How to Follow Up New Christians

So you just hosted an outreach, and several students indicated decisions to follow Jesus. Or maybe a new student came to your weekly meeting and placed their faith in Christ. Praise the Lord! Now what?

What is the best next step for someone who has just begun a relationship with Christ? Gospel-centered “follow-up” is the answer!

What is Follow-up?

Imagine bringing a newborn baby home from the hospital. Would you set her in her crib and say, “Okay sweetie, milk is in the fridge, the bathroom is over there, and here’s the remote control if you want to watch some TV”? No way! So why would we do the same to a brand-new Christian? They are like a newborn in their faith.

It is a tremendous responsibility and privilege to help cultivate the faith of a newborn believer. Follow-up helps a new Christian better understand their new identity in Christ, grow in their relationship with God, and learn how to share their faith with others. It helps them to understand and put into practice some important basics of the Christian faith.

Think about how vulnerable that newborn baby is. The same can be true of “baby” Christians, so it is important to begin follow-up ASAP! Satan may attempt to distract or discourage this new believer, or they may have serious questions or doubts about their new faith.

Do your best to text or call the student within 24-48 hours after they have received Christ, and invite them to meet to talk about how they can grow in their new faith. The Holy Spirit is moving in this new believer’s life, and you will want to join Him in that work!

How to start

Here are three first steps to get started with follow-up.

1. Pray

Begin by praying for them (Colossians 1:9-12). As God is the one who ultimately causes the new believer to grow, it is important that we pray for them. We should also pray for ourselves that we would be Spirit-filled and full of grace and truth as we meet with the new believer.

2. Remember that God is in charge

Only God can produce growth, and He does that in many ways. The Bible talks about four ways people may respond to God’s Word in Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23. Check it out!

In the book of Acts, Paul spent time with new believers in various cities, teaching and encouraging them (Acts 17-20). As a result, they eventually influenced their entire region! We can help guide and encourage believers to grow, but the bottom line is that God is the one in charge. What a relief! In 1 Corinthians 3:5-7, the Bible says,

“What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”

3. Suggest a time and place to meet

It could be a fast food restaurant, coffee shop near the campus, the school courtyard… wherever! Suggesting a clear time and place can help simplify the communication process and help in arranging your first follow-up meeting. Explain that you would like to share some things that will help them grow in their new relationship with Christ.

Encourage the new believer to invite friends to join the meeting. Meeting in a group with other new Christians can foster openness and create a natural discipleship group for later. If possible, invite other new Christians who have recently accepted Christ to participate in follow-up as a group, especially if they already know each other.

Occasionally, something may come up that prevents you from meeting at the scheduled time. If this happens, do not lose heart! Just reschedule your appointment within 48 hours. Whatever you do, don’t leave that “baby” unattended!

It is a tremendous responsibility and privilege to help cultivate the faith of a newborn believer.

The first follow-up meeting

What do you talk about at your first follow-up meeting? The purpose of your first meeting is to build your relationship, establish trust, help these new Christians understand the assurance of their salvation, and help them begin to grasp God’s love for them.

Personalize your time

When you get together to talk, personalize your time by asking good questions. In other words, don’t talk much about yourself! Talk about things the students are interested in and things you may have in common, and be sure to listen! (See Turning the Conversation to Christ)

Explain spiritual growth

Use your time together to explain spiritual growth. Show the students that there is much to learn, and offer the opportunity to get together weekly, at least for the next four weeks. Asking for a short-term commitment may not seem as overwhelming to a new Christian as an open-ended “let’s meet.” After the first four weeks, you can challenge them to continue to meet for further growth together.

Ask questions to gain understanding

If you are meeting with someone whom you’re not sure is a Christian, ask questions that will help you better understand where they are at spiritually, and be prepared to share the gospel if the student is open to listening! For example, you could ask, “If you were to die tonight and God asked you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ how would you answer?” If the person is not 100% sure they are going to heaven, take the time to share the gospel with them to clarify. You can walk a student through Knowing God Personally online, use the God Tools App, or even use a paper copy!

Teach a basic concept

Every young Christian will need to continue to learn from the Scriptures. We have to start at the beginning and build. We often like to say, “Grace plus truth over time equals growth.” Don’t try to teach everything all at once! Follow-up is a process, and growth takes time.

You can find some great follow-up material at Thrivestudies.com. We have a four-week follow-up series there that will help get your student grounded and growing.

Important Truths for new Christians

Here are some of the most important truths a new Christian needs to know:

The person and work of Christ (John 20:31)
Assurance of salvation (Hebrews 13:5)
How to continually experience God’s love and forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
The ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 14:25-26, Ephesians 5:18)
Healthy practices for Christian growth (prayer, Bible reading, community, evangelism)
A Christian’s new identity in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If you need some resources to help cover these topics, go to Thrivestudies.com or check out the Thrive Studies App! There is even a four-lesson Thrive Studies series on how to follow up a new believer called The Discipling Others Series. Going through this yourself will help you follow up others with confidence. Check it out!

Taking care of a newborn is a lot of work! But by God’s grace, your newborn friends will soon be walking, talking, and feeding themselves spiritually. They will be on their way to becoming mature disciples of Christ!

Next Step

Initiate with a new believer you know and invite them into an intentional follow-up process to explain key principles and practices of the Christian faith. Need an easy to follow plan? Using the Thrive Start Series can provide help.

Thrive Start Series

Evangelism

This article is part of the Evangelism Collection. Read the rest of these articles to get an even better understanding of how to share your faith with students.

5 Key Features of the Claim Your Campus App

Pray Now:
This section is designed to lead any student through a daily 15-minute prayer time for their school. The format is simple: Listen, Thank, Ask. Each day students read a passage of scripture, thank God for something specific He is doing in their school, and ask Him for help at their school and schools across the country.

21-Day Challenge:
Habits take time to build. The 21-Day Challenge can help you and your students build the habit of praying together daily.

Share Your Story:
Students from all over the country are using Claim Your Campus at their schools. This video feature gives students one minute to capture what God is doing at their school and then share it.

Groups:
Use the Groups section to form your own prayer group and/or join other groups. Students praying together in community for their school(s) is the foundation of CYC. The group feature keeps students connected, motivated, and encouraged to keep pressing on!

Prayer Walk Your Campus:
This feature describes how to prayer walk a campus in three easy steps. Invite. Pray. Report. It includes a brief tutorial and a downloadable prayer walk guide.

Social Media:
Stay connected through Tik Tok, Instagram, and Youtube pages; News and Updates can also be found in the app.

Cast the Vision: Prayer Equals Change

Use these videos to get excited about how God could change your campus through prayer and how He could use you to build a prayer movement at your school.
General Promo video
Marion School video

Invite Students to Be One in the Million

Students download the app using the QR code graphic & claim their campus!

We encourage all campus movements to emphasize prayer and the Claim Your Campus app is a great way to engage students in prayer.

4 Different Ways Students Can Claim Their Campus

Start a Weekly Prayer Group. The CYC app provides prompts that change weekly.
Host a prayer walk around your campus. The CYC app features a Prayer Walk Guide.
Embed 5-10 minutes of Prayer into Your Weekly Cru Club Meeting. Build a CULTURE of prayer. CYC has done all the work for you. Click here for the Leader’s Guide and here for premade slides for up to 20 weeks. That is enough for an entire school year. CYC’s GRAB-N-GO resources make praying EASY.
Participate in Annual National Events such as SYATP.

Invite the adults in your community to support SYATP by signing up for The Prayer Walk Project. This project offers a way for caring adults to join hands in prayer on the Saturdays before and after SYATP.

Prayer is the real power in any campus movement. Make it a non-negotiable in your ministry to emphasize prayer with adults and students and see how God moves.

Next Step

Download the Claim Your Campus app and consider how you could use it on your campus today. Do you have a prayer strategy for your plans? If not, send the app to a few student leaders and invite them to start praying for their campus!

DOWNLOAD THE APP

4 Ways to Prepare for a Prayer Walk

Prepare Your Heart

Surrender the Prayer Walk to the Lord. Ask the Lord for one or two scriptures to help prepare your heart. Jot them down. If you like, use them to inspire the people you invite, or share them with your team the day you meet to prayer walk. Pray for:

Divine appointments with people.
Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help.
God to guide your steps.
Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

Prepare Your Team

Pray for Names. Ask the Lord to bring to mind specific names of students, volunteers, parents, pastors, and/or faculty you can ask to join your prayer walk. Keep in mind, this is not about numbers. Even one prayer partner is enough. Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.”

Invite the People that He brought to mind. Decide what mode of communication is best: text? social media? phone call? Give them a brief description of what a prayer walk is and what they can expect that day. Share what has motivated you to gather a team to pray. Be sure to tell them the date, the start and end times, and the location. Give them an RSVP date.

Send them any final details on the day before. Remind your team what time you will begin and end and the location to meet. Let them know what to bring and any adjustments needed due to weather or other factors.

(During a Prayer Walk) Pray for: Divine appointments with people. Connections with insiders at the school who are like-minded and willing to help. God to guide your steps. Open eyes to see the spiritual needs of the campus.

Prepare Your Campus

Check with an Insider at Your School. Once you choose your campus and gather your team, you may want to check with an insider at the school to see if there is anyone you need to notify ahead of time. Most likely, it will not be an issue if you are prayer walking after school or over the weekend on the parts of the campus that are open to the public. Avoid prayer walking on campus during school hours without permission.

Prepare Your Details

“WHO” DETAILS: By now, you know WHO is coming. But here are some other “WHO” questions to think about if you have a larger group. Who will…

begin the prayer walk (introduce/explain it)?
end the prayer walk?
lead smaller groups (if your team is large)?

“WHAT TO BRING” DETAILS: You may want to bring copies of the Prayer Guide and the Leader Guide.

“WHERE/WHEN” DETAILS: Make sure everyone knows the date and time you will meet. Include starting point (address of meeting spot) and ending point (time and meeting spot).

“HOW” DETAILS: For your convenience, this Campus Prayer Walk Leader’s Guide provides a general flow and includes sample scripts of what to say from start to finish. If you can read it, you can lead it. But you may need to think through the unique needs of your prayer walk.

Would you like the prayer walk to be more casual or more organized? Do you have people who are comfortable prayer walking or more new people who may need more instruction?

You have prepared your part. Time to grab your walking shoes. Let’s do this!

Next Step

It is time to get on the campus to pray. Text one friend today and ask them if they would be willing to go to the school to prayer walk with you this week. Get your feet on the campus and pray together. Once you have done it yourself, it will be a lot easier to gather others to do it with you.

Prayer Walking

After the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert, God called Joshua to bring His people into the land He had promised them. The commander of the army of the Lord appeared to Joshua with instructions essentially for a prayer walk around the city of Jericho. And let’s just say the Israelites’ obedience to his words, made history. (If you are unfamiliar with this incredible story, you can read the whole story here.)

What is Prayer Walking?

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk. And you can do it anywhere: around your neighborhood, through your city, or even on your daily commute. Invite others to join you! As you walk together, let the Spirit of God use what you see to guide your prayers. Then, trust God to respond in His perfect way and timing.

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you. It puts you right where the students are—like God’s boots on the ground—allowing you to connect your heart to that specific location as you pray. And who knows? It might even lead to a chance meeting with a key person on campus. Many ministries have started with a simple “Hey there!” to a student or administrator during a prayer walk. A casual stroll can open unexpected doors!

If you have never done this before, no worries! Joshua—the young leader from the Bible—had not done it before either. It was his willingness and availability to God that mattered most. And the same goes for you—no experience required!

Prayer walking is just what it sounds like—praying as you walk.

Prayer Walk in Three Easy Steps

Meet Up (5 minutes)

Grab a friend or two and meet on campus- ideally after school or on the weekend. Select and read a meaningful passage from the Bible together. Take a minute to pray a blessing over this time, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your prayers.

Walk & Pray (10-20 minutes)

Start walking the perimeter of the campus and let the Holy Spirit use who/what you see guide your prayers. Here are 5 ways you could begin praying:

Ask God to move by His Spirit on this campus and be glorified.
Pray people here would hunger and thirst for God.
Pray for the believers here to live wholeheartedly for Jesus and make others feel seen, known, and loved by God.
Pray for leaders in this school’s community (students, parents, administration, faculty, coaches, etc.)

Wrap It Up (5 minutes)

Select a spot to close your time together. Talk about how it went. Was there anything that stood out as significant or meaningful? Take a few minutes to thank God for this time. Express your love for Him and your confidence that He will respond to the prayers He heard today.

Other Prayer Walking Guides

If you would rather have a more specific guide to help you in your prayer walk, try one below:

CYC Prayer Walk Guide
Locations on Campus Prayer Walking Guide
The Launchbox Prayer Walking Guide
Make a list of prayer requests to pray about your specific campus
Just invite people to pray for things that come to mind as they walk

One of the most impactful places for a prayer walk is around a school campus that means something to you.

Why Do It?

Prayer Walking Knocks Down Walls

What effect did Joshua’s and the Israelites’ obedience have on the fortified and powerful ancient city of Jericho? Well, the God of the Universe infused their faith-filled feet with power, causing the otherwise insurmountable walls of the city to collapse. That’s how they fought and won the battle of Jericho—without ever throwing a punch!

Now, maybe you are not planning to tear down any physical walls around your school—in fact, let’s definitely avoid that! But in the spiritual realm, every school is a battlefield for souls. On every campus, there are barriers to the gospel that need to be broken down. Inside every person, there are walls that separate us from God or keep us from fully experiencing the abundant life He wants for us.

Looking for a more current example of a battle fought and won with prayer? Check out this powerful story of what happened when a group of students in Marion, Indiana consistently and prayerfully put feet to their faith and watched God win the battle for their campus. If you want to read about more victories won with praying feet, check out Exodus 14 and 2 Chronicles 20:1-30.

Some Other Great Reasons to Prayer Walk Your Campus

It is a place to gather other believers who have a heart for the campus.
It is a way to be on campus with a purpose.
Sometimes God uses these times to introduce us to key gatekeepers on campus.
It might surface some needs on the campus with which you could help.
It helps your team become more familiar with the campus and less fearful of going there.
It is better than doing nothing. Sometimes God moves when we take action.

Within the campus ministry of Cru, prayer walking has actually been shown to be the single most effective strategy in seeing new gospel movements started.
– Dan Allen, Director of Mission Expansion

The powerful presence of God always has and STILL does mix with our prayers and supernaturally connects us more deeply to God, ourselves, and others. Prayer breaks down barriers that lie between us and wins the battle for souls.

Prayer walking can be your lead foot on any campus. Ready to grab a friend and step into the unknown with Him? Prayer walking is something anyone can do.

Next Step

Plan 15 minutes this week to stop at your local high school, walk around, and pray for the school. Bring a friend or do it alone; just get your feet on the campus and pray. Ask God to show you what next steps He would like you to take.