Campus Evangelism

The Middle School and High School campuses are one of the greatest mission fields in Louisiana. The following strategies can be seamlessly used to equip, empower, and encourage your students and church to reach that mission field.

Get to know school administrators

Your heart must be to minister to students and serve the schools represented in your church. Your goal is to gain the confidence of public educators and join them in their pursuit of educational excellence. To do this, it is important to establish credibility through ongoing contact with school administrators and staff. Here is a simple proven approach to accomplish it.

1. Make and keep an appointment with the city mayor (sounds extreme doesn’t it). While at the appointment introduce yourself by presenting your academic accomplishments and how you have helped build the young people in communities. Assure the mayor you are there to help him contribute to a great community and you will work to help him accomplish his goals. Be sure to dress appropriately! Before you leave ask them if there is anything you can do to help, then offer to say a prayer for them.

1. Make and keep an appointment with the parish superintendent (or whoever is in charge of the parish public school system). Do the same as you did with the mayor. Mention you met with the mayor and want to help them accomplish their goals. Before you leave ask them if there is anything you can do to help, then offer to say a prayer for them.

1. Make and keep an appointment with the principals of the students who attend your church. You may have students coming from several public schools. Make appointments with all of them. Do the same as you did with the mayor and superintendent. Mention you met with the mayor and superintendent. Mention you want to help him/her accomplish their goals. Before you leave ask them if there is anything you can do to help, then offer to say a prayer for them. Get personal with them by telling them you will pray for them and their teachers regularly. If he says he needs help doing anything—do your best to do it. Then watch for opportunities to serve. Here are some examples:
  - Substitute teach for coaches on Friday so they can focus on game preparation.
  - Dustmop the halls before school starts each morning—of course, praying as you go!
  - Take up tickets at sports events like soccer, volleyball, football, etc.
  - Host teacher in service at your church or provide the lunch on those days—compliments of your church
  - If you have a background in sports, band, clubs, etc., visit those club sponsors to see if you can help.
  - Help the baseball coach stripe the field.

You get the idea—do what you can, start where you are at, use what you have! There are hundreds of other ways to help. God will direct you as you get plugged in.

The following resources as one strategy to reach the schools in your community. It is a foundation that enables you to build your own campus outreach strategy. Start by adopting a school, begin praying for that school, disciple students to be missionaries, and finally create or influence a club environment for them to be able to invite their friends to come hear a simple presentation of the Gospel.

Yearbook Praying

This is a great strategy for getting your church involved in praying for Christian and non-Christian students at your school. See if you can purchase an extra yearbook from last year or plan ahead and by an extra one this year. Cut the pictures out in rows that include five to seven students and have them ready for people at your church to pick up. Ask them to pick up a strip of pictures and commit to pray for each student once a week. They don’t even have to know the student to pray for them. The key is to have them pray that if the student is a Christian, that God would use them to make an impact on their campus that day. That if they are not a Christian, that they would give their hearts to Christ. Can you imagine the impact that would happen if every student on your campus were prayed for once a week for the entire year? Another option, in case you can’t get a yearbook is to use a school directory or a list of students at your school. This should be a public list that’s available to anyone so you won’t be invading anybody’s privacy. If your school is big, involve other churches in this prayer effort and watch what God can do when His people pray.

Prayer Groups

Any group of two or three students praying for God to make an impact on their campus can be effective. God’s doesn’t seem to be as worried about numbers as He is about your heart. Prayer groups can be a couple of friends or a bunch of students broken down into smaller groups. The key is to focus your prayer on students who haven’t had a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ. The saying, “Sometimes we don’t talk to our friends about Jesus because we haven’t been talking to Jesus about our friends,” is all too true. Prayer groups that are focused on seeing friends come to Christ will have the kind of purpose it takes to keep going over a long period of time.

Prayer Boxes

Once permission has been granted from the Christian club on campus, place boxes around campus where students can drop off prayer requests. These should be built so they are secure and have a slot through which to drop requests. The morning of club, club members get to school early, collect the prayer requests and pray over them.

Student Rights on Campus

You have the right to carry your Bible on campus.
You have the right to pray during school on campus.
You have the right to share your faith as long as it is not in a harassing manner.

Refer to these resources for more information:

Legal Society, www.christianlegalsociety.org
The Rutherford Institute, www.rutherford.org

Campus Evangelism