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25 Mar 2024

Empowering Students in Evangelism: The Power of ‘Who Is Your One?’

By Justin Knowles|2024-03-25T09:04:17-07:00March 25th, 2024|Youth Ministry Ideas|5 Comments

When it comes to evangelism, many students find the concept overwhelming. The idea of going out and telling all their friends about Jesus can seem daunting. There’s a common misconception that evangelism requires boldness, public speaking, or street preaching. However, there’s a simpler and more effective approach that breaks down this big idea into something more manageable and realistic: “Who Is Your One?”

“What is ‘Who Is Your One’?”

“Who Is Your One” is an initiative we have been doing in our ministry that encourages students to be intentional about reaching out to a friend they already have who doesn’t know Jesus. It’s about nurturing existing relationships, being there for them, praying for them, inviting them to church, and engaging in conversations about faith. The goal is for students to demonstrate their own relationship with Jesus through their friendship, ultimately leading their friend to a deeper understanding of faith.

This approach to evangelism is rooted in Jesus’ own interactions with people. He often spent time with individuals, inviting himself into their lives and showing them love and acceptance, regardless of their background or beliefs. It’s a relational approach that students can relate to and implement in their own lives.

Why “Who Is Your One” Matters:

In our ministry, “Who Is Your One” has been instrumental in driving growth and impact over the last two years. By encouraging students to focus on just one person, we’ve seen a significant increase in effectiveness and engagement.

How We Implemented “Who Is Your One”:

Vision Series: At the beginning of the school year, we introduced the concept of “Who Is Your One” through a dedicated vision series. This series laid the foundation for why this initiative is important and challenged our students to take action.
Business Cards: We created business cards with the prompt “My one is ________,” allowing students to fill in the name of their chosen person. These cards served as a daily reminder and were also shared with small group leaders for accountability.
Leader Training: We provided training for our leaders at the start of the school year to equip them with the tools and understanding to support their students in reaching their “one.”
Curriculum Integration: We integrated “Who Is Your One” updates into our curriculum, ensuring that the topic was regularly addressed in small group discussions.
Storytelling: We shared stories of success from our campuses, highlighting instances where someone’s “one” had come to church and started a relationship with Jesus. These stories served as inspiration and motivation for students.
Celebration: We celebrated students and leaders who embraced the “Who Is Your One” initiative, both privately and publicly. Recognizing their efforts encouraged others to follow suit.
Service Integration: We made sure to incorporate “Who Is Your One” into every service, reinforcing its importance and keeping it at the forefront of our ministry culture.

The Impact of “Who Is Your One”:

By empowering students to own and embrace the concept of “Who Is Your One,” we’ve witnessed a transformation in how we approach evangelism. Students are better equipped and motivated to reach out to their friends, knowing that they have the support and encouragement of their community.

The beauty of “Who Is Your One” lies in its simplicity and accessibility. It doesn’t require fancy events or elaborate strategies. It’s about genuine friendship and creating a safe space where students feel comfortable inviting their friends to explore faith together.

“Who Is Your One” is not just a program; it’s a mindset shift that empowers students to be ambassadors of Jesus in their own circles. By focusing on one person at a time, students can make a meaningful impact and share the love of Christ in a tangible and relatable way. Let’s continue to nurture this culture of evangelism and support students as they embark on this journey of faith and friendship.

– Justin

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Want to get your students moving? Our faith is meant to be one of action. Get your students to understand these 3 key teachings from the life of Christ, all including the challenge to “GO”:

5 Jan 2024

Shifting Focus in Youth Ministry: Prioritizing Discipleship Over Spectacle

By Justin Knowles|2024-01-15T11:13:16-08:00January 5th, 2024|Leadership|2 Comments

In the world of youth ministry, we often find ourselves balancing between what seems spectacular on the surface and what truly fosters long-term spiritual growth in our students. It’s a delicate dance—one that involves reevaluating our strategies, being willing to shift gears, and prioritizing substance over spectacle.

Recently, we made a decision that might seem counterintuitive to some. We chose to cancel one of our biggest events, an event that seemed impressive, drew large crowds, and generated significant buzz. Yet, upon closer examination, we realized that the expected fruit, the lasting impact we envisioned, wasn’t materializing as we hoped.

Why did we choose to take this step? The answer lies in our deep commitment to discipleship.

As leaders in youth ministry, our ultimate goal is to nurture and equip young hearts to become lifelong disciples of Christ. While flashy events may draw attention, our core mission is to instill a genuine, lasting faith in our students—one that extends beyond momentary excitement and into a lifelong journey with Jesus.

Our decision to cancel the event isn’t a step backward; it’s a leap forward in our approach to discipleship. We’re making a deliberate shift toward a more intentional and impactful strategy: focusing on making disciples who make disciples.

Enter “Catalyst groups.” This 10-week strategy isn’t about grandiosity or outward showmanship. Instead, it’s about the heart transformation and equipping students to actively engage in the Great Commission—to go and make disciples of their peers.

The essence of these Catalyst groups lies in fostering deep, meaningful relationships among students. It’s about creating spaces where discipleship isn’t a one-time event but a continuous journey. Here, students learn to walk alongside one another, to wrestle with questions, to explore faith, and to ultimately share the love of Christ with their peers.

Our church has already implemented this approach with our core leaders, and we’re extending an invitation to our core students to engage in this curriculum, led by their youth leads. The curriculum is designed to equip them with the skills to ‘go and make disciples’ themselves covering the vision of disciple making, characteristics of a disciple maker, evangelizing, establishing relationships, equipping them how to share, exporting it into our lives and helping them make a plan and empowering them to take it to their friends.

After completing this training (ideally in groups of 3-8 at each campus), we’ll provide three tangible and achievable next steps to support their efforts in doing just that. Currently, I have two steps finalized and am still refining the third: 1) Serve kids if you’re not already engaged in service. Take on leadership of a younger group and mentor them. 2) Initiate a Bible study before/after school/practice with friends who aren’t involved in church. And 3) To be announced.

These steps aim to empower students to embrace evangelism and discipleship personally, allowing them to take practical steps toward implementation.

While the decision to cancel a significant event may raise eyebrows, we firmly believe that the impact of empowering students to disciple their peers is immeasurable. It’s about equipping them with the tools, resources, and most importantly, the heart to genuinely reach out and share the Gospel within their spheres of influence.

We understand that this shift might not be as visually striking or immediately impressive as a big event. However, the true value lies in the lasting change it can bring about in the lives of our students and their peers.

As we embark on this new journey of prioritizing discipleship, we anticipate challenges. It won’t be a straightforward path, and the results might not be immediately apparent. But we’re willing to embrace this challenge, knowing that the investment in nurturing disciples who actively disciple others is worth far more than a momentary spectacle.

The decision to cancel a major event isn’t a setback—it’s a strategic move toward building a youth ministry centered on the core principles of discipleship. It’s a commitment to investing in the future, nurturing young leaders, and empowering them to impact their generation for Christ.

3 Aug 2017

Maximize See You at the Pole

By Josh Griffin|2017-08-02T22:49:49-07:00August 3rd, 2017|Youth Ministry Ideas|1 Comment

Connecting faith to life is the great challenge of youth ministry. We try hard to teach, model, and equip students to integrate their faith into school, home and all of life.

But often we see a disconnect. Life at church is different than life at school or home.

See You at the Pole provides a great opportunity to connect faith and life. As they pray publicly, students identify as believers in the midst of their peers. They demonstrate love as they intercede for the teachers and friends. They shift reliance on self to reliance on God as they call out for Him to hear and respond.

SYATP takes their faith to school and makes it public.

Many youth leaders have multiplied the impact of SYATP week by also adding The Life Book to the mix. This free tool gives students the opportunity to go beyond prayer to action as they give the gift of the Gospel to their classmates and peers.

Last year, about 2 Million Life Books were handed out by students around SYATP. There is such a powerful connection between praying for a friend and then giving them the gift of the Gospel.

God has strategically positioned students in an unreached mission field – the hallways, classrooms, lunchrooms and lives of their peers. And because they simply give The Life Book as a gift, every student in your church, from the shyest to the boldest can be involved.

Since 2010, over 28 Million Life Books have been handed out by over 2 Million student missionaries.

Imagine the Power of the Gospel in the hands of every student in your schools this fall.

Filled with interactive student comments in the margins, The Life Book is 110-pages with a short recap of the Old Testament, the entire Gospel of John in ESV, scriptural answers to issues students face, and a call to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

No strings attached. Life Books are completely free to church youth leaders, church pastors and other church staff members. You can request your free Life Books at thelifebook.com

SYATP is coming soon, so you might want to think about requesting some Free Life Books for your students. Give them an opportunity to put the power of the Gospel in the hands of their peers and watch God do His thing through His Word. Go to thelifebook.com now to request your Free Life Books.