Last year at the U of M we hosted an event called “The Greatest Day of Your Life”. The point was to get our students to have an event that they could invite other students to. We had a huge scavenger hunt, field games (egg & spoon, tog-o-war, etc…), and at the lunch break we had our director, Ken Currie, talk about how true life and enjoyment is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
This year it was round two. We played a game called “Bigger and Better” in the morning where students go to random residences and try to get something bigger and better than what they already have. The goal was to get items to create the best costume for a team member to dress up in. At the end of the day, after the contest and other events, the winners were declared and they received various gift cards to neighboring restaurants. During the lunch break this year we had a student share a testimony about how Christ had radically changed her life.
Let me get to the point: what we want to do, as we minister, is to utilize events that will fuel relationships. It can be that events are the main course in a ministry and then you become dependent on “bigger & better” events to help you survive. What we want to do is to have events that students can use as opportunities to deepen their existing relationships with the people they are ministering to. This way events fuel relational ministry as opposed to relationships that are based on, thus requiring, more and more events.
Paul told the Thessalonian church (I Thes. 2:8) that he wanted to not only share the gospel with them but his very life as well. Life on life relationships are, in many ways, the most powerful context for spiritual change. We want our students to see that they don’t need big events to provide opportunities to minister, but instead, to see big events as an opportunity to further their on-going relationships. This way anything can be a medium for spiritual change, from a lunch appointment, to studying for a test, to the 2nd Greatest Day of Your Life.
Follow us on Twitter