An Unreached Mission Field
When we think of a mission field, most of us imagine a third world country. While there are important mission fields all around the world, we believe the most overlooked, strategic mission field is right in our own backyard: the college campuses of America. There is a spiritual battle over the 20 million college students across our country. After interviewing hundreds of thousands of students for the past 30 years, we’ve discovered that 96% of college students are unfamiliar with the Gospel and remain unreached. At the same time, 47% of Christian Millenials are unwilling to reach their peers because they believe it’s wrong for them to do so.*
College is a crucial time to reach our nation’s future parents, business owners, politicians and leaders with the Gospel. That’s why we need to send more full-time campus missionaries who will plant collegiate-focused churches across America.
A Collegiate-Focused
Church Strategy That’s Working
By the grace of God, we have a proven track record of success after 18 years of reaching some of the largest secular universities in America.
We’ve engaged almost 300,000 people and had over 40,000 students attend our events.
We’ve trained over 120 staff and interns and developed a leadership team of over 300 staff, students and graduates.
We’ve sent over 2,100 students on 60 different campus outreach trips to nearby states.
And we’ve led over 2,240 people to repent and surrender their lives to Jesus.
No longer does college have to be a wasteland of forgotten faith and souls never won. We are seeing God raise up student leaders who are reviving evangelism on their campuses.
Mission 72
Very few freshmen realize how important their first 72 hours at college will be. Anxious to connect and desperate to belong, students are driven to meet these needs any way necessary. The decisions students make in those hours can determine the trajectory of their entire college career, most often leading away from Jesus. This is something every freshman experiences, and we call it the Battle to Belong. Meeting students during these hours is vital, so Mission 72 is our strategy to connect with students during their first 72 hours on campus, inviting them to belong to our community through relationship and events. Our goal is to engage at least half of the freshman class within the first three weeks of school starting.
Hope Church
While most students are passionate to lead, they're also reluctant. It can be a daunting task, wanting to make a difference, yet not knowing how. Students need a place to learn leadership skills. With this in mind, we are a collegiate-focused church that reaches college students with the Gospel, so that they're equipped to change the world and fulfill their God-given destiny. We help students find and follow Jesus, walk in freedom and live on mission. We host a weekly Sunday church service year-round, as well as weekly small groups during the academic year. We believe college students can and should lead in the local church.
The Solution: A NETWORK OF
COLLEGIATE-FOCUSED CHURCHES
Over the next decade, our vision is to plant 10 collegiate-focused churches around the country, starting in the Southwest. These churches will reach college students with the Gospel, so that they’re equipped to change the world and fulfill their God-given destinies.
*Barna Research Group