Starting Ministry on New Campuses

Thoughts from Ian Downs

The A-B-C-D’s of Campus Ministry: Considering four things to start a healthy ISM

A – Access to Students on Campus

B – Build Bridges of Trust

C – Create Community

D – Disciple Making

Without each of these components, ISM is incomplete. When we talk about starting new ministry, emphasis is placed on A and B, but not to the exclusion of the others.

Great Questions to Ask in any Startup Situation

Where are the students?

·  Which campuses?

·  Which dorms, apartments, and neighborhoods?

·  Which fields of study?

·  Which nationalities and cultures?

·  Which religious backgrounds?

How will you intentionally draw near and reach out to them?

Who are the gatekeepers?

·  Who are the people on campus with connections to international students?

·  What are the needs of the International Student Office on campus?

·  Do you have an “open door” on campus? Where is it?

Comparing ways to Access Students on a New Campus

With University Cooperation / Without University Cooperation
Key Contacts / FSA, International Program Director or Student Outreach Office / Existing clubs, Christian students, Open individual faculty members
Where you’ll meet the students first / Orientations
Welcome Picnics
Airport pickups with a link on the school site. / At an information table
At a club meeting
Through flyers and on social media
“Out and About”
Key Approaches / Be the “Welcome Team”
Be clear about who you are
Be cooperative / Be an international club with distinction
Focus on the second week of the term
Offer a “value added” service
Be clear about who you are
Advantages / You have instant access to many students, and the university can offer community services with no budget increases. / While ministry may start slowly, you are less vulnerable to changes in the administration.

After a few years with official blessing on campus, we suddenly needed a new way to access students—so after a few years of cooperating with another club, we were able to form our own. It is now generating more access to students than we ever had, but also with stability.

Aspects of ISI Northridge’s Club

Mission Statement: The CSUN, Cross-Cultural Friendship Club, exists to build lasting friendships among international students, scholars, and American friends by caring for and fostering their unique interests— physical, social, emotional, and spiritual. We seek to help the CSUN international student community to reach their full potential as leaders.

Affiliation: This organization is affiliated with International Students Incorporated, (ISI) a national, Christian friendship organization with affiliates on hundreds of campuses in America.

Advisors: The University Advisor shall be chosen by the president upon recommendation by the Additional Advisor from International Students, Inc. The Additional Advisor is a representative of International Students Inc. He/she may be a volunteer or employee of ISI.

We meet weekly. We have three Student Officers. More often than not, they are non-believers. I meet with them as a team each week to mentor them.

How will your Student Officers be chosen?

Welcome (Access) Ideas

·  Airport pickups. (Stop by a couple days later and meet all the roommates)

·  Short-Term Homestays

·  Picnic on campus or nearby

·  Information Table with a big event in one week

·  Student-Led “How to Survive in This City” seminars

·  Driving/Walking/Metro tour of the area (See Map Handout)

- Mobilizes many on your team

- Starts genuine friendships

- Give a customized map

- Have another event already planned soon afterward

- Make it easy to them to include you in their social life.

Other Notes:

ISI NC2014 Workshop:

Establishing Ministry on New Campuses June 2014