I’ve come to learn that relatively common college ministry methods still aren’t always widely known. This week’s Fridea is one of those tools that I’ve seen in a number of ministries, but I would still guess it hasn’t come into play in plenty of others.

This idea is also a particularly Missional undertaking – and just happens to be one of the many ways college ministries have been “missional” since long before “missional” was cool.

The Fridea? Encourage students to stay in the dorms, as intentional ministers to next year’s residents.

I hope it’s not too late to share this idea, but it’s amazing how God can turn students’ plans, even at the end of the school year – and even in the summer.

Certainly, in some contexts this method takes place “organically”; students, having been gripped by Jesus, recognize the unique soil provided by the dorm environment. So instead of jumping into an apartment or splitting a house with buddies, they decide to renew their dorm lease for another year… or in some cases, even choose to return to the dorms after a hiatus off-campus.

But unless this is happening in a widely known way on your campus, you might need to nudge your students to consider this sacrificial sojourn. The OU BSU did that through a student testimony just last night; they also have that as one of their scrolling announcements on their home page right now.

And here’s the thing: An intentional decision (maybe even especially if it’s a hard decision) to live in the dorms will help students become even more “on mission” than they were before. It’s the principle of your heart following your treasure (Matt. 6:21), which is actually a psychological principle (and thus the way God made us). As students give of their comfort-treasure and coolness-treasure and money-treasure and alone-time-treasure and Christian-environment-treasure to live in the dorms… their heart will find itself more firmly embedded in those places than ever.

So might this be worth an announcement, an email, a push? If not, could you put it on the calendar for next year?

Written from Motel 6, Oklahoma City, OK

Road Trip 14 recap, Day 15 (see all explorations here)
new campuses: Oklahoma City Community College (#22), Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College, Moore, OK (#23)
yesterday: exploring OKC and another run to OU in Norman!
today: more at OU… and then, we’ll see. If nothing comes up for the weekend, I’ll probably head home!

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