Merry Christmas!

Hello, and congratulations - you have almost made it to the end of the semester. Hopefully the next week or so will not be too difficult for you as you rush through the last round of exams and final projects & papers before the semester comes to a close.

We pray that you will take time as a ministry to celebrate all that the Lord has accomplished in you and through you over these last several months. Its also not too late to finish the semester well with hosting a celebration for your ministry and thanking those that help make your ministry possible.

We also pray that you take some time this advent season to seek Jesus, to reflect upon Emmanuel - God with us. Let's seek him like the Magi:

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."" (Matthew 2:1-2)

During this Christmas season we have the privilege of being able to seek and find the same Jesus that the Magi met 2000 years ago. Praise God!

"After they heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:9-11

I thank God for the example he gave us of the wise men 2000 years ago who took the time and energy to earnestly seek the Christ child then to worship him and give him gifts from their treasures. Let us all take the time to seek Jesus and worship him this Christmas season. It would also be great for us to follow the example of the magi and worship through giving him a gift from among our treasures.

Thank you for all you do to serve the Lord on your campus, and have a Merry Christmas!

P.S. Also, keep in mind the importance of registering for the Boston Winter Conference and for promoting it as well. The early pre-reg discount deadline is before noon December 15th. Once classes come to an end, it will be much tougher to get students to register. The next few days are very important. Please click on this website to register: http://www.bwc2009.com/

The end is near!

Hello,

It's amazing to think that December is upon us, the Christmas season has begun and the end of the semester is near. What would you like to accomplish before the semester ends? Do you have a friend you would like to talk with about Christ? Do you have a Christmas outreach planned that you and/or others in your ministry would like to follow through with? This is such a great time of year to show the love of Christ to our friends and neighbors!

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Here are some things to keep in mind for your last week or two of the semester:

• Reserve your meeting room for next spring, plan on starting your meetings during the first week of classes. Starting early is key to involving returning students and attracting new/transferring students.


• Find out if there is any club fair or orientation that you can reserve a table for to publicize your ministry to new or transfer students, reserve any rooms or tables needed for outreach activities or special events.


• Choose or design your posters and make copies of them, then you'll be ready to put them up when you return.


• Meet with other leaders to talk about next semester. Topics to study, outreach ideas, plan something fun to do during the first few weeks of the semester.


• Celebrate the end of the semester and Christmas! Either in your last weekly meeting or at a separate time - have a Christmas party, take time to have fun with one another and to build memories before saying goodbye for the next several weeks.

Also, keep in mind the importance of registering for the Boston Winter Conference and for promoting it as well. The early pre-reg discount deadline is before noon December 15th. Once classes come to an end, it will be much tougher to get students to register. The next few days are very important. Please click on this website to register: http://www.bwc2009.com/
We are praying for you!

Christmas is coming!

Hello,

Most likely as you read this, you are eagerly anticipating your upcoming Thanksgiving break! Chances are, that you might think there is plenty of time to consider Christmas outreach after thanksgivin but even with Thanksgiving just over a week away, most of us only have a few weeks before exams end, so it is probably just the right time to plan for some Christmas outreaches. People are usually much more interested in spiritual things at Christmas time, so I encourage you to be ready to share the hopeful "news of great joy" that we have with your friends and classmates.

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."" Luke 2:10-11

Some outreach ideas to the campus may include:

• Giving out any remaining evangelistic books and resources at a table, or bringing them to a weekly meeting or small group and encouraging members to take 2-5 with them to give out to friends.


• Giving out candy canes and/or hot chocolate at a table near the campus bookstore when people are selling books back. (There is an interesting story about the Candymaker using/designing candy canes to tell others about Jesus--not sure if it is true or not but there is some interesting connections in the design).


• Showing the Charlie Brown Christmas special (there is actually gospel content in it!)or the Nativity movie and having a party where people invite friends. Play some fun games and decorate Christmas cookies (made in advance).


• Get together as a group and bake cookies to give out to non-Christian friends and to the people on campus that you want to thank.

One other thing we would like you to consider is taking a few moments to thank those who help to make your ministry possible on campus. (Phil 1:3 "I thank my God everytime I remember you.")
Some of those people may include:

• Faculty Advisor


• The person who approves your posters


• The worker who reserves rooms for you


• The accounting person who you go to with your financial questions and for money


• Etc....

There could be many others, but consider how you might show some appreciation to them. A card signed by those in your ministry or leadership team, a small plate of homemade cookies etc. Nothing expensive or elaborate but it shows care, appreciation and the love of Christ

We pray that these ideas will help you reach out with the love of Jesus in a couple weeks as we enter the Christmas season. If you don't use one of these ideas I hope it helps spark your imagination to develop other methods of reaching out!

Praying for you,

Prayer: Praying onsite with insight

Hello,

Last week I shared with you some thoughts on prayer, this week we wanted to mention prayer walking. Prayer walking is pretty simple, nothing mysterious but very beneficial!

Simply leave your room and comfy chair behind and walk through your campus and pray. If you are seeking to help your movement's prayer ministry grow have a prayer walk during your weekly meeting or small group.

Some ideas:
1) Pray as you walk, go with 1 or 2 others, many more than that and it will be difficult to walk and to hear one another.
2) As you pass certain buildings pray for the people who work and live there. Pray for residents in a particular dorm, pray for Fraternity & Sorority students as you walk pass Greek houses, pray for the administration as you walk by offices.
3) Pray for groups of people as you pass by them. Pray that the lost would hear about Jesus and receive the good news.
4) As you walk pass the gym and athletic fields pray that athletes would be reached and that bible studies for athletes would begin.
5) Pray in or outside of the rooms where you have your meetings and Bible studies. Pray that students would come and that Satan would be prohibited from entering. Pray for protection.

As you walk you see things that you may not see if you were in a room, this prompts us to pray for them.

Some benefits of prayerwalking:
1) Your heart for the campus will grow as you see people and the needs there.
2) You will pray for people that you probably never would of thought of before.
3) Your compassion for individuals will increase.
4) Prayer time will go by faster and will be more meaningful.
5) God will be glorified!
6) You will get to know the 1 or 2 people that you are praying with better.
7) Fresh air and exercise!

Matthew 9:36-38 "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

So, consider prayer walking your campus. Try it even as you walk back and forth to classes. Invite a friend to come along, a Bible study can do it, or have everyone gather and go out in groups of 2-3. See what the Lord reveals to you!

Enjoy praying!

Prayer: Connecting with God

Hello,

I think one of the most tremendous privileges that we have as believers is to be able to talk to the Lord of the Universe - to be able to boldly approach His throne in prayer!

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

"Again , I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:19-20

We talk about prayer a lot, and all know its important, yet we often struggle to actually pray!

How can we help create a culture of prayer on campus? Here are a few ideas:

• At your weekly meetings: open and close with prayer, occasionally have times of corporate prayer during the meeting, have people turn in groups of 3 or 4 to pray for a certain topic.


• During Bible study: make an effort to have a time of prayer for one another, write down prayer requests on an index card and each person pulls one out and prays for that person during the upcoming week


• Try setting up prayer partners or triplets for those that want to meet for prayer and accountability


• Prayer chain: have people sign up who would like to participate and when someone has an urgent prayer request, they can call the first person on the prayer chain, and that person calls the next person and so on... You could also set up a prayer email list serve.


• Set up a prayer table on campus: reserve a table in the student union and have a sign for people to come over and share a prayer request. You may also want to have some articles to handout or info about your ministry, but the emphasis would be to encourage people to share their prayer requests. Don't forget to actually pray for them! If they are okay with it, you can do this right then and there!

It is great to pray for people's physical concerns (my aunt has cancer, my brother broke his leg) or concerns about school, work etc. However don't forget to pray for spiritual needs! Pray for friends & family to come to Christ, pray for the lost on your campus. Pray for revival. Expand your vision and the vision of those in your ministry beyond the temporal, focus also on the eternal! It is important to ask God to bring students to Christ, help our ministries grow, and change the culture/environment on our campuses. Please take a few minutes to check out some more ideas and information related to building a movement of prayer on campus at the Godsquad website: http://www.godsquad.com/prayer/index.htm Then choose an idea or two to put into action on your campus!

We are praying for you!

Spiritual Growth: Building Community

Hello,

"Dear friends let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7)

We pray that your week has gone well and that you are keeping up with your classes! As you continue to build the ministry on campus this semester, please keep in mind the need for community. As students connect with one another in your ministry their desire to come to other events and activities increases. If they keep coming, their relationship with the Lord is likely to grow. When they become more comfortable with others in the ministry, barriers will be broken down and people will more willingly open up about what they are thinking and struggling with.

Some simple steps to cultivate community:

• Incorporate simple ice breakers or games into your weekly meeting/bible study. Activities to get people sharing about themselves and laughing together. You can go to the website http://www.godsquad.com/discipleship/icebreakers.htm for some great ideas. If it isn't too difficult have snacks or refreshments at/after your meeting or Bible study.


• Plan some fun activities outside of your regular meeting times: game night, bowling, mini golf, make your own ice cream sundaes, go to a fall festival together. Go out with others after the meeting


• Get together as a smaller group - invite 2-3 people over to your apartment (if you have one) for dinner, or ask them to meet you at the dining hall. Meet for lunch on campus


• Plan a girls night out/guys night out. This is a great way to bond and develop friends.
  People are much more apt to open up at bible study and volunteer their time to help out if they are friends with the people in the ministry. Don't forget the fun!

Acts 2:42,46 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,"

Fall Getaway

Spiritual Growth: What are you thirsty for?

Hello, what are you thirsty for? What do you long for? The Psalmist David writes “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2

Isn’t it wonderful that the Lord of the universe loves us? He loves us completely and unconditionally. Our prayer for you is that you would grow in your understanding of God’s love for you. This is also our prayer for ourselves.

Eph. 3:17-18 "...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ," He loves you no matter what. Do you really believe it?

One of the best ways to grow in our love relationship with God is by spending time with Him. Only as we sit at His feet, talk with Him and read His love letter to us (the Bible) will we be able to truly grow in our love of and longing for Him. We can also practice recognizing His presence with us throughout the day whatever we do and wherever we go. Please go to the godsquad website to check out some other ideas related to connecting with God.

Quite often in ministry we get so busy doing, that we forget Who we are doing it for! It isn't good for our ministry to be born out of duty or obligation. We experience so much more joy and motivation when it is an outflow of our love for Him and His love for us!
We encourage you to take time with your Father today, and every day.

If you have a few more minutes please check out the fall retreat testimonies in the column to the right. It was a great blessing for those of us who were able to come. If you were not able to come, I trust you will enjoy reading a little about how God is working in the lives of some who participated.

Spiritual Growth: Are You Satisfied?

Hello, Are you satisfied with your walk with God? How about right now? When I sat down to work on writing this, I realized that I wasn't quite satisfied, I just needed to take a few minutes to stop and talk with God about some of the anxieties on my mind. 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Sometimes in our busyness and efforts to do good things like leading a ministry or sharing our faith, we can trust in our own efforts and strength to live the Christian life. When we take this approach, it usually results in frustration and discouragement. We want to encourage and equip you as children of God to stay in fellowship with our Heavenly Father, to walk in the power of the Spirit.

This can often involve a moment by moment struggle for us. For example, I know that all too frequently I say yes to my flesh and no to the Spirit when I don't get my way. Often it can be as simple as me getting anxious or irritable because I'm behind schedule with what I want to accomplish, or the person driving in front of me is driving slower than I like or someone behind me is too impatient for my liking. Then if Melissa (my wife) asks me to help her with a small task or asks a question, instead of responding in love, sometimes I say yes to the flesh and get impatient and irritable ("the fruit of the Spirit is .... 'patience'"). Can anyone identify with this type of struggle? I am sure that at times you can, Paul illustrated this well when he wrote Galatians 5:16-26. Verse 17b says: "They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want"

The following are some principles taken from Campus Crusade's "Satisfied?" booklet:

It is only through faith in God and in His promises that we as believers can live the Spirit-directed life. As we continue to trust Christ moment by moment our lives will demonstrate more and more of the fruit of the Spirit and we will be conformed to the image of Christ.



Moment by moment we are making decisions to either gratify our sinful nature or say yes to the Holy Spirit.

We will also have a more meaningful prayer life and more fruitful times in the word. We will experience God's power in witnessing. We will be prepared for spiritual conflict and receive power to resist temptation and sin!

If you are ready to yield control of your life to Christ, confess any sin that you are aware of and desire to be filled with the Spirit; You can be filled with the Spirit right now by faith through prayer. This is based on God's command found in Ephesians 5:18 "...be filled with the Spirit" and His promise in 1 John 5:14-15 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him."

As we yield to the filling of the Holy Spirit, He will produce great fruit in our lives (see Galatians 5:22-23). Please take some time this week with the Lord to read and meditate on Galatians 5:16-26 and Ephesians 5:15-21. As we apply the principles of the Spirit-filled life, He will transform us from feeling frustrated and discouraged. We will experience true joy and the excitement of seeing God at work!

How wonderful is God's provision for us!

Spiritual Growth: Helping New Believers Grow

Hello, we pray that you are doing well and that your fall semester is going well. We talk a lot about sharing your faith - the importance of taking the initiative, talking with others about Jesus faith and reaching students on your campus. We pray that you will get to see a number of other students make decisions to begin a relationship with Jesus. We also want you to know what to do once you have seen someone trust in the Lord. Whether you led them to Christ, or they are a new or immature believer that is in your movement, there are several excellent resources that might help you, help them.

On the website http://www.godsquad.com/discipleship/index.htm there are some tools that are called "Life Concepts". They are found under the discipleship section. The lessons cover valuable topics such as:

• Assurance of salvation
• Forgiveness of the believer
• Filling of the Spirit
• Walking in the Spirit
• Spiritual growth

New Christians need to understand who they are in Christ, the above topics will help lay that foundation. The new believer also needs help in these areas:

• developing a regular habit of spending time with the Lord in prayer and in His word
• finding a good local church where they can learn and grow
• close fellowship with other believers
• encouragement and equipping on how to share the Good News of their salvation with those around them

Ephesians 4:14-15 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."

What a wonderful privilege we have to be involved in what the Lord is doing in the lives of His children! We pray that your ministry will bear much fruit and that you will have the awesome joy of helping others grow and mature in their relationship with Christ.

Spirtiual growth: Small groups and Bible study resources

Hello,

As you dive into the semester past the initial start up and gathering phase, you will want to focus on the spiritual development of those in your ministry.

Small groups are an excellent way for us to encourage one another in our faith. In Colossians 3:16 Paul says: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." So many elements of a small group in one verse! Wouldn't it be great if we didn't just know the Bible well or a lot about the Bible, but rather, that the Word of Christ dwells in us richly?

Here are some things to keep in mind about small groups:

• Small groups are about relationships! Ideally this is a place where students can come and grow. They can share about their joys and struggles, a place they can be real.


• Make sure it is a safe environment. Give people time to share and talk. What is shared in the group stays in the group (talk about that as a small group - people won't share if they are afraid others will talk about it). Be a listener more than a corrector!


• It's good to have a variety of ingredients in your small group time: prayer, ice breaker, vision and bible study.


• As a small group - plan a fun activity together and outreach event.


• Talk about evangelism in your small group! Talk about different people you are sharing your faith with, pray for students to come to know Christ.

We strongly encourage you to check out www.godsquad.com for great and easy to use Bible study materials. Here is a link to the bible study materials: http://godsquad.com/discipleship/biblestudy.htm There are many different kinds of studies, here are a few that are included on the site:

• "Freedom Is" study on Paul's letter to the Galatians. All the topics are related to the Gospel: "The uniqueness of the gospel" "the history of the gospel" "the life of the gospel" etc. There are 10 different lessons.


• 1.5 page studies which have 13 different ones with the theme of "Understanding God, Understanding Ourselves" covering topics such as: Perspective on sin, assurance of salvation, loving others, making right decisions, sharing your faith etc.


• "The God Who Is" with 9 lessons. "God is Love", "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Jesus, the Humble servant"are a few.


• Cru.Com is another series of Bible studies. There is a CD that you could purchase, but if you click on the free sample section there are many listed there that you can download for free.

The great thing about these studies is that they are designed just for you and your audience (college students!). They come with leader's notes, are biblically sound, cover critical topics, have good discussion questions and most won't take a lot of time to prepare. They can be adapted for small groups or larger groups - just break your big group into smaller groups for easier discussion.

First Six Weeks: New students & how to keep them

Hello,

We hope that by this point of the semester, new students have come to your meetings and activities. We trust that you understand the importance of reaching the Freshmen class and helping these new guests get involved in your ministry.

We don't want new students just to show up once or twice, and just fade away as the semester progresses. It's important help them KEEP coming. How will that happen you ask? The key is relationships. Lots of people will check out a club or ministry on campus once or twice, maybe even 3 times, but after awhile if they aren't connecting with others, getting to know people and feeling like they are wanted then they won't keep coming back. If they develop some real friends in the ministry then they will probably continue to come and assist with our mission on campus!

Here are some ideas that should help cultivate friendships and involvement:
Invite new students to meet you for a meal (guys invite guys, girls - girls, you don't want this to look like a date!). You don't have to go alone, you can invite other students to join you. Don't make it too many people, or someone could be overlooked in the conversation. You have to eat anyways and this is a great opportunity to really get to know someone. Get other returning students involved in this as well.

Share the gospel with new students! Don't assume they are Christians just because they come to your study, or they come from a church background. Go through the Knowing God Personally booklet with them. You can introduce it this way: "Just so you know what we believe...." This familiarizes them with who we are as a ministry, and to one of our tools. Plus if they aren't a Christian - you get to share Christ with them!

Ask new students to help out with an event or activity. Hanging posters, bringing snacks, helping to plan a social activity. This helps them to start thinking of the ministry as "ours" rather than "yours" and they get to know others as they work along side them. (Don't ask someone that is new to lead a bible study or some other spiritually significant responsibility without feeling confident that they are walking with God.)

Personal invitation - invite students personally to come to a get together, help out with an outreach or to join a committee or small group. When you ask everyone in the setting of a meeting, usually, "everyone's ask is no one's ask".
We hope these tips help. Building relationships is really foundational for a fruitful ministry - just like this example from the book of Acts.

"Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:46-47

Wouldn't it be great if our ministries reflected this scriptural picture of the early church?

Please take time to add comments listing an activity or two you have participated in or used in your ministry to have fun together and/or build community.

Thank you.

Have fun connecting with one another!

First Six Weeks: Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ

Hello, we hope you are enjoying the first several weeks of the semester.

As the activities of fall continue, we want to reach lost students with the good news of Jesus Christ. This is so vital to our mission and the students on our campuses who need Jesus.

Many of you have evangelistic materials and resources you can distribute on your campus. In most cases, now (the first few weeks of the fall) is the best time to use them. Set up your table in a high traffic area (like the Student Union, Campus center, dining hall, etc.) during a peak time (like just before and during lunch). Another good time to give them out is during an student activities or club fair.

While giving resources out, make sure you ask students to fill out some sort of survey or response mechanism before giving them a free music download card, candy or other item. If they don't want to fill anything out still give them the items you are offering but for those who do fill out a survey, you can get in touch with them afterwards either by phone or email to let them know about upcoming events and activities. You can also respond to their interest level depending on how they fill out the questionaire. You can go to the godsquad website to utilize a survey http://www.godsquad.com/evangelism/surveys.htm or http://www.godsquad.com/evangelism/quest.htm . Please feel free to copy these to use on your campus.

When students you meet express their interest in hearing more about the gospel it would be best to contact them personally and set up a time to get together with them to talk. Opportunities like this are so great, don't pass them up! If someone indicates a strong interest in hearing more about the claims of Christ, make them a top priority to meet with over a soda or cup of coffee in the Campus Center. While there, go through something like the 4 Spiritual Laws or Knowing God Personally which contains a 4 point outline of the gospel (let me know if you want more info on this).

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." Romans 1:16

Sharing the Good New of Christ is what we are all about, don't miss out on the opportunity to have God's power working through you to bring the gospel to lost students this fall!

As a ministry, please pray for opportunities to share your faith and that lost students would believe in Christ on your campus this fall!

Trusting God for great things

The First Six Weeks: making your ministry known

The countdown for the First Six Weeks continues!

Think carefully about your ministry's publicity situation. If a Freshmen were to step on campus, who didn't know anyone and didn't know if there was a Christian group on campus, would he or she be able to find your ministry? Do the nonbelievers on your campus even know there is a Christian movement on their campus? You must make yourselves visible for new and returning students.

At all times, every day of the school year, we want to have posters up around campus. This is so essential. You can plan great meetings and outreaches but if no one knows you exist or how to find you, no one will come.

Some essentials to keep in mind in making up your flyer:

• your ministry's name
• day of your weekly meeting/Bible study
• time you meet
• room you meet in
• Easy to read from a distance (If they have to get right on top of it to read it, most likely it won't be effective.)
• Bright paper
• Posted in high traffic areas
• Keep it simple (so it will be easier to read)

If you want to communicate some sort of message about your group on the poster, try to focus on something to do with: love, friendship, acceptance, and community. You want people to be attracted to your group not put off by it.

At your first few meetings, it is great to pass around a sign up sheet asking for people's names, addresses, phone #s and email addresses. Create an email distribution list and keep people updated on coming events, announcements and reminders. Try to keep it free from forwards, they clutter up the inbox and if there are so many non important emails from members of your ministry, people are less likely to read the important ones.

Publicity is pretty simple to do, it doesn't take that much time or effort but for whatever reason we tend to neglect it quite a bit.

So, let this be the semester that everyone knows how to find you! Check out http://www.godsquad.com/posters/index.htm and http://everystudentpromotion.com for more publicity ideas and poster downloads.

John & Melissa Mitchell

1st Six Weeks: Preparation

Hello,

As you may have heard us mention in the past, the First Six Weeks of the fall semester on your campus are the most important time of the whole year. It is during these weeks that most students make the decision of how they will spend their time, who their friends will be and what organizations they will join. That is why it is such a significant time for you and the ministry God has entrusted to you on your campus.

Ephesians 5:15-16 "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

We need to be strategic in how we use this unique opportunity for impact on our campuses. Over the next few weeks we’ll give you some tips on how to make the most of your First Six Weeks. Keep some of these tips in mind:

1) If you have others that help lead the ministry on your campus, get in contact with them now, begin praying and preparing for the semester ahead.
2) Decide when your first meeting/Bible Study will be (the earlier the better, the first week of classes is best).
3) Is the room reserved that you want for the whole semester?
4) Publicity, Publicity, Publicity…. Who is going to make some posters to advertise your meeting/Bible Study? Who will put them up and when are you going to put them up (before classes begin, or on the first day!)
5) Are you giving out any materials or resources? If so, make sure you have a table reserved and line up people to help out. Once again, try to do it during those first weeks of school.
6) How will you use your materials to maximize their value? Consider designing or downloading a survey and have people fill them out when they receive free materials, survival kits or music download cards from your table on campus. Then divide up the contacts and get back to those who expressed interest in learning more about God. Keep some to give to friends and first-timers at meetings
7) When are the ministry leaders going to get together to plan and pray?
8) How will you build community? How will you welcome new people?
9) Who are some of the younger students in your ministry that you can get to help out, and to begin developing into your next leaders?
10) What will your first meeting look like? Will you have music, snacks? How will you make new people feel welcome? What will you do for your Bible Study time? What will you study?

Hopefully these tips will inspire you, not overwhelm you!

In Christ,
John & Melissa Mitchell, Mike Peckham & Roe Brooks

1st Six Weeks: Prayer for the mission

Hello, we pray that you are doing well and are eager for the beginning of the semester. We know that there is so much to do - both personally and for ministry.

In the midst of all your activities, we want to encourage you to slow down and take time to talk with our heavenly Father about the semester ahead.

Some ideas to help prayer happen for you and others in your ministry:

• Gather with other ministry leaders for a special time of prayer. Pray for His leading, wisdom and direction. Pray for unity for the leadership team. Pray for the incoming freshmen class. Pray for students to come to Christ.
• Prayer walk - go out on your campus and pray as you walk. Pray for what you see. Pray for administrators as you walk past an office building, pray for the athletes as you cross the playing fields. Pray for freshmen as you walk past the dorms. Prayer walking is powerful!
• For the next few weeks, send out a daily email to others in your ministry asking them to pray for a specific topic or aspect of your ministry. (keep it short or it won't get read!)
• Ask your church or Sunday School class to pray for you and the ministry on campus. Give them specific prayer requests.

Prayer is a wonderful privilege, how amazing that we can approach the God of the universe with our request. He hears us, He cares, and He answers! Praise God!

Colossians 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."

Praying for you - John & Melissa Mitchell, Roe Brooks, Mike Peckham

The First Six Weeks: Welcome Back

We pray that you are doing well and that you had a great summer. It may be hard to believe, but the beginning of the school year is right around the corner. Hopefully you are looking forward to it.

We pray that this fall semester will bring glory to God and bring you closer to Him. We also pray that this fall many lost students will have the opportunity to hear about Christ on your campus.

Here are some thoughts in regards to starting the semester well as a ministry:

• Get in touch with other leaders in your ministry. Take time to reconnect with one another as well as to talk about planning and preparations for the fall. Check out the godsquad for some ideas. http://godsquad.com/leading/sixwkpln.htm
• Prayer, be in prayer for the fall semester. Some things to pray about: your own academics, walk with the Lord and ministry to others.
• Take time to dream and to ask the Lord about the "immeasurably more" He'd like to do on your campus and in your life this fall.

Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."