“There’s this thing happening . . . in my room . . . uhmm, wanna come?”

Okay, the Apostle Paul might have laid out the invitation a lot better than this, but most of us aren’t like Paul. This is kind of how we felt those first few weeks meeting people in Mayflower, a dorm on our campus. Our chapter wanted to start two new Bible studies in the dorm this past year, and all we knew was that the best way to tell people about the goodness of God was simply to invite them to experience it. That became our strategy.

Our first wave of invitations was for a free spaghetti dinner hosted in one of our dorm rooms. We prepared for it with diligence and prayer. Some of us went shopping for groceries. The creative brain in our group made a variety of flyers to hand out. We picked out mood music. Soon it was time to invite. You know how it feels: you’ve stuffed an extra copy of the New Testament in your back pocket, you’ve been practicing how to share the bridge diagram and your hands are sweaty. You come to the first door on the hall, knock, and oh, boy, the door swings open. A freshman is blankly staring back at you. Through dry lips, you manage, “Hey there’s free spaghetti down the hall in my friend’s room. . . . Do you want to come?” Their cloudy expression clears, and they register your words. “Huh? Oh, free food. Sure, I’ll come.”

We started the year in Mayflower wanting to invite as many people as we could to just about anything from a free meal to a movie night. We saw ourselves as entering into one big, long party with Jesus as the host and our group of eight as the inviters. God’s “goods” were the food we really wanted people to taste, see and experience. It didn’t take long for us to realize that people wanted the extravagance of God we were offering.

So we scattered about the dorm with handfuls of flyers, knocking on doors, handing out flyers to people passing by. We invited everyone we saw, from the smokers outside the building to the few already breaking the books in the lobby. Even with several more awkward moments, God used us. Fifty people showed up for our first event! A lot of them asked the all-important question, “So why are you doing this?” Back to the sweaty palms. “Oh, this Christian group . . . there’s free food . . . well, Jesus would do it.” Not always articulate, but to the point. Jesus is good, and he wanted them to have a free, fun meal on him.

Besides the spaghetti dinner, we looked for other ways to invite people into experiences of God’s goodness that would intrigue them. We taped flyers around our dorm floors advertising free use of our community vacuum. We took walks down the hall before grocery store trips to see if anyone needed anything or wanted to come along. We made most of our invitations easy for people to say yes to, something they needed, a chance to have fun or not cook for a night. But in all of these simple invitations, our hope was that in getting a small taste of God’s goodness people would want more.

We decided to hold one of our Bible studies in the lobby to be more visible and less intimidating to people. We met a lot of random visitors who stopped in to check it out, some of whom became regular attendees. One student, who was new to the study, regularly waved and called out to any of her friends who happened to pass by. One night, just as we were whipping out the pens and manuscripts, she cried out, “Oh, there’s Nick! Hey, Nick!” After she introduced him as one of her friends from another campus organization, Nick asked, “So what are you guys doing?” She replied, “These are my Bible study friends.” Someone in the circle invited him to join us, thinking he’d probably say no. He grunted and groaned and claimed he’d never be interested in the Bible, as he pulled over a cushy lobby chair and grabbed a manuscript from the table. Almost every week after that, he just “happened” to be passing through the lobby on Monday nights.

The lobby was key to a lot of our evangelism and inviting throughout the year. One student stood up on a chair in the lobby and invited people to hear the good news about Jesus and the life he gives. As she spoke, a couple of us stood by and prayed for her to speak boldly and for people to stay, listen and take in what they were hearing.

Another of our weekly Bible studies decided to apply Jesus’ call to use possessions for the kingdom of God by inviting students to a “Free Garage Sale” in the lobby. The study members contributed stuff which we then gave away free to anyone passing by who wanted something. People were amazed to see that we were offering our best stuff (one woman gave her stereo) and not just leftovers or things we didn’t use or need anymore. “Can we really take this?” they asked. “We can’t just take your things, can we?”

The lobby was also the location of Mayflower’s second semester GIG (Groups Investigating God). The group started with a handful of folks who wanted to meet in the lobby to discuss Bible passages. The GIG-ers picked the topics and the leader provided the snacks. Topics ranged from the devil, to sin, to “so how do you become a Christian?” The group attracted more lobby cruisers who were enticed by good conversation. Eventually people started asking when the GIG would be happening so they could make sure to be there. We even chipped in and bought one GIG-er a set of colored markers just because she really liked the ones at the study.

Jesus hands out invitations to his goodness faster than tickets sell out to a favorite concert, more often than you check your email when you stay in on Friday night, and quicker than it takes to make Ramen noodles. So when Jesus invites you to do what he did and hand out God’s “goods” to everyone around, trust him. He’ll use your sweaty palms. He’ll use your stammering. And someone’s relationship with Jesus could start with a simple invitation to a spaghetti dinner.

—Rachel Norman is a sixth year junior at the University of Iowa and still plugging away. She loves GIGs; you can email her with good ideas you’ve tried at: bespeckled@collegeclub.com

Sabrina Nash is in her fourth year of staff and now serves at the University of Kansas. Grinnell Collegewas her alma mater. She loves spaghetti.