Three Personal WaysTo Connect Students

To Christ

What If?You could connect your freshmen to a

community to meet their needs and fears about college before they step

foot on campus??

Freshmen FearsMaking Friends, Missing Home,

School Success

Cru!

Connect freshmen with a community to meet their needs and fears about

college before they even step foot on campus…

1.Find the Freshmen 2.Add and Message 3.Care for them and

introduce them to the community that is Cru

NortheastUniversity of New Hampshire went from 100 at first few weekly meetings last fall to 175 at their

first meeting this fall, then it dropped to 130 where it's stayed steady.

Syracuse went from having 80 at their first weekly meeting last fall to 100 this year.

Babson University went from 12 involved

freshmen Fall 2013 to 25 involved this past fall.

Story from staff person at University of New Hampshire about Julia:

“If one Facebook message could result in a girl trusting Christ 6 months later, it’s worth it.”

https://vimeo.com/112886665

California State Schools

Access (Almost) Denied

1. Joined campus Facebook group of “Class of 2019”

8, 556 members

2. Searched for students who “LIKE”…The Bible, Christianity, or Christian Music

3. Added & Messaged

30 Campuses

458 Freshmen Messaged

63 Signed Up to Get Connected

24 Different Universities

16 Beginning a personal relationship with Christ

24

Interested in sharing their faith

Want to do this strategy?

Send an email to erica.frogner@cru.org and I’d be glad to help you directly OR go to

http://tinyurl.com/p7hw4zq forstep-by-step instructions.

What If?You could teach your students to be

real and intentional in sharing Christ’s love with their friends

through Instagram and Snapchat?

Be Real

It’s so easy for us to display only our picture-perfect worlds, the

pretty parts of our lives.

Relatable Difficulty

Reminder of Truth

Ask For Help or Prayer

Be Intentional You have the chance to

engage your friends’ hearts with God’s heart for them,

and the world.

Comment on Friends’ Posts Ask Questions Pray for Others

Be Light in our World& Culture

Grace & Peace-Filled Posts

Snap! For God’s Glory “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible

means I may save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22

Snap! For God’s Glory Ways that Deb, student at Michigan State University, is already using Snapchat

for God’s glory…

Snaps pictures of verses that she’s trying to memorize to her friend for accountability.

Snaps an instant video praying for a friend and sends it to her.

Snap! For God’s Glory Before and After

12 Spiritual Conversations started with friends over Snapchat

Before and After 3 hours 15 students 3,500 exposures to their testimony

70 Spiritual Conversations

Before and After “I texted my friend the video of my before and after story, and he loved it and said “It was very powerful and has helped to start my path towards God. Thank you so much for sending me this.” He called me the next day and explained that he went through the same things I did in order to realize he needed God. He agreed that drugs were fleeting sources of happiness as well, and wants to meet up with me when I get home to talk about it more. He kept thanking me for sending him the video, and it was really encouraging to know God used my video and my broken past for His Glory.” ~Cat

Before and After “I sent my Before & After video in individual Facebook messages to several of my residents at ASU. As the leader among 75 freshmen residents, I have always been very outspoken about my faith and my identity as a Christian, but I hadn't realized that a lot of my non-Christian residents were curious about what it means to follow Jesus.After sending my video, one conversation was particularly encouraging. Geological sciences major Karyn commented, "Because I was not raised in a Christian environment, I do not always understand what exactly it means to be Christian or what God's role is in people's lives, and hearing stories like yours always helps me look at Christianity in an understanding perspective." I used that as an opportunity to share the gospel with her through the Falling Plates video. She said she enjoyed and understood the video for the most part, but wanted more information on what it means by "eternal life." I explained the Bible's definition of eternal life in John 17:3 and how it is all about choosing faith in Christ, not works. Having this conversation with someone who does not believe in Christ, and to see her understand Jesus's message and truth (even if she may not believe it yet) was incredible. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to share my story in such a simple, personal way, and continue spiritual conversations.” ~Annie

Before and After “For me, the scariest part of Before and After outreach was sending videos to specific people, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court decision. Surprisingly enough, the people I had the best conversations with were two of my gay friends. One of them had felt like an outcast at his church after he came out, and while he wanted to pursue a relationship with God, he only went to church to make his grandparents happy. Thankfully, when I shared my testimony with him, he was able to see the attitude of love that God has given me. I'm optimistic that he and my roommate will come to church with me next semester, and grateful that he even thanked me for reaching out to him. The second one has a bit of a reputation for being grumpy, but he was willing to listen to what I had to say. This was where I truly saw the merit of the Before and After outreach: by opening up a personal, vulnerable part of ourselves to other people, they are much more willing to return in kind. Instead of feeling like we were forcing our beliefs on them, both of my friends saw our conversations as an open exchange of information; my faith was something hugely important in my life, and I wanted to share how it had developed through love, friendship, and my status as a witness. Not through judgement or self-righteousness: a beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.” ~Matara

Want to do this strategy?

Send an email to erica.frogner@cru.org and I’d be glad to help you directly OR go to

http://tinyurl.com/p98udyb forstep-by-step instructions for the

Before and After Strategy.

What If?Your team showed up on your international summer mission

with hundreds of students ready to be engaged?

Limited TimeBut Often Extremely Effective

Identify a Need or Attraction for Students Examples:

Practice English Meet Americans Culture Exchange Interested in Christianity

The ad resulted in finding160 students who indicated they

wanted to practice english with someone (and would be willing to meet up to have conversations).

We also had 11 students indicate they wanted to practice english

with someone and talk about something of a spiritual nature.

Practice English with Friends

Setup a Facebook Page or Event

Invite Students Through Relevant Communication Place Facebook Ads Care for Them Well

Expose Students to Something Spiritually Igniting

From fallingplates.com From globalshortfilmnetwork.com

FallingPlates

FallingPlates had over 17,000 views in the first 2 weeks and over 1,000 Facebook Page likes.

Thousands of students were publicly liking the Facebook page and 50 were engaged in a discussion about it in the comments section.

The YouTube video (not promoted on Facebook Ads) currently has 680 views. The Vimeo video we used with the Ads has 17,300 views. The Facebook page has around 1,500 likes.

FallingPlates

FallingPlatesOver a year later, with no promotion since, there are: 500 more views

New Page views and likes every week.

Talk with Students Through Their Communication Preference (when possible) Care for Them Well Be Intentional

Use What They’re Using

Want to do this strategy?

Send an email to erica.frogner@cru.org

and I’ll walk with you step-by-step to do a strategy like this.

Resource Links: globalshortfilmnetwork.com

JESUSFilmMedia.org FallingPlates.com

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”

Colossians 4:5