Using student planners

During the first part of the school year these blogs will focus on how you can find people who are interested in learning what it means to have a relationship with Jesus as well as how to find other believers.  Later in the year you will receive ideas, suggestions and encouragements about other parts of your relationship with God, in helping others to know Him better and in leading a ministry.

Some of you may be receiving this year’s student planners.  I would like to give you a few ideas of how you can use the planners differently in a way that may be more helpful to you.

If no one has talked to you about getting student planners this year, but you are interested in using them, let me know (catalist@promail.ru) and I will see what I can do to get some to you.

USING STUDENT PLANNERS EFFECTIVELY:

Make a plan to get them into the hands of students beginning the first week of classes:  The beginning of the school year is a good time to use the planners to make contact with new students.  We often focus on first-year students at this time as it is when they are just starting to make acquaintances with those who will end up being very influential in their lives.  They are often more open to thinking about God and their relationship with Him than older students are.

Use a survey or offer something as a way to connect again with students.  You will notice that there is a survey attached to the planner which is designed for use at universities where there are full-time New Life staff.  The survey offers activities and programs that you may not be able to offer in your current situation.  Pray through and think through what you can offer to students that would enable you to stay in contact with them, especially with those who are interested in talking about spiritual things.

You could re-write the survey, taking out the things that you aren’t able to fulfill (organizing sports, English classes, etc).  If you want, you can rewrite the survey just using the ‘spiritual sphere’ of the survey to offer Bible discussion groups, watching the JESUS film or hosting a Focus Group (ideas). 

A very simple way you can use the planners is to simply hand one to each of your group mates or acquaintances in the dorm or friends and tell them that there are helpful articles in the planner to help them become better students as well as some articles that touch on the spiritual aspect of life.  Explain that you are a believer and enjoy talking to people about this topic and let them know that you would love to discuss any of the articles further if they want to talk more.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE STUDENT PLANNERS:

You can use surveys without planners to connect with students.  Here are some examples of surveys you can use.  When you approach someone with a survey have something in mind that you can invite them to if they are interested in further discussion.  It may be something as simple as suggesting to discuss a topic with them over tea or invite them to a Bible discussion group that is for people who want to know more about the Bible. 

Download an article from http://www.mirstudentov.com/ to invite people to come to an informal discussion to talk about the topic in the article.  Always try to end the time with a summary of the discussion including how God views that topic and how they can begin a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ (be careful about ‘preaching’ to them – just summarize the gospel in a few short sentences).

This should be enough ideas for now!  I know that God will bless all your efforts as you walk in His power seeking to help others come to know Him and to grow in their relationship with Him.  Please let us know how we can pray for you this week.  Tell us what God is doing as you trust Him to change your вуз through you.  Your ideas are probably better than mine, so please share with us the things that you are doing that are working at your вуз so that we can include them in future blogs.