Each autumn, thousands, perhaps ten thousand Freshmen arrive at the UGA campus. They are “free” from the constraints of mom & dad, most know few people (if any), they are vulnerable and will be making some very huge life decisions over those first months. What a great opportunity for the church and campus ministries to unite to make a difference in these and other students at UGA.
And that is exactly what we are doing! Our desire is to connect these young adults to a campus ministry, a local church and to Jesus. As such most of the campus ministries and several local churches are uniting to make an impact in September. It is called the 21-Day Challenge. Our hope is to personally pass out 5,000 bibles to students and invite them to read the book of John, one chapter a day for 21 days. These students are given some simple instructions, namely, each day ask God, “If You are real reveal Yourself to me as I read the bible.” We will be gathering contact details to follow them up, as well as having a combined campus ministries evangelistic gathering at the end. At some point we will be doing a combined church prayer gathering specifically to pray for this outreach, as well as prayer walks building up to and during the challenge. This is huge! The reason I share this now is so that you can begin praying with us.Here’s how you can pray…
Prepare the hearts of the students… Pray that God would begin to soften their hearts and prepare the soil to receive the seeds of the Gospel. Pray that God would bring things into their lives to plough the way. Pray that He would begin putting questions and a hunger in their spirit.
Prepare the teams involved… Pray that the campus ministries involved would take hold of this and the Christian students themselves would own it. Pray for every detail would be covered, from getting permission from UGA where needed, to clarifying assignments and obtaining the bibles, contact cards, etc.
Rally the churches to get behind it… Pray that churches would hear about this and dive in to participate, specifically in prayer. Pray that each church involved would take on their unique role. Pray that new relationships would form.
A movement of God on the UGA campus… Pray that God would continue to drawn students, faculty and administration to Him. Pray that even over the summer God would be working and strengthening the faith of those who follow Jesus. Pray that God would prepare the way for a move on the campus.
Greater unity between the campus ministries and local churches… Pray that this joint venture would be a catalyst for greater unity in Athens. Pray for new and strengthened relationships between pastors and campus ministry directors.
Respond to God’s prompting… Pray however the Lord prompts you to pray. Thank Him for what He is going to do!
