This week Jordan Whittington, College Minister at First Baptist Church in College Station, shares a great strategy for engaging students in the life of the church.

Sunday we held our 2nd Annual Opportunity Fair. This is a great chance for students to hear about the many ways that they can connect and serve. The fair happens during our Sunday morning College Group (our largest weekly gathering time). We provide breakfast to be enjoyed while student leaders involved in the various ministry areas share about their involvement. We divide our areas of service into three spheres: Serve our Campus, Serve our Community, and Serve our Church.

This year we had the following tables: Small Groups, Preschool/Children, Youth, Bless our Campus, Freshman Team, Neighborhood Missions, Worship & Praise Team, Orchestra/Choir, Creative Arts, and Food Pantry. Each table has a student ready to share about the works of that team and how students can participate. Our hope is for each student in our ministry to be involved weekly in a small group, actively participate in our church body, and to choose an area to serve weekly (alongside devotional faithfulness and relationally evangelizing). 

After hearing leaders share about each of the ministry opportunities we allow the students to visit the tables of their choosing to learn more or to sign up. Last year was our first attempt at an opportunity fair. Many students checked multiple boxes of areas they were interested in, however, few took the next step of plugging in. This year we are transitioning to a ticket system, encouraging students to choose wisely how they will spend themselves. Each student received 3 “tickets” (cards they are to write their name, cell, and email on) to place at the opportunities they are most interested in. Our hope is by limiting our selections we will increase our participation.

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This week students from across the state will engage people with the gospel through spring break mission projects. They will be bold in sharing for this one week. What happens on mission could transform the way they live their lives if we are careful to help them connect the dots. 

How can you communicate that the mission exists beyond an event? Here are a few thoughts: 

Missions is not projects but people.  The people students encountered on mission are living out their own lives as usual. Hopefully there was a plan in place to follow up with them after the week was over.  If it involves your students, hold them accountable to that follow up.  If it doesn't, be sure that they are aware that there is follow up from someone, that the people they met are real people who matter to God every day. Make a plan to pray for the people they ministered to during the week.  

The mission is for here too.  Several BSMs and churches have come back from the mission field and implemented similar strategies in their own locations.  Whether it's free rides from the late night hangouts or engaging international students in a new way, help students implement the things they learned in their home context. Being on mission can happen wherever you are, and a mission trip can jump start new ministry in your local context.   

Boldness is needed wherever you go.  This week will be the first time some students have ever shared their faith with someone. The mission environment creates a sense of urgency and fosters boldness.  What could happen if your students brought back that same urgency to their local campus?  Encourage students to be bold on their own campus, to see those they encounter each day with fresh eyes. People on their campus need Jesus too, and the urgency to proclaim the gospel is the same wherever we go.  

Last week student leaders from across the state of Texas met together for the State Lead Team Winter Summit. These leaders will represent Texas Baptist Student Ministry and college ministry in Texas Baptist churches for 2018. At the Summit they were challenged  to be on mission where God has placed them for this season of life. Here are a few takeaways:

• Observe your surroundings. See people in their context. Who are they? What needs do they have? 
• Adjust. Everyone's experience is not the same as yours. How will you adjust? 
• Engage. God has given you a mission field where he has planted you. Engage it. 

They graduated and spent their last summer in the youth ministry, but where did they go this fall? When they became college freshmen?  If you're having trouble connecting with the students that just left your youth ministry, you're not alone. And, there may be some things you can do to "mind the gap" in this next year. 

X You Are Here.  When students leave the youth ministry, where do they go next? Is it close to the youth building? Are you asking them to cross a parking lot, or go to a space that is far away from where they have been? It may sound silly, but your location might be creating a barrier for students. They have left friends in the youth group behind, and taking the initiative to go to a space far from where they have been might be enough to keep them from making the effort. If moving isn't an option, be intentional about finding students to help build relational bridges. 

Invest in the Youth Ministry. What do current youth know about the college ministry in your church? Do they know you as the leader? Students need to have a picture of where they will go next and who will be there. Let them see college students serving in the youth ministry. Have college students share testimonies about a college mission trip or retreat. If you're the college minister, offer to speak at a youth event, or serve as a leader at youth camp. Get to know the students who will be in your college ministry next year, or in two or three years. 

Remove the Stop Sign. Work with the youth minister and youth ministry leaders to develop a strategy for ministry that begins in the youth ministry but continues on into the college ministry. Begin to share that plan and vision with students in the youth ministry so they see graduation as a marker, not a stop sign, What will they look forward to as they grow into the college ministry? Leadership? Special mission opportunities? Giving back to the youth ministry where they started? Share the plan with students and parents along the way so that students eagerly embrace the road ahead as they move into the college ministry.