THE HIGH SCHOOL MINISTRY OF CRU

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Developing Prayer Partners

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CNN NEWS BULLETIN…

We are here in Orlando, Florida at the site of the most incredible news story in all of recorded history. If I wasn’t here seeing it with my own eyes, I would not believe it. People are walking around in a stupor as all activity has stopped for miles around and everyone is looking up in the sky to see a 14,000 foot mountain in the middle of Florida!!!!! I have with me a local high school student who has reportedly taken responsibility for this cataclysmic event. John, can you tell the listening world what happened?

“Sure, dude! Well, I was reading my Bible and I came across something that Jesus said, and thought if Jesus said it then I could believe it. It was the part in Matthew 17:20 where He said, “if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you could move a mountain.” Well, I have lived in this town all my life and thought, hey, we could use a mountain around here so I asked God to move Pike’s Peak from Colorado to Florida, and here it is! It’s verse 21 that got my attention. This is where Jesus stressed the power of prayer and fasting. I hope people aren’t mad at me because I’m going to be praying a lot more now that I see Jesus was right!”

Do you feel like starting a ministry at your local high school campus is like moving a mountain? Well, without prayer, you might as well be moving a mountain. Here are some tips to help you get others to help you move your mountain! We are talking miracles here! Realize our work is spiritual. We work hard to make a difference in students’ lives and the world. But apart from God, we can do nothing of eternal significance. Prayer is absolutely essential if we are to see lasting fruit from our ministry efforts.

“…. apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5b Have you settled the issue in your heart? Are you willing to commit yourself to prayer?

RAISING UP PRAYER PARTNERS

As a leader, you need to be able to explain your vision to others. You are calling forth a team of people who will wage spiritual war on behalf of students and leaders. Here are a couple of principles you can use as you call forth those who will intercede:

  1. Clarify your vision.

    Know how to communicate it clearly one-on-one and to groups. Using “word pictures” will help people understand your mission, like moving a mountain, or bringing in a spiritual harvest.

  2. Call people to be intercessors on behalf of the students in their community

    Seek to find people who really believe in prayer. God has burdened some with an extraordinary calling to intercede. Find someone to serve as a Prayer Coordinator.

LET’S GET PRACTICAL – DEVELOP PRAYER STRATEGIES

Some strategies include:

  1. Use the school yearbook to pray by name for each student. Perhaps you could give the students and adults who are praying five or six specific students each.
  2. Assign each of your students, teachers or parents a set of lockers in the hallway of the school. They can pray for the students who use those lockers each time they walk down that hallway.
  3. Ask students and adults to make a “10 Most Wanted List” of students or families they would like to pray would come to faith in Christ. Encourage them to set a specific time to pray for them each day or week.
  4. Go to school board meetings. As you are listening, pray for each school board member and the issues they are discussing.
  5. o to the school in the morning before classes begin or in the afternoon. Walk around the campus, praying for students and school activities.
  6. Mobilize students to lead and participate in “See You at the Pole,” the national youth prayer rally that takes place each September.
  7. Pray through passages of scripture for the school and its students.
  8. Send a letter to every student in the school telling them your ministry simply wants to pray for them. Enclose a self-addressed envelope where they can include any specific prayer requests. Then be sure to pray for those requests. Ask God to give you opportunities to influence those students for Christ.
  9. Consider a 24-hour prayer chain where individuals volunteer to pray for a particular time slot during the day.
  10. Invite your prayer team to outreach sites to pray during the event.
  11. Call your team of student leaders and adult leaders together for a day of prayer and fasting.
  12. Begin or connect with a local mother’s prayer group (Mothers Who Care or Moms in Touch).
  13. Communicate, communicate, communicate. You must communicate requests and answers to prayer with your prayer team.
  14. Organize a clear prayer strategy. Some ideas are:
    • A prayer phone chain
    • A group of prayer partners who are communicated with via mail, fax or e-mail on a regular basis
    • A prayer team whose touch point is calling a local phone number with an answering machine updated regularly with requests and answers.

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PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE:
CRU.ORG/GAPYEAR

 

Imagine taking a year after high school graduation to explore who God has created you to be, grow in your relationship with the Lord and reach out to high school students in other cultures. 

WHO  –  A Gap Year is for 18-20 year old students. You must be 18 by the time you travel overseas. Applicants must have a surrendered and teachable heart for the Lord. It is important to have a willingness to learn how to share your faith and take opportunities to share the Gospel with those that God brings into your life. A servant’s heart and a humility to learn about and respect the differences of other cultures is important. 

WHAT  –  A Gap Year is a 9 month adventure that will transform your life, give you opportunities to trust God in greater ways and share the Gospel with high school students across the globe.  You will be going to high school campuses to meet students and develop relationships so that you can share the Gospel and disciple those who are interested.  You will meet students through speaking in classes, sharing your testimony, playing sports, sharing your life and many other things. Your team can choose to visit an orphanage, serve at a refugee camp or meet the physical needs of others.  The majority of the focus will be developing relationships, sharing the Gospel and discipling those who respond.

WHEN  –  Cru’ s Gap Year starts in the Fall of each year.  You will start in September with training and development in Orlando, FL and then travel to your ministry location(s). There will be a short debrief back in Orlando mid May.

WHERE – There will be two Gap Teams. You can decide which team you would like to serve on. One team will stay mainly in one location and the other team will travel to multiple locations.  When a team is full you might be asked to join a team that has needs.  There might be a chance that we would ask you to pray about another option than what you chose. This would be to even out teams, but you will not be required to change.

 WHY –  Gap Years have been proven to have a positive impact on academic performance in college. Research shows that students who participate in gap year programs often perform better in school, have a better sense of direction in their lives, and have higher employability than those that go directly to college after high school. Participating on a gap year with Cru will also prepare you to enter college with a strong spiritual foundation and the ability to be a spiritual leader and multiplier of your faith on campus.

 ARE YOU READY FOR A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE?

Cru High School’s Gap Year is trusting the Lord to send two teams in the Fall of 2020. We are still putting together the locations, but this is what we are trusting the Lord for:

Gap Team 1: This team will go to Guayaquil, Ecuador for the overseas portion of the mission.  There will be possible short trips to other locations in South America/Caribbean to help with ministry in those locations.  The benefit of staying in one location for an extended time is you will have more time to develop solid relationships, share the Gospel and disciple students. It is not required that you speak Spanish, but it would help if you learn some of the language.

Gap Team 2: This team will go to multiple locations. You will start in a country in South America for three months, a country in Africa for three months and possibly in Eastern Europe or another area of the world for one to two months. This team will also develop relationships, share their faith and disciple students. They will also focus on raising up leaders to continue the ministry when they leave the country. Exact locations will be posted as soon as they are confirmed.