Many campus based and church based ministries match up freshmen with a Discipleship Partner during the school year. Our BCM here at LSU has decided to match them up during the summer before they begin college. The name of the ministry is, Discipleship Journey Partners. We are inviting the new freshmen in the Fall of 23 at LSU to have a discipleship partner. When they sign up, we match them up with either current students in our BCM ministry or other freshmen in the fall of 23. The discipleship partners call each other once per week to pray together and give discipleship reports from when they get matched up throughout the summer until the Fall Semester begins. Then, they will meet face to face each week during the school year.
We provide partners with a guide to use during the call. We ask them to share a discipleship report each week in the areas:
1. Personal and corporate Bible Study (What was the message your Pastor gave?)
2. Personal and corporate prayer requests.
3. Church attendance and involvement (How are they using their spiritual gifts?)
4. Outreach/Evangelism
5. Then we suggest they share a life report (Work, family, friends, etc...)
Then they close the meeting by praying together.
We have 46 freshmen signed up as of today. The sets of partners began their calls to each others on the Sunday night after Easter. We did a zoom call before that with just the freshmen guy and then the freshmen girls to help them connect with each other and to explain the ministry. We will make thse Zoom calls periodically throughout the summer to helop the freshmen connect with other freshmen.
We suggest the partners call each other on Sunday night, but it can be whatever day works best. Our BCM has signed up 32 freshmen primarily though a phone call or text invitation. The other freshmen were signed up by one of the 25 freshmen. They texted me the name of a friend they had talked to that wanted a partner. The freshmen involved are already feeling ownership of our ministry We have never had this ownership of our ministry this early by incoming freshmen.
I am excited about this ministry for the incoming freshmen. But, I am also excited about it for the current college students in our ministry that have a partner. It is going to help them "step up their spiritual life" throughout the summer.
This ministry is also going to help our collegiate churches. We are matching up the out of town freshmen in the Fall of 23 with students thar are involved in our collegiae churches that reach out of town students. We feel the connection they establish over the summer will lead to those freshmen seriously checking out the church of their partner in the fall. WE have lots of commuter students involved in our ministry that are involved in a church that is 20 or more miles away. We are matching up the commuter freshmen in the Fall of 23 with those current students that are commuters.
We want our ministry to help students become strong disciples of Christ. We want them to develop strong relationships with other believers. We think this ministry is going to help us do both of these things.
The following are some testimonials:
"I am participating the DJP because I want to meet more like minded believers. I feel like it will help me with any questions that I may have as well as becoming stronger in the word. I'm going to be a finance major and I plan on becoming an invesment banker. I'm from Bossier City, Louisiana." Sara
"Hey my name is Hayden. I am from Denham Springs, LA and plan to pursue a PTA degree. I joined the BCM to surround myself with fellow believers that will push me and help me grow in my faith. I'm excited for the future and what God has planned for me and how he is going to use me to grow his kingdom." Hayden
"I'm from Benton, Louisiana and will be majoring in physics and concentrating in astronomy starting in the fall. I love reading, eating Mexican food, and telling dad jokes. "im so excited to build genuine, deep, Christ-centered friendships through the DJP Geaux tigers!" Chloe
"I am participating in the DJP because I strive to disciple myself in college and strengthen my relationship with God so that temptations don't interfere with my spiritual growth. I am looking forward to meeting new people that have similar interest as myself so that I can freely worship alongside them with no judgment and compassion. I feel like this program will help me stay grounded and focused on my growth academically wise and spiritually wise." Abigale
To help our BCM staff and student leaders monitor the program, we have setup a Google document for it. Each week we ask the participants through a group text to report on the contact they have with their Discipleship Partner during the previous week. They record on of the following: TC - Telephone Call between the two partners. T -Texted each other, ZC - Zoom Call between the two partners, PM - Personal Meeting (This will especially apply in the Fall semester.) DNR - I texted them and they did not respond. The Google document is really helping us keep up with the ministry.
I am excited about this ministry for the incoming freshmen. I have sensed a real excitement about the ministry from the freshmen signed up. I know this ministry will be of great benefit to the participating current students in our ministry. I feel like this ministry is a good "spiritual bridge" between the spring semester and fall semester for the participating upperclassmen.
Steve Masters, LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry
Send me an idea YOU are using to connect with freshmen this fall that we can use in a future blog article. It may not be NEW, but it works for you. Pass it on.
Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen: 124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9. A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.
No comments:
Post a Comment