Seeker Sensitive Outreach

More than a year ago, leaders at Northwestern University’s Asian American chapter decided to take a risk and change the large-group meetings to be more seeker-sensitive. They limited the worship and prayer times. They asked speakers to watch their Christian-ese words. They encouraged students in the chapter to invite their non-Christian friends to come and check out Jesus.

Some of these changes hit the chapter hard. Some freshmen weren’t returning to the chapter because they perceived the Friday night meetings to be Christian “lite”—not enough talk about God, not enough singing, not enough praying, not enough . . .

Other students didn’t understand what relevance or place a reoccurring skit based on the popular TV show “Survivor” could have at our large-group meetings.

All the while, the student leaders, particularly our exec, took the brunt of the criticism. They were especially criticized when the format of our fall overnight was changed. The leaders decided to show a movie and discuss it rather than invite a speaker and have workshops, as in the past.

While praying through all these changes, we were also asking people to step up and be trained to lead GIGs (Groups Investigating God). After all, what would these seekers do after hearing a speaker or two? They needed an opportunity to ask their questions and learn a little more about Jesus.

Historically, AACM (Asian American Christian Ministry) has always had GIGs or Investigative Bible Discussions, so we planned three training sessions, hoping for maybe a handful of students with a desire to share the gospel to come forward. To our amazement, 29 students answered the call to be trained! Almost a dozen students were leading a GIG by the end of the school year. It was nothing short of amazing.

In May we celebrated our first conversion, and we continue to pray for fruit in whatever form God chooses.

In June, the leadership team recommitted themselves to the seeker-sensitive large-group format. They pushed the envelope a little further by renaming the Friday night meetings. After all, what does “Large Group” really mean to a Christian, let alone a non-Christian?

After a crazy brainstorming session, the Friday night meetings were renamed “Focus.” The leaders realized this was a time for students to get away from the distractions of the week and regain perspective on what is true and important. This was a place to get help integrating God’s truth into the following week.

Chapter leaders are still growing in their understanding of evangelism. We still struggle with balancing our desire to proclaim the gospel and at the same time create an atmosphere in which non-Christians and seekers can get a taste of Christian community without feeling judged, condemned or simply out of place. The criticisms are still there, and we expect to face more in the future.

But we also continue to see God blessing our decision to make those few radical changes. There were seven GIGs this fall. Focus is drawing more and more non-Christians every week. We are learning to love our campus more. And more of this campus is learning about the love of our lives—Jesus Christ.

—Kathy Khang is a Northwestern University and AACM alumna who joined staff after five years as a reporter. Kathy is married to her dentist, Peter Chang, and is mother to Bethany, Corban and Elias.