The 250 Evangelism Ideas for Your Campus

The 250 Evangelism Ideas For Your Campus is a tremendous resource, consisting of ideas that college students have used to reach out to their classmates. Many of the ideas can easily be adapted to use with high school students. To order this book, check on ebay as it is no longer in print.

The following are some of the great ideas in the book, adjusted slightly so that you could use them to reach high school students.

MOVIES/MEDIA-The Damah Film Festival
GUYS ONLY-Basketball Tournaments
GIRLS ONLY-Topic of Real Beauty
REACHING FRESHMEN-Ice cream Social or Surveys
SENIORS-College Prep Seminar
HOLIDAYS-Christmas Tea/Party or Distribute “Is There a God?” Article
URBAN OUTREACH IDEAS-HipHopalypse and More Ideas
FREE GIVEAWAYS-Give Free Things Students Enjoy
SERVICE GROUPS-Meaningful Service Project
HANDLING TRAGEDY-Sharing the Gospel when Difficult Things Happen
DIVERSE GROUPS-Host a World’s Religions Panel and More Ideas

Several of the ideas are pre-evangelistic, but they could easily be adapted to include a presentation of the gospel. If you’d like to discuss how to adapt one of these outreaches to fit the interests of students at your school, call and talk to a coach at the Cru Coaching Center at 1-877-gocampus (1-877-462-2678). For further details on how to plan an outreach, search for the article called “Planning and Conducting an Outreach.”

To make these ideas easy to find in the book, corresponding numbers are included.

MOVIES/MEDIA-The Damah Film Festival (#218) This organization has films with themes such as grace, God’s sovereignty, misconceptions of Jesus, favor with God, the need to worship something, and many other topics that lead to further discussion about life and God. These short films provide the starting point for you to facilitate group discussions. In addition, the “Damah Touring Festival” could come to your school. The films are not perceived as Christian so you could ask your school to sponsor the “Tour.” At the end of the school day, your ministry could host a party for further discussion, where student leaders could share the gospel and share testimonies of their own spiritual journeys.

GUYS ONLY-Basketball Tournaments (#164) At The University of Florida, students hosted an all-nighter centered around basketball tournaments and competitions. A talk was given on real manhood and David from the Bible. Someone could share a testimony around this topic and the gospel.

GIRLS ONLY-Topic of Real Beauty (#166 or #168) Host a party for girls and discuss the topic of real beauty and the problem of eating disorders. To help girls understand God’s love for them and how He views them, bring in a speaker like nationally known speaker and author, Nancy Wilson. Your school might even pay to have someone like Nancy come and speak at an assembly at your school. You could host a party after school, like a spa party for example, and have the speaker share the gospel. To bring in Nancy Wilson, author of “In Pursuit of the Ideal,” see www.nancywilson.org.

REACHING FRESHMEN-Ice cream Social (#127) Invite freshmen to an ice-cream social (hosted by your club or by a group of Christian friends). The college students that did this outreach included a plastic spoon with the invitations they handed out. To make this event evangelistic, have three or four upperclassmen talk for three to five minutes each on how to make the most of high school. One of them should share their testimony, explaining how knowing God helps us to make wise choices now and for our future. The others could cover areas such as “how to succeed in high school relationally” (ideas on wise dating, purity) and “how to succeed in high school academically” (maybe giving a few study techniques). There is a great book available called “How To Get Better Grades And Have More Fun” that could be a door prize.

REACHING FRESHMEN-Surveys (#112) Do Freshmen Surveys with all the freshmen. Give those you survey an invitation to a party you are having just for freshmen. Tell them about Cru (or your Christian club) at the party, with a student giving their testimony. Let them know how your group can be a resource to them. Use comment cards so you know who’d like to know more about your group and/or a relationship with God. Search for comment cards and surveys on this site.

SENIORS-College Prep Seminar (#128) To help students prepare for college, you could host a college prep seminar inviting Christian college graduates to come back and teach about college life. At www.collegeprep.org, there is a great program that uses multi-media and humor to help high school students understand the realities of college. At the outreach, have one of the college students share how Christ is guiding his or her life and purpose. Share the gospel and invite students to receive Christ.

HOLIDAYS-Christmas Tea Party (#180) For girls, host a Christmas tea or party to talk about the true meaning of Christmas. People can share their favorite Christmas traditions, and someone can share the gospel, explaining that Jesus is our greatest gift. Search for articles on Christmas outreaches and pre-written messages you could give at the outreach.

HOLIDAYS-Distribute “Is There a God?” Article (#117) At Christmas or Easter, distribute the article “Is There a God?” to five or ten of your closest non-Christian friends and then ask them to meet back for coffee to tell you what they thought of the article. You could ask them four simple questions to help guide your conversation. See the article “Turning the Conversation to Christ”.

Note: There are many great holiday outreach ideas in The 250 book, covering St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. (See pages 75-79.)

URBAN OUTREACH IDEAS-HipHopalypse and More Ideas

(#85) Try what the students at Morgan State in Baltimore did to reach their friends. They gave step performances and then shared the gospel.

(#86) How about hosting a talent show with an open mic time, including evangelistic poetry and rap? Students at George Mason found this to be a great outreach.

(#87) A 3-on-3 Basketball tournament was held for students at Mississippi State. Every applicant received a package with candy, soda, and the book, “More than a Carpenter” by Josh McDowell. To reach your school, you could also bring in a Christian speaker, maybe a graduate of your school who played college basketball, to give their testimony and the gospel.

(#88) HipHopalypse was an event planned by students at Syracuse University where Christian rap acts performed. One of the rappers shared his testimony and the gospel.

FREE GIVEAWAYS-Give Free Things Students Enjoy (#91) At UCLA, students advertised that they would give out a free drink, called Boba, to students who attended their weekly Christian meeting one week. Boba is a tapioca milk tea, very popular among Asians. Over 100 students attended their weekly meeting. You could adapt this and give out something you think students might enjoy, such as pizza or something more specific to a certain group. One idea is distributing the book “How to get Better Grades And Have More Fun” by Steve Douglas, to National Honor Society students. Call 1-800-729-4351 to order this book.

SERVICE GROUPS-Meaningful Service Project (#131) Students can build relationships and collect community service points all at the same time. Have students invite other clubs or groups of friends to do a meaningful service project together. Encourage students to pray for these friends, asking God for open doors to talk about Him. See “Meeting and Relating to Students” and “Turning the Conversation to Christ” for good questions to ask students about life and to help start spiritual conversations.

HANDLING TRAGEDY-Sharing the Gospel when Difficult Things Happen (#176) At Indiana University, students hosted a coffee house, and a mother came to share her experience in dealing with tragedy. They provided free desserts and Starbucks coffee. As you try this outreach, remember that the gospel can easily be shared by talking about real hope in a world where difficult things happen.

DIVERSE GROUPS-Host a World’s Religions Panel and More Ideas

(#152) Host a World’s Religion’s Panel University of Oklahoma students invited a Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish student to be on a panel with a Christian. Four specific questions were asked of all four groups to help the listeners learn about each religion. After the students shared their views, a catered dinner was provided for those in attendance. A list of questions was provided to help guide their discussion on the topic of world religions. Christian students were trained ahead of time on how to lead the conversations and help explain Christianity. The students aimed to begin building relationships with these students of other faiths in order to further share the gospel in the future.

(#135) Bob Blackford, a national speaker, gave his testimony at Central Washington University on how he contracted HIV through homosexuality. Bob shared how God set him free from the homosexual lifestyle. Why not ask your school if you can have him as a guest speaker, especially if you have a day like “Gay Day” at school (this is happening in some schools)? Or you could just have an optional after school event with Bob as your speaker. There would be cost involved, but the school sometimes will pay for an assembly speaker.

(#137) How do Christianity and science relate? Try hosting an assembly or evening program with a speaker like Fritz Schaeffer who does a program called “Christianity and Science: Friend or Foe.” Use comment cards and surveys to follow up with those who attend to discover their interest in knowing Jesus.

Remember, there are many more ideas in the book, “The 250 Evangelism Ideas For Your Campus.” As you can tell, some are easier to do than others, but all can be adapted to fit your needs. In addition, the book has a list of more great speakers and programs to bring to your school.

Vision of Fruit

Creative Evangelistic Events

Getting to Know Your School

Global Missions

Involving Adults in Ministry

What they’re saying about Cru

How to Lead a Small Group

So you want to lead a small group Bible study? But you’re wondering, “What do I do? What will I teach? Will the group even listen to me? Can I really do this?” Sure you can! Here are some thoughts that will help begin your small group.

Some Thoughts on Leading Small Groups

1. Teach the basics.

It’s a blast to help new Christians grow in a close-knit setting. Make sure to teach the basics of the Christian life and give training in basic ministry skills. The best part of all is helping the group develop a heart for reaching others for Christ.

2. Realize your impact is far-reaching.

Small group studies are a big part of a growing campus outreach. Your campus will benefit big time from your small group. Know that you will be helping to reach the entire school through the training of your group. Your students’ hearts will also begin to desire to help fulfill the Great Commission. By leading a group, you will offer important accountability and intimacy that the students want. Your study will also provide a non-threatening place to discover truth. They’ll love digging into the Word and seeing how it applies to their lives. The best part is seeing the students begin to lead others because of the impact you make in their lives.

3. Interact and give assignments.

Jesus showed us an example of small groups through his relationship with His 12 disciples. He interacted with them and gave them assignments. Paul even learned from Jesus’ example. Paul explained:

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom . . .” (Colossians 3:16).
“The things that you heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). (This is an example of discipling group members to multiply spiritually.)

4. Evaluate the needs.

Think through these important things before you begin your small group Bible study. Begin evaluating the needs of each person in the group. Based on their needs, you will decide on the study’s content and begin to plan your lessons. Then make arrangements for your first meeting. As you get to know the people in your group, you’ll find out more needs and topics you can cover. After some time of leading the group, evaluate your progress and how the students are doing.

5. Reach out to new students.

What! You don’t have any students to lead yet? That’s okay. It’s fun to reach out to new students. Consider doing your own outreach to gather students.

6. Identify and respond to specific needs.

These students have needs (boys, girls, school, dating, parents), but you won’t know them automatically. Talk with them individually. Ask questions and make a list. Note things that will accelerate their personal spiritual growth. Maybe you’ve noticed that a certain student struggles with guilt. Bingo! Do a study on forgiveness for this student. Another student in the group is a brand new Christian; she knows nothing except that she loves Jesus. You will need to focus on the basic foundations of the Christian faith for this student.

7. Split into two groups if necessary.

As you spend time with the students, you may find they are at different maturity levels. Because of this, you might want to split into two different groups. However, the relationships within the group may be more important; in this case keep them together.

8. Find appropriate materials for your study.

Once you’ve figured out the students’ needs, find material that relates to their maturity level. It will be helpful to find material that is already written. This will save you time. Another benefit to using pre-written material is that the students can use the same material in the future for leading their own studies.

9. Plan out a location and meeting specifics.

Pick a good time and place to meet. The home of one of the students is often good, especially if that student is a leader. Let students know how long the Bible study will last. People have busy schedules, and this makes their week’s planning go a little smoother. Call them in the middle of the week to remind them of the meeting. Parents will appreciate being informed also.

10. Include key components as you schedule out your study.

A schedule of your typical study should look a little like this: Spend about 15 minutes letting the students share and interact with each other, maybe over some refreshments. After pulling the group together, open the time in prayer, and spend the next 30 minutes in Bible study. You will catch the group’s attention by starting off with a creative activity. Give the students an application at the end of the study and then spend the next 10 minutes in conversational prayer.

11. Be flexible.

Keep in mind that as you discuss the lesson with the students, things don’t always go as planned. Be flexible and help point them back to the central truth of the study.

12. Create an environment of acceptance.

During your meeting, you want to create an environment where the students will know they are accepted and that the lesson applies to specific areas of their lives. Do this by encouraging good questions, being enthusiastic, and making sure you are familiar with the material.

13. Be real.

Allow the students to get to know you as a real person. This is where they will be able to see Christ in you.

14. Build relationships with others in the group.

Some ideas for building relationships between you and your group are:
Be an encourager. Think the best of others.
Show special kindness. Learn to be a giver of your time and your possessions.
Find out what their interests are and do the things they want to do. Put them before yourself.
Go places together. If you are planning any kind of activity (shopping, recreation, doing some work for someone) invite one of the group members to go along.
Call them. Let them know you are thinking about them.
Exercise or work out together.
Study together – both schoolwork and Bible study!
Eat together. Going out to eat is a great time to have fellowship and talk.
Attend Christian activities together. Select gatherings that will be helpful for their growth.
Write or e-mail them. Let them know how you are doing and that you are thinking of them.
Share personally what God is teaching you. Don’t be afraid to share some of your own needs.

15. Take them with you on evangelistic appointments.

You will be an encouragement and teach them more than you could in a Bible study by letting them see you live out your life. They will develop a heart for telling others about Christ too!

16. Get your students involved in a church.

Many of the students you work with may not attend a church, or go to one that is not teaching God’s Word. Depending on their situation, you will want to get students involved in a church that will nurture their faith. Be sensitive to parents. Make sure you communicate with the parents first before taking them to your church. If it is a family tradition to attend church together, encourage the student to be a missionary to those in the church who don’t know Christ.

17. Debrief after each study.

After each Bible study, take time to determine the effectiveness of your time together. Make a few notes on things that could have been done differently. Ask yourself, “What specific needs came up? Which students need to be drawn out at the next meeting? How effective were the learning activities? What did and didn’t work well? Did they retain the main point of the lesson? Did they leave the Bible study wanting to know God and His word?”

18. Pray for and evaluate each student.

Pray specifically for each student. Ask God to help them understand and apply the lesson. As time goes by and the students begin to grow, observe and evaluate their personal progress in three areas:

Do they have a growing dependence upon, and love for Christ?
Are they growing in love for one another?
Do they have an increasing compassion and concern for a lost world?

Got Questions?

You’ve got some more questions, don’t you?

Q: What do I do if a student asks a question I can’t answer?

A: Don’t be afraid of students asking questions. Encourage it. Don’t fake an answer. Refer the question to the whole group and see what kind of responses follow. Explain that you don’t know the answer, but would be more than happy to find the answer for the next meeting.

Q: What do I do if the students want to study a topic that isn’t found in basic disciple-ship materials (i.e. Revelation, cults, etc.)?

A: Keep in mind that the overall purpose of discipleship is to “present every man mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28). Students need to first know the basic truths of their faith. But don’t discourage their interest in other issues. Sometimes short studies on different topics would be good.

Q: How do I handle a student who tends to dominate the discussion, or a student who never says anything?

A: Talk with the student privately. Tell them how much you appreciate their interest and enthusiasm. Explain how important it is for everyone to have a chance to share. With really quiet students, it helps to understand why they aren’t involved. They may feel uncomfortable about giving their comments. Get them involved by asking them specific simple questions.

Q: Some of the students seem to be losing interest in the group. What can I do?

A: Here are a few questions to ask yourself. First, are you “scratching where they itch?” Take some time to honestly ask students about what’s happening in their lives. As you receive their responses, make appropriate adjustments. Typically, students respond to loving, directive, serving leadership. Second, have you communicated the vision and purpose for the group? Perhaps they need to hear again from you why you’re giving your time to lead the group.

THE HIGH SCHOOL MINISTRY OF CRU

The 250 Evangelism Ideas for Your Campus