Planning

“The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.” Mt.4:16

What a humbling privilege that God has given us an opportunity to help direct students around us toward the Light of Jesus’ love.  We are so encouraged that you want to be used of God at your university.  He considers you worthy of the task He has called you to do and He will provide His power as you trust Him in faith. (2 Thes.1:11-12)  

The university year is upon us.  If you haven’t already asked God what He wants you to do at your university this year, I would like to encourage you to spend some time before Him, asking Him to fill your hearts and minds with His plans.  Below is a suggestion for how you can spend some time in prayer.

As you pray and wait on God to show you His plan for bringing the gospel to your university and helping believers to grow in their relationship with Him, write down the ideas He places in your mind.  Keep your plan for the term very simple - especially if there is just 1 or 2 of you leading the ministry.  I would suggest you plan in 3 main areas:  prayer (for your campus), outreach and a small group Bible study for believers/nonbelievers.  Ask God to give you a couple of ideas in each category - an idea for your personal ministry and an idea for something you can do with someone else to reach a larger group. 

For example:

Campus plan	Personal ministry	Group ministry
Prayer	Pray daily for the students (10 minutes on bus to class)	Pray with someone else - Fridays at 4pm; pray around each building of the university during the term
Outreach	Share the gospel with 1 person each week in my university study group	Each believer tell their testimony in their university study group by the end of the term; invite them to a Christmas party with a short talk on why we observe Christmas
Small group Bible study/personal growth	Quiet Time daily before first class - spend time in Philippians this term	Meet each week this term with someone else to go through the list of passages from the “6 Question Bible Study format*” or, discuss a chapter each week in More than a Carpenter with non-believers

*6 Question Bible Study format

1. 1.What  do  you  like  about  what  you  read?
2. 2.What  didn't  you  like?
3. 3.What  did  you  not  understand?
4. 4.What  new  thing  did  you  learn  about  God?
5. 5.What  idea  or  phrase  do  you  want  to  take  with  you this  week?
6. 6.What  are  you  going  to  do  about

Keep your plan simple, but be sure to write down things that will require you to trust God.  If your plan is full of things you can do in your own strength, then you will probably end up relying on yourself.  It’s when we dare to trust God for big things that we see God work.

The first 2 weeks of the term are very important times in a students’ life, especially if it is their first year at university.  They are making decisions of who will be their friends and what will be their activities while at university - which can affect the rest of their lives.

One idea is to have some sort of ‘welcome’ activity during the first week of the term.  It could be as simple as asking God to provide money for some sort of party.  You can hand out invitations the first week of classes where you could serve tea and cookies someplace near the university (in your dorm room?).  At the party you could have some games or fun discussion groups, you could hand out a map of the area around the university showing the location of places new students might want to know (local internet cafes, photocopy places, popular cafes, movie theaters, etc).  You could give a short introduction about who you are (basically that you are believers) and that you want to help other students think about the spiritual aspect of their lives, then hand out a short questionnaire (examples of questions) that asks who would be interested in talking about God or in studying the Bible (be sure to have paper and pens handy!).

We are praying for you.  We would love to know how to better pray for you, so please send us prayer requests! 

God is waiting to work among you and show you His power.  It is exciting to think what the Lord has in store for each of us this term as we dare to trust Him to show Himself God on each of our universities!

 Things to Pray for Your Campus

 Believers

 · That Christians would want to take a stand for Christ (Matt.9:37-38). Pray that they would avoid involvement with bad elements of campus. I Cor.5 & 6; Rev.21:8; John 17:15; 2 Cor.11:2, 3

  

Non-believers

 · Pray for non-Christians, that God would prepare the soil of their hearts would be hungry to hear the gospel and ready to respond in faith. Matt.13 and 2 Cor.4:6: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of the darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Your Transformational Community/Local Ministry

· That we'd be people who know the Lord. Eph.1:18-19: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

· That we would consider life as Christ, that we would present ourselves to Him, that we would seek His kingdom first. Phil.1:21: For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Rom.12:1,2; Matt.6:33.

· That we would let the Spirit of God control and empower us. Eph.3:14-19: That God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

· That we would be people who delight in God's word. Psalm 1:2: But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

· That there would be a supernatural unity among believers so that the campus may believe. John 17:20-21: I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.

· That we would grow spiritually. That we would step out in faith. Hebrews 12:1-3; Col.3:16; Rom.4:3; Heb.11:8.

• That God would direct our planning time; that we would seek to do what He tells us to do and not just what seems best from a human standpoint. 2 Chron.20:12b: …we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee; Proverbs 16:9, LB: we should make plans, counting on God to direct us; Prov.13:16 LB: A wise man thinks ahead, a fool doesn’t and even brags about it; Prov.3:5-6, Jer.9:23-24