Few freshmen arriving on campus for the start of a new academic year realize how important their first 72 hours will be. The outcome of their entire collegiate career hangs in the balance. That may sound extreme, but John Decker, an InterVarsity volunteer at Syracuse University, has seen it over and over again.
Everything is different on campus
“The Christian kids are landing in a perfect storm of loneliness, temptation, and culture shock that tragically pulls the majority of them away from Christ. If they are connected ahead of time to a campus ministry and church, most of them succeed and enter a time of accelerated spiritual growth,” John said.
Jeff Schadt saw the same thing as a staff worker with Campus Crusade for Christ. To help facilitate the transition from high school to college, especially for Christian students, he launched the Youth Transition Network (YTN), which now works with more than 65 partner organizations, including InterVarsity and Campus Crusade.
“Most incoming freshmen believe that the transition will be easy and they don’t have to prepare,” Jeff said. “But then they hit campus and are overwhelmed.”
Resources are available
For the second year in a row, YTN is offering SUCCEED 2010 to give high school juniors and seniors and their parents an opportunity to attend a live simulcast that covers the social, spiritual, financial, academic, and time-management issues that students face. “We address their practical needs as well as their spiritual needs,” Jeff said.
SUCCEED 2010 was held Saturday, February 27, 2010, at 50 locations around the country. More information on this simulcast is available at YTN’s parent and pastor website www.YTN.org. Those who did not attend this event can still sign up at the website to be notified about future similar events, or to get information on a DVD package that will be offered with similar content.
SUCCEED 2010 offers new opportunities for communication. A father who attended last year’s simulcast wrote: “I could have never had the discussions with my son apart from the college student videos and speakers opening him up to the challenges and issues ahead, paving the way for discussion and giving me access to help my son in transition.”
The simulcasts are typically hosted in churches. Jeremy Taylor, the high school director for Black Rock Congregational Church in Fairfield, CT, saw 10 of his students participate in the simulcast last year. “Most of them were blown away by the idea that their first 72 hours at college were the most important in staying strong in their faith,” he reported.
“Talking with the students later, they said that much of what they learned from the webcast was true about their first days at college. Many of them were able to find Christian roommates and plug into campus ministries because of the website. The result, all of the graduates continued in their faith and connected to ministries.”
YTN has a specific website www.LiveAbove.com to help incoming students connect with ministries and potential Christian roommates at their school. Campus ministry staff receive email notifications from inquiring high school students.
If students want a Christian roommate, both will need to inform their college by around May 1st. YTN encourages the college ministries to suggest to incoming freshmen that they add themselves to the Roommates Wanted section of LiveAbove.com at the campus they will attend. The number of roommate candidates will grow as LiveAbove.com becomes a standard part of the youth ministry in more and more churches.
College can be a Time of Accelerated Faith Growth
John Decker, who serves as YTN’s Northeast director as well as an InterVarsity volunteer, is well aware of the studies reporting that up to 80-percent of Christian high school students leave their Christian faith in college. He says the outcome can be different for those students who connect with campus ministries, radically different. It can be a time of accelerated growth in their faith.
“When a freshmen is on his/her own for the first time, and in the midst of a campus community who is serving Christ of their own volition, an awakening and ownership of the faith happens. The Holy Spirit has more access to them than ever,” John said.
When students are pre-connected to a campus ministry, it’s easy for them to naturally and relationally invite non-believers to new student outreach activities during the first weeks on campus. John cited two students who came to the University of Nebraska from different parts of the country, and decided to become roommates through www.LiveAbove.com. “They knew ahead of time which ministry they wanted to connect with. During their first days on campus they invited four people from their dorm to go with them to that ministry. Now, all six are walking together with Christ.”
Jeff uses a football analogy to encourage parents to take advantage of YTN’s resources. He compares the SUCCEED 2010 simulcast and DVD to the two-minute drill used by football teams at the end of the ball game. “Don’t fumble the ball in the last few minutes,” he said.
With www.YTN.org and www.LiveAbove.com, Christian parents have the resources they need to prepare their high school student for success in college—educationally, spiritually, and socially. YTN encourages campus ministry staff and college students to inform their pastors and friends about these websites so that this year’s wave of high school graduate will survive and thrive on campus.
