Photo: Mark, Grace (one of our BSM associate directors) and Alyssa (a BSM student leader), are playing Sardines (reverse hide and seek) with a group of students during one of our BSM outreach efforts on campus during September.
As we began the semester, we felt compelled to help our students gain more of a heart for intentionally sharing their faith and spending more time with students who aren't Christians. We have been teaching the concepts from Breaking the Huddle, a great book about moving from a huddled Christian group to a Christian community where there are people coming to faith in Jesus and reproducing disciples (a conversion community).
One step was to hold many outreaches where the students could invite non-Christian friends, build trust with them and begin sharing about Jesus. Each week in September, we held a different outreach gathering in addition to our weekly scheduled gatherings. This included a cookout, Sardines, a board game night, and a gym night.
In addition to this, our Grow Teams (student small groups) each hosted an outreach where the students committed to invite and bring a non-Christian friend. It was fun to see the creativity of the students as they dreamed up ways to care for their non-christian friends and to invite them into community. The girls' group hosted a potluck dinner, the guy's held a taco fiesta, one co-ed group handed out milk and cookies at a freshmen resident hall and the other co-ed group went out to dinner to a local pizza place.
From these efforts, students are building trusting relationships and it's been fun to see their excitement grow for sharing the gospel and working to build trust with their peers!
Prayer Requests
Today is Engage 24, a national collegiate day focused on sharing the gospel on college campuses across America. We are using our weekly worship gathering to teach on God's heart for evangelism and ways to share our faith, and then we are hosting a s'mores and hot chocolate outreach in a freshmen resident hall at 8:30 p.m. Please pray for fruitful relationships and gospel sharing tonight!
One of our Spanish-speaking student leaders began a Spanish Grow Team (small group Bible study and outreach) last week. God already sent one non-Christian student. Please pray that this is a fruitful outreach and time in the Word.
Mark is teaching a couple of breakout sessions on Generation Z (current college students) next week at Conclave Youth Ministry. Please pray for him as he completes preparations for this and teaches others how to minister to and disciple college students.
Our baby girl keeps growing (yay!). Please pray that we continue to have a healthy pregnancy and have wisdom in making all the preparations for her arrival in January!
Please let us know how we can be praying for you! You are a blessing to us!
Mark and Kaitlin