Why and How to Start a Ministry among Students

by Jay V. Sensenig

The investment of men and women to fulfill the church’s world-wide commission in the great university centers of Latin America remains one of her most crucial needs. An effective penetration of the university scene with the message of life in Jesus Christ has yet to be realized.

The investment of men and women to fulfill the church’s world-wide commission in the great university centers of Latin America remains one of her most crucial needs. An effective penetration of the university scene with the message of life in Jesus Christ has yet to be realized.

An analysis of the reasons for this lack reveals several basic factors. Historically, the majority of missionaries came from a non-university educational background. Only in more recent years have missionaries begun to take some training in universities prior to their going abroad.

Not having had previous contact with this segment of society in their own culture, these servants of the Lord directed their efforts to people with whom they felt most comfortable – those in the middle and lower-middle income and educational levels. The penetration of these levels of society was necessary, but not to the exclusion of the higher income and educational levels.

An examination of the evangelical church in the western area of Venezuela reveals a preponderance of Christians from a less-educated background. Only recently have people from the more educated and the professional segment of society become a noticeable element in the evangelical church. If the church is to be a vigorous, dynamic, aggressive force in society, more people from the upper classes must be reached for Christ.

BASIC ATTITUDES
Looking to a more effective role fir the church in the future, it seems obvious that the high school and university students form the most strategic segment of society. What strategy can be employed to penetrate the schools with the gospel? The tendency of anyone involved in a youth-oriented ministry is to propagate his approach as the only effective one. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there is no one way to bring the news of true life to the youth of any land. In fact, because of the constantly changing character of the youth culture, what may have been most effective several years ago as a means of discipling students no longer is applicable.

A very real occupational hazard of those involved in a ministry to youth is the inability to change programs, methods, and ideas in mid-stream. Flexibility must assume an important role in the strategy of youth ministries. To maintain such a flexibility there must be constant examination of the youth environment – the current patterns of thought, the issues of importance for youth, and the areas appropriate for instruction and emphasis.

Another aspect of the strategy must be the missionary’s attitude toward youth. Is he ready or willing to accept young people for what they are – to encourage when encouragement is needed; to correct when correction is needed; patiently to guide at all times? Evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of the leader must be obvious if he seeks to reproduce himself in others.

One attitude in the missionary is of utmost importance; on it may well rest the effectiveness of his penetration of the student world. If young people look for any one attitude in the missionary, it is honesty.

Recently in a youth camp directed by Venezuelan Christians, a short drama was presented. Concentrating on the theme of Carnival week – the traditional Roman Church holidays given to the free expression of carnal desires before the beginning of the somber days of Lent the youth vividly presented the dishonesty and hyprocrisy in and outside the Christian realm. Colorful costumes are worn during Carnival, complete with masks. "We are all clowns, " these young people declared, "each carrying his own particular mask to conceal his true spiritual condition. "

To prevent one Christian from knowing what his brother is really like, a mask is worn to protect the supposed image of true spirituality. Or, as one pastor put it, "There are only two types of hypocrites in the church today – the confessed and the unconfessed." Those who admit their hypocrisy and, by the grace of God, desire to be real and authentic – with all the risks involved contrast sharply with those who never remove the mask.

Young people are extremely adept at looking beyond the veneer to discern the real and the genuine. Any missionary who will not risk being genuine and honest will either reproduce disciples in has own image, or will discover the young people searching for leadership and guidance elsewhere.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
These basic attitudes that farm a strategy for youth evangelism have very practical implications. He who desires to disciple students will find a personal ministry extremely valuable. Following the patterns of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, the missionary to students will avoid substitutes for close person-to-person relationships. When a young person encounters Jesus Christ personally, he needs direction and encouragement.

Roger S. Greenway in his book, An Urban Strategy for Latin America, suggests that the Wonderly-Braud survey "points up one major lesson evangelicals must take to heart: evangelical churches and seminaries need to widen their perspective and begin teaching Christians what it means to live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all areas of…society."¹ The missionary discipler thus needs to be in contact with the newer disciple, end not only for times of Bible study and prayer. Even as the disciples of Jesus Christ followed him everywhere, observing his life style in all circumstances, so too the twentieth century disciple should follow and observe his leader.

The missionary must allow the young Christian student to see him in his moments of frustration, anxiety, and difficulties. The student will want to observe the missionary in his relationships to the community and its needs. The missionary’s home becomes an ideal laboratory for reinforcing biblical truths. Many young people have yet to know a home established on biblical principles. The missionary can use his home situation for practical training in Christian living.

In addition, since most students in the Latin context live in their homes with their families, or in apartments, missionary visits with his parents or friends present opportunities to further the outreach of the gospel. Parents will have legitimate questions that need to be answered. The student Christian needs the encouragement and help that his older Christian brother can offer in these initial conversations.

The personal encounter usually begins on the campus, even though the presence of a North American on a Latin American university campus may be suspect. Will the students not associate the gospel with the capitalistic imperialism of the United States? Will the missionary’s presence not reinforce in the minds of students the notion that religion is an instrument of spiritual imperialism, keeping the oppressed peoples of Latin America in subjection?

Because of questions like these, personal contact is essential. In a personal interview such concerns can be openly discussed. Often the Latin student’s impressions of the gospel have come through one-sided propaganda. The student needs to be exposed to the true message of the gospel – that Jesus Christ came to liberate man from his spiritual slavery to sin.

Human society needs new and better men changed by a personal encounter with the only one who can give that new life. The student can be shown the implications that this new life will have on his society and government. I have yet to get an antagonistic reaction to the personal presentation of the gospel, even among radical leftist students.

CHRISTIAN ACTIVITIES ON CAMPUS
This initial personal interview may well lead to additional contacts and conversations. The student should be invited to the Christian activities on the campus – the weekly Bible study, the book table, and the larger open forum presentations. As he continues his investigation of the claims of Jesus Christ on his life, he may come to a total commitment of his life to Christ.

To enable and insure continued development in the Christian life, he needs to become involved with other Christians in small group activities, where he becomes an important member of that group. The encouragement he receives from other Christian students will help him begin his own personal outreach to his fellow students in personal witness. Various Christian university student movements provide excellent guides to help in the process of discipling.

LOCAL CHURCH INVOLVEMENT
Student movements are not a substitute for the local church. Some Christian movements have ignored, bypassed or down-played the local churches, to the detriment of their own outreach and effectiveness. Students brought into a vital relationship with Christ increasingly mature through the dynamic of a local community of believers. If the local church is alert to the opportunities such students present, the integration of these new Christians from a previously pagan culture to the Christian culture can be eased considerably. Perhaps this new Christian student will not behave exactly the way that a more mature Christian does. His dress styles may be quite extreme. He will not adapt himself to all the customs and traditions of the Christian community immediately. But if the pastor and his leaders in the local church are responsive, they will welcome such young people and encourage them to grow within the warmth and love of the local church.

The local church needs a strong program that captivates and inspires the hearts and minds of young people. Once again, person-to-person relationships are effective. Each week the pastor can gather his leaders qualified for counseling and teaching. These leaders then can share what they have learned with their developing disciples. This method of each one teaching one, and being responsible for the development of another, has produced a strong university student involvement in the local church where I am involved. Of course, a vital part of counseling students relates to personal witness with one’s life and testimony.

No campus student movement should function without a board of directors composed of more mature Christians who are members in a local church. These Christians serge as a stabilizing influence, a source o€ counsel and advice, and a means of maintaining communications between the student movement and the local church.

Let me illustrate the relationship that should exist between the Christian university student and the local church. Since I came to Caracas in 1974, I have been involved with the university students and a local church as well. Because there were no strong Christian student movements in the universities of Caracas, I began a plan of personal evangelism and discipleship. When a young person responded to the message of life in Jesus Christ, I began to invest time with him in Bible study, invited him to the youth activities of the church, and encouraged other young Christians of the church studying at his university to share their lives with him.

A large percentage of the young people who attend the local church are university students. Several have been Christians for some years; they have a deep concern for their fellow students. At the same time, they were not too much interested in becoming affiliated with any Christian student movement on campus.

I encouraged them in their personal witness on campus, got Moody Science Films for their use, and assisted them with advice and counsel. These same young people invited their friends to the church, because the church was offering something of spiritual and intellectual stimulation.

Recently, the young people have assumed much of the responsibility for the development of their own activities and have became involved further in a program of personal evangelism and discipleship. Their involvement in the local church is effective because the church maintains a healthy attitude toward university students, is aware of their needs and concerns, and has developed activities to meet them. When the youth program of the local church is adequate, the work of the Christian student movements becomes a helpful complement to the ministry of the local church.

A strategy for reaching young people in urban areas must be developed and expanded, if the evangelical church is to become strong and vigorous. Most young people have not yet adequately examined the message of the transforming life in Christ. They represent every strata of society and can serve the church and the community in their development.

During their student days, with all the changes and unrest that permeate their campuses, many young people sense a desire to belong to something new and dynamic, something that will change the status quo. It is in this environment that the evangelical church must be found proclaiming that which is truly new and dynamic. Often the idealism of youth is lost when the student ends his formal education. But this idealism can be captured for Jesus Christ. This tremendous potential dare not be lost.

As one well-known leader in the Latin student world writes, "`The middle class is less and less a factor of social change and is now becoming a part of the vast Latin American parasitology.’ It will be other groups or social classes which will produce change. And they are precisely the ones who are not being reached by the Gospel. Why?"² One such group that will produce change is the student world. Will it be reached? The basic attitudes of the missionary youth worker and his strategy will largely determine the answer.

Endnotes
1. Roger Greenway, Urban Strategy for Latin America, p. 118.
2. Samuel Escobar, "The Social Responsibility of the Church in Latin America." Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 6, Spring (1970), p. 137. Escobar cites Victor Alba, Parasitos, Mitos, y Sordomudos, CED, Mexico, 1964.

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