All national surveys point to the fact that 50% to 70% of students involved in the church today are walking away from an active faith in college. We can no longer afford for this to happen; they are needed to help shape their generation and catalyze students to Gospel movements on campus.
Fortunately, US college ministries such as Cru, Intervarsity, Navigators, Chi Alpha, Young Life, along with churches and youth ministries, Christian schools, homeschools, and denominations including the Assemblies of God, Southern Baptists, and others have teamed together with Every Student Sent to mobilize college Gospel movements and reverse the staggering statistics of students leaving their faith in college. The first few weeks when freshmen land on a college campus are critical to solving this tremendous problem. This timeframe is when both Christians and non-believing students are most open to the Gospel, new friends, and finding community.
The solution is to mobilize incoming Christian students to be missionally prepared and connected with Christian community prior to their arrival on campus. Finding community has been especially challenging during the pandemic when campuses have been a mix of physical and virtual experiences.
In response, we have developed a free effective missional, and socially interactive platform called Every Student Sent. “Now in one platform, a student can socially connect with ministries, churches, and other students at their future university so that they are missionally surrounded by Christian long before arriving on campus” explained Jeremy Story, Founder, and President, Every Student Sent.
Real reformation means that students need to be discipled and equipped to multiply new believers on campus. Jeremy Story, President, and Founder says; “The harvest is plentiful on campuses and the laborers have been too few. Sending out more college graduates throughout our society as influencers for Christ is critical and Every Student Sent will be a significant part of this.” To bring resolve to this issue, the ESS website provides a learning management system for students with discipleship tools which includes free video courses from ESS and national partners with missional training opportunities. ESS has also designed the platform to effectively serve churches, youth pastors, school administrators, and parents.
“Some of the largest Christian high schools in the nation and churches are using Every Student Sent and its resources in the college planning process to help students find the right major, career, and calling, and to identify colleges with good ministries while learning how to engage culture on secular campuses,” explained John Decker, Every Student Sent Partnership Director.
Another primary goal is to produce Christian graduates, who will saturate the business community with their faith-based leadership where cultural change is needed in our local communities. Business ministries such as Pinnacle Forum are collaborating on the transition to the workplace and have already pioneered an on-campus group.
Every Student Sent is sponsored by Campus Renewal which was founded in 1997 with a mission to create and catalyze united movements that transform college campuses. To learn more about Every Student Sent, contact Jeremy Story, Founder and President of Every Student Sent; [email protected] or by calling (512) 331-5991. Be sure to sign up for your free account at www.everystudentsent.org.
Disclaimer: Articles featured on Oregon Report are the creation, responsibility and opinion of the authoring individual or organization which is featured at the top of every article.