Creative Evangelism Ideas
Creative Evangelism Ideas
Creative Evangelism Ideas
P OS TCA RDS F T
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HEMTCO
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Prayer Evangelism
Evangelism is first and foremost a work of God. Therefore,
the place to begin your evangelism is always with prayer.
Prayer aligns us with the work of God and allows us the
privilege of participating in his unfolding plan.
Certainly we need to pray for evangelism and the spread
of the gospel. For example, Paul often exhorted the
believers to pray for his witness to others (Colossians 4:
3,4), even as he prayed for the salvation of his own people
(Romans 10:1). Later, you will read examples of campuses
praying for evangelism.
But there are fresh winds blowing in the spiritual atmosphere of our culture. With these breezes has come openness to prayer as a common spiritual experience. The majority of people today claim prayer as part of their regular
way of life. Though there is great divergence in whom they
pray to and how they pray, the act of prayer can be common ground. In light of these realities, many have discovered prayer to be an effective means of outreach-praying
not only for evangelism, but also prayer as evangelism.
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Southern Connecticut
State University
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*PRAYER
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
How Can
We Pray for You?
One of the Bible studies at North Carolina
State went door-to-door in the dorms and
asked students one simple question: How
can we pray for you? They used a prayer
sheet to help remember all the requests. The
next week, the group followed-up with those
who asked for prayer with questions like
Hows your mother doing? and How did
you do on that test? The group was amazed
by how open people were to prayer.
Faithful to 5
Oklahoma State is using the Lighthouse
Strategy (Prayer, Care, and Share) to reach the
campus. Students were challenged to come
up with five names of friends they know that
they can pray for, care for, and share with. For
some, its the first time to share with someone
they know personally. One girl kept praying
for her friend during the year. Then one day,
they went out to eat together. The girl asked if
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Prayer Circle
Every Thursday at noon, Morgan State
students meet in a circle to pray at areas of
campus that experience high foot traffic. This
public prayer circle is especially common and
accepted in the African-American community.
Other Christian groups are encouraged to join.
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Ministry Evangelism
Through the years, Campus Crusade has been known for
our intentional and strategic efforts in ministry evangelism.
We have had the privilege of sharing Christ with countless
college students who otherwise might not have had the
opportunity to consider Christ. Evangelism in the ministry
mode occurs when we intentionally reach out to another
person with the purpose of witnessing to them (in contrast
to the natural mode, in which we share with someone
because of our relationship or natural connection). But
ministry evangelism doesnt all look the same. There are
countless examples of creative approaches, both to engage
an audience and to communicate relevantly to them. The
examples that follow will give you a taste of the creativity
being used across campuses today.
Several of the next cluster of ideas relate to evangelistic media campaigns viewable, and downloadable, at
escmedia.org (see p. 94). These ads are used to publicize
the evangelistic website, everystudent.com (see p. 4). You
might glance through these resources before viewing the
following ideas.
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LA Metro Team
CELL
PHONE
EVANGELISM
BY JODY HANFORD
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*MINISTRY
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
Target Areas Revisited
In our niche society, the University of Northern
Colorado avoids campus-wide evangelism
events. Instead, they focus on community
groups, like students in the theatre program.
Bible studies each have a vision/outreach
leader, and each of the groups owns a target
area. These leaders chart the course for developing relationships with the students in their
specific target area and organize outreaches
throughout the semester. Rather than bringing
in major speakers, the ministry pours energy
and attention into the small groups, helping
the students learn the art of sowing seeds
with those they see every day.
Broken Art Show
Students at the Maryland Institute College of
Art in Baltimore held an art show under the
theme of Broken. The students reserved
the gallery and arranged all the art. The show
lasted several weeks and hundreds of people
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came through to visit. The guest book signatures record a mix of faculty, staff members
and students.
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Business Student Outreach
To reach his peers in the business department at the University of Texas, one student
invited a business professional each week to
discuss how his or her Christian faith played a
significant role in the workplace. Named after
the business term return on investment, ROI
met in the business school.
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veryStudent.com
E
on Card Stock
Students at Northern Arizona University
wanted to motivate more students to visit
EveryStudent.com (an evangelistic website).
So they created prominent card stock signs
and posted them on stakes around campus in
strategic locations. One series of signs, placed
near the engineering school, provided a variety
of reasons to believe in God. Another series
of signs, placed in a heavily traveled walkway
between the student union and the bookstore, listed six or seven reasons to save sex
for marriage. All of the content came from
EveryStudent.com articles and the website was
printed at the bottom of each sign; printed
using a simple, readable font, the signs drew
attention - every night more than 25% of them
would be knocked down.
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Hey, I did a 180!
The Twin Cities Metro ministry expanded an
idea born at UW River Falls three years earlier.
On the ministry website, students posted their
photographs with their testimonies. Next, the
picture/testimony combos were printed out
in poster form and table tents to distribute on
the individual campuses. Hey, I did a 180!
became the theme of the outreach and several
campuses within the metro area hosted a
special speaker and invited students to publicly
describe their testimony. Since many students
prepared their personal testimonies, the 180
Campaign provided long-term success as well.
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Soul Inside?
Wanting to stimulate spiritual conversations
on the campus of Dartmouth College, the
group created a campaign, complete with
a logo-a yellow caution sign with a person
looking down at a hole in their heart, and the
cryptic question: Soul Inside? Some posters
featured prominent people like Mother Teresa
and Princess Diana, and asked, Where are they
after their death? The campaign included ads
and articles in the school paper, dorm discus-
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*MINISTRY
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
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Im all ears Campaign
You can speak volumes if you just listen. At the
University of Florida, staff members and students promised a listening ear, inviting students
to meet them at a certain place to offer their
point of view. They utilized the student newspaper, emphasizing that anyone who came
would be listened to closely. The campaign
included T-shirts promising, Im all ears.
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What to Wear for Great Sex
One popular evangelistic ad addresses the
question of sex before marriage by stating, What to wear for great sex along with
the picture of wedding rings (viewable at
escmedia.org). The ministry of Boise State
ran this campaign during condom week on
campus and as an enhancement passed out
gold rings to further solidify the point with
students.
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Buses for Jesus
Penn State thought of a creative and cost effective way to get people thinking about God.
The ministry rented ad space inside the local
buses and prepared five separate ads about
the attributes of God. Each ad ran on 50-60
buses with the potential to be seen more
than 4 million times. Topics included Gods
goodness, mercy and justice, and included the
ministry website. The ads cost the equivalent
of a page ad in the paper for one day. Next
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Pass the Salt
Kent State wanted to spice up conversations
on campus, so they made T-shirts with the
words, Pass the Salt. Everyone wore their
shirts on the same day, generating questions about the meaning. In response, staff
members and students spoke about God and
invited people to the weekly meeting.
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Are you Empty?
With the word Empty plastered on the
back of T-shirts, students at Cal State Fresno
engaged their peers in spiritual conversations.
What do people do to fill the emptiness in
their lives? As a part of the campaign, several
students explained how they were rescued
from a place of emptiness.
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Movie Night Intermission
At Albuquerque Community College, the
ministry invites the whole campus to come to
a movie night. During the movie, they have an
intermission: students fill out a questionnaire,
which later is used to pull a name for a gift
raffle and for spiritual follow-up later.
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PurdueQuestions.org
Posters advertising the Website
PurdueQuestions.org covered the campus of
Purdue for several weeks during the semester.
Once students visit the site they have options
to read a number of evangelistic articles available from escmedia.org.
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EveryStudent.com, Literally
Over a two-week period the ministry at
Ohio University blitzed the campus with
EveryStudent.com evangelistic posters. An
email was sent to every student and letters
were stuffed in student mailboxes. They utilized posters and newspaper ads as well.
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Code Red
Odor Warning
James Madison Universitys Campus
Crusade has blazed trails with using the
EveryStudent.com website. T-shirts were printed with the words Code Red and included
the website address. Prizes were awarded to
those students who wore their shirts the most
consecutive days.
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$50 Website Outreach
At UC Davis the ministry passed out several
thousand cards inviting people to their site
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Natural Evangelism
Throughout the day, our paths naturally intersect the lives
of many individuals. These natural connections provide
many opportunities to be a witness for Christ. For staff
members, as outsiders in the campus community, natural
opportunities are harder to come by. For students, as insiders, they abound. Often these connections come as divine
appointments, when God orchestrates the circumstances
to bring two people together. But in many ways we can be
intentional at both fostering relationships and creating the
environment in which significant conversations about the
gospel occur.
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Lighthouse
University of Arkansas
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*NATURAL
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
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accepted the challenge and were able to initiate conversations with those who sat close by.
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rt Institute
A
Sports Outreach
Creativity is no problem for students at the
Art Institute of Chicago. To draw attention,
surface interested people, and develop friendships, the students advertised a running club.
They advertised the club with scenes from the
movie Chariots of Fire, placing cutouts of their
own heads atop the actors bodies. Posters
and flyers bear the tongue-in-cheek question,
Who says theres no sports here?
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Detroit Day of Faith
During the One Day of Faith nationwide campaign, the Detroit Metro team carried out the
strategy citywide. For six weeks leading up to
the event, they led the prayer, care and share
(Lighthouse) strategy.
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print PCS -
S
This is not a commercial
The ministry at Tennessee State University
tried to think of ways to be more involved in
the lives of students. During the spring, they
launched a campaign that they called Sprint
PCS. These letters stand for Prayer, Care
and Share. The campaign included 2 weeks
of praying through a list of specific people
(Prayer). Then there were 2 weeks of looking
for ways to get involved in the lives of these
same people (Care). Finally there were two
weeks set aside for initiating opportunities
to share Christ with these same people. The
Impact students focused on carrying out
the PCS campaign after each Bible study.
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Dinner and an Invite
Want a creative way to get more students
to your weekly meeting? The ministry at the
University of Louisiana in Lafayette passed
out 40 Chilis gift certificates ($10 each) to
students. They were instructed to take a friend
with them to dinner and invite their friend to
join them at CRU.
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Faith Flags
Cincinnati Metro encouraged their students
to look for ways to plant faith flags in
the midst of their everyday conversations.
Students are able to identify themselves as
Christians simply by saying something like, I
prayed before I took the test today. These
simple statements allow students to communicate to their friends that there is a dimension to their lives that they had not previously
known about.
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Prayer-Care-Share Cards
The ministry at Southern Methodist University printed prayer/care/share cards that
unfold and guide students on this familiar
technique for reaching their friends. They
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*NATURAL
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
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Art Thou Saved?
One block from the University of New Mexico,
a church meets in a converted movie theatre.
The lobby of the church is made available for
students to display their artwork. A group of
artistic students meets at the church to create
art and to discuss the meaning of their art. This
has opened up doors to talk about the gospel.
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Battle of the Bands
Students at Drexel University in Philadelphia
sponsored a battle of the bands on campus.
Many of the students are musically talented
and saw this as an opportunity to develop
relationships with the people who came out
to the concert. The event was not billed or
perceived as a religious gathering.
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eekly Meeting
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Welcome Gifts
At the beginning of every Campus Crusade
meeting at Rutgers University, all the new
people are asked to raise their hands. Each
new person receives a coupon to exchange
for a gift at the meetings end. As the students exit the meeting room, student leaders
and staff members stand at the door and
give a gift package that includes a response
card. Because the gospel is shared each week,
one question on the card is: Did you receive
Christ tonight?
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Ministry to Free Thinkers
A couple of key students at Michigan State
began attending the Free Thinkers club on
campus. The common belief among members is atheism. The Christians go to build
relationships and so far the group has been
accepting of them. Michigan State students
are strategically placed in different influential
clubs on campus.
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Just Be Who You Are
The San Francisco Metro ministry is challenging students to live out the principle of being
set apart, but not separate from the culture
around them. They want to see their students
involved in other clubs on campus - art club,
dance team, or intramural sports. In this way,
students are learning that in ministry you
dont have to create your own thing, but you
can just be who you are.
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4-Wheeling for Christ
Students involved in the Michigan Tech ministry joined clubs on campus to build relationships with non-Christians. One of the most
popular activities in the area is 4-wheeling, so
some of the students signed up for
this unique
field of ministry.
Leadership Expectation:
Join a Group
Arkansas Metro student leaders are expected
to get involved in another student activity group with freshmen involved. They are
encouraged to join with a friend in order to
build relationships with non-believers. The
desired outcome is that the Campus Crusade
leaders will have opportunities to share their
faith within these relational groups at some
point during the year. This is also a great way
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Connecting with
Campus Leaders
At UNC Chapel Hill, a leadership organization
holds a summit once a week for presidents of
campus clubs. The student president of Campus Crusade attends.
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Intramural Sports
All the Way
At North Carolina State, 100 students participate in intramural softball. The students
are encouraged to join other teams and build
relationships that can lead to evangelistic opportunities.
to build relationships with students. The upperclassmen trade in their privacy for cafeteria
food, midnight fire drills, and community
showers, so that they can meet and mentor a
freshman or sophomore.
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Committed to the Dorms
At the Minnesota State University - Moorhead, 14 guys are moving back into a dorm to
focus on reaching that dorm. They organized
a regular game of capture the flag and
other activities to foster
relationships with
their dorm mates.
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Combining Ministry
with Interests
Arizona States Campus Crusade has encouraged students to form their ministry around
affinity groups. Examples include a freshman
group of guys who like to play racquetball,
and who form their evangelism around reaching other guys in the racquetball club. This is
helping students to have an intentional focus
with their evangelism.
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Coffeehouse Success
The ministry at the University of Central Florida
hosts a successful coffeehouse where students
can see a community of Christians in a normal
environment. The ministry also opens the
coffeehouse for other clubs on campus to use.
The coffeehouse helps integrate new people
who show up at their weekly meeting because
of the relational and comfortable environment.
People from extremely diverse backgrounds
hang out at the coffeehouse and interact with
the Christian students there.
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Living on Campus
with Purpose
While most upper classmen choose off-campus housing, Campus Crusade students at
Iowa State choose to live on campus in order
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Body Evangelism
Whenever the body of Christ is gathered, it has the potential of being used by God as a powerful witness. A healthy
body of believers is filled with love and truth, the very
thing people desire to experience. The environment of love
and truth not only provides an environment for believers
to grow, it also provides an ideal setting for individuals to
come to Christ. This may occur in large groups and small. It
may occur in planned meetings or informal social gatherings. Ministries across the nation are discovering how to
open the doors of their community to allow outsiders to
enter and experience the love and truth of Christ flowing
through the witness of the body.
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Saddleback College
EXTREME DAYS
BY DAVE THORNSBERRY
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*BODY
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
At Saddleback College,
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FAMINE ON
CAMPUS
University of Oklahoma
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*BODY
( MODES OF EVANGELISM )
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P
arty with a Purpose
at Ball State
Ball State is not known as a big party school,
but that doesnt stop the Campus Crusade
movement from using parties as a cool way to
connect with the lost. The staff and student
leaders say they want the Campus Crusade
parties to be the kind of thing that students
are still talking about on Monday mornings.
Their parties are all the fun, minus the alcohol,
of typical college parties. On one occasion,
with 150 students packed into a party at one
house, the cops stopped by suspicious of finding trouble. Needless to say, the authorities
were pleasantly surprised.
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Michigan
States Dorm
Focused Weekly Meeting
One week the leadership team at Michigan
State moved their ministrys weekly meeting
in front of a dorm housing 300 students. The
whole event was geared toward serving and
reaching the residents of that dorm. Customized surveys spoke specifically to the needs
of students there. Several servant evangelism
activities were included in the evening. A buzz
was created and the students realized that
their peers from Campus Crusade really cared
about them.
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onnecting With
C
Diverse Groups
Baltimore Metro has looked for ways to build
bridges to other groups on campus. They have
found that doing service projects together is a
helpful way to form relationships. On one of
their campuses they teamed up with a homosexual group to do a food drive. Through the
activity, the students got a chance to know
the Christians and some even attended a Bible
study. The two groups got to know each other
in a non-threatening environment. Some of
the students from the other group had been
raised in church and were interested in checking out what Campus Crusade was about.
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eekly Meeting
W
Seeking the Seeker
Marshal University has positioned its weekly
meeting to attract those seeking more understanding about God. The talk is geared toward
both Christians and non-Christians. Each
week there are fun give-a-ways and the meeting wraps up with lots of music at the end.
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Socials Get a
Thumbs Up in Tampa
Strategy for evangelism in
Tampa centers around
bringing non-Christians
into the activities of
Christian friends. Once
a month the ministry
carries out a relational
outreach. One month
they did a camping
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