Developing Disciples - Ministry Exchange (MX)

Making Disciples: Effective Follow upFollow-up of Nnew converts: Working
draftChristians

“Our mandate has never been to make converts but to make disciples”

Jessica, I know that you probably can’t take all of my suggestions. And I
would encourage you NOT to try. Please feel free to select the most
helpful ones, and leave the wacky ones on the cutting floor. (

You may want to consider working from a Bible text. Care of new converts
is a common issue in books like Titus, Timothy, and many other epistles.

A few years ago, the InterVarsity chapter I staff at Grand Valley State
University hosted a week-long evangelistic event that includeding a day of
outdoor public proclamation and conversational evangelism. Although the
day of our outdoor event was a cold, rainy Michigan day, it was thrilling
to see students actively living out a witnessing community in a large-scale
way and seeing people make decisions for Christ. But by However, at the end
of the week I was feeling less than thrilled as I wondered, “Where are all
the people who made decisions?” Out of the 12 people that made decisions
for Christ, only two came to chapter events or a bible study after students
had followed up with each person. I felt crushed and grieved. What had I
done wrong? Should we even have attempted to invest our efforts in a
proclamation event? Would my students be discouraged after seeing the lack
of retention? We knew that the timing of our event at the end of spring
semester made follow- up difficult and that not many students wanted to get
involved with a new chapter or build new friendships at the end of the
year, but it was still disheartening to see so few people getbecome
involved.

Over the past yearIt’s for this reason that, the Great Lakes East Regional
Evangelism Team has worked to increasingdevelope the evangelistic vision,
skills and influence for staff and students across our region. Part of our
goal and desire is to see effective follow- up of converts and the
involvement of students and staff actively helping the individual to become
a disciple. This paper seeks to addresses some of the methodological
shortcomings in following- up with new converts that we have seen over the
past year and in our collective timeyears with InterVarsity. I hope to
provide insight into these problems and suggest a method to help decrease
and hopefully eliminate these problems. The main goal of this paper is to
provide staff with a quality follow- up plan available for immediate use
with students in campus evangelism, specifically geared towards
conversational evangelism and large -seeker events.

Assumptions:

. Staff and students have or will be provided with quality conversational evangelism training before employing these methods. (See R. York Moore’s resources on this.) . Staff and students understand and own the biblical basis for conversational evangelism or large evangelistic large seeker events. . Staff and students have participated in or plan to participate in some aspect of conversational evangelism, postmodern proclamation stations or a large seeker event. . Staff and students may have experienced some level of frustration after these events due to the lack of retention and discipleship of new converts.

These assumptions are fine.

Track record

I was recently talking with Rick Richardson at an evangelism conference
where he shared that Great Lakes East is the only region in the country
that largely uses conversational evangelism as one of our main evangelistic
tools. Our conversation was in the context of the unique problem that
comes with conversational evangelism, namely that the follow upfollow-up of
new converts is difficult and often done poorly. In Great Lakes East,
we’ve either heard or voiced the concern, “Wwhy haven’t the new believers
become part of our fellowship?” This frustration can result in a few
outcomes:; focusing on methods which more easily foster relationships like
GIG’s (God Investigation Groups) or friendship evangelism, abandoning
efforts to practice conversational evangelism out of frustration, or
resorting to feelings like “at least they’re in the kingdom;, let’s pray
that someone teaches them how to follow Jesus,” and simply hoping that
someone else will help them along after they’ve prayed a prayer or filled
out a card. Rick was quick to affirm that practicing conversational
evangelism or holding large proclamation events aren’t the problem.
However, in our efforts, we’ve seen it’s what happens afterward that is the
problemis. The question that lingers in our minds as we grapple with
evangelistic methodology is, “Sshould we even practice conversational
evangelism or large proclamation events if effective follow upfollow-up
isn’t happening?”

No matter what method we are using we are accountable before God and to the
new believers to help them become disciples. We cannot haphazardly call
people to faith in Christ, and walk away smiling that we can make another
check mark on our AFR putting little or no effort into discipling the new
convert (I sort of doubt that any of the staff would think this way. So, I
don’t know if you’re trying to address it. If you aren’t, maybe it’s a
superfluous sentence. But if you are, maybe you could elaborate). Our
mandate from Matthew 28:19, 20 is (emphasis added): “Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I will be with you always.” Our mandate has
never been to make converts, but to make disciples.. Throughout 1
Timothy, Paul gives encouragement to the young disciple to pastor the
Ephesian church. He givesprovides instructions toto Timothy on church
order, leadership standards, and the care of specific individuals in the
church. Much of what Paul sharesd with Timothy is also useful for us as we
seek to care for new Christians through engaging in large seeker events and
conversational evangelism. I believe that conversational evangelism and
large seeker events can be and are a powerful tool to share Jesus and call
people to respond to Him. My hope is that through caring for new
Christians, through reflecting on the principles of caring for new
Christians in 1 Timothy, and examining our own methodology we can more
effectively teach new converts to obey what Jesus has commanded of us;,
namely, how to live according to what he commands. By the grace of God,
prayers and persistence we can look forward to the coming years of helping
converts become disciples.

Follow-up Training: a.k.a “How to not feel like a stalker”

Have you ever visited or called a new convert only to have a socially
awkward conversation with hithem? If you’re anything like I am, something
like this runs through your head: “Oo.k..k., I just helped this person make
one of the most significant decisions of histheir lifeves. But this
conversation isn’t going so well and I can tell hethey doesn’t really want
to talk to me., Tthis is so weird-, I barely even know this person! What
makes me think that hethey’ll actually come to small group.a meeting with
me..the upcoming conference? I should have sent a student to do this,
hethey probably feels like I’m stalking himthem…” and so the mental
conversation continues. The reality is that, this doing follow upfollow-up
can feel pretty weird. In an age of Instant Messenger and e-mail, a phone
call, let alone a visit, can feel culturally awkward. So how do we combat
this?

Paul knew that “timid” Timothy would have to be reminded of his identity
and calling in Christ. “I give you this instruction in keeping with the
prophesies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the
good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected
these and so have shipwrecked their faith.” (1 Tim. 1:18-19). Many times
staff or students simply lack the confidence that they are “a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, that you may declare
the praises of himHim who called you out of darkness into his wonderful
light” (1 Peter 2:9). It can be scary and awkward to follow upfollow-up
with new Christians while being unsure how they’ll respond to you and your
attempts to help them grow their faith and it can be even more discouraging
when invitations to become involved in the fellowship are continually
turned down. After Paul encourages Timothy to fight the fight, hold on to
the faith and a good conscience, he mentions people who have rejected these
things. Seeing people walk away from the faith is as discouraging today as
it was in Timothy’s time. In our follow upfollow-up efforts, we can often
feel like people are rejecting us or our chapter if they reject the
decision they’ve made for Christ, or that we’re just bothering them by
calling week after week to invite them to small group.

Paul also knew that caring for new Christians takes perseverance,
persistence and a clear conviction about one’s calling and identity in
Christ. He is clear to place the responsibility on the people who have
shipwrecked their faith, not on Timothy. Students and staff should also be
reminded that we are responsible to care for new Christians to the best of
our efforts and abilities, but that these new believersey are also
responsible for the decisions and choices to grow their faith. Before
attempting to follow upfollow-up with new Christians, staff should take
great care to help remind students of their call to be “persistent priests”
and their responsibility to care for new Christians. There should be a
point where we can look to our follow upfollow-up efforts with a clear
conscience and either prayerfully persist when it takes longer to develop
trust and involve new Christians in fellowship, orand accept and pray for
the others who reject the faith. By clarifying our identity in Christ and
our responsibility to persist in caring for new Christians, hopefully
students will be able to have a clear conscience in follow upfollow-up and,
feeling less like a stalker or a failure as they persist when it takes more
time to connect with new Christians and accept that some willwhen some
reject the faith.
I think it would be helpful to explain how the plan below solves the
problem of “feeling like a stalker.” Basically, for the flow of the paper,
it seems to need a bridge here of some kind.

How to do it: Follow upFollow-up method & materials for a large seeker
event

Chapters 2 and 3 of 1 Timothy focus on outlining church organization and
leadership standards. As we look forward to being a movement with more
reaping events, we can expect that we will need to modify the structures of
our chapter to provide a systematic approach to caring for new Christians
and carry out intentional discipleship to help them understand and see how
to follow Christ. Paul is clear that prayerfulness should be the
foundation for any worshipping fellowship. “I urge you, first of all, to
pray for all people. As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon
them, and give thanks. 2Pray this way for kings and all others who are in
authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and
dignity. 3This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4for he wants everyone
to be saved and to understand the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:1-4). As we prepare to
influence and evangelize every aspect of the campus, our chapters need to
be places of prayerfulness. Praying for the lost as well as for the
leaders and structures of the campus will invite the Holy Spirit to move,
causing us to depend on God and humble ourselves before himHim. Perhaps
one of the most precious things I saw during GVSU’s extensive outreach week
and the months leading up to it, was seeing my students pray. After all
the events were over, one of my especially “hands on” students commented
that the best thing about the week was, “that God grew my faith, because
after all the work we put into the event all I could do was pray and trust
that God would do the work we had been asking himHim to do for months.” At
the end of the year it was exciting to reflect and see that in praying for
10 people to make decisions for Christ, Jesus had moved in over 20 people’s
hearts to make first time decisions or recommitments. Indeed, Paul best
puts it “and for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle” (1
Tim. 2:7a).

In keeping with Paul’s encouragement to have orderly worship, the follow
upfollow-up method outlined below focuses primarily on how to connect with
and care for new Christians during a large seeker event, whether it be a
large group or a campus wide outreach. The followingother section in this
paper deals with how to train people to do effective follow upfollow-up
before an event, so just keep reading!. There are many ways initial follow
upfollow-up can happen at a large group or event. For many, it may be the
most natural thing to share their decision with the friend who has invited
them and leave it at that. However, having a specific method in place
serves the following purposes:

. Connect them with a member of the chapter to begin building a relationship. . Clarify their understanding of the gospel and the decision they have decided to make. . Collect information from the individual for timely follow upfollow-up. . Care for the new believer by providing material to help their faith grow and following up within 48 hours. 1. Connect: Staff and students should be trained for follow-up and designated to do so before the event., I’ll refer to these people as prayer servants. The evangelist or speaker should give clear instructions of how people will serve them and where they should go. This might look like prayer servants wearing matching shirts or having some other identical way to identify them such as name badges. The evangelist or speaker should work out the details of when an invitation will be given and where the prayer servants need to be during the event to minimize any confusion before the event. This provides a specific way for new converts to connect with a chapter member or staff as the first people to care for them after they’ve made their decision. The convert and the student have already met each other which hopefully eases following up after the event. The aim of this is to connect students with a chapter member if they’ve come to the event alone. Some chapters use response cards with a space on the sheet for converts to denote whom they know in the fellowship. If no one is put down, the pre-determined follow-up coordinator or staff will do the follow upfollow-up. Many chapters also use a spreadsheet of each person attending the event. This can help with accountability, prayer and staying connected with people attending the event. I realize that for some chapters, asking people to come to the front or stand up would be culturally taboo and possibly hinder people making decisions for Christ. For this reason, I’ve included a response cards that can be modified at the end of this paper. It can be used in a number of ways-, eeither by asking people to come forward and meet with a specific person at the event or asking them to fill out the card and having a friend or prayer servant follow upfollow-up with them as soon as possible after the event. If students are not asked to come forward during the event, I would highly recommend encouraging as many students as possible to attend follow upfollow-up training, especially if they plan to bring a friend to the event. 2. Clarify: As I was combing through supporting material to write this paper, I was struck with how the Billy Graham Counseling and Follow upFollow-up department clarifies an “inquirer’s” decision after Billy presents the gospel and invites a response. Inquirers are presented with a response card and are asked to check one of a number of boxes including; accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, recommitment to Christ, assurance of salvation, demonstrating faith, talking about a special need, or knowing more about what it means to receive Christ. In each of these instances, counselors are instructed to go over a basic gospel outline (the bridge diagram) to make sure inquirers fully understand a commitment to Christ and have a genuine understanding of the Gospel. This highlights the importance of making sure the gospel has been presented clearly even after the evangelist or speaker has given their message. Prayer servants should ask individuals why they have come forward and then record their answer on a response card that has been provided for use that night. (PROVIDE A VARIETY OF RESPONSE CARDS AT THE END OF THE PAPER good idea. Maybe we could get some from BGA). Prayer servants can then respond appropriately to the individual and go through a basic gospel outline, addressing specific concerns as needed. Prayer servants can then pray with the individual to accept Christ, using a prayer printed on the commitment card. Afterwards, prayer servants should go over what has actually happened spiritually transpired as they’ve prayed, explaining the components of the Gospel and the what has happened once a person applies the Gospel to their own lives. either verbally explaining what has happened when the person accepts Christ. The Billy Graham center has a helpful set of cards that inductively guideing someone through the salvation process and assurance of salvation. It uses a series of bible passages and response questions for the individual making a decision. A copy of the card can be requested from the Billy Graham Training Center, using the email or phone number listed below or going over the salvation worksheet in the Billy Graham booklet. I think this is an interesting practice. I especially like the more inductive part of the practice whereby prayer servants are supposed to ask respondents why they came forward. Perhaps you could generate a list of good questions to ask respondents during the course of this step. 3.
Jessica, This portion just above that I wrote during my first revision
wasn’t designed to become a part of the paper. That is, I didn’t mean for
you to take it that way. however, if you think it fits, feel free to use
it. I just want to make sure you didn’t think it was supposed to be an
addition. 4. Collect: This is possibly one of the most crucial steps to helping people become disciples. A specific card should be provided for consistency and accuracy in recording information recorded. After a call for commitment has been made by the large group speaker or evangelist, students and staff need to be ready to council the individuals who have made decisions. After the prayer servant has gone over the gospel outline, prayed with the individual and explained salvation to them, information should be collected for follow upfollow-up after the event[i]. Prayer servants should be provided with a ball-point pen and response cards before the event. Make sure that students andor staff marks all the information on the card, explaining to the individual that they will be contacted within the next 48 hours by the prayer servant. Have the student fill out the card for the person neatly & clearly. The prayer servant should keep the carbon copy of the commitment card for follow upfollow-up and give the top copy to the specific person designated to collect and record the information after it’s been filled out. If you host an event where students will simply fill out a card to indicate their decision, designate a time and individuals who will collect the cards at some point in the night. It’s also helpful to have a spreadsheet of the people who made decisions. This helps to have their information on hand to invite them to future events and keeps the information in a central place. 5. 6. Care:- during the event: In “Going Public with the Gospel,[ii]” Mark Allison Anderson (is that his name? I thought it was Lon Allison, and Mark ???), Director of YWAM writes that “the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has organized evangelistic campaigns using three phases: preparation, proclamation, and preservation. They estimate that in their campaigns, 45 percent of the efforts are in preparation, 45 percent in preservation, and 10 percent in the event, or the proclamation phase. Mark reflects that “this is similar to a pattern the Lord opened up to me as I studied the ministry of Jesus and the early apostles.” TheAs much hard work as we put into our events, we need to realize that much of the work begins after it has ended. During the event Tthe prayer servant should give their name, phone number, and email address to the individual before they’ve left the event, asking if they could explaining that (maybe it should be that they ask permission to contact the respondent) they will be contacting them to see how they’re doing in the next 48 hours. If individuals are asked to (fill out thea card?) rather than meet with prayer servants at the event, the evangelist or speaker should be clear that after they fill out the card, someone from the chapter will contact them about their decision. Doug Schaupp has also suggested that theis card that the individual fills out could say something like, “Things to consider after an important spiritual experience: It is tempting to walk away and forget important spiritual events in your life. Talking to others about your spiritual growth is one of the best ways to help it go deeper. We need a team approach to spiritual growth and none of us can do it alone. Jesus has great hope for us, and he is eager to transform all the parts of our lives. He wants to transform anger into forgiveness. Selfishness into generosity. Numbness into compassion. Aloofness and distractedness into passionate and meaningful purpose…” Prayer servants should contact the individual who has made a decision for Christ within a few hours after the event or as soon as possible. The individual should be given a devotional guide and instructions of how to go through the bible studies and given a bible if hethey doesn’t have one. This should either be done at the event or as soon after as possible. Some possible devotional guides that can be used are listed under the resources section at the end of this paper. 7. Care: after the event: Invite both the evangelist and the chapter to participate in follow-up. A letter of encouragement can be sent to each individual who has made a decision from the evangelist or speaker in addition to personal follow-up from chapter members and prayer servants. At this point, the prayer servants have met individuals, prayed with them to accept Christ, and collected their information. Within 48 hours, they should plan to visit, call, email, or write the person. Personal contact should be stressed, as people are more likely to develop a relationship with someone who visits them as opposed to an email that they can disregard. On a campus, which is fairly self-contained, this is a pretty easy thing to do. For commuter colleges, phone calls, emails and letters may be the only way to reach students. The important thing is for contact to be made within 48 hours. Once contact has been made the converts should be encouraged to go through the bible studies they’ve been given, pray regularly, and memorize scripture. They should also be invited to bible studies that have been set up for new believers. Your chapter may not be big enough to have specific new believer bible studies after the event, and in that case, invite them to do a study with an individual or small group sensitive to theirtheir needs. The benefit of creating a place for new Christians to discover the bible with other new Christians is that it slowly introduces them to the Christian life as opposed to coming to a small group or large group with lots of Christians doing things that are unfamiliar and possibly scary for them at the beginning of their relationship with Christ. Later in this paper, I’ll share how GIG’s can be used as an effective follow upfollow-up tool. Remember, they will have no clue that being a Christian involves going to a billion meetings each week, or what the IFES is, or what “walking in the light” means. New believers will need a place for fellowship, acceptance and spiritual nurture; much like a baby needs milk before enjoying solid food (1 Peter 2:2). 8. People, not programs should be promoted. Often, we can be too easily tempted to think that our typical approach with a Christian student will work with new believers—sign em’ up for large group, small group and a DPM! However, effective follow-up is relationship based, and you should choose your best students to do follow upfollow-up with new .Christians. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul outlines leadership standards for the Ephesian church. Paul is clear that the conduct of the deacon or overseer reveals how to live for Christ, and lists specific methods of conduct and lifestyle for church leaders. You will want to make sure that you are connecting new Christians with people who will not only tell them what living for Christ is about, but who will show them as well. You might consider asking seniors who are mature but aren’t in a leadership role, or a former Leadership team member. You will also need to make sure that your students know how to intentionally invest in a new Christian and not just invite them to meetings. Regardless of who you select, the next steps after the new Christian’s decision need to be with a mature believer inviting them into a relationship, and helping to nurture their new faith. Hopefully, by this point your students will realize the privilege of caring for a new believer and be excited about doing so. Encourage them to add discipleship to what they’re already doing; meaning that helping a new believer know what it means to follow Jesus can look like playing soccer together, going out for ice cream or playing a board game. By spending time socially with the new believer they will see that people in the chapter genuinely care about them and are interested in getting to know them, and not just inviting them to meetings. During one of our outreach weeks, GVSU hosted evangelist Sujo John who to come and shared his story about surviving the World Trade Towertrade tower bombings on September 11th, 2001. At the beginning and end of the evening, everyone in attendance at the event was invited to a barbeque hosted by our chapter. The event took place was towards the end of the semester, so it provided a great chance for people to take a study break and for our chapter members to connect with new people. At that event 11 people made decisions for Christ and three of them came to the barbeque that was hosted a few days later. Students and staff got into great conversations with people and had the opportunity to begin relationships with the people who had made decisions. One of these students became actively involved in a summer bible study with other chapter members. 9. Accountability. Because of the nature of these typetypes of events follow-up can often get lost in the shuffle. Students and staff are tired, the event is finished, and all the bibles have been handed out. To minimize having follow-up dropped, make sure there is someone to hold you and your students accountable for quality, timely follow-up. If you are the one doing a lot of work for the event, I suggest asking the visiting evangelist or your supervisor to hold you accountable. Below is a suggested method and timeline for evangelistic accountability: 1. Pray regularly by name for each individual who has made a decision during the event. The leadership team, prayer servants and chapter members attending DPM’s should be praying fervently for the protection of these individuals. 2. Follow-up within 48 hours after the event. 3. Send a lLetter of encouragement is sent from the evangelist or speaker within the week. 4. Prayer servants need to cPrayer servants contact new Christians within the week and encourage them to attend “New Christian” bible studies. 5. Plan a social event a week or twosoon after the evangelistic event and specifically for invite individuals who have made decisions during thate event. This focuses on relationship-based follow upfollow-up. 6. The sStaff, supervisor or evangelist will contact thes chapter to see if names have been followed up on and invited to bible studies. 7. Call new Christians 3 weeks after the event to see how they’re doing and if they’ve found a place to learn more about their relationship with Jesus. 8. Continue to pray for individuals throughout the year. Keep them on an email list if they haven’t gotten involved with anything in the chapter and continue to invite them to events and be available and welcoming to them.

Follow-up for Conversational Evangelism
Since both seeker events and conversational evangelism can have the same
dynamic of beginning relationships with people after they’ve made a
decision for Christ, follow upfollow-up for conversational evangelism can
be similar to follow upfollow-up for a large seeker event. This method
assumes that students and staff have already been trained to do
conversational evangelism and are looking for an effective way to do follow
upfollow-up. This method should be used in conjunction with conversational
evangelism training—not as a stand alone piece. Below is a brief outline
modifying methods used for large seeker event follow-up.

Doing a GIG as follow-up
Grow Your Chapter through Conversational Evangelism
The Great Lakes East Regional Evangelism team has developed and been using
a method of conversational evangelism at interactive, visually appealing
tables on campus called “postmodern proclamation stations.” Rather than
approaching students to strike up a conversation, students approach the
table intrigued by what is going on. Earlier this year, the GVSU chapter
set up a table like this with the focus on “extreme makeover,”, sharing
about the heart makeover that Christ offers. I was able to pray with Jason
and Kelly, two of the students I had interacted with at the table to accept
Christ. At the end of my conversation with Jason and Kelly, I let them
know that I’d contact them in the next few days to get together for coffee.

When I contacted them, they were receptive and agreed to meet at a campus
coffeehouse. At that meeting I spent time getting to know them, and shared
about my own life seeking to build trust with both of them. I also invited
both of them to join me for a God Investigation Group (GIG) to continue to
learn about what it means to live as a Christian.

Although both students initially accepted the invitation, Jason was the
only one who continued to meet with me for a GIG for the rest of the
semester. We used the “Following God” GIG, which helped Jason to fully
comprehend who Jesus had become in his life, giving him a simultaneous love
of scripture. After studying the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, we
read that when you make a commitment to Christ, “God gathers all of the
angels in heaven for a cosmic celebration, and a banner with your name on
it is spread across the party hall!” I asked Jason if he believed that to
be true and after he gave a non-chalant answer I explained that that was
exactly what had happened the day he invited Jesus into his heart. He
leaned back in his seat with a huge smile on his face and said, “Wwow,
that’s pretty cool!” Jason has slowly become involved in our chapter and
is beginning to develop relationships with other Christian students.
However, I don’t believe this could have happened with out a time for him
to develop the value of spending time in scripture, praying and being with
other Christians. GIG’s have proven themselves to be an effective tool in
leading the lost to Christ and instilling in them a value for scripture.,
Hhowever I believe they can also be used as an effective follow upfollow-up
tool to help new believers continue to meet Jesus in relevant and
relational ways and provide an on-ramp for life as an active disciple.

Grow Your Chapter through Conversational Evangelism
Whether or not a student is ready to make a decision to follow Jesus, you
still have the opportunity to involve themthem in other facets of the
chapter. Many times a students areis seeking but not ready to make a
decision-, what a great opportunity to show them you care about their
questions and invite them into a GIG! This can also be helpful for our
students or staff who claim to have “nobody they can do a GIG with.”- Ttake
them out toand meet someone who is interested and waiting for someone to
explain Jesus to them. You may meet Christian students who haven’t plugged
into a group yet-, invite them to Large Group or Small Group! Regardless
of whether or not someone accepts Christ when you are doing conversational
evangelism, you will always have the opportunity to increase the size of
your chapter and help someone on their faith journey by meeting new
Christians and inviting seekers to GIG’s. Students and staff participating
in conversational evangelism should be ready to lead a follow-up bible
studyGIG, or have a bible study set up for new Christians for the reasons
mentioned above.

(I think the numbering below got messed up somehow)

1. Take bibles and devotional material to give to students who make

decisions or would like to know more about Christ. 2. 3. Go out in pairs. N- not only is this biblical but, it can help in follow upfollow-up efforts. After the conversation assign one or both people to careing for a new believer. This gives an opportunity for the new believer to relationally click with one or both individuals. By having more than one person following up on the individual, they have the freedom to decide whom they would feel most comfortable relating to. 4. Have paper and pen ready to record a student’s information, making sure to take down all information. Let themthem know that one of you will plan to contact themthem in the next few days to see how they’rethey’re doing. Give themthem your contact information as well. A copy of the student’s information should be given to chapter leaders for accountability and prayer. 5. Pray regularly by name for each individual who has made a decision or has been invited to do a GIG during the conversation. The leadership team, student evangelists and chapter members attending DPM’s should be praying fervently for the spiritual protection of these individuals. 6. Follow upFollow-up within 48 hours after the conversation. 7. Student evangelists should contact new Christians within the week and encourage them to attend “New Christian” bible studies, a GIG or a discipleship group. 8. Invite individuals who have made decisions during the conversation to a social event* or some other informal social time after the initial conversation within the week. This focuses on relationship- based follow upfollow-up and varies the method of follow upfollow- up. 9. Staff or chapter leaders should contact student evangelists to see if names have been followed up on and invited to bible studies no later than 1 week after the conversation. 10. Call new Christians 3 weeks after the conversation to see how they’re doing and if they’ve found a place to learn more about their relationship with Jesus. 11. Continue to pray for individuals throughout the year. Keep them on an email list if they haven’t gotten involved with anything in the chapter and continue to invite them to events and be available and welcoming to them.

*In Rick Richardson’s “Circles of Belonging” training, the point of
developing “Trust before Truth” is seen as a core way to reach postmoderns.
(Ok, I just have to warn you that there is a lot of resistance in our
region to postmodern-specific-ministry philosophy. I don’t know why that
is. But I just thought you should know. If I were you, I would probably
chicken out of quoting Richardon. and I totally mean that I would chicken
out because I’m a coward – some Asian culture crap I still deal with.)
While not to be used exclusively, this can help to vary our follow upfollow-
up methods including social events to gradually develop a relationship and
allow the new believer to gain insight into what the Christian life is
like. The element of trust needs to be present for a new convert to
continue pursuit of developing their relationship with Jesus and other
Christians. The new Christian will need to be assured that the people
they’ve just met are just as concerned about them knowing truth as
friendship and shared experience. A social event, lunch or coffee can be
great ways to begin to develop a relationship and help the new believer
understand the decision they just made and consequent steps to becoming a
disciple. A word of caution as well:, with social events the new believer
could be “stormed” by Christians who are excited about theirtheir decision
and flashing beaming smiles at themthem and telling themthem how awesome
theirtheir decision is. Students should be encouraging and welcoming to
the individual, but not act as an “overbearing freaky Christian.”

. (I dunno. call me a killjoy, but I would probably choose a more technical
term for this).

The following section does not flow where it is placed. I couldn’t figure
out what would precede it.

When People don’t get involved:
Gary Cobb, director of counseling and follow-up for the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association, recently quipped at a seminar that follow
upfollow-up after an evangelistic event can often be like the parable of
the 99 reversed, that in going after the 99 lost sheep, only one comes
back. Although it’s sad to hear this about one of the most renowned
evangelistic ministries in the world, it was somewhat comforting for me to
know that this is the reality that is faced with large-scale evangelistic
campaigns.

After GVSU hosted a week-long evangelistic event including a day of outdoor
public proclamation, I wondered, “where are all the people who made
decisions?” Out of the 12 people that made decisions for Christ, only two
came to chapter events or a bible study. I felt crushed and grieved. What
had I done wrong? Should we even have attempted to invest our efforts in a
proclamation event? Would my students be discouraged seeing the lack of
retention? We knew that the timing of our event made follow up difficult
and that not many students wanted to get involved with a new chapter or
build new friendships at the end of the year, but it was still
disheartening to see so few people become involved. After the
disappointment atof our lack of retention of new believers from the
evangelistic event at Grand Valley State University, I turnedIn all of
these questions and doubts, I turned to the parable of the sower, hoping
to find answers to my questions and doubts about the effectiveness of
public proclamation. I read Jesus’ words of four different soils and how
only one out of four grew and produced fruit. Yet the one who grew,
produced fruit a hundredfold. I couldn’t imagine what must have been going
on in our Lord’s heart as he preached life to those who would hear, knowing
that there would be those who had the word snatched from them, those whose
words that grew yet withered, or those whose words were choked out by
thorns. But he knew that there would be those who “when they hear the
word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient
endurance.” (Lk. 8:15)

It’s in looking at Jesus and the apostles preaching to the masses
throughout the gospels and in the book of Acts that I have confidence and
faith that large scale preaching events and conversational evangelism have
the ability to effectively reach students and turn their hearts to Him. If
Jesus knew that his words wouldn’t take root and bear fruit in the hearts
of all his hearers, yet he continued to preach and call people to faith,
how much more should that fuel our efforts to preach Christ? In his short
letter to Timothy, Paul mentions individuals and groups of people who have
wandered, rejected, and shipwrecked their faith, and the Spirit’s clear
statement that “in later times some will abandon the faith and follow
deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Rather than
becoming discouraged and giving up at the lack of retention, we should
rejoice when we see the word of God nurtured and grown in students’ hearts,
and we should make every effort to help them obey Jesus.

Paul also encourages Timothy that “t “This is a trustworthy saying that
deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have
put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and
especially of those who believe” (1 Tim. 4:9-10). In our efforts and
striving we can continue to trust that Jesus is the savior of men and will
continue to nurture those who believe. We can also rely on the ongoing
work of the Holy Spirit, who has been moving in the heart of the
individual, wooing themthem to Christ. We can trust that the Holy Spirit
will continue to urge and prompt the individual to continue to grow
theirtheir faith after tthey’vehey’ve made a decision to follow Him.
Although we may not see the fruit of this person’sheir salvation
immediately, we can pray for the spirit to continue working in the
individual’s life.

In the end, we must rely on the sufficiency of God’s grace and praying for
his continuing work in a student’s life regardless of whether the studenty
becomes involved in our chapter after he hasthey’ve decided to follow
Jesus. We can be certain that there will be some who fall away, yet there
will be those who bear fruit. It’s encouraging to know that in the midst
of seeing the results of four different soils, and people shipwrecking
their faith, both Jesus and Paul lived and echoed the sentiment “woe to me
if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor. 9:16). For this reason, let us
“fight the good fight, holding onto faith and a good conscience” in our
efforts to reach and shape the campus for Christ!.

Addendum: LORDSHIP DECISIONS

Perhaps you’ve seen some of your Christian students go forward and make a
decision for Christ at Cedar CampusChapter Camp or a seeker event you’ve
had and have been quizzical about why they went forward. Many times we
assume that the only students we need to pray and present the gospel to are
the “officially lost” people, the ones we are certain that have no
relationship with Jesus. Events like these can be a great time to help
students understand what it means to follow Jesus as Lord. You may be
wondering what I mean by this, assuming that when someone has prayed a
prayer of salvation Jesus becomes both Savior and Lord. I believe this to
be true, but over the past year I’ve begun to realize that many students in
our fellowship in Great Lakes East and Great Lakes West appear to be
following Jesus but have never actually surrendered their lives to himHim.
This gets into the trickyiness of questions,ning “Wwhen is a person saved?
or, Ccan you accept Jesus as your Savior but not your Lord?” I don’t assume
that I can answer that question in this paper, but we do know that the Holy
Spirit continues to sanctify us and make us more like Christ, helping us to
persevere and offer ourselves as a sacrifice to Christ (Mt. 7:21).

A student may have prayed a prayer of salvation at one point in theirtheir
lifeves but may have never understood the meaning of the gospel, or they
havethey’ve assumed that going to Christian activities is what following
Jesus is all about. During large seeker events, students may realize that
they need to make a decision to make Christ their Lord, or recommit their
lives to Christ. Our purpose statement asserts that we want students and
faculty to follow Jesus as Savior AND LORD. We need to recognize that
students are at a critical point whenof the Holy Spirit callsing them to
greater Lordship and transformsing or convertsing them to be more like
Christ and respond appropriately when they do make these joyous decisions.

There are a few examples of this that I’ve seen over the past few years,
including personal experience as an InterVarsity student. During my time
at Michigan State University, I was invited to Cedar Campus by a staff
member who was leading a college group at my church. After heartily
engaging in the typical sins of a college freshmansinning a blue streak my
freshman year (I might be the only one, but I didn’t understand that last
idiom), I wanted to get back on track with my faith but still wasn’t sure
about spending a whole week with people who were actually excited about
their faith. After an exposition on Wednesday night, I remember standing
in the field between the meeting house & Willoughby Lodge and hearing Jesus
say, “Jessica, I want your whole life, not just part of it. It’s either
all or nothing. Will you give me your whole life?” That night I said yes
to Jesus, and felt the cleansing power from sin and assurance that I had
been forgiven. I went back to MSU knowing that something had changed in my
life. Before that week I had been doing what my family and church taught
me that Christians believed and did. I had attended youth group, church,
summer camps, and regularly shared Christ with friends but it wasn’t until
that week at Cedar that I said yes to Jesus as both Savior and Lord.

Many of your students may have led lives like I did all the way up through
college. Many of them may need to make a Lordship decision like I did my
sophomore year. Don’t discount these decisions as being less significant
as a conversion from an “officially lost” person. For some students, this
may have been the first time they’ve understood the gospel and it’s
implications for their lives. We have as much responsibility to help
students who have a “Lordship conversion” become an active disciple as we
do to people who make first-time decisions. We also have as much reason to
celebrate when they do make a decision to surrender their whole lives to
Jesus.

Resources:
To give to new Christians at an evangelistic event:
Meeting God In Quiet; (Ruth Goring, IVP)
First Mornings with God (IVP booklet)
Knowing Christ and Walking with Him (Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association).
With the IVP guides, you will need to include an insert and verbally share
how to study the bible with the individual. Dave Biskie has created a
helpful insert used by the Great Lakes East Regional Evangelism team.

For follow upfollow-up training:
The Billy Graham Evangelistic association has a booklet for a “Christian
Life & Witness Course” used to help prepare church members in the months
before a crusade. I’ve reviewed the material and it could be adapted to a
4-week on- campus training program to help prepare students for a large
seeker event or conversational evangelism as well. It could be especially
helpful for freshman as it focuses on daily disciplines and what the
Christian life should look like. If you’re interested in reviewing a copy
of this material, contact Maynette Seay, assistant at the Billy Graham
training center: mseay@thebgtc.org, 828-298-2092. Cost will either be
minimal or free depending on how many copies you request.

Follow upFollow-up Cards:
1[iii].
[pic]

2[iv]. (Title of your talk or event)

My Comments:

continue on back, if desired
__
___ I prayed to commit my life to Jesus Christ and enter faith today.

___ I commit to a journey to decide about Jesus Christ and Christianity.

___ I am interested in a discussion group on this issue.

___ I am not ready to enter or journey toward Christian faith.

___ I am already a committed Christ-follower.

__
Name

__
Address

__
Phone

E-mail

If you are a guest today, who invited you to this meeting?

__
———————————-
[i] Christian Life & Witness Course. Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association. Minneapolis, 2003.
[ii] Allison, Lon and Anderson, Mark. Going Public with the Gospel. Downers
Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2003
[iii] Knowing Christ and Walking with Him. Billy Graham Evangelistic
Association. Minneapolis, 2002
[iv] Response Card. Wheaton Bible Church. Wheaton, 2004

Draft #4, 2006: Jessica Fick
———————————-
Last Name:
First Name:
Campus Address:
Phone:
Email:
Check one:
Acceptance of Christ __
Assurance of Salvation _
Rededication _
Inquiry _
Do you attend a local church or campus fellowship? Yes No
If yes, Church of Fellowship name:___
If no, who invited you?___
Name of Prayer Servant__
Can prayer servant contact you? Yes No