his nugget on GodSquad. Our Student LINC team read the email and took some time to discuss it during our weekly working lunch that we call Chip and Dip. These lunches become something of a think tank where we enjoy analysizing issues and solving problems. We came up with several ideas about delegation and developing new leaders:

Invite others to go along with you when you are doing things like putting up posters, scheduling a room, etc. Never do these alone.
Rotate leaders every year. It helps to have fresh blood in leadership.
Designate an apprentice. Have a this leader-elect shadow the leader to learn what to do and catch vision.
Teach our leaders the visibility/risk grid. Divide up functions based on low to high risk and low to high visibility. Know what each student is capable of doing.
Think through who else in the ministry that we can shephard as potential leaders. Talk about transitioning leadership early. Make sure the handoff of responsibilities is thorough and early enough.
Look to those who are doing evangelism as potential for leadership in the future.
If there are no prospective leaders coming on, guide the present leaders in doing some launch-type activities to uncover another leader.
If you don't have the right leader in place, ask him or her who the people are that are leading outreach and/or Bible studies. You can call them to offer suggestions for their roles. You want to make sure that they are leading with our DNA in mind. Feel free to ask how present leadership and the ministry are doing. This is a further way for you to give input to others and have your eye out for future leadership.
It is important to get the right leader from the beginning. It is okay to say "No." and raise the bar high for leadership. They may disqualify themselves. Or they may be someone who can connect you to the right leader.

The Biblical principle "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much,…" (Luke 16:10a), is very instructive here. We want to create lots of opportunities where many students have various small responsibilities. Then we seek to grow their ownership and responsibility with growing risk and visibility. Leaders are made not born. They are developed, they don't just appear on the scene. And these leaders can be developed by other students. Let us keep thinking about potential tactics for delegaing responsibility and trusting God to develop our up and coming leaders. Besides the John Mitchell nugget, there is a very helpful resource on delegating responsibility is on GodSquad. For a fuller treatment, see Eric Swanson's letter on Effective Delegation.

Destino Book Club

2006-02-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

Last Fall, I sent out a tip by Tricia DeJulia about launching a Destino ministry. Some of the principles are applicable in starting a ministry within any specific ethnic community. At that time, Tricia Kipper was on the Austin Metro team (now with the Baylor University Team) and had a creative way to develop relationships with Hispanics. I asked her if I could share her idea with you. I took the "Being Latino in Christ" book out of the Destino FSK and took it to the Hispanic Student Association student club at one of our schools. I asked if I could make an announcement during one of their meetings at the beginning of the fall semester (when they have the highest attendance). I actually have 4 students, not currently following Christ (but they're interested in the idea of Christianity and being Latino), coming together who contacted me about wanting to be in this "book club". We read a chapter or two a week and meet to discuss it. It's not really launching a Destino movement, but it's putting me in contact with non-believers on a regular basis, and we usually have conversations about the Gospel and Christ. The book isn't really designed to be evangelistic, but it has material to discuss. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Tricia Kipper Do you have students who have an interest in other ethnic communities? The idea of a club discussing a book that speaks to their culture is something easy for students to do. Also, maybe you know an Hispanic student or someone with a heart for Latinos that would be interested getting more training, or possibly help launch a Destino ministry. The Destino Conference: Represent! held on February 24-26, 2006 in San Antonio, Texas would be a great opportunity for them to attend.

CoJourners Training Series

2006-02-06T07:56:00.000-05:00

Maybe you want to encourage your students to do a St. Valentine's Day outreach. Maybe you want them to think about a hip hop survey or some other outreach to African Americans during Black History Month. Probably you have outreaches planned for your ministries in the coming weeks. And though you want your students to participate in those planned outreaches, you are more interested in knowing that they look for ways to share with their friends and engage in ongoing conversations about Christ with non-believers. That is why I like the CoJourners Training Series on GodSquad. Everyone is on a spiritual journey. Some are moving toward God, while others are moving away. We have the privilege of entering into a person's spiritual journey and helping them come to Christ. That is what a CoJourner is, a person who travels with others spiritually, helping them come to Jesus. Along their journey we play four different roles: Explorer - to discover where they are spiritually Guide - to show them the way to Jesus Builder - to provide bridges over the obstacles along the way Mentor - to encourage them to continue on You can get to all of the CoJourner resources on GodSquad. You can find it listed in the Essential Tools box on the first page of the Squadroom. Ben Rivera, master Bible study leader, Keith Davy, Director of Research and Development and the developer of the CoJourner concept and Jeff Bridgforth's expert design and webmaster skills have created this 7 week training series. Everything you need for training your students with this series is there. During the seven week series you will read the contents of all the cards in the Equipment Pack, but you will focus on selected skills. You will find here a one page introduction and the first week's lesson to give you a taste of what they are like. They only take 10-12 minutes to work through and can easily be done during your training portion of your weekly Bible study. In the CoJourners Equipment Pack, four cards give motivation for us to join in another's spiritual journey and there are four cards for each role to build the skills to Explore, Guide, Build and Mentor. But you may find that you would like to purchase the Equipment Pack to make it easier for you. The staff price of $6.50 is available in the GodSquad Store. (user id: thegodsquad, password: 2timothy2) CoJourners is described as "a passionate and purposeful adventure in authentic relationships". Quite frankly, sharing with our friends is often the most difficult evangelism that many of us do. I believe that this will really help us to overcome the initial inertia and fear that we have in sharing with our friends. Please consider asking everyone who leads a Bible study in your ministry to take a look at the introduction and first week page and then start setting aside time in their studies to do this training. And together, let us trust God that as we enter into their spiritual journey, many of our friends will move closer to the Lord. For more motivation and helps in evangelism visit Student2Student.

One Consultant's Strategic Plan

2006-01-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

Periodically we take time in our Student LINC staff meetings to have one of our staff share their strategic plan with the rest of the team. This helps provide analysis and critiques our coaching processes. Eric Dellaire, consultant at large for the eastern part of the US, explained his plan to us last week. Before coming to our team, Eric had assignments in Maine and with Lake Hart Stint. He has been consulting full time just since August. I asked him if I could share his plan with you. Much of this is fairly typical of what we do in apostolic ministry. But he has some interesting twists. Vision

Transformational Communities on his campuses.
For Eric, this looks like 50 students with 8-10 leaders.
However, several of his campuses are in Maine, where the ministry is slow to develop. He sets an intermediate goal of 25 students with 4-6 leaders for them.

Current situation

Eric is working with 20 campuses.
16 of those have more than one leader.
4 have a filtered leader ready to start.
6 campuses have faculty advisors.
13 schools have a budget of at least $1000.
3 campuses have reached at least the first goal of 25 students.

Critical mass

The typical items: a director, a team, websites, and his own experience in evangelism and discipleship.

Critical path steps

1. New campus start up.

Gathering: FSKs/Surveys. One very interesting suggestion he has for each campus is to have an overnight mini-retreat at the beginning of the semester. This is to gather interested students, brainstorm activities and lets the leader impart vision.
Alignment: Eric emphasizes a foundation of prayer. He infuses a passion to release God to work.
Creating Community: He encourages his ministries to have a weekly party night. They play games, go to sporting events and have fun. Non-Christians are encouraged to attend, so that they can see the body in action.

2. Evangelism

Follow up surveys
Co-sponsor events with other groups, even non-Christian groups.
One to one. Develop a list of people they are praying for, intentionally hang out with them and ask a "sometime" question.

3. Building

Start every Bible study with an ice breaker.
Set the right environment with a consistent start time.
Ask good questions.
Cover the basics and have training, especially in using the Knowing God Personally booklet.
Develop quiet time accountability.

4. Sending

The typical: Invite the students to events where their faith will deepen and their vision expand--conferences, summer opportunities, etc.

Evaluation

Help his leaders to evaluate the ministry at 4 weeks into the semester, mid-semester and at the end of the semester.

I like to eavesdrop on Eric when he is on the phone with one of his leaders. His warm, friendly and encouraging manner comes across in their conversation. He enjoys the friendships with his leaders and it appears that his leaders take to heart his suggestions for their ministries. Way to go, Eric! Not bad for having been at this for just one semester.

And now for a few resources from GodSquad, that Eric uses:

Icebreakers.
Asking good questions.
Discovery questions.
"Sometime" questions. On the "Embarking Together" card.
Surveys.
Parties.

Musings about being an intentional witness

2006-01-23T08:02:00.000-05:00

Last week, our Student LINC team read an article by Tim Henderson, Director at Penn State, on Community 2:8. He talks about Prayer, Share, Introduce, Invite. Many build relationships with non-believers but never get around to sharing Christ with their friends. This article talks about bringing Christ into the relationship early, then continue to have the body witness to them by introducing them to Christian friends and inviting them to various events. At the same time we were looking at this article and thinking about a teaching plan, Amy Medlock, former Student LINC consultant and presently raising support to go to San Francisco, had a drama going on about how to bring Christ into her discussions with her non-believing friends. I asked her if she would write down some of those thoughts for you. I admit--even with editing, this is long. But here is one staff member's attempt at being a real Christian in a non-Christian setting and her honest desire to make a difference. 3:29p txt msg from X Wednesday January 18th [X: could u babysit 2nite? it would b late] She (X) is a single mom and Labrat like me – that means that we’re both student performers with SAK Comedy Lab here in Orlando – check me out: www.sak.com! Anyway, we never talked much until Monday night. It was an unofficial semi-regular "girls night" with other improvisers, but I was the only one that showed up to her apartment, so we watched the Golden Globes and talked up a storm. [We talked about] which boys from Labrats were cute. She...then told me more than I needed to know about her sexual history, but we made a connection. She’s really tender and creative and fun-loving beneath her tough-girl-never-afraid-single-mom exterior. And she felt good enough about our interaction to ask me to baby-sit tonight, just two days later. Granted, she was [probably going to bar]….so am I enabling behavior I don’t like by saying "yes"? Sometimes, I struggle to know where the lines are. Action Points: Talk with Christ-following friends about where my boundaries are. (Pr. 27:17) Pray about [being more vulnerable] to create open communication and safety in relationships. Ask God to imbue me more deeply with His identity. Oh, and text her back to say "yes." 3:45p talk with Gilbert – he asks me to think about writing this coaching tip Truth be told, I have no idea what I’m doing. People tell me all of the time that they’re amazed that I interact with so many non-believers so often. Personally, I don’t think I deserve the praise I get. I mess up on a regular basis... [I sin.]... I have spoken ill of others, gossiped and shunned those that are difficult for me to deal with – horribly unloving behavior. Dangit. What on earth does it mean to live this life as a Christian? For now I’ve decided that it means that it’s about Christ and not me – it’s about obeying the light He’s revealed to me and attempting to reveal that light to others. He is big enough to cover my mistakes. Despite my failings, I can tell that my friends can see something different in me. Amazing. Action point: Ask Christ to cover my mistakes. Repent…deeply. Ask Him to show me where I’m depending on myself instead of Him…shift source of dependence. Ask Him what light has been revealed to me that I’m not obeying – choose obedience. (1 John 5:3) 4:30p call from X I apologized for not returning her text message sooner, but told her that I was available. I could hear gratefulness in her voice…and something else...I heard a certain loneliness in her voice and hints of drowning under the weight of single-motherhood. She was just looking for a bit of fresh air. Action point: Add her to my prayer list – maybe I can be "fresh air" to her, maybe I can show her the love and freedom that’s found in Christ. Pray for God to show me more of His love and freedom – pray that I would receive it and extend it to her. 5:00p driving home – internal dialogue How did I get so in to the world of theater anyway? Oh yeah…my life was miserable, so I decided to do something fun and creative that involved other people…3 years later here I am, a part-time improvisational comedienne…and a darn good one! I show up at a theater every week and act like a moron with other insecure neurotics just like me. Ahhh…feels so natural! I love being in the theater community. The conversation easily drifts toward themes like story, what makes people tick and the drama that is life. But what does it mean to talk about those things from a Christian worldview? Sometimes I’m not sure and even when I feel like I know it can be tough to get a word in edgewise – comedians aren’t known for being soft and fuzzy for a reason. They’re not. But I’m glad I’m here – I am a performer, I’m funny, I love making others laugh, and sometimes I’m a little rough around the edges, too…I belong here. 6:30p dinner and more thoughts While my dinner is heating up, I’m looking through the pile of papers on my kitchen counter. I see the card that was given to me the night before at our weekly Labrat workshop. Another performer wrote a kind note about my performance from the week before – how she liked my positive energy and joyful spirit. I really needed to hear it. I am painfully insecure and am at times sinfully consumed with wondering what others think about me. I was genuinely touched and humbled by the generosity in her words . It’s hard for me to accept this kind of help from others, because I like to think of myself as the "encourager." I knew I had needed her words though, so I had to thank her. Action point: Remember to write her a note after she performs and figure out how I can encourage others more proactively. I want to be the light and love of Christ to my people. (Mt. 5:14-16) Amen. 7:30p txt msg xchange [X: looking doubtful but will know by 9. is that 2 late?] [Me: Bummer…no worries – 9 is fine! Hope it works out.] I mean, truth is so…true. I’ve been going to depths in my walk with God lately that I had no idea were possible. A friend called me and we started talking about the difference between recommitting ourselves to Christ and surrendering to Him. I’ve been learning about this myself lately while reading Isaiah. I’m grateful for Christ’s work in my life, godly friends and conversations like these, but I remember that it’s taken me 16 years of walking with God fairly consistently to get here. I wonder what it would look like to have this conversation with a theater friend someday and am sad thinking it will take forever. Action point: Keep reading Isaiah. 9:30p txt msg xchange [X: not gonna happenL but thanks soo much 4 for the offer!] [Me: Any time sassy! Enjoy ur sleep…c u Tuesday] It seems that I’ve made a friend…at least for now. Friendship is undeniably more capricious outside the walls of the church – balancing relationships is an often delicate and difficult exercise. I can already think of several bits of truth I’d like to communicate to her, but will I drive her away? I have no way of knowing what her reactions will be to the words of life I want to speak to her. I can only look for opportunities, move forward and pray like mad that Jesus is in all of it. Action point: Pray like mad 12:15a thoughts before sleeping ...It’s a miracle Jesus can use me as consumed as I am with myself. He really is that great, isn’t He? I love you, Jesus. So if I were to summarize what I mean by all of that, I would say it like this…

Know who you are, what your natural connection points are with others. Some Christians don’t know who they are outside of the context of church or ministry.
Accept help from others in whatever form they can give it – no one likes a know-it-all or someone who acts shiny and perfect. We’re not fooling anyone. If you’re having a down day and someone cheers you up, thank them. Giving and receiving in this way builds relationships. Be proactive about giving what you can and do without moralizing. Along these lines, don’t forget to have solid Christians in your life – we are invaluable aids to one another in walking the straight and narrow path. (Mt. 7:13)
Understand that the truth in Scripture is white hot. We can’t just go around flinging out bits of truth for truths’ sake, correcting others’ bad behavior all in an attempt to make ourselves sound holy and spectacular. Just as much though, we need to share Christ with our friends early and often, understanding that it’s He who will change them and not our "goodness" towards them. Look for opportunities to share Christ, but take baby steps. Then listen to others for clues about when you’ve gone too far. Don’t be afraid of trial and error.
Practice brutal honesty with yourself. I mess up all of the time, but I don’t let shame and guilt get me down, nor do I make light of my actions. I repent and I ask Jesus to let others see Him more than me (John 3:30.) I also remain willing to take a few steps back if I think (or if my friends think) I’m making too many mistakes. I meditate on God’s greatness, majesty and complexity (Isaiah 55, 58) – I thank Him that it’s about Him and not me – which leads me to my last point…
Most of all, I keep going forward, clinging to Him every step of the way. If this life is really about Him and not about us then He can use our weaknesses – the Bible even tells us so! (2 Cor. 12) We tend to act as if the more holy we are (which usually means: trying to be nicer than everyone else) the more people will see Jesus in us. Bologna. Be yourself, be in process and above all else keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus Christ, "the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12

How about you? Do you have natural connect points with non-Christians? Do your students? Do they have friends at each point along the Prayer/Share/Introduce/Invite spectrum? If you have thoughts about how to incorporate Community 2:8 principles into your ministry, please let me know.

Weekly Coaching Plan

2006-01-20T13:46:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, our pastor told a story of a boy born without his left arm. His parents enrolled him in a Judo class. But his coach only taught his pupil one move and he made him master that move. At a tournament, the one armed boy surprised himself and everyone else by winning every match. Afterward, the boy asked his coach why he only taught him that one move. The coach said that the only defense against it was to grab his left arm! The point: A coach is required to develop a plan with the abilities of those being coached in mind in order to ensure success. As coaches, we need to know the strengths and liaibilities of the ministries that we are coaching. We need to know how to grow our ministries from where they are to the next appropriate stage. And we need to do that with the development of our leaders and their growing sense of ownership in mind. Otherwise, we settle into simply maintaining existing ministries and losing sight of those outside of our current reach. Our team has developed a Spring 2006 weekly coaching plan. Amy Hudkins, Lake Hart Stint, Alice Walters and Liz Long, Student LINC coaches working with Greeks and Boston campuses, respectively, came up with most of the ideas for this plan in order to help us all more effectively coach our ministry leaders. Email us at StudentLINC@uscm.org for a Word document version of the plan. Having a plan will help us achieve success. If this one helps you, great. But maybe this will spur your thinking to develop your own coaching plan. If you open ours on-line, you can link directly to many of the tools on Godsquad and other sites. The topics in bold face type are the key emphases for the week if time is short.

A chance to build trust

2005-12-11T23:31:00.000-05:00

You have plenty to do this time of year. There is the end of the semester wrap-up, finalizing details for Christmas/Winter conferences, Christmas cards, end of the year fund appeals, etc. But this was an idea that I thought was really smart. It is from Urs Wolf, National Campus Director, Switzerland. I asked if I could share it with you. With this email I send you an idea of how you can win trust from the university leaders and administration, just by doing a little gesture. In a world of anonymity and great reservation towards Christianity, it is very important to have personal contact with the persons responsible at the university. For over ten years I have visited the directors, secretaries, caretakers and other people who work for us in some way in their offices before Christmas and give them a present and a nice greeting card. With this I thank the people for their hard work and express our thankfulness for the possibility to have our Christian group on the campus. Some of them say that this is the only encouragement they ever get. They are actually looking forward to my visit. Through their eyes the Campus Ministry is not an anonymous "suspect" Christian ministry, but it is my ministry along other nice people. One secretary said that they never had any problems with our Ministry and that they like working with us. Another was asked by a concerned mother whether CAMPUS Live was a cult. So she explained to her that we are not a cult, but an organisation that really cares for the students. Therefore they obviously respect this Christian ministry. So let's take this chance at Christmas time to say "Thank you." to the persons responsible at university! Let us make a difference! Be blessed Urs Wolf, NCD Switzerland Urs sends out a periodic email called "Stories of Glory". I read them in order to learn how Europeans share their faith within their cultural context. If you are looking for specific ways to close out the semester, I posted Ben Rivera's Weekly GodSquad Tip just before this post. This is the last Coaching Tip of 2005. I will begin again January 9th with other tips for your ministry. If you have a resource, strategy or ministry perspective that has been particularly helpful for you and you think it might be beneficial to others, please let me know. May you have a blessed Christmas and may your celebrations of the birth of our Savior be meaningful.

Ben Rivera's tips to end the semester

2005-12-11T23:12:00.000-05:00

Seven Important Tips as You End Your Semester There are seven overarching issues that we’d like you to think about as you look to the Spring of 2006 in your ministry on campus. Here they are: 1. Pray regularly for your campus. We need to ask God to move in a mighty way on our campuses. 2. Regularly sponsor an event where people can respond to the gospel. At least once a month give everyone on campus an opportunity to hear the gospel message and leave their response on a comment card. Always use comment cards so you can follow-up on people. If we stop reaching out on the campus, your ministry will likely plateau and you may not see significant growth if any at all. 3. Aggressively advertise on campus. Be sure that each week students know when and where your meetings are. Put up posters, flyers, banners, and cards everywhere on campus. It may take someone seeing your poster up to seven times before they think about coming to your meetings. And your most effective strategy: invite people personally as you run into them on campus. 4. Do a survey on campus the first week of classes. If at all possible, this is a must. This gives you the very best chance to meet interested people from the very beginning before their schedule gets full. Don’t miss that first week. 5. The ministry on your campus is yours. Take ownership, take charge, ask God to work through you to make a difference. And never, never give up. If you don’t share the gospel with people on campus, chances are nobody else will. Don’t let the evil one defeat you. 6. Replace yourself if you’re graduating or transferring after this Spring semester. The future of the ministry is dependent on you finding the next qualified leader who will take over after you leave. Leave a legacy. Help the ministry to continue on your campus. 7. On a personal level, always love God and make right decisions. Take advantage whenever possible to grow in your walk with God. Seriously consider attending Fall and Spring retreats, Christmas conferences, Summer Opportunities and anything in between. You will never regret taking the time to grow in your relationship with God. That’s what we’re here for.

Conversations after the "Chronicles of Narnia" movie

2005-12-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

My friend, Jeff Bridgforth, GodSquad webmaster, recently posted an article on GodSquad called "Into the Wardrobe." Developed by Tanya Walker, of R&D, and Jeff, it is a great transition piece from the "Chronicles of Narnia" movie into the Gospel. With the storyline incorporating Life @Large themes and C.S. Lewis quotes, you may find it helpful in your conversations with your friends. You can find more here about the themes of Life @Large and how to have spiritual conversations.

Transfer 1 and 2 Bible Study guides

2005-12-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

I was talking with a fellow staff member some time ago about his son's transition to college. He showed up at a freshman Bible study on campus. When his Bible study leader found out that he was a staff kid, he told him that he was probably going to find the study boring. Wait a minute! Why should understanding God's love and forgiveness, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and learning about the power to witness for Christ be boring? Can't we teach the foundational messages of the Christian life in a way that exudes the power and adventure that is the Christian life? We all know how important it is to have a good foundation, whether it is for a building, physical or athletic stamina or a Biblical understanding. We must start with the proper foundation first. But honestly, most of us have a difficult time teaching the basics of the Christian life in a way that is not boring. Dan Hardaway, Director of the Forerunner Project and Strategic Partnerships, lives in my neighborhood. We happened to ride into work together last week and he shared about a newly re-worked Bible study leaders guide for Transfer 1 and 2 to be handed out at the Christmas and Winter Conferences. These DVDs have been redone and repackaged in a way that make great content for use in your Bible studies. Dan told me about our partner's vision behind TransferThePower. Dr. Bright told Tim Burke that God had raised him up to make the basics relevant for the MTV generation. Others recognize the valuable resource that these can be. For example, at Sermon Spice, a site with illustrations for church pastors and speakers, the "Evangelism Linebacker" is the fourth most popular downloaded video at the time of this post. Every one who attends a Christmas/Winter conference this year will receive this free 2 DVD set. Each 10-15 minute Bible study incorporates a video segment with student testimonies. The testimonies on Transfer 1 have been re-worked. You can visit TransferThePower to download more extensive studies or simply use these segments in your study or talk. For example, if you want a great illustration on forgiveness, pop in the Darrell Scott video. This father who lost a daughter in the Columbine shootings is very compelling. Dan Hardaway has worked with our partners for two years. He says that the best part of this is the testimonies and the excellent study of God's Word that these provide. They would love it if next year 2006 Bible studies would ground students in the basics in a fresh way. Wouldn't it be cool if 10,000-15,000 students found these transferable concepts were alive? Imagine every freshman in a Bible study really understanding forgiveness, the power of the Holy Spirit and what it means to do evangelism with power and boldness. Gosh, what would that do to our ministries on our campuses?!

So why movies?

2005-11-29T16:59:00.000-05:00

A question came up about why I wrote about two different movies this Fall in these Coaching Tips. With so many other strategies and resources, why focus on Hollywood productions? While Rick and Will were home from college over Thanksgiving, several of our conversations were about movies. They mentioned various films they had seen or hoped to see. They talked about a film's popularity, it's relevance and values, and whether or not it was cool. Our boys are not that different than the vast majority of college students today. Students are media savvy, they stay current on what is hot and know what people are involved in. Film informs worldview more than we think. We all wish it were the Bible that held such sway, but let's start with where people are. I have been reading a book this year by Dr. Herbert Lockyer, "All the Parables of the Bible." I am struck by how much he says that Jesus was responding to a current event or something very commonplace for His listeners. He spoke in the lingua franca of the day. Even His parables were stories about common things that captured people's attention. So many people watched the movies "Titanic", "Gladiator", "The Lord of the Rings" and "Matrix", etc. They contained themes of heroism, the battle between good and evil, sacrifice and even redemption. Our culture has made it easy for us to use themes from the movies that people know and can relate to. Let us consider how we can use where people live to bridge to the wonderful Good News of Jesus Christ. And let's pray that God gives us opportunities to have conversations with people who see "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" about the real Redeemer behind Aslan.

The Chronicles of Narnia

2005-11-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

I am really looking forward to seeing "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe". It debuts on December 9 and it looks like the redemptive themes that we are familiar with in C. S. Lewis's works appear to be faithfully preserved in this film. From what I have seen in the trailers, it looks cool! To help you in using the film to bridge to the Gospel, Jeff Bridgforth, Webmaster, GodSquad has gathered a variety of resources from various sources. You will find them in his Narnia Resource Center. Some of what you will find on that page include:

A Film Synopsis (from NarniaResources.com)
Outreach ideas.
Narnia Discussion Starters to use in conversation.
Questions to ask your friend after watching the film.
Themes to discuss in conversation.
A page called "If you've seen Narnia" Event ideas. There are several links from this page to information about C. S. Lewis, trivia and even a recipe for Turkish Delight!
One page has posters and other resources and links to NarniaResources.com, Outreach.com, and Sermon Central.com.
Evangelistic talks and talks for weekly meetings.
And finally, a web links page.

Jeff is also working on an evangelistic tract that we can use. He told me that this resource center is a work in progress. If you develop a survey or some other outreach idea and think it would be helpful for others, let him know. You can reach him through mailto:gswebmaster@uscm.org. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to seeing this film.

Reflections on a meeting

2005-11-21T08:06:00.000-05:00

I have two sons involved with CCC on their campuses, Rick (fifth year senior at University of Florida) and Will (sophomore at Florida State University). (Yeah, their big showdown is coming up this week!) Rick spoke at their weekly meeting last week and invited me to attend. During the afternoon, he learned that they could not use their normal meeting room. When that happened before, they were allowed to use the amphitheather outside. With the meeting scheduled for 8:30pm, we arrived an hour early while the band was practicing. They sounded great. Shortly after that, the campus police came and asked for their permit. Someone had complained. Never needed a permit before. The police told them to shut down. Will had driven the two hours from FSU to hear Rick also and since we both were ancillary to what was going on, we walked around the amphitheater among those buildings and prayed for the meeting and for God to work. The meeting did go on, but without the music. It was ironic that Rick was speaking from 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 where Paul talks about handling disputes within the body. We don't like hearing these words, but "Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?" (v. 7b) Now, yes that speaks about disputes among believers, but it is events like these that we get to be a witness with our attitudes among the non-believers as much as with our words. After all: "you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord…" (v. 12b) Some thoughts in retrospect:

We are involved in a spiritual battle on our campuses. We must fight with spiritual weapons: Prayer, God's Word, being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
We should expect opposition and it should cause us to go our knees first.
It is natural to get angry at those who would complain about our efforts. We do live in a society with people who don't like our message and don't want to be reminded about God. But we need to pray for their salvation and we need to witness with our Christlike attitude.
Only God's Spirit can open hearts.
Our service is ultimately before an audience of One.
I have begun to pray more and more that hearts closed and hardened to the Lord would spontaneously have thoughts about eternity, their Creator, their purpose, and what is really the truth.

Rick wrapped up his talk with these words: You were sinners. You were rejects. You were. But you are not anymore. You have been forgiven. You have been set apart from the world. You are righteous and Jesus will vouch for you. Jesus helped us when no one else would or could. And he has called us to follow in his footsteps. Stop acting like those of the world. Your thinking needs to be more than long term it needs to be eternal. Then and only then can you put aside this physical world. Then and only then can you see that what we have received as gifts are meant for us to use on those in need… You do realize that people are watching you? Are you someone who people look at and say thank goodness I am not Christian? We are Jesus to this world. If you have accepted him as you Lord and Savior then you have his Spirit in you. Each one of you may be the only representation of Jesus that a person comes into contact with.

For a another fascinating take on our witness in the face of opposition, check out Chuck Colson's "BreakPoint" column called "I Appeal to Caesar!".

Looking for a Destino Leader

2005-11-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

Tricia DeJulia, Destino Coaching Center, recently sent me an email conversation she was having with Melissa, a student who wanted to launch a Destino movement on her campus. As I read about the vision that Melissa expressed and Tricia's very helpful response, I thought how cool it would be if we could multiply the number of those conversations. I asked Tricia if she would share with you some ways to find a leader to launch a Destino ministry. Finding Leaders and Launching Destino 1. Poster/Web Strategy Some staff have found some success in using a poster/web strategy to surface interested students and leaders.

Idea: --Hang up MyDestino posters and pray that the Lord would raise up some leaders. This can be done on multiple campuses in the same time frame.
Resources: --www.mydestino.com is a contextualized website that has articles, testimonies and videos mostly of and by Hispanics. It is a great way to not only share the Gospel broadly on the campus, but also see if there may be a student interested in starting a group on campus. --This page has a local adaptable poster in Word so that you can adjust the text to what you would like it to say. You can also order business size cards to pass out with the site on it and your campus info on the back. Order info: Tony Metcalf (407) 721-8107.

2. Local Churches A great resource to you that already is reaching out to the Hispanic community is the local Hispanic chruches in your area.

Ideas: --Decode the churches and see what they are doing in the community. Look for ways you can bridge what we do and the vision for reaching college studnets with the church's vision. --You may want to attend a church service and talk with the pastor. Share your heart and the vision of Destino and multiple movements and see where the Lord may lead the discussion.
Resources/Equipping: --Check out www.esmhelp.com under Destino. The Handbook for Finding Key Leaders and Launching Destino Movements 2 sections, Hispanic Church Partnerships and The Hispanic Christian World. --Develop sincere relationships with other Hispanics.

3. Hispanic Student organization Hispanic student organizations may have some Christian students involved.

Idea: --Try attending a meeting and talk to the president. Ask if you can give flyers and/or Destino Kits to members to see if there are any Christians interested in helping to start a Destino group.
Resources: --Order Destino Kits through your region or online. --Add the image on the poster to a smaller response card/flyer.

4. Table/Survey/DSK's Sometimes campuses let you set up a table at certain times to see if there would be interest in starting a club on campus.

Idea: --Set up a table with a Destino banner and flyers. Hint: Don't set it up next to a Cru table or any other "movement" table. You may get into an awkward situation trying to decipher who may be Hispanic and who might not be. Being intentional about one group at a time may be a more effective approach.
Resource: --A banner jpeg is available for you to take to a local printer that makes banners.

5. Within your Cru/Real life Are there Hispanic students involved who have a circle of friends outside of Cru or are interested in helping?

Some other Resources to help Launch

Self-assessment Being a learner exhibits wisdom in this process and will communicate greatly as you step out in faith and trust the Lord. In the Handbook on www.ESMhelp.com is an article about self-assessment. Taking some time for self reflection in this process will help you better understand your own cultural grid as you attempt to step out into another culture.
www.DestinoMovement.com is a great site to point a student leader to. There are resources in leading a movement and connection to other students leading Destino on their campus. Sign them up for our weekly Destino Monday Minute, a devotion and coaching tip. And check out the new Destino Follow up materials.
Starter Kit Some of these resources to get your leader started are on www.DestinoMovement.com, but we placed more resources on a CD that can help students lead their movement through the next phases and years.

I am impressed by the innovation and creativity our Destino staff in the Destino Coaching Center. What Michelle Lugo, Tricia DeJulia and Allen Stanley do to encourage and build into those they are coaching is exciting. For suggestions and how to tap into their experience, you can reach them at 1 (800) 678-5462. If you have a contact that you would like for them to coach, give them a call.

Terminal and Relational Thinking

2005-11-07T08:07:00.000-05:00

When I first came on staff, I read and re-read A Guidebook To Discipleship by Doug Hartman and Doug Sutherland. It formed much of my thinking about discipleship at that time. The book is long out of print and our view of discipleship today is much broader than what that book outlined. But one chapter has stuck with me all these years, the chapter on "Terminal Thinking vs. Relational Thinking". Some definitions: Relational thinking--the process of relating activities and knowledge to an objective. Terminal thinking--the process whereby activity and knowledge are objectives and ends within themselves. Granted, we are busy with lots of ministry activities. Good activities. But do we stop to consider how these activities are helping to accomplish our objectives. If every Christian's ultimate purpose is to "give God glory", what is our purpose in Catalytic ministry that contributes uniquely to that purpose? How does this sound? "To help turn every student on every campus into Christ-centered laborers." Or this? "To help give every student on every campus an opportunity to say 'Yes!' to Christ." Or this? "To help build movements everywhere." In Catalytic, our objective encompasses every student on every campus. Scope. That is what Campus Crusade for Christ has set as our purpose and what our leaders have tasked us with doing. Now come on. Is that realistic? Yes it is! We are all in this together. Most people do not think in terms of ultimate purpose. If my purpose includes the other campuses in my scope, I will think about how to order my day or week or semester to include those campuses. Because whatever captures a person's heart becomes their true objective. So some thoughts about what this looks like: 1. We walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. God's power and wisdom lead us to set and to strive for divinely inspired goals. 2. We order our activities according to our objectives. If an activity does not contribute to our objectives, why do it? 3. We schedule the things that will be necessary to get us to our objective. I have been asking myself lately what it will take for us in the US Catalytic Ministry to launch a thousand more ministries. Lots of others are asking the same question. If my objective is simply to get a group of guys to meet with me, that is all I will do. But our vision is so much more than that. I was encouraged to hear that the Mid-Atlantic has come up with four Staff Lite Launching initiatives. And when the local leaders in the Great Plains met a couple of weeks ago, they had a list of every campus in every state and attached a name to every single campus. These teams have set some objectives. Now the evangelism, discipleship and movement development activities that they all do either become ends in and of themselves or they must relate those activities to their objective of getting to every campus. Some thought-provoking questions at this point: 1. Am I doing evangelism? Am I doing it with someone? Are those students catching the picture that God could use them by watching me? Am I training them? Or am I looking to impress them by my technique? 2. Do my students know what our mission is? Am I looking to turn our evangelistic enterprise over to students? 3. Is there passion for Christ? Is there a desire for the Word? 4. Am I developing leaders? Am I delegating responsibility? Do they believe God can use them? Are they encouraged? Have I taken the time to help them see what their unique contribution to the body of Christ is? Do they affirm our ministry's call to build movements everywhere? 5. Is my vision growing? Is my faith deepening in order to sustain my vision? 6. Am I just going through the motions? Do I know what to do? Am I stuck? I wrote this tip about four different times. I know that what we do in Catalytic is complicated and chaotic and it absolutely requires God to show up. I honestly do believe that we can hold in tension the development of our existing ministries and still be going after scope. Because some are doing it. But I wonder if, generally speaking, we have settled into a routine, and our ministry activities have become terminal. Can we encourage each other to bring relational thinking to everything we do this week? Robert Coleman, in his Master Plan of Evangelism, tells of Jesus' life being "ordered by His objective. Everything He did and said was a part of the whole pattern. It had significance because it contributed to the ultimate purpose of His life in redeeming the world for God. This was the motivating vision governing His behavior. His steps were ordered by it. Mark it well. Not for one moment did Jesus lose sight of His goal."

Asking for non-financial donations

2005-10-30T20:43:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, I received an email from Paula Hink, Kansas City Metro, telling about how they ask for non-financial donations. In other words, how to get free stuff from businesses for use in outreaches and other ministry functions.

Asking For Donations The great thing about asking for donations from local businesses is that you are serving them in two very significant ways:

You are giving them an opportunity for FREE advertising to one of their best up-and-coming markets- college students;
You are giving the business an easy way to fulfill their donation requirements to get tax write-offs for that particular month or year.

So it’s important to know that when approaching businesses so that you can approach them with confidence and ease. It’s mutually beneficial!

When going to a business, remember these things:

Respect business hours. Even though we’re doing them a favor, they are also doing US a favor by donating to our non-profit. I’ve found the best times are between 1pm and 4pm. It’s after the lunch rush and before the dinner rush. Another great time is weekdays that are not Fridays and Saturday afternoons can also be good.
Any business is a possibility. Both big and small businesses love to (and some have to) give. One locally owned Greek restaurant didn’t have coupons made up but asked if they could give me a free dinner right then and there. Who wouldn’t want that? Some big businesses might ask you to go through their corporate headquarters, but they will probably still donate at some point or another.
I’ve found from personal experience that going anywhere from the middle to the end of the month is best because businesses are trying to use up their donations at that point. The beginning of the month can be a tough time. (However, it may be that you find a place that donates solely to you because you came early. It just depends.)
Take materials with you to show legitimacy. I usually take a prepared letter explaining what Campus Crusade for Christ is, what event I would be using their coupons for, and the advantage to them. I also take my business card (unless I use my letterhead on the letter), an example of how their coupon might look with our materials, and a tax-exempt letter showing that I really am with a non-profit organization.
Anyone can do this! Students can do it, volunteers, staff, advisors, anyone. It’s so easy and fun if you can go in twos.
When doing "the ask", I do these standard things:
I ask to speak to the manager or owner. They are usually the ones with the discretionary funds. I ask if they have about 5 minutes.
I introduce myself (shake their hand) as a person who works with a local non-profit ("local" is helpful as is "non-profit") called Campus Crusade for Christ that works with college students all over ___________ (your area of influence, i.e. the Kansas City Metro area). You might even throw in the number of students in your area of influence to demonstrate possible advertising scope. I quickly explain what we are doing (doing spiritual interest surveys, having a weekly meeting, having a party) and try to use words less offensive words ("evangelism" conjures up images of raving lunatics on sidewalks forcing people to pray right there or they will burn in hell) to explain our purpose. I ask them to consider donating a certain menu item or dollar amount, then give them all the info I brought (explanation letter, my business card, tax-exempt letter, etc.). I then ask for their phone number and a time when I could call back for an answer. Some people are ready to give you coupons right then while others will want to think about it.
I thank them for their time and the possibility of partnering with us, and I go to the next business.
Always write a thank you from you and the students – include pictures of you all enjoying their product (if possible)!

Paula says that one day in a space of 5 hours and one city block, she was able to get over $200 worth of coupons for a weekly meeting outreach they did. Also Krispy Kreme donated 10 dozen donuts every week for a year for their weekly meetings. Why not consider doing a Christmas outreach and mobilize your student leaders to find donations during November to help give that outreach value.

If you would like to see Paula's letter that she sent to businesses for non-financial donations, check back her in 24 hours and I will have a link to it and to a sample of a QuEST interview with a coupon from a local business.

Halloween

2005-10-25T11:44:00.000-04:00

Here is a tip that I sent out last year at this time. Not everyone sees Halloween in the same way. Some see it as a harmless holiday where kids dress up and get lots of candy. Some lament that some homes and yards are decorated as much as they are at Christmas. Some do not observe Halloween in any way and take their families to a movie or church event so as not to be around when trick or treaters come by. But Michael Frey, Western PA Catalytic, has seen Halloween as another way to share his faith. Here are some of his thoughts on the subject. When you think of Halloween, what comes to mind? Most of us would conjure up images of ghosts, witches, evil spirits, and way too much candy. As Christians, we can also answer the question with words like: evil, satanic, and the devil’s holiday. But what if I told you that Halloween is actually a Christian event? That it is just as Christian as Christmas and Easter. (WAIT! Before you stop reading this and begin to organize a prayer meeting for my salvation, I ask that you hear me out.) I have made the comment to many Christians in the past few years that Halloween is a Christian holiday, and have gotten everything from laughs to contorted looks of disbelief. However, I believe it’s not a joke, and it could be a tremendous asset if we, as believers, could change our thinking on the subject. The original roots of the holiday are found in Celtic harvest celebrations, and the beginning of their new year. It was also a celebration to honor Samhain, Lord of the Dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead came back to visit with their living relatives. Large bon fires were lit to scare off these spirits and people wore masks to hide from their dead relatives. (and you thought getting your cheeks pinched by Aunt Ruth at the family reunion was bad) When Rome conquered Ireland, and the Celts were exposed to Christianity, the converts still held on to these ancient practices. In 835 AD Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration honoring Christians who have died (All Saints Day) from it’s original date of May 13, to Nov. 1st. All Saints Day was a time to remember those who have died, and celebrate the fact that we will see them again in heaven. The night before became known as All Hallow’s Even or "holy evening." Eventually the name was shortened to the current Halloween. In the same way, Christmas and Easter were adapted from their original pagan roots to be celebrations of Jesus birth, death, and resurrection. I’m not sure how we, as Christians, lost Halloween, but I think we should reclaim it. As I see it, Halloween is the only time of the year that all my neighbors come to my house, uninvited. It’s the only season in our culture when people are talking about ghosts, spirits, and the after-life. To me it only makes sense that we take advantage of this opportunity and ask those around us what they think happens when we die. It’s a question we all struggle with, and we know the answer! Spiritual battle is real 365 days of the year, not just on Halloween night. Let’s not cede the day, but take it back. Halloween is a Christian holiday, and could be a great opportunity for us to be light in a dark world. We may not all see it quite the same way Michael does. But I think that we can all agree that, as Christians, we do have the hope of eternal life, we are looking for ways to share Christ with our neighbors and that asking what happens when we die is a question everyone wrestles with. Michael has given a lot of thought to this over the years. He has written an evangelistic article, formatted the Four Spiritual Laws with a Halloween theme and developed a Halloween survey, all of which are found on the GodSquad. We have this week to use this particular opportunity "to be light in a dark world."

A message to Bible study leaders

2005-10-23T23:07:00.000-04:00

I want to give you an example today of some great coaching from a distance. Kate Skarich, Indiana State Catalytic, sends out periodic emails to their leaders around the state. Here is one she send recently to Bible study leaders. Kate knows these students. But what you will see here is her heart for them, how much she encourages them, clear direction and vision for what they are doing. You also read how she says, in the nicest way possible, that there are some lessons that are a must. "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach other also." 2 Timothy 2:2 It’s called SPIRITUAL INVESTING! That is what YOU are doing as you lead your small group Bible Study!! You are pouring what you know about God into other students—That is COOL! God is using you! That is even COOLER!! I wanted to give you a few tips as you think about your Small Group. FIRST TIP: All of you are leading on a variety of topics—that is great--- but we also want to make sure that each student has the opportunity to hear about some FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS of the Christian faith. I’ve spoken with your Small Group Coordinator about this- so it’s not a surprise , but I am asking each Small Group to cover the following 5 Studies at some point during the course of the semester. To find these studies: 1) www.godsquad.com 2) Go to the Discipleship link 3) Go to the Cru.Comm link 4) Go to the link to the free samples Under "The Discovery Level" Please print out all 3 of "The Basics" on Confession, Assurance and The Holy Spirit Under "The Discovery Level" Please print out 2 and 7 of "Luke-Teachings on the way to Jerusalem" on Quiet Times and Seeking the Lost These 5 studies have LEADERS NOTES for you- to prepare with – and also have sheets you can print out to give to the peeps in your study- so they have something they can look at during the week. These 5 studies will help you teach some VITAL truths on the Christian Life—and if you think some of your students are familiar with the topics- challenge them to participate in the study with eyes and ears to be able to TEACH it to someone else. Part of the goal of your Small Group is teach spiritual truths—part of the goal is to do it in such a way that the people in your group think "Hey, I could do that too! It’s not so hard!" That is what is called TRANSFERRABLE! We want what you are doing to be easy enough so other leaders are raised up to teach other people maybe even next semester!! SECOND TIP: Making people feel comfortable and cared for is a HUGE part of your job. A few ways to do this are: Greeting each person personally as they walk in the door, remembering their name, having food or snacks to make things more casual, affirming them as they speak up to share a thought or answer a question during the study- maybe even calling them to have lunch with you that week. I would LOVE to hear how your group is going and how I can be praying—Please email me—and THANK YOU for all you are doing! Cheering for you- Kate There are sample Cru.Comm studies on GodSquad. Click here to become a subscriber so that you can get access to all studies.

A staff team launching together.

2005-10-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, several of us visited a campus to decode it and help jump start the ministry there. As we were wrapping up, I sat visiting with Brian Ricci, who, along with Jill Olney, directs the Seattle Metro team. He told me about a cool trip their staff team took to a campus earlier this semester. I asked if he would share it with you. On the Seattle Metro Team we think that staff team health and unity is a high priority as we trust the Lord to plant and sustain movements on many campuses. To facilitate this we decided that, first of all, our whole staff team, including Bridges, Epic and Impact, would strive to own the goal of scope together, and secondly, we would strive to combat staff feeling isolated. To do this we have launched campuses as a team. It sounds like it could be over-kill, but we see the value in staff having "heart-level" ownership of every campus, even if that particular campus does not become a personal responsibility for them. The way that happens best is for our entire team to go to a campus together the first time. Some would man the FSK table, others would prayer walk the campus, while others would go out sharing. After a while we switch it up. It makes launching a bit slower, but so far it has led to one of the highest levels of staff team unity and ownership that we have seen in a long time. All staff are generally available to help each other out while on the campus. Bridges staff will call on others to help them if they are short handed, all staff will help Epic or Impact if they need help and we are available, etc. It reinforces the idea that while some of us may have a specific primary focus (i.e a particular community college, Greeks, Impact, etc.) we are as a multiple movements team, about reaching scope "together." On one campus, when we were all together, the college was short handed in running their freshman orientation. They called upon our staff team to help with the event. We jumped in, helping direct students, passed out student handbooks, etc. The administration told us "as students come in the door, orient them as to where they need to go, AND, tell them to stop by the table and get a free Freshman Survival Kit!" I was floored by how the college wanted to reciprocate helping us out. They even thanked Campus Crusade from up front during the program and pointed to our table on the side of the auditorium. The student body president, who is involved with Cru, later told me that our stock went up considerably with the administration. This would probably not have happened if our entire team had not been out there to help as we supplied about fifty percent of their manpower that night. While this is not a pattern that we sustain much beyond initial launching, it does serve the purpose of staff "being in it together" and staff walk away having had lots of "team time" opening a campus. Brian Ricci, Seattle Metro Director Here's a thought: Why not schedule team trips to three campuses in your scope where you have done little pioneering between now and staff conference. Decode, prayer walk, and hand out FSKs. If you find a potential leader who is African American, Hispanic, Greek, International, an athlete, or military, you know that you have specialists around the country who can coach them. For any other potential leaders, tell them that you will be calling them regularly to help them get their ministry up an running. Wouldn't it be cool if, by Thanksgiving, we could see another 150 campuses launched! For ideas of how one team worked to reach campuses state-wide, read Jill Chojnowski's "Road Rules in Colorado". Some great pioneering perspectives. And to see how one staff member managed several ministries over large distances, see Coleen Harvey's "Reaching Colorado from Denver". Using all the available resources. Why not post dates and campuses that you intend to visit in a comment so that many more can be praying for your efforts.

Smoke Signals: You can Touch Lives Over Distance

2005-10-08T23:37:00.000-04:00

This article, written by Rick Pridey with Sioux Empire Catalytic, is from the Catalytic Journal. The phone coaching appointment is essential to what I do. I have learned much through the school of hard knocks. It is my hope that you can avoid some of my mistakes. It all starts with preparation. I try to take at least 15 minutes before a call to review the previous appointment’s notes, assess and update the campus coaching plan, prepare materials for the current conversation, and pray. Our time is so limited with our local leaders so we need to take appropriate steps to ensure that we use our time strategically. I look at my phone appointment as the primary way to enhance the life of the leader and to advance the life of the movement. Enhancing the life of the leader I want to give attention to the leader as a whole person. As we offer ourselves to local leaders as ministry specialists, we do well to remember that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I ask about their well-being, family life, interests, and prayer requests. I often think in terms of developing independent, life-long learners who can "accurately handle the Word of Truth." As we help a leader develop in their walk with the Lord, their leadership development and ministry skills will follow. Advancing the life of the movement I also give attention to people and programs. We need to continually capture a picture of what is happening on campus. Where are they growing? How are they hurting? What are they excited about? Where is evangelism occurring? When is prayer happening? How are lives changing? The local leader critical path frames my questions as I assess program effectiveness. Each phone call contains a gracious inspection component. As I have heard Gilbert Kingsley say, "People don’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect." Discuss ministry tools and strategies. This may well be the segment of your phone call when you need to be most intentional. We have a tendency to provide a variety of tools, resources, and opportunities. Try to determine your most pressing priority for the movement. I am increasingly careful to guard against overwhelming leaders with a long "to do" list. Keep it simple, baby! I would rather leaders succeed in doing one thing well, than be so stressed they do nothing at all. Here are a couple of practical tips. Microsoft Outlook’s journal feature in contacts is an excellent technology tool. I type in notes for each phone conversation, and label them by date and subject. I follow up each phone call with an email reviewing action points from our conversation and copy it to other appropriate campus leaders. And I insert this email into the contact address card notes section for future reference. Finally, I try to schedule time during the week to pray for each campus, and particularly the local leader(s). Occasionally, I drop them a note telling them I am praying for them. Effective phone coaching necessitates that we approach every appointment with a clear sense of purpose and a clear idea of what we want to accomplish. Our commitment to turning lost students into Christ-centered laborers demands no less. As Solomon said in Proverbs 14:15, "A prudent man gives thought to his steps." Rick's "Phone call appointment worksheet" can be found at the end of his article in the Catalytic Journal.

Building Student Leadership Teams

2005-10-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

This article from the Catalytic Journal is written by Dave Johnson who serves with Catalytic in Northwestern Wisconsin and Duluth. Building a student leadership team is essential to a continuing Catalytic ministry. The following are some questions to help you build a team that will take the ministry on that campus to the next level. First use the questions below to assess what stage you are in: beginning, intermediate or advanced. Under each question are specific action points you can use to help you develop a good student team. Normally this would be a three or four-year process to put all this into practice in a team. With two-year schools, try to find volunteers you can train who can quickly bring new students into the core as soon as they appear on the scene. 1. Are you building their vision consistently and aligning them to the mission? Spend key time with leaders at the beginning. One of the tough things about leaders on a catalytic campus is that they are not selected from a pool of possibilities. You take what you can get and work with them. So what do you do with a leader or team who is not really focused on lost students? If it is possible to work with the key leader and another up and coming leader who shows you the potential and perspective needed, do it. The number one human thing you must have in place is the right key leader, the one you work with consistently. Ask questions about what they want for their campus. Help them find scripture to reinforce these desires and offer other possible passages that get them closer to our Campus Crusade calling. Have them write out their vision including scripture passages. Bring leaders from other campuses like theirs to share their vision. You can prepare these leaders to emphasize areas where the present campus group is weak. Leaders are readers. The book Come Help Change the World is a fantastic tool to help them catch a heart for faith, prayer and the Great Commission. Tell them it is required reading for all leaders and ask them what they are getting out of it. Direct them to the vision section of the Godsquad Web site. Mike Tilley’s article, Transformational Community is key. Other books like Master Plan of Evangelism and Personal Disciplemaking (with video training series) gives them some practical vision and info for building a strong spiritual base in students. Always talk about the mission. Ask questions to give direction. How many lost students did we touch this month? How many came to Christ? How many are going to the next conference? How many are sharing their faith? Pray for them. You can change their lives through your prayers. Coaching doesn’t always have to come from you. Is there a pastor whose teaching would help align them? Is there a good Sunday School class? Can you find a volunteer with a Campus Crusade background? 2. Do they feel the ownership for the group? Help them to see the importance of planning overnights each semester. A whole weekend is even better with plenty of relationship building. Teach them the strategic planning process if they are open to it. Otherwise just help them evaluate the movement and identify what the next step is for them to take to build a transformational community. Then help them set goals consistent with that step. Be sure they have an easy structure for new leaders to be identified and involved. Many are using Impact Teams (committees) for each area of responsibility such as prayer, evangelism, discipleship and sending. They meet right after Servant Team (the leadership team for the whole movement) to work on things decided at that meeting. Make sure your key leader knows how to delegate. Work with your key leader if this is a weak area. Help them think through key areas of need. Can you give them a simple job description for that area? Be open to allowing them to fail. Sometimes this is the best teacher. Are they praying? This will show how badly they want to reach the campus and if they are depending on God and not themselves. I don’t believe in the end you will ever see a truly aligned leadership team have supernatural impact on the campus without sacrificial prayer over several semesters. Constantly build them in this area. 3. Are you holding them accountable for their plan? Make sure you have weekly phone appointments with your key leaders. Always look for the positive and encourage them. Find one need to deal with at that time. Visit at strategic times when it will help them through a major hurdle. Use their plan. Refer back to it with your leader. Ask how you can help the leader carry out the plan. Keep asking them about their wins. Did they choose the right tactics to most effectively build the movement? Are they keeping them before the movement? Are others excited about them? Better to change them than hang on to inappropriate ones. Do mid-course corrections after the first four weeks of a semester. 4. Are you building into their lives? Your local leader must have the respect of the leadership team. The leader needs to be a good selector of leaders. Offer to help when necessary. If the leader selects the wrong leaders, frustration will be constant. Your leader should be able to trust you. Pray for this and show him you believe in him. Make sure those in leadership understand and live the Spirit-filled life. You are doomed if you are just trying to get worldly Christians to lead a spiritual movement. Make it a requirement for all leaders to study the Spirit-filled life. Have them work through the Transferable Concepts, the Satisfied? booklet, or the New Life Training material on the Spirit-filled life. Set up local accountability and discipling. Do you have a student who can lead other leaders in a discipleship group? Can you use mature Christians from a local church for this? Take them sharing when you visit. Your time is so precious. If you use even 15 minutes to take a survey on campus and share the Four Laws, it will speak volumes to your leaders. Send your key leader on a summer project or the Leadership Summit. Can the leader bring four or five more students on next summer’s projects? Build a tradition of your key leaders all having summer project experience... Use our Campus Crusade materials. Help leaders to see how these materials can help them build the kind of disciples who have "turning lost students into Christ-centered laborers" on the front burner. Many Campus Crusade materials integrate the Spirit-filled life into the topics and have an outward focus toward reaching others for Christ. Always keep your eye out for volunteers. Are there Campus Crusade alumni around? A pastor with an especially soft heart for college student? They can fill holes that you can’t by being there in person. Pastors can lead groups of leaders to teach something out of God’s Word or Master Plan of Evangelism.

My Heart for Students is Not Lost Over Distance.

2005-10-07T13:05:00.000-04:00

This is the second article of four that I am placing here on distance ministry. Come back the next two days to see the third and fourth. This interview with Debbie Cox, Catalytic Women's Coordinator, took place when she was coaching students in the Mid-South Region. DMJ: Tell us about your experience in ministering with Campus Crusade for Christ. Debbie: I became acquainted with Campus Crusade when a group of students from Auburn University came to speak at my church one Sunday night. I was attending Auburn University at Montgomery, a commuter campus of 5,000. A passion I had felt for years became a specific vision as I talked with them about coming to AUM. They had been praying for a key student, and that’s what I became that night. By the end of that two-year period, I was convinced that God had called me to join the staff of Campus Crusade. I spent the next seven years at Western Kentucky University, three of those as the associate campus director, and am in my fifth year of ministering with Student LINC in Orlando. DMJ: How has discipleship over distance differed from your experience on a staffed campus? Debbie: I find that discipleship over the phone makes me bolder, more quickly! Something about 800 miles between us frees me up. Seriously, I think of all the work it took at times to find women who really wanted to reach their campus for Christ. Now, I’m working with guys and girls who often call me first. In my first conversation with a student, I communicate that I’m looking for a student who will trust God to build a movement of evangelism and discipleship on their campus. These students are so hungry to reach their campus and be developed that, from day one, they give me freedom to develop them. I was reminded of this just this week. Four years ago, I received calls from two students at High Point University in North Carolina within 12 hours of each other without the other knowing. Together, we began a ministry based on prayer and evangelism. I worked with Ben for two years before he began preparing for medical school. Just recently, I received a call from him thanking me for the influence I had in his life. It is a joy to work with these incredible students. DMJ: What particular challenges do you face? Debbie: On campus I relied a lot on time spent with disciples. Now, I get an hour a week over the phone and a week with them at Christmas Conference. Am I missing something because I can’t see them and be with them? On campus, my team and I worked together to structure the content of weekly meeting talks, training sessions, etc. We had ranging experiences in ministry that worked together and complemented our strengths. In distance-based ministry, my students mainly hear from me. My weaknesses cannot be deflected because of another’s strengths. DMJ: How have you dealt with those challenges? Debbie: It is hard not having time in person with my disciples. That’s the most difficult part of this ministry. But, I know that my limited time can be life changing for them, and me. I’ve learned to ask more questions, be bolder and challenge statements that don’t sit right when I hear them. I pray with them every conversation we have. I send notes and ask questions about small things in their lives as well as the big. They know the stuff happening in my life, too. It also means that when I do have time with them, I remove myself as much as possible from other responsibilities. I want to give them my full attention. When it comes to compensating for my weaknesses, I involve other ministries nearby as much as possible. I have staff friends pop in, and I hook them up with a fall retreat in their area. Most importantly, I have learned and am still learning that I must plan. One or two missed opportunities because I am shooting from the hip are like weeks missed on a staffed campus when it comes to recruiting for conferences or even dealing with issues in their lives. DMJ: Give us some highlights from the last four years. Debbie: Watching my students come on staff has been great fun! Knowing that I’ll get to see them at conferences and that they perhaps will resource me on the field is a joy. Another highlight has been working briefly with Carol from High Point, one of the original two who called me. Her life of faith challenged me greatly. She died at 21 from cancer, but the accounts of her life range from leading AIDS victims to Christ to leading people to Christ from her wheelchair while on chemo. A highlight this past year was getting to pray for Doug, a former student leader who’s now on staff, as he took a group of students on a pioneering summer project into Central Asia. How exciting to watch a new work begin by students! DMJ: What would you say to a person who is considering distance ministry but has great concerns about the jump to discipleship over distance? Debbie: Only a few years ago, I was the student who longed for God to use me. I despaired of ever being used because I didn’t know how. My heart is gripped with the realization that there are students on many of the unresourced campuses in our regions longing to be used by God. He has raised them up to do what we can’t do because of our limitations. More than ever in my years of ministry am I convinced that any influence I have in a student’s life is a gracious act of God to involve me. I am also convinced that God is the one who changes lives. I cannot explain to you the freedom I have found in trusting God to care for, challenge, and equip students to minister and walk with Him. I know without a doubt that my brief moments in these students lives is having a far greater impact on many more students than I could have ever imagined. For more on distance ministry check out the Distance Ministry Journal.

Phone Calls: The Art and Science of Contact

2005-10-06T11:36:00.000-04:00

This article by Jill Young appears in the Distance Ministry Journal. This is a great intro to phone coaching. It is a bit long, but a great read. The first time I gained an understanding of distance ministry was talking with a Southeast LINC staff woman at a regional staff gathering. I asked her more about what she did and I was ntrigued. She told me about all the students she brought to Christmas conference and how her contact with them was mostly by phone. I said, “How come we don’t hear more about this?!” When my journey on staff found me at a desk on the Orlando Student LINC team in 1995, I felt like a freshman in college. I was excited but didn’t know anything. Even though I had been on the field six years, I was ignorant about how this distance ministry thing would work. I was put through the crash course on how someone goes through the process of contact to filtered leader. Then came the first phone call. Ring, ring. Panicked, I looked at my LINC teammates and said, “What do I do?” Julie Stanikas said, “Pick it up, you know what to do.” Ring. My hand lifted the receiver. “Student LINC, this is Jill. How can I help you?” And believe it or not, I did know what to do. I went through the telephone interview sheet and informed the person of who we are and how we could help. Then I dropped our “first mailing” in the mail. A campus ministry is born Now, I can’t say whether that first phone call was Josh or not, but within my first week, Josh did call the 800 number. Our receptionist rang my phone, “Jill, there is young man named Josh on the line and he is interested in starting a ministry on his campus.” Yes, it was that straightforward. Josh, a sophomore at the time, was a student at Jacksonville University. There are about 2,000 students at this private, liberal school. His voice let you know that this guy had a future in either radio or speaking. He was articulate as I asked him how he found out about us and asked him how Campus Crusade could help him. He explained he was frustrated with the other ministries on campus because they didn’t reach out to the unbelievers. He also shared about his calling to be a pastor someday. He said a former staff member told him to give Campus Crusade a call to see if we would help. That’s where we began. We set up a time for a weekly phone appointment immediately because I had a good feeling that Josh’s application would be fine. I scheduled Josh on Fridays because I knew that talking then would end my week on an encouraging note. He was familiar with the Four Spiritual Laws and already sharing his faith weekly so my training with him over the phone was brief in this respect. Next, I went through the Holy Spirit booklet over the phone. I told him to have a pen handy so he could draw lines in the booklet. He was so thankful to go through this booklet. The next Friday I asked him if he had a chance to look at it again and he said, “That booklet has really impacted me. I have read through it daily.” I was so jazzed!... The Art One thing I’ve learned about coaching key leaders over the phone is relearning what it means to listen. When I talk to someone in person, I pick up on visual cues as well as listen to what the person is saying. On the phone, I find I must pick up audible cues. How does the person sound? Excited, down, encouraged or discouraged? Why is there silence? Is she distracted, thinking, or just not paying attention? What is the noise in the background? A TV, radio, people talking in the hall, interference? Why is there hesitation? Does he agree, isagree or have a better idea of what to do? If I don’t listen for the cues, I’m not building a relationship with my key leader. If I don’t ask questions based on the cues, I miss out on the character building moments that come from being in ministry together. One time, I was talking with a student and heard the clicking of a keyboard in the background. I asked, “What’s that noise I hear?” He said, “Oh, I’m typing.” Wanting to believe the best, I said, “Are you taking notes on our conversation?” He said, “No, I’m doing my e-mail. I can listen and do e-mail at the same time.” I told him that I’m sure he could but that I’d appreciate him giving me his full attention because it was like him talking to two people at the same time. One of us would feel left out because his attention was elsewhere. He understood and has never done that since. Another time, I was talking with a student and she was telling me about a difficult situation and then she stopped mid-sentence. I wasn’t sure what happened, so I asked, “Are you crying?” There was a muffled, “Mm-hmm,” on the other end of the line. I wanted to jump into the phone and put an arm around her shoulder and give her a big hug. Since I couldn’t do that, I told her my intentions and sent an e-mail later with some encouragement. The Science The appointment itself is similar to appointments I had on campus. I think through ahead of time what items to cover. It seems this is more crucial on the phone since I get one shot with not just a student, but the student leader. Another benefit is that the student or volunteer is usually excited to hear from me because they need direction, encouragement and training. Generally, the first 10-15 minutes is devoted to seeing how they are doing and listening for clues for what could be beneath. Many times I find people are much more open on the phone than in person because of the safety of distance. This helps since I don’t have the “down time” to just hang out with them. The next 30-45 minutes I use to coach them in the next step of training for them personally and/or just talking about the next step for the movement on their campus... My frequent outline for an appointment is using the critical path elements as a springboard for questions. How is prayer going? What’s happening with people sharing their faith? What material are the leaders using in cell groups? Who is the point-person for recruiting people to Christmas conference?... The rest of the article where Jill explains benefits can be seen here.

Rising gas prices and still getting to scope.

2005-10-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, right after Hurricane Katrina hit, Tim Holcomb, Mid-Atlantic Forerunner, sent me an email saying that he was having to re-work his budget because gas prices had gone up so much. He thought this might actually help motivate us to employ distance coaching more and to think outside the box about other coaching paradigms. So I did some asking around for others' thoughts on distance coaching. One of those responses came from Jim Layman, Northeast Catalytic Regional Director. I asked him if I could share his thoughts with you. One time I was talking to a director who confessed that retention was a problem on the staff team. As this was a gracious person, I wondered what would be the problem. But then he described the typical work week. Staff would drive up to several hours each way to visit four or five different campus locations each week. That's roughly a daily "road trip". I told the director that I would want to leave the team, too! Staff can beat the high price of gas by traveling less and "distance-coaching" more. If I had five campuses to coach, I would plan to show up when I needed to, when I could really make an impact, but certainly not "every Thursday". The wear and tear on the staff member being constantly in a car is one thing, along with the "walletectomy" done at the gas pump! But another factor is also important. Students need room to lead and take faith steps. I would coach those leaders via Godsquad, email, and phone over four or five weeks and make a special visit sometime when I could deliver resources and participate in outreach alongside them. The students would not have a weekly face to face with me to "solve all their problems". They would need to solve them locally, with my coaching and encouragement from a distance. They would need to actually lead the ministry since no staff are going to be showing up anytime soon. They would have to lead in evangelism, maybe actually do it! Also, these students would not grow tired of a "weekly appointment". They might actually truly look forward to my occasional in-person visits, and so would I! True, if there were not student leaders in place, the ministry might flounder. But would I really want to drive over and "prop it up" each week? I might consider investing more visit time to try to uncover new indigenous leaders, but I wouldn't automatically fix it into my weekly schedule. The time I wouldn't spend driving to each assignment (each week) could actually be better used in research about additional campuses or multiple movements. . We know a big challenge for us in Catalytic includes re-inspecting our launched campuses for multiple movement options. A certain amount of that can be done by phone and computer, a zero-gasoline expenditure. I could also keep working on critical mass for the ministry, so I'd have money to buy all those local student leaders a Christmas gift! Jim offers some good principles of student ownership here. Kerri Louck said, "A well planned hour on the phone can save 9 hours alone in the car. Encouragement is not bound by gas prices when we use the phone, email, IM and even 'snail mail'." And Sam Osterloh is prophetic when he says, "In Acts, it took persecution to force the church out of Jerusalem and into the world. Today, it's taking rising gas prices to force us to commute less, give ownership to the students and practice good distance coaching." If you are looking for ways to break out of the weekly visit to Campus A on Mondays, Campus B on Tuesdays and Campus C on Wednesdays, give us a call here in the Student LINC office, 1-800-678-5462, and we will give you some practical tips on phone coaching that will actually free you up to do more launching.

Two hours, four campus communities

2005-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I was a part of some meetings in Los Angeles where we talked about how to launch the next 1000 campuses and 1000 new ethnic ministries. I love that kind of discussion. The vision, the dreams, releasing God to work, asking Him to open doors of effective ministry. What is interesting to me is that God is already at work preparing the ground for when we do go seeking to launch. Just a few days before those meetings, I received this email from Lee Davis, Oregon and Nevada State Catalytic. He had just returned from a three day trip to Nevada to visit three of the campuses he coaches. Just wanted to share a quick story of what the Lord can do in a short amount of time. Yesterday, I was at the University of Nevada in Reno. 11:00 I met a Fraternity guy (Phi Delta) and encouraged him to lead in our new Greek ministry we launched last yr. 11:30 I met Monique, an African American student who has been coming to CRU for the past 2 yrs. I took her over to the computer where we went to www.ESMHelp.com. I introduced her to IMPACT, and asked her if she would consider attending the IMPACT conference in LA.. (I am praying that five UNR students will attend.) I cast the net for her to consider helping start an IMPACT movement. We proceed to meet an African American girl sitting 10 feet away, handing her a "3 Free Songs card" and asking if she would ever be interested in attending an IMPACT Bible Study. She said yes. We wrote down her name and phone number for Monique to call her. Monique was blown away by how quick everything had happened. 12:00 We had to rush off to our 1st International Coffee House planning meeting for our Bridges Ministry that we were launching that night. On our way to the meeting I noticed a room full of Asian Americans, so I stopped in and introduced myself to the President, Katrina, an American / Philippine student. I explained in 30 seconds our EPIC ministry and asked if we could hand out EPIC FSK’s in the future. She was excited for this opportunity. I will follow-up this by email and pass it along to my student leadership team at UNR. (Monique was with me, and she was amazed that we could offer so much to students all over campus). I just talked by phone to students about last nights 1st launching meeting. They had 14 International students, all contacts through FSK’s and six American CCC students. This was a huge success for our catalytic students who "by faith" have been planning this event. I thought you’d be encouraged to hear about this quick trip to Nevada and how the Lord worked in less than two hours to help us begin to reach SCOPE at the University of Nevada. Lee Paul tells the Colossians in 4:3,4, "…pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (italics mine) Oh, that God would open doors of effective ministry and that we would walk through them. As it turns out, Alice Walters, Greek LINC Consultant, is working with the Greek ministry at UNR and there is a BridgesLINC team able to step in to coach the international student ministry. Lee is making use of all of the resources in the Campus Ministry. Very cool, Lee!

40 Days Prayer Calendar

2005-09-18T19:27:00.000-04:00

From my vantage point, I get copied on lots of email. That is both good and bad. But the good part is reading about ideas and resources that others are using in their ministries. One that I received recently is a prayer calendar developed by the Sioux Empire team in South Dakota. They are using it during these days leading up to their fall getaway. Their calendar started early in September. But here are some of the requests at this stage of their 40 day countdown:

Pray for small group studies; students connecting; prep for small group leaders
Pray for launching new campuses; ask God to direct us to "persons of peace", to provide favor with campus admin.
Pray for the Spirit-filled life to be first priority in personal lives and movements
Pray for multiple movement (MM) launches on every corner of every campus; God to raise up persons of peace
Pray for other ministries on campus; Navs, IVCF, FCA, church based ministries
Pray for students and staff to rest well in the Lord; value for enhancing our "interior climate"
Pray for laborers; grad. seniors to consider missions, CCC staff

Jeff Bridgforth, GodSquad webmaster has posted their 40 Days Prayer Calendar. Obviously, it contains requests that are unique to the Sioux Empire, but it is easily adaptable to your team. One other tool that the team is using is a top 10 list on "Fasting…while you are still eating."

What I like when I first read through these documents was the reminder to be intentional about placing myself in a position of dependance upon the Lord and to see the big picture with my entire scope in mind. This, then, lends naturally to attempting steps of faith by going after scope and reaching into other communities on our campuses. May God open doors of effective ministry and may we walk through them.

Decoding Campuses

2005-09-11T20:51:00.000-04:00

Our ministry to international students is BridgesInternational. Fred Andre and John Rood form the BridgesLINC team, coaching staff and students around the country as they minister to Internationals. They also send out a regular coaching tip with ideas and perspective. Recently John sent out one on decoding a campus. I liked the Biblical rationale that he gave for this tactic that we frequently employ in apostolic ministry. Though he is writing with international students in mind, the principles apply to all of us. There are two general fears that all people encounter; fear of men and fear of the unknown. If you’re anything like me… these fears can sometimes overwhelm me, and I stop sharing my faith with others. The most obvious way to get rid of your fear of the unknown is to figure things out. One of the best ways to figure out international student ministry is to spend some time decoding your campus. Why decode your Campus? Decoding your campus can provide you with information and easy points of entry that can help you cast vision for others to join with you in reaching international students. Not only is this extremely practical, it’s also Biblical. Consider the example of Moses as the Israelites explored the land of Canaan (Numbers 13). Rather then simply telling Moses the information he needed, God directed that he should send spies to collect and decode the situation. 1. v. 1 The story begins, "The Lord said to Moses." This implies that Moses and the Lord were talking. Decoding your campus begins with prayer. Perhaps you can go prayer-walking: praying on site with insight. As you are walking around campus, ask for God to work and for God to give you vision, burdens (emotional and spiritual) and creative ideas for ministry. 2.) v. 4-15 Use other people in the process. Recruit others to decode the campus with you. Perhaps you can get an escort: find someone who knows their way around, with an insiders view. Pray for a receptive and influential person of peace (Luke 10:1-12). This kind of person is receptive to you and to your message and might be used by God to reach his or her sphere of influence. He or she may even become a core leader of a future transformational community and he or she may not even be a Christian yet! Ask other Christian workers what they have learned. 3.) v. 17 - 20 Think through categories of information that you need and cultivate a list of questions to ask.

What kind of Great commission resources do you have? Perhaps God’s people are already there! Look for Christian international students, a church with an international student ministry or Christian faculty. Simply ask others, "Do you know any international students who are Christians?"
What is it like to live there? Lodging, shopping, transportation, etc.
Academic Life: What do most international student major in? It is likely that there exists an International Student office of some kind on your campus. Find out what the office is doing with international students.
Student life: What do international student do for fun? Where are the hangouts? What countries are they from? What organizations, association and sub-cultures are they a part of? What sports do they play or watch with friends? Try to find statistics: number of students, nation break down, etc…
Worldview and ideologies: What are their beliefs. Use surveys and focus groups. Ask questions and listen.

4.) v. 23 Gather stuff. Scripture does not say which two men carried the grapes, but I just have a hunch that it was the two optimistic spies of the group. You can look for and collect maps, brochures, catalogues and other information that you discover about international students on your campus.

Finally, make sure that you do not merely collect the information, but that you decode it properly with eyes of faith. The goal of decoding is to learn. Hopefully, as you learn about your surroundings, you will discover easy connections and opportunities for ministry. A healthy bit of decoding on the front end of the semester can give you vision for the future, a burden for the lost, creative ideas for ministry and will ultimately help you conquer your fear of the unknown (now I just need to figure out how to get over my fear of people).

For more on decoding a campus, check out "The Top 10 Ways to Decode a Campus". For even more detail with surveys and tips on understanding diverse ethnic and spiritual cultures, the LA Metro team has a booklet for purchase that is very helpful.

If your ministry plans include reaching the international students on your campuses, why not email Fred and John at BridgesLINC@uscm.org. Ask for their tips or have a conversation with them about resources. Maybe you have a student leader working with Internationals that could use their specialized coaching.

Katrina

2005-09-05T07:56:00.000-04:00

Many of you reading these tips live outside of the US. But, I am compelled this week to speak to the tragic events in New Orleans and in the rest of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where people were most effected by Hurricane Katrina. Our hearts go out to the many, many thousands who have lost loved ones and homes. While we are certainly busy with campus start ups and connecting with incoming freshmen, many of us still want to respond in a tangible way to those in need. And if possible, do it is such a way as to contribute to our ministry efforts on our campuses. In an email to all of us in the US, Ken Miller, Great Plains WSN Regional Director, gave some practical suggestions for involving our ministries. (Ken had been part of the Asian Tsunami Relief Team.) Plans for specific relief efforts will come together in time, including sending students to the region to help with relief efforts. But I want to echo his suggestions:

Gather your students to pray for both the victims who need help and for the students you will meet through your engagement in this effort. Cast vision for the opportunity this represents to position your ministry as those who "live the gospel" as well as "give the gospel".
Identify and deputize a team of student leaders who will coordinate and give lift to Katrina Relief efforts on your campus. Cast vision to this team for quick action events to meet immediate needs and prepare for short term relief trips.
Look for ways to involve students who otherwise would not connect with you rather than redirect student leaders who are already engaged in significant ministry.

This generation of students is drawn to meeting the practical needs of the suffering. As Christians, we are called both to share the Gospel and to share with those in physical need. It is what others have called the integration of the Good News with good deeds. Campus Crusade for Christ is specifically called to share the Gospel with every student and to develop "movements everywhere". We know that many other organizations exist that have the manpower and infrastructure in place to help meet physical needs. We have a wonderful opportunity to partner with those organizations and to mobilize students who would typically not get involved with us because of their perceptions of an evangelical ministry. In so doing, we can exercise leadership in showing compassion. Let us consider what we can do this week to capitalize on the momentum created by the media coverage to moblize for long term help.

Co-Journers Training Series

2005-08-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

Student ownership. What does that mean? Is it students in charge of a meeting? How about students leading Bible studies? Or students doing evangelism? Yes. When we talk about student ownership, it must include student evangelism. And the Co-Journers evangelism training is great training for this generation of students.

The basic premise is that everyone is on a spiritual journey. Some are moving toward God, while others are moving away. We have the privilege of entering into a person's spiritual journey and helping them come to Christ. That is what a CoJourner is, a person who travels with others spiritually, helping them come to Jesus. Along their journey we play four different roles: Explorer - to discover where they are spiritually Guide - to show them the way to Jesus Builder - to provide bridges over the obstacles along the way Mentor - to encourage them to continue on

There is no better way to involve incoming freshman in our mission than to take them through a training series for CoJourners found on GodSquad. Ben Rivera, master Bible study leader; Keith Davy, Director of Research and Development and the developer of the CoJourner concept and Jeff Bridgforth's expert design and webmaster skills created this introduction. And here is the first week's lesson for a taste of what they are like: In the CoJourners Equipment Pack, four cards give motivation for us to join in another's spiritual journey and there are four cards for each role to build the skills to Explore, Guide, Build and Mentor. All of these cards are available on line. But your students may find that they would like to purchase the Equipment Pack to make it easier. The staff price of $6.50 is available in the GodSquad Store. (for password, contact your director) CoJourners is described as "a passionate and purposeful adventure in authentic relationships". Quite frankly, sharing with our friends is often the most difficult evangelism that many of us do. These simple skills really help us to overcome the initial inertia and fear that we have in sharing with our friends. Why not consider asking everyone who leads a Bible study in your ministry to take a look at the introduction and week 1 page this week and then have them set aside time in their studies to do this training next week. And together, let us trust God that as we enter into their spiritual journey, many of our friends will move closer to the Lord. Have a great week launching and resourcing new ministries.

School Year Kickoff, Part 2

2005-08-21T22:14:00.000-04:00

Last week I mentioned four specific areas to get your student leaders up and running for the year. It is exciting to see what students will do when we equip them, express confidence in them and then release them to watch God use them. But there are some things that the students, and all of us, need you to do. Here are four: Articulate your vision for a Transformational Community. I just love to paint a picture of what God would do through a student on their campus. Incidently, this is just as effective over the phone. Have a conversation using the Local Leader Critical Path. http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/leading/critpath.htm I ask them to draw out the diagram and then we discuss Vision, Critical Mass and the critical path steps of Prayer, Evangelism, Discipleship and Sending. Ask lots of questions about what God might do, what they are trusting God for and what they might do initially for each step. When you ask them to assume leadership you become a resource by sharing your own vision and ways that you can help. I would say that this is one of the most important skills you can develop as a leader.

Make sure your info is current on the infobase. (This is if you are staff or an intern in the US)

Edit your profile so that the information is accurate. You are the only one who can do this and it only takes a minute. But it is so important for anyone looking at our ministry locators trying to reach you with a contact for a campus. If you don't know how, ask your director.
Check to see if your name is attached to the right campuses. Again, our ministry locators are in lots of visible places (GodSquad.com, EveryStudent.com, our campus ministry sites, etc). We want parents and friends to tell us about Christian students. If you are working on a campus and the ministry locator does not list a ministry there, the default is "Would you like to help us start a ministry?" Far fewer will contact us when they see that than when they know that some ministry activity is already going on.
If you have campuses within your scope that you would like to get to but you have not been there yet, list them as "Forerunner" campuses. At least you will get any walk-in business that might come, rather than people going elsewhere if they think there is nobody there.

Decide which campuses you will do launching activities on.

If you are not intentional about pioneering on other campuses then it will not get done. As a staff team, decide which campuses and when you will visit. Three easy things to do there are FSKs, ESC posters and QuEST interviews. The ideal time to pioneer is during the first six weeks of the semester. Students are the most open and available during this time. If you feel like you are taking time away from existing ministries, prepare the leaders the week before by saying that you will call them to talk through what is going on in the ministry and answer any questions at that time. And let us begin to pray that God will use your time of pioneering on new campuses to help the students on your launched campus to grow as leaders.

Learn how to direct and delegate rather than just doing.

I started driving tractor at 4 1/2 and a truck at 9. After 40 some years I think I am fairly good at it. No matter how much modeling and teaching I provided, I finally had to get out of the driver seat and give the wheel to my sons. They made some mistakes at first. I had a few white knuckle moments. But it was necessary. We are developing leaders. They won't/can't lead if we continue to do so. A good starting place is the article "Delegating Responsibility"

http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/leading/delegation.htm

I tried to focus here on developing your leadership. Leaders think strategically and with the big picture in mind. Develop the skills of casting vision and delegation, and the character of dynamic determination. Together let us pray that God opens up the doors of effective ministry on more and more campuses, so that more and more students can hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Have a great week launching and resourcing new ministries,

School Year Kickoff, Part 1

2005-08-14T18:22:00.000-04:00

What a great time of the year! So much to do. So much promise of what God might do in our ministries. So many people to talk with. So many options. So where do I begin? Let's make this as practical as we can while we get our ministries up and running. Our time is limited. The first week that a freshman student is on campus is probably as important as the rest of the first semester combined. This first week is when students will determine who their friends will be and what they will value in college. Who is your key student leader on each campus? Coach them through each of these four areas. As they see God use them right out of the blocks, it will build their confidence for the rest of the year.

Developing vision for what God will do this year.

Have every student in a leadership position read or re-read the Transformational Community article. This is what we are trusting God to do on every campus. http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/leading/transcom.htm.
Here is a worksheet for developing vision for your movement. http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/leading/developvision.htm.
For great suggestions and priorities for the first six weeks, check out http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/leading/sixwkpln.htm.

Making contact with the key players.

Call each of the rest of your student leadership team to see how their summer went, inform them of the first meeting and what their individual responsibility is, and answer any questions they may have.
Give your faculty advisor a call to inform him or her of the first events of the semester and to give them specific prayer requests.
Check to make sure your meeting room is scheduled, any tables that you might be using for FSKs or surveys are reserved, and any ads that you might put in the newspaper are ready to go. You want to make sure the details are covered.

A kickoff meeting with the leadership team at the earliest possible time.

Share your vision for the year.
Have a devotion from, say Nehemiah 1, about the start of a great undertaking. Nehemiah is a great example of the dual roles of prayer and action.
Inform them of the first few events and make sure that each responsibility is covered.
Take concerted time to pray for God to move, for new students to connect, and for the ministry to grow and make an impact.
Encourage everyone to take some time to read the Campus Ministry Year on GodSquad http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/leading/campusyear.htm

Be thinking about your first outreach.

If you plan to hand out Freshman Survival Kits, decide when to assemble them and when the earliest time to hand them out will be. Remember the very first week is when first year students are determining where their allegiances lie.
If you will have an open house, a "cower" or pizza party, etc. make sure that the right "people" people are greeting visitors to make them feel welcome. Have the opening talk be brief, visionary and welcoming.
If you use a survey to find interested students, schedule the table or dining hall to take the surveys. Three easy to use surveys with transitions and nationwide tabulating tools can be found on the Resources page at http://quest.campuscrusadeforchrist.com. Start right away with the Poster of the Week strategy. http://www.godsquad.com/squadroom/evangelism/poster.htm

If you are coaching your leaders to get started, why not forward to them, and schedule a time to talk about the details of pulling this off. It is a huge confidence booster when a student begins to take ownership and sees God use them. And it frees you up to be able to go to a campus that does not have the student leadership already in place in order to prayer walk, hand out FSKs or do an info table.

Have a great week launching and resourcing new ministries.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"

2005-08-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

Some time ago, I read an anecdote, that may only be an urban legend, but, nevertheless, I liked the story. In God we Trust. A couple was staying with the husband's wealthy boss. On the way to dinner at an exclusive restaurant, the boss stopped short to pick up something in the street. The wife was surprised to see that it was only a penny. When she asked later if the penny might have had some value, the wealthy boss called attention to the words, "IN GOD WE TRUST". He said that whenever he finds a coin he stops to pick it up and checks to see if he is trusting God. He sees it as God's way of starting a conversation with him. Is he trusting God or his own means? It may only be an urban legend, but I have adopted that practice. This morning, at the 2 mile mark of my 3 mile run, I saw a penny in the street. I actually ran past it because I was running at a good pace and did not want to stop. But I thought better of it and went back to pick it up. As I started off again with the penny in hand, I found myself in prayer telling the Lord that I wanted to trust Him, to say "Yes!" to Him and to be His. It was a meaningful worship experience, running in the sweltering humidity of Orlando. Interestingly, (now this may be my perception or my superior athletic ability!), but I noticed that my stride was longer during that final mile. When I finished at the marked time I had set, I had run further than at any point in several months. Did I just psych myself up? The pragmatist would say so. But for those of us looking for the touch of God in our everyday lives, I believe that it was God's reminder to me to stop and recall what my trust is in. It was confirmation that "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31 NIV This is a very busy time for all of us, getting back from CSU, finishing up summer assignments, solidifying our financial support, gearing up for FSK distribution, getting in touch with student leaders and, generally, preparing for the most critical weeks of the entire year. But our trust is in Him. We go with God's blessing. We are on His mission. Yes, we want to start new ministries and grow existing ministries and give more students a chance to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. But we are God's messengers. In God we trust. The year ahead. That said, I will again be sending out Coaching Tips each week this year. If you have interns or volunteers that you want to receive these or if you wish to be removed from this list, let Pat Senkbeil know. Also many of you have developed ideas, strategies, a ministry perspective or a resource that God has used in some way in your ministry situation. If you think others would benefit from what you are using, would you let me know so that I can pass it on to others. I look forward to sharing some the best ideas for launching and resourcing ministries each Monday morning. Together, let us believe God for wide open doors of effective ministry and a bountiful harvest of lasting fruit as we claim campuses and the diverse ethnic communities on those campuses for our Savior. Have a great week launching and resourcing new ministries.