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As you know, I’m fascinated by the many differences between “campus tribes.” One of those differentation points comes whenever our country’s educational system and our country’s military intersect.
I had the neat chance recently to meet a college minister at the Air Force Academy (fittingly, today’s Campus Tribe of the Day), and I met another guy on the Brazil trip who used to serve at the Naval Academy. I’ve got a Campus Crusade friend at the Citadel. And I spent a lot of time around the prestigious Corps of Cadets while attending Texas A&M.
On this Memorial Day, I want to point out a special niche that can be found on plenty of campuses. And on plenty of those campuses, the citizens of this niche might – because of schedule, identity, and/or openness to certain outreach – be worth considering for special ministry. Or even if you simply make a special effort to draw them into your present ministry, I bet you find many of the men and women in this niche to be particularly committed, particularly service-minded, particularly noble.
That niche, of course, is the “military-minded” – whether this is working with ROTC members, those on the GI bill, or even reaching onto campuses that have a large (or fully) military presence.
Anybody serving in the sorts of capacities I mentioned at the top would probably be able to provide tips a’plenty – so if you’re interested in that niche, no need to recreate the wheel: Ask someone who already IS invested.
(I also know Valor is the niche of Campus Crusade that reaches cadets and midshipmen, and The Navigators has a long history of impacting those in the military and those on campuses. Any other suggestions?)
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In July, I have the neat chance to speak at a college ministry conference about brainstorming in campus ministry. It’s something I seem to have gained a knack for (it helps when you’ve seen a zillion ministries), and I’ve recognized principles that help brainstorming be more fruitful (even if someone hasn’t seen a zillion ministries).
One of those principles is thinking in the particular rather than the general. We often have an easier time discovering answers to a specific question, rather than blindly throwing idea-darts toward an amorphous or generic target. But this idea seems a little paradoxical – how can we get more ideas by limiting our questions? But we do.
I mentioned yesterday that this week’s Fridea was “original,” which only means I can’t recall seeing a ministry actually use this method. So I thought I’d share how that idea ame about, because it might provide an interesting method – or at least a training exercise – to help you and your team brainstorm all the better. (If you haven’t read this week’s Fridea, this won’t really make sense.)
Here’s how it went:
- As I struggled to think of a Fridea to write about, I decided to get particular with my brainstorming.
- My first thought was to ponder the needs of a specific region.
- The Midwest came to mind.
- So I remembered: The last time I was in Nebraska, a college minister told me that people in the Midwest seem to keep their spiritual lives rather private.
- So that led to pondering: How would I draw out spiritual attitudes or questions within an environment like that?
- I first thought of building an web page, where students could just post their spiritual questions anonymously.
- And using other methods I have seen on campus, that initial thought morphed into the even better idea of actually speaking to the issues that came up.
- Then, once I had the base idea, I recast it, considering various possibilities for each part of the method.
Until I thought of a particular question and audience, ideas were much harder to come by. It may be counterintuitive, but narrowing our scope seems to strengthen our imaginations. Think about reaching that student or that part of campus or that niche, and you might just come up with ideas that fit a broader audience.
And this Particularization Principle is one reason why determining your purposes first – a la Backwards College Ministry – actually makes brainstorming easier and more effective.
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So this Fridea comes directly out of the I’ve-never-seen-it files – meaning I made it up. But like lots of good brainstorms, it’s actually a derivation / combination of several ideas I have seen. So I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to find out it’s been done.
And like all methods, it’s only useful if it’s purpose-fulfilling; methods like the one I’m about to share are tempting to use just ’cause of the attention they’ll bring. 
They’re kinda collegiate-cool, so they’re dangerous. So please… don’t forget to start with the purposes in mind and work backwards. If this method fits your purposes, hurrah. If not, trash it.
So here’s the derivation / combination:
- I’ve definitely seen college ministries solicit “Questions for God,” “Thoughts about Religion,” or other anonymous spiritual comments from the campus as a whole.
- I think I’ve seen college ministries let students vote on topics for a series – usually along the lines of “Tough Questions” or something. (And I know I’ve seen churches do this.)
- Not sure I’ve seen the two combined, but that’s this week’s Fridea: Teach a series on the top spiritual questions of your campus as a whole.
This could be an awesome, campus-wide event… or it could just be a great chance for you to take the spiritual pulse of your campus, and then teach your regular students about the issues they’re going to encounter with their friends.
If you could use tips, here are some quick ideas for the different parts of this:
getting the topics
- Do the whiteboard(s) thing in the middle of campus, letting people write questions, spiritual observations, or answers to specific questions you post on the board.
- Set up a blog, advertise it, and let people anonymously comment.
- Set up a site where people can enter questions/topics but also vote on the ones already there.
- Do it survey-style, having students (and you) walk up to students and just ask. This accomplishes advertising and topic-getting, but it also opens some HUGE (and reasonable) doors to spiritual conversations right then and there.
deciding the topics
- Pray – intently – through what God shows you via your campus. (He’s big enough to speak through even the darkest of places and people!) What topics does your campus most need at this time? This may or may not correspond with the “vote,” so I wouldn’t promise you’re going to go with the straight vote results – unless you are.
- Don’t decide how many messages you’ll give until after the results come in.
- Look for the hurts, concerns, and questions behind the topics that get raised. Aim your messages at helping real needs, not just felt needs.
the messages
- This doesn’t have to take place in your main large group meeting. Decide the best format / place / time. This could make a great “special afternoon series,” for example.
- You’ll want to handle it differently if outsiders are actually going to show up, or if it’s mostly going to be for your usual crew.
- If you are aiming for outsiders, you’ll probably want to advertise the heck out of this thing, from first to last.
- Decide how you want to present it: Is this “Christianity’s take on burning issues?” “The Bible’s answers to toughest questions?” “A frank discussion?” “A debate on the campus’s hot topics?” Each of those will need to be handled slightly differently.
- You could have more than one speaker, more than one topic covered in a session, even panel discussion. In fact, this whole thing could be a multi-ministry event.
- Consider what might accompany the series: Handouts? A corresponding blog? mp3s for those who missed? Helps for sharing these truths with friends?
Okay, I’m soaked from all this brainstorming. Anybody ever seen anything like this, or have any ideas for this?
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I’ve been promising details on our upcoming Casual Catalyst Conference College Ministry Cohort, and since then I’ve had chances to get input, connect with Catalyst people, and think through this excellent opportunity to gather and collaborate. If you didn’t see the original announcement, you should check it out here.
We’re actually getting some pretty cool Catalyst support, it turns out, beginning with a Group Code for a big discount on admission – thanks to Catalyst Concierge Chad Johnson. And just yesterday I got to chat with Ashley Williams, a former college minister who’s now our “gal-on-the-inside” at Catalyst.
Today’s announcement should cover what you need to know for scheduling purposes – and to start getting your fellow college ministers on board! But I’ll be hammering out more specifics over the next few months – so I really want your input. How can we best add college-ministry-value to an event (Catalyst) that is already great?
(Check out Catalyst’s phenomenal site here.)
main things
1. The Casual Cohort is FREE to join. So whenever I mention “registering,” I’m talking about Catalyst. Obviously, there might be outside activities (like meals) you might need cash for, but I’m working on getting some freebies in that department… and possibly for housing…
2. The next registration deadline is June 24th. That’s your chance to get your ticket for the humongo Catalyst Conference for only $199… but ONLY with our special College Ministers’ Group Code. (If you’re bringing college students, they’re even cheaper – but you’ll need to call Catalyst to get that set up. If you do, be sure to still let them know you’re coming with our group and use the Code for yourself.)
3. Our Facebook event page is the way to get that Group Code, as well as serving as our main portal for sharing Cohort details, attendees, speakers, sponsors, etc.. Check it out here. You’ll need to RSVP as Attending or Maybe Attending to get details as they’re available. Obviously, we don’t want to post the Group Code here, but I’ll send it to everyone who has joined the group in a few days… and I’ll include it with later updates, too.
4. Our schedule will mostly coincide with Catalyst’s own schedule, since this is a casual cohort. We’ll generally take opportunities to get together (for meals, for example), without burdening you with extra activities in what’s already an intense conference. (For those who make it for the Catalyst Labs before the main conference, we will have stuff on that day, too.)
We will, however, have an additional “catalytic” experience on Saturday, October 9th. So those who stay for the extra day will be in for further, focused college ministry collaboration, learning, and connections.
other details
5. Reservations, etc., are important – I understand that. Especially if you’re bringing a group of students or staff, I’d encourage you to go ahead and get those set up. But I will be asking some of my contacts to see if we might find some ministries with available “host homes” or other living quarters, especially for those college ministers coming without groups. I’ll keep you posted.
6. Ideas are, again, much appreciated.
7. Please spread the word. This is an exciting chance to participate in a significant conference, in a significant way. This has the potential to put college ministry on the radar of Christian leaders throughout the country in a new way. But whether it helps our field in that way or not, it certainly gives college ministers the chance to cross lines, learn together, and collaborate around Big Christian Leadership Ideas.
8. Get excited about “benefits.” I’ve already been surprised by the reception I’ve gotten to this idea – and not just from college ministers, but also from groups that want to help “sponsor” our time. If you know of other groups that might be interested in helping sponsor stuff (meals, for example), giving out freebies, or otherwise connecting with college ministers in a mutually beneficial way, have them contact me directly.
Just remember: Your main way to get future details is to join the Facebook event, even just as a Maybe. So… I’ll see you over there!
Last Wednesday, I started posting a public log of Michael Frost’s comments about college ministry last week in Brazil. (If you’re unfamiliar, Michael Frost is an internationally acclaimed expert on the Missional Church.) Time was short while I was on the trip, and my updating fell behind. So here’s the FULL list, and I’ll post a few reflections below the list.
When we’re in the presence of experts like this, it’s good for us to lap up all we can – whether we agree with them on every point or not. (I certainly wouldn’t agree with every single point Frost made, and I’d love to hear arguments for OR against his thoughts here.)
These are simply the references Frost made to college ministry or common college ministry practices. I’m trying to present them as straightforwardly as I can. Whether we’d ascribe to each of these assertions, it’s still some excellent stuff to chew on.
- Frost said he doesn’t like the approach of motivating college ministry by sharing the bleak statistics. His specific example was someone sharing the large number of people on his campus, followed with “but only 1% follow Christ.” That focus is not all that motivational, he said. Instead, he seemed to be inferring that we should motivate by describing the specific people to whom we’ve been sent.
- He said that as a general rule, “I don’t think we’re meant to evangelize strangers.” This was said in response to a question about how “announcement” and “demonstration” work together without one being subservient to another (a key point he argued in his first talk). After stating that those two things should generally accompany each other, he made this quote.
- After stating that missional Christians have to embed ourselves into communities, Frost added, “I guess you do [that] as campus ministries especially,” stating his observation that college ministries already tend to embed themselves into their people group.
- He used the arguments of Allen (1927) and Bosch (from the 1980s) to argue against campus ministry models that let the church “outsource” their mission aspect. He described it as the college ministers saying, We’ll go on mission, and then we’ll send them to you [the churches] to get the Worship, Discipleship, etc..
- Connected to #4, Frost said oftentimes the Christians who are most willing to go “on mission” often get “ejected” from within the church in order to perform that mission outside the church. This particularly missional group includes, he said, college ministers.
- Connected to #4 and #5, he said we college ministers need to take that missional passion God has given us and make sure we’re connecting with our own churches enough to help bring them to this understanding.
- Frost explained that one of the key practices of missional ministry is Proximity in his third message, and he specifically noted that college ministers do practice Proximity (by spending our time on campus).
- Someone on our team shared that much college ministry work seems to require us to play various roles – including roles that seem to avoid the “Powerless” orientation Frost had argued for in that third message. How do we deal with the need, for example, to be respected by the school’s administration, if we’re supposed to take a “powerless” approach like Jesus did? Frost replied that “bringing ourselves lower” doesn’t mean acting in a way that disrespects the people we’re working among. Further, he said, we can’t undo who we are – for example, if we have a Master’s degree. But we just shouldn’t go in with lots of prefabricated products and methods. Instead, we should adopt a “Don’t just do something; sit there” mentality, spending time with and among students to discover the needs and the methods.
- Toward the end of that third session, Frost added an emphatic word for campus ministers: Let students participate in the mission.
- As Frost started his final message (Questions for Missional Ministry), he said that many of the college ministers he’d been chatting with on our trip were already asking these same missional questions. He encouraged us to help our churches ask the same questions we’ve already been asking.
- He mentioned #1 again on the final day.
- After urging us to follow the God of the missio Dei, he asked rhetorically (and with affirmation), “Why would you be doing student ministry, why would you be planting churches, if you weren’t?”
- Regarding the specific Missional Question of “To whom have you been sent?,” Frost specifically noted that we (in that audience) are already thinking about this question, since we know the campuses we’re called to. But he again encouraged us to help our churches think about the same question.
- I asked how we in college ministry should best define our people groups, and if it’s possible to “over-define” or too narrowly define those groups. He answered that we could indeed over-define these groups. His example involved saying that we shouldn’t try to reach a geographic area (the “parish model”) on top of trying to reach college students (which are the subculture), because students don’t really see their identity as belonging to the “west side of campus.”
- In connection with Frost’s point that we should reach out missionally together, he stated that many parachurch ministries started instead with rugged individualism. The mentality has been, he said, “This group isn’t being reached, so I’m going to reach them.” His examples included a major national college ministry and a ministry to surfers.
I was most interested in two facets here:
- Frost was extremely consistent in explicitly treating college ministers and the act of college ministry as generally “missional.”
- Playing off that belief, he regularly encouraged us to use our own missional understanding to help our churches understand these things.
Of course, Frost was talking about much more than college ministry. These are just comments that came up in the course of his four messages. If you’d like to read some fairly detailed notes that walk through the great primer on “missional-nees” that he provided, check ‘em out:
- Talk one: Basics of Missional
- Talk two: The Missional Church
- Talk three: What Missional People Do
- Talk four: Questions for Missional Ministry
So there you have it! I’m sure I’ll be springboarding from these thoughts for awhile, so stay tuned.
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This past weekend’s Fridea was the simple idea of providing students with “invite-cards,” so they always have an easy way to provide classmates with info about good “entryways” into
your ministry.
That’s what we spent much of last week using to promote Zoe, the young adult church we ministered with in São Paulo. (And the fruit we saw from this simple method was actually shocking in its immediacy!) On the front of the card are details about the church service; on the back, details of the two even more easy-entry Starbucks spiritual discussion gatherings.
After we attended the Zoe weekend service, and especially after attending the Starbucks community / spiritual discussion gathering, we all felt pretty confident that we could meet someone, hand them a card, and know they would be well-received by whatever Zoe community they came into contact with. We did it on campus, we did it when a Free Hug led to conversation, and so on. Broadly inviting those we contacted absolutely made sense.
But as I ponder why I don’t see this very basic method more in American college ministry, I wonder if our campus ministries are truly broad-invite worthy. Have we created entryways that are nearly guaranteed to provide a solid welcome, a comfortable setting, and/or clear pointers to Next Steps? (And of course, I mean beyond the first three weeks of class.)
Or is it an unspoken requirement that a visitor must show up with a buddy, so they can have a guide to help navigate the slight – but definite – barriers? In other words, do visitors need a “sponsor” to help accomplish
- meeting regulars?
- knowing what to do?
- finding opportunities?
- feeling comfortable?
If that’s the case, then it certainly won’t do to have students handing out info cards willy-nilly, as though this ministry might actually “make sense” for the out-of-the-blue first-timer! We should stick with word-of-mouth-from-friends as a primary strategy, or at the very least hope for word-of-mouth-from-students-who-will-be-sure-to-watch-for-their-invitees-so-they-can-sponsor-them. (Aren’t those two strategies just a little too common in our world?)
I don’t know if “invite cards” will fit your ministry or not. But I think it’s worth asking if a college ministry is practically – not just theoretically – open to first-timers who might not be tagging along with someone they know. Many of the ones I’ve visited around the country don’t seem to be (and remember, I was just about always a first-timer who came alone).
I wonder how many of us could say (objectively) that it makes sense for our students to invite not only their suitemates but also those they “randomly” encounter on campus: the adjacent classmate in English 202, the chatty gal on the bus, the fellow intramurals fan. It seems like building that kind of culture would do a lot more than build “visitor retention”; it would build a more outward focus, more hospitable gatherings, more prominent Next Steps, a more diverse crowd…
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Man, this last week was a doozy.
As evidence of that: For the first time in a long time, I ended up skipping two whole days on this blog (without really planning to). In my defense, however, I’d like to note that I…
- spent seven days in another country
- endured two red-eye flights
- and posted thirty-three times on our official trip blog
So regardless of your stance, I think I can cut myself a little slack!
This trip was actually phenomenal, and I’m so thankful for all of it – from the out-of-the-blue blessing of being asked to tag along as the “blogger-in-residence,” to the amazing chances to learn, connect, minister, and grow. So here’s my humble attempt to recap the adventure that was the Brazil Missional Trek.
Besides the blogs I posted while there (which are linked above), you can also read the blogs that discuss the trip – or applications of what I learned – right here. (This includes a few blogs I’ve written since the trip!)
international college ministry: my first true exploration
As I’ve mentioned before (and even point out in my book), I know very little about non-U.S. college ministry. I have indeed met some / learned from some Canadian college ministers, but otherwise it would be incredibly arrogant to assume that a little word-of-mouth and a few experiences make me able to generalize.
Certainly, I am hardly more of an “expert” now. But it was still great to get to spend my very first in-depth exploration of college ministry in a foreign country. Most notable was the early recognition that at least in São Paulo (and, perhaps in much of Brazil), college students function far more like “young adults” than “collegians.” It was neat to see that several college ministers on the trip realized that important distinction, too, for our work here in the States.
“missional” primer (& immersion)
It’s harder to think of a better situation for learning the basics of “missional” theology and practice than to sit at the feet of the internationally acclaimed Michael Frost. Except perhaps to have the chance immediately to apply what you’re learning. Or perhaps to have those experiences on the heels of learning basics of “missional” from Frost’s former co-author, the also-internationally-acclaimed (and also-Australian) Alan Hirsch, at the Verge Conference in Austin.
It has indeed been quite the semester for me to learn about “missional” and its connection to college ministry. Frost was incredibly complementary throughout his talks to us, both implicitly and explicitly discussing the missional distinctives that college ministry already has – and how much we (as college ministers) have to offer the greater American church on this topic. So that was encouraging… but I also certainly had several chances to think about ways in which we can continue to learn from missional discussions to be all the more impactful on our campuses!
Look for me to write more (maybe much more) about this in the coming weeks… I’m intrigued! (Find any of those later posts here.)
One such post is my list of the 15 things Michael Frost said about college ministry.
seeing basic, effective practices
It was quite the joy to see Zoe Church, a student / young adult church, truly reaching the enormous city of São Paulo. It was also a joy to get to participate in that impact, and even to see God bring obvious, immediate fruit. You can read about all of that on the Planting Brazil blog I kept for our team, friends back home, and others interested in our experiences and learnings!
But I do want to add that it was simply a blessing to be forced to think in the particular. I hope I have many more opportunities to spend time simply “being with” college ministries, both in the United States and abroad. Certainly, some of these times may involve me helping that ministry to think and thrive. But other times I simply may have the chance to tag along. In either case, it’s good for me to think about one ministry rather than all ministries. (And fortunately, I do get to do that as I volunteer in my home church, too.)
I’m finding myself pondering what we did and the fruit we saw in São Paulo – even more, perhaps, than I would have expected to ponder. That’s good for me. You’ll probably see thoughts about that on the blog in days to come, too.
and the rest
By way of sharing my life a bit, I want to add that I was pretty excited with the way things went in keeping our Official Blog for the trip. I had prayed – and asked many others to pray – that I would do a good job for the International Mission Board (the sponsors of the trip). And while I know there are things I can do better in any future opportunities like that, it was neat to see yet another chance (like the one for Chi Alpha last semester) to use writing to support collegiate ministry.
I even enjoyed my time blogging in a new sort of way, even being energized by the effort involved in spending hours each day and often staying up ’til 2am or later. I think I kinda liked it. Which is kinda weird.
So that’s an answered prayer, for sure.
more?
If you are interested in more, I encourage you to check out the Planting Brazil blog. You don’t need to read everything; in fact, if you’d like to jump directly to the categories, here you go:
- Observations for College Ministry
- Opportunities for involvement in collegiate missions
- Teaching notes (pretty detailed notes, mostly from Michael Frost’s four messages)
- Experiences & testimonies
- The ministry work and field in São Paulo (including my visits to four campuses)
- Other updates
I want to thank y’all for reading, thank you for praying, and thank you for your support. Y’all are the best, and it’s good to be home.
Yeah, it’s a Fridea on Saturday. I’ve been in Brazil.
One of the very simple ideas we used this week in Brazil – and one that seemed to bear a lot of fruit – was giving all of our team members small business cards about Zoe. The cards very simply advertised the church – with the name and the web page, but also with the two Starbucks gatherings that are hosted each week.
This isn’t unheard-of within college ministry, but I’m not sure why we don’t see it a lot more. (Actually, I have some ideas; that may be tomorrow’s blog.) What tools are available to your ministry’s students to point people they meet towards
- More info?
- Next steps?
Basically, the things you hand out during New Student Orientation or the first weeks of schools should (probably) be available to your students all school year long! Why not?
If you’ve been reading over at the Planting Brazil blog, you’ve seen me mention an odd little activity that has turned out to be one of our key activities down here this week. It’s the “Free Hugs” activity sponsored by Zoe Church,which appears to have become quite the staple for this young adult / collegiate church in São Paulo.
But you should know that even Michael Frost, international Missional guru, was converted this week from Free Hugs skeptic to believer (and participant!). More on that in a second.
But why and how we’re doing such much hugging turn out to be pretty interesting (and transferable) principles!
Free Hugs
If you’re aren’t absolutely clear on this extremely complex service endeavor, Free Hugs has involved
- standing someplace there are people walking by
- offering free hugs, usually with at least somebody holding a “Hugs” or “Free Hugs” sign
- and sometimes wearing a T-shirt to the same effect, or our “Z ♥ SP” (“Zoe loves São Paulo”) shirts.
Complex, eh?
And yet this method really does seem to pack a happy wallop, despite its meek appearance.
hugs here in Brazil
First, it’s always helpful to understand context when we’re talking about college ministry methods. (Oh, how I wish we’d apply that all the time, not just country-to-country!)
Ultimately, Brazilians hugs do seem to “mean” about the same thing as American hugs. However, the idea of “personal space” is quite a bit less prevalent here. Both personal touching (between friends) and impersonal touching (like on the bus) are common. So when it comes to hugging, there’s somewhat less awkwardness that needs to be bridged. That’s why Free Hugs even works on Paulista Ave., as businesspeople leave their offices to return home.
At the same time, people here do see greetings (which often include hugs) as quite important. So while they may not find a hug from a stranger as awkward as Americans might, that doesn’t mean it isn’t significant to those who receive it.
the value of a free hug
As I said, Michael Frost noted on Tuesday that he had previously doubted the usefulness of giving out hugs. Was this, he wondered, just a nice little thing that this local church was doing for people?
But then he began to notice – and was astounded by, he said – how many people followed the hug by asking why we were doing this. I’ve watched that, too; these hugs really do seem to bridge a gap – from strangers to huggers – that then allows for a conversation! So when it happens, the bridge provided by Free Hugs seems really beneficial.
In this way, then, these hugs are also the beginning piece of a larger conduit. Those conversations allow us to point people to enjoy “more of the same” – some community and spiritual dialogue at one of the Starbucks gatherings, the Zoe service on a Saturday, an appointment to meet up for coffee later. So Free Hugs are a starting point that quite often leads to more (as discussed in some of the testimonies).
But two more ingredients add value to this project, Frost noticed: regularity and recognition. By participating in Free Hugs so much, little Zoe Church has become known in a much wider circle. At least a couple of news outlets have picked up the story, and Chris J. said they almost got on MTV! (So you can pray for that!)
Just today, I was able to let a Mackenzie University girl know what Zoe Church is by telling her it’s the group that gives out the free hugs. It’s actually been surprising how many people this week brighten up with recognition when we note that!
Something is working, when in this gigantic city, people recognize a church of just a few dozen people – and they recognize them for loving on the citizens of São Paulo in a unique way.
So here’s the question: What could you do on your campus that
- might bridge the stranger-gap?
- could serve as a starting point for additional connection?
- would have additional impact if done with regularity?
- might bring recognition in a way that strengthens your opportunities and impact?
Update: Brazil Missional Trek
Wednesday, Day 6: Yesterday I visited Mackenzie Presbyterian University, where I hung out with another one of our teams, met some students, and explored the campus. After that, several of us gave out hugs near our hotel, in preparation for the local Starbucks community gathering last night. (Feel free to check out the fruits – including lots of new pictures – at plantingbrazil.wordpress.com.)
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This “Brazil Missional Trek” has reminded me how much service can play a role in connecting us with our campuses and the people in them. If a tiny little young adult church like Zoe can get one of the world’s largest cities interested in its community, then certainly our measly little campuses might be attracted to a little love!
Often, we call this method Servant Evangelism, but plenty of us may find that label a little tricky. Or sticky. But even very practically, we all recognize that “Servant Evangelism” doesn’t nearly always result in conversion or witnessing. So is “Servant Evangelism” a demotivating term? Maybe. (But I can understand how setting forward that explicit hope can be motivational, too.)
Whatever we call it, our service here in São Paulo has had, as far as I can tell, two purposes:
- Honestly “loving on” the residents of SP
- and simply opening lines of communication with them.
And though the former is tough to measure, we have – without a doubt – seen the latter purpose fulfilled. (Honestly, there’s no reason we could have “expected” God to show us that fruit in a week – let alone 4 days. Happily, He has.)
So we’ve seen people meet us through Free Hugs, for instance, and then wind up at a mid-week gathering designed for spiritual dialogue. We’ve given out sandwiches at midnight that led to conversation at two-after-midnight. We’ve watched God open doors, just like we’re all hoping for in that “Servant Evangelism” thing! (I wrote some more specifics of how He’s done this in a Tuesday entry on our Planting Brazil blog, if you’re interested.)
I know this blog post is a far cry from the “Have you thought of THIS before?” posts that I sometimes write. But I think it’s helpful – at least I know it’s been helpful for me – to recall the value of Service Starting, or Service Door-Opening, or Service-Connecting. It’s been good for my soul to be vividly reminded of a College Ministry Classic that has
- loved on college students
- and opened up connections
for the last many decades.
So as we’re rummaging through our brains to ponder what methods might be worth initiating this year, I hope we’ll be willing to head to the attic. Perhaps we’ll need to push aside the mothballs… and if this method has been hiding up there, we should probably spray some bring-it-up-to-2010 Febreze. But I’m simply not sure we’re supposed to be so innovative that we leave this Classic behind.
This post was adapted (slightly) for use over at the Planting Brazil blog, too.
Update: Brazil Missional Trek
Tuesday, Day 5: Today I went with the team that daily visits the Law College of University of São Paulo. That site is probably one of the most “low-key,” and I believe we’re the first group to try to develop inroads there. Helpfully, I was able to come back and spend serious time blogging. (Feel free to check out the fruits – including lots of new pictures – at plantingbrazil.wordpress.com.)
I forgot to note that on Monday I visited Campus #1 (Mackenzie Presbyterian U); yesterday I saw #2, the Law College of University of São Paulo. (A few pics and a description can be found here.)
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