I believe that we (churches & ministries) have relied on a "scatter gun" approach in Person County for too long when it comes to outreach, evangelism and discipleship to students in our community. What I mean is, I really don't know what other churches & student ministries in our area are doing to reach and disciple students. I do know that I continue to hear about little things taking place from different directions, but never see anything with great substance. Often I hear of things that started, but fizzled out. I'm also quite sure that very few of our sister churches know what we are doing at Westwood in that mission. What I do know is that there are hundreds and hundreds of students in our county that do not know Jesus and are not in church.
It has become clear to me that a comprehensive approach that includes many churches around a common strategy could offer a powerful opportunity for partnership and the advancement of the gospel among young people in our county. God has given our area churches a wonderful partner/tool in YFC, who I believe may hold the key to bringing about that unity in mission. I have met with a couple of YFC'ers who have shared some of those exciting tools with me. The first is this 3 Story Evangelism strategy. The second, and built upon that foundation, is called Friend 2 Friend groups. Now, I want to be clear. These tools comprise a strategy that is one among thousands of well thought out strategies. But, the more I think about it, the more I have come to realize this: it's not so much about the strategy, or whose strategy is better! As long as the strategy is based on God's Word and faithful to his mission, it can be a rallying point for many to join together in the work of the gospel.
After all, that is what YFC is...not a church, but a gift to local churches to provide partnership and to undergird the mission of the church! So, I would like to see several churches join together for the common mission to which we are called, specifically geared toward reaching the students of our context. I believe YFC has offered a wonderful tool to aid that vision.
So, I would like to see Westwood be leaders in not only casting this vision, but living it. In order to do that, we must be willing to take the lead in doing what we are calling others to join us in doing. Therefore, I would like for all of our students to go through the 3 Story evangelism training, followed by forming Friend 2 Friend small groups. These small groups are set up to be groups of 3-6 believers who get together once a week for a short interaction wherein they read the Word together and offer accountability to reach their friends and peers with the gospel. (Groups will include students who share the same school context so meetings are easily scheduled and maintained)
I had written some days ago that our plan was to offer the 3 Story training this next weekend, September 14th (9am-2pm) and 15th (2-8pm). However, I understand that Saturdays are difficult with so much other life going on. I spoke with Amy Edlund this morning for a bit about this issue. After some conversation, we have decided to instead try to make the whole training as accessible as possible for our students. In order to do this, we will instead try to offer the training over the next 3 weeks at a time where students are used to coming to Westwood (Sunday evenings), though with a slightly earlier meeting time. The 3 Story training is intensive and comprehensive, meaning that participants must do their best to be a part of 100% of the training. So, in order to make this more doable, we propose the following schedule for the next 3 weeks:
Sunday, September 15th - 4-8pm
Sunday, September 22nd - 5-8pm
Sunday, September 29th - 5-8pm
Because of the earlier meeting times, we will provide supper for the students on these nights. We will also make it a HIGH priority to be finished and students leaving right at 8pm. We realize these are school nights and do not wish to keep students too late and cause any strain in that way.
This training, although intensive, is a lot of fun and offers the students an opportunity to interact and be involved. I just ask you to please strongly consider being a part of this time. This training is great for not only students, but adults as well! Parents are more than welcome to come and be a part of it...we will actually have the need arise for leaders who have been trained in this way as the future unfolds. So, the more people trained the better! Please also note that this training is for all students, whether they attend a public school, a Christian school, or are homeschooled. It is my prayer that all of our students would be trained and that they would all be a part of a Friend 2 Friend group beginning in October.
This change in schedule, of course, will mean that our new schedule that I offered on Facebook last night will not go into affect until the first Sunday in October. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Striving for this kind of strategy and offering this type of training in this day and time is almost excruciating to schedule! So, again, this plan to provide the training over the next 3 Sundays is simply an attempt to make it as accessible as possible to everyone. Will you please respond to this post? Will you please just let me know (text, phone call, email, facebook) if you or your student(s) will be able to participate during the times we have scheduled? This will help us, especially this first week, in knowing how many people to expect and how to prepare.
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