CAMPUS LAUNCH PAD

Growth in ministry is always exhilarating! Having more there than last year, starting a new small group, having to set out “overflow” seating; all of these things keep you coming back! It’s surfing the wave of chaos! But transitions can also be really hard. It’s hard moving from a “small group Bible study” to a “large group weekly meeting.” And boy, you can tell when you prepared for one and showed up at the other! It’s the same way with your student leaders and your staff. The art of leading as a single staff looks different then when you have a large student leadership team behind you. I didn’t realize this when I started in ministry. A HUGE mistake. When we began our ministry was about six students. Today we have six on staff. The dynamics are very different when you are a single staff and deeply know all five people around you to having a staff and having students leaders you don’t know very well. The transitions a growing ministry can face can damage your relationship

Going home for the holidays can be a great season for our students.  It can also be awkward. Students who’ve been free to come and go as they please are force to succumb to curfews and the onslaught of parental questions like “where are you going?” or “who’s going to be there?”  It can be a real challenge to transition from living on your own to living back under your parents’ roof.  Not only do students have to readjust to life at home, they also must navigate being a different person spiritually than they were when they left.  Think about it.  What have you see God on your campus this semester?  Students have come to saving faith in Christ.  Students have been rescued from sin and addictions.  Students are learning to forgive and letting go of bitterness.  Many students have come from nonbelieving families and friends and are returning to those situations where college was the escape out of it.  With God doing so many wonderful things in our students lives and our students headed

“You know, I think I need to start reading my Bible everyday. It seems to really help,” one of our upperclassmen students told me after one of our retreats. “Really?” I said, trying not to let my sarcasm show through. “Yeah, after that guy spoke about how he met with God I realized that is something I need to do and it can change my walk with God.” “Interesting, have you never heard that before?” I was trying really hard to sound genuine and sincere in that question, but if I’m honest I was screaming in my head, “You’ve heard that from me almost weekly for 2 years!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard something like that. I say “Read your Bible, pray, share your faith” they write it down, but a guest speaker says it and all of a sudden, “whoa, you know we should really read our Bibles, pray, and share our faith.” It’s amazing! One of the best things you can do for your students is to bring in outside voices, whom you trust, to speak to and train your students. Here

I remember the first year we had the budget (and enough students) to warrant an intern. I was excited! We were now “multi-staff.” We could have staff meetings instead of me talking to myself on the way to campus! The only problem was I had no clue what I was doing. Literally, no clue. I had little direction therefore I gave little direction. And by the end of the first semester our intern was burned out, feeling overwhelmed, and unsupported. I blew it. Interns are a great way for us to shepherd the next generation of collegiate ministers. They are also great ways to multiply our ministry and the gospel footprint on our campuses. We have to get this right! Here are a few thoughts when thinking about interns and what to do with them: USE RECENT COLLEGE GRADS Might I suggest to you that it’s better to have interns who are recent college grads instead of students. Why? If you pay a student to do ministry than you have a harder time helping other students understand that ever

Five years ago it was an anomaly for our students to go on mission projects.  We’d offer them occasionally, but the response was dismal and few seemed interested. We knew that had to change so we began to be more strategic and intentional about how we approached student involvement in missions.  We have seen a paradigm switch in our ministry over that past few years.  Then, the majority stayed.  Today, the majority go.  This past week I asked several of our students and staff what it was that made them become involved in missions.  Their answers confirmed that they had picked up on the shift.  Their answers were things we’d begun implementing four years ago. Here are four things that God has used to create a sending culture in our ministry: Missions is Expected We believe that if you are going to follow Jesus than you’d better be willing to be sent out because Jesus a sender to the nations. Because of that, we talk about missions ALL THE TIME! It’s everywhere, during every