Using Digital Evangelism Strategy to Start a Campus Movement

So you want people to know Jesus.

You want to see vibrant movements of multiplying disciples in new places. New cities. New campuses. New people groups. Your heart beats for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and you want to be available and used by God to help these new movements start and grow.

You also see the potential for the internet, social media, mobile technology, and other digital innovation to help with this. Maybe you’ve heard a few stories, checked out a few resources. But how does it all fit together?

We’ve created the chart below as a starting place. Maybe it will help get your creative juices flowing, prompt some ideas that would be worthwhile trying in your context. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive list of every digital strategy out there (and at present it admittedly has more of a student focus, which we hope to expand). But here’s a basic outline of some approaches you could try at different points in the launching process.

Principle	Traditional/ F2F in SLM	Digital Approaches
Pray [Intentional, focused, specific prayer asking the Lord to raise a movement]	Prayer walk campus Pray with launching team Personal prayer	Create prayer momentum through a facebook group or skype or google hangout Join a facebook fan page or group relating to a university and pray for students as God leads Download the Mustard prayer app
Learn [Find out as much about those you are trying to reach as you can: environment, demographics, interests and passions, habits and availability, etc]	Visit campus and walk around Talk to students f2f Observe bulletin boards, hot spots, etc	Search twitter to discover what people are saying about the campus (try #yourcampus, e.g. #UCLA) Try to find student blogs or other forms of expression Look for mentions of the campus in news articles, Wikipedia, etc. Google the town or city where the campus is located and what churches exist in that area
Mobilize Key Leader(s) [Discover a “person of peace”/key volunteer who the Lord has prepared to lead a movement.]	Walk around campus and ask students if they know any Christians Do surveys f2f to learn who is spiritually interested Set up a table advertising the group Hang up flyers announcing a launch meeting	Run a series of targeted facebook ads for students who have indicated an interest in Jesus or the Bible on their facebook profile Create a facebook page for the new group and advertise to students on the campus Plan an event and promote it online before you arrive
Model Evangelism and Discipleship [Help the key volunteer grasp that a foundational part of leading this movement is evangelism and discipleship and provide prompt training]	Do surveys, Soularium, or other evangelistic strategies f2f Help students gather friends for an investigative Bible study and model how to lead one	Model how to share an article about a spiritual topic on facebook or twitter Encourage them to make a video where they share their testimony and to send this to their friends, asking them what they think Introduce key volunteers to strategies like EveryStudent.com, TruthMedia, Jesus.net, the Jesus Film app, etc Host a digital day of outreach Form a private or closed facebook group or google plus circle for small group Bible study Use MissionHub to gather student leaders
Ongoing Relationship (Coaching) [Encourage, coach, train, and challenge leaders as they embark on starting a movement]	Meet f2f in a coffee shop to discuss how things are going	Set up a skype appointment to discuss how things are going Use iKan2 or similar resource to expose to stories of “This is how I did ____” Check out Gilbert’s Coaching Tips (US Campus Ministry blog) for more ideas
Momentum-Building Events [Look for opportunities to involve leaders in ways that will provide a greater sense of connection to the broader movement of CCC]	Invite students to upcoming conferences Challenge students to apply for summer projects	Invite students to upcoming conferences or summer projects Set up a campus facebook group for ongoing communication and momentum

Also available in a printable format

Let’s continue the conversation. Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Which of these are you most inspired to try next?

What have you tried or used that isn’t listed here?