How do you reach unsaved students

"Acquire inward peace, and around you thousands shall find their salvation."

--Saint Seraphim of Sarov

I had some fellow youth worker friends who volunteered at a local public school. They didn't "evangelize" in the traditional sense, but they did get to know the kids through methods of volunteering that the school was comfortable with and then when kids had questions for them they simply answered honestly in a more personal manner. Some of the kids did start coming to their church.

andyruny said:

Hey Folks,
This is my first post and I am excited to be a part of this forum. I have been a youth pastor for a little over three years and I am feeling a burden to reach out to other youth in schools who are not believers. I am curious to hear how you other youth pastors out there reach out and evangelize those who aren't coming inside the walls of the church.
Thanks!

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Andyruny,sincerly speaking,trying to reach out to the unsaved students could be very challenging and difficult atimes.However aside from the grace of God,prayer and fasting,you really need some magnificient strategies.Firstly you've got to study what easily entices the youths generally(whether saved or unsaved). When i was about to start campus fellowship,i needed to get the students' attention and the Lord impressed it on me to add some entertaining activities because every average youth likes entertainment.I write script as a hobby,so i hooked up some good christian dramas and it attracted the youths,atimes i bought snacks and they kept coming before you know it they caught fire.In order to entice the unsaved youths to come to your programs always add up some entertaining activities such as;Dramas,singing,bible drilling,recharging of air time etc as well as light refreshment at the end of the service.Most importantly prayer and fasting first and foremost.Find flashy topics related to the youths' encounters as well as practical analysis and solutions.One of the gatherings i had,i captioned its theme "let's talk about love".Try these methods and give me feedback.And there are other techniques i would still share

Relationships. Relationships. Relationships.

Does your schoolsystem have FCA? If so you could get involved through that.

We have a youth program that takes place during the school year on Fridays. I used to be on the school board for a term which allowed me to get to know all those on the administration as well as those on the faculty. That said, we have been able to have the school district provide transportation from two of the schools. We let the kids who are part of our program bring in their friends and they work as a team to bring in their friends, much like the disciples would go out in teams to minister unto the utmost. We would supply snacks, a gospel message, a game time, a time of learning Bible verses, and many different special events through out the year and many of these experiences they can turn into their own by sharing our own real life examples of what we have been through in our own lives.

Example, have you ever sinned. Many kids say no. Then we ask them have they ever stolen a cookie out of the cookie jar. That is sin. Sin is wrong. God forgives sin when we confess it and say we will try not to do it again. We also talk about how we try to deny that we stole the cookie even though we got caught with the cookie in our mouth Then we share the meaning of James 2:10 as just one example.

While I have had the benefit of being in all the schools, the kids have also asked me to their different concerts where they introduce me to their friends and that gives me the opportunity to help them promote our different youth programs, whether they be the ones that operate during the school year or the ones that take place for the middle school kids during the summer months. I always try to fit them all into my schedule as does Pastor. In the Spring Concert this year the kids spent more time with me than they did with their own parents, that in itself was way cool. They wanted me to meet their friends and show me their instruments as well as what they have been working on. Remember, having the kids hearing God's word is just the beginning, getting them to come back week after week is key. Keeping them in prayer as well as your leaders is also important. Keeping things interesting and making the kids think they are important not only in youth group, but also outside of youth group in their personal lives.

Consistent Christian living is very important.

Student ministry evangelism is extremely difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. The older youth leaders get, the more you've got to depend on your youth to evangelize on your behalf. I think one of the most important things in youth ministry evangelism is to teach your youth how to do it themselves. They know the hurting and lost ones in their school, we can only get a glimpse through those who actually approach us for counsel.

We teach our kids to go out minister to their friends, but they are not to do it alone...they are to do as the disciples did, go out in pairs unto all the ends of the earth.

beaverpond said:

We teach our kids to go out minister to their friends, but they are not to do it alone...they are to do as the disciples did, go out in pairs unto all the ends of the earth.

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Okay... But keep in mind that that's a very difficult concept to rationalize in today's culture. If I look at my youth group, there might be one pair of the students that actually spend time together outside of youth services. They all go to a school of 500+ and have their own social groups outside of church. If I were to tell them not to witness aside from doing so in pairs... Well, let's just say no one would be witnessing to anyone.
Off-topic: Can you maybe flesh out that concept a little more? I've never heard of a belief system that strictly encouraged paired witnessing... Just curious about it. Maybe even via private message. Thanks.

We teach the kids how to present the Gospel, when you are talking about young kids that are in Elementary and Middle School it is not always easy when confronted with questions and that is why we encourage in pairs or teams which could be three of four kids. Our Middle School and Elementary School are both over 400 each and the high school is almost 600. While the kids may travel in different circles because of different grade levels, they do get to see each other because of some similar classes that take place or large gathering time...like library, phys ed, lunch, sports, the bus ride as our buses hold 81 kids...they learn quickly who is receptive to hearing about God's Word.

In our first year the youth program started out as only 15 kids. In our second year it grew to more than 30 kids. The third year it grew to more than 50 kids.

I am not a youth pastor but want to share what I do and some of the ministries of the local churches where I am to reach the young.

Outside of the church the way to reach children who are unsaved is where they spend most their time and thats in schools.

Thats some of the purpose of bibles in schools. Although its not meant to be evangelistic focus ie. Overt Salvation message/gospel, it is getting children reading and intersted in the Bible. Most times its a half hour session in a primary school dedicated to reading from and teaching stories from the Bible.

Theres also school chaplaincy where you have dedicated believers there for the children, to listen to their troubles, to be a friend, and to pray for. Again, its not meant to be evangelistic but its having a christian presence where there may not be one at home.

Some other youth pastors I know where bibles in schools is not reachi or the school isnt allowing that to be taught is having youth camps. Often, other christians will pay for a child whos parent maybe cant afford to send their child anywhere. In these youth camps the focus is on making friends and also being in a christian environment where the adults care, also theres a gospel message (usually) contained in everything they do.

So churches run school holiday programs and some parents are happy to send their children to them who dont beling to any church and there they can hang with their christian friends and be again in a safe envrionment.

Many preschools now are christian with teachers teaching their chikdren about God in a hands on way...and thats every day they there not just sunday school. Many of these children that go to preschool or after school care have parents who are so busy working they neglect or too caught up with making it that their children are not being taught or shown the gospel.

In our school district, there are plenty of Bibles for the reading and sharing of other students with their friends. We have had some teachers ridicule some of the students use them for book reports and reference materials. This is when parents and myself as well as the Pastor have had to get involved and remind the teachers and administrators that these Bibles are there for the reading and can be used as resource materials by any and all students. They were donated by several churches throughout the community and you have to allow them to be used. There are KJV, NKJV, ESV, NIV, and others. The teachers won't touch them as teaching resources.

We hold our youth program on Fridays after school during the school year and the school district provides transportation from two of the schools to our church. We have to pick up the kids from the other two schools.

During the summer we have a Summer Youth Program that meets on Mondays for grades 5-9 and meets for anywhere from 4-6 hours at a time...it all depends on the activities of the day.

Once of the Missions Programs our church sponsors is a Christian Camp and we have rebuilt cabins, a lodge, this year we did the girls shower room, we have done a cabin for the handicapped. We usually send anywhere from 3 to 8 kids a summer to camp. It really depends on the need of the family. Sometimes we pay part of the scholarship and sometimes we pay all of it for the family. Sometimes a family member will go and work a week at camp as a way for their child to attend camp at no cost. But when they have multiple kids, one parent will work for the week and the church will pay for the rest of the kids. It is a wonderful scholarship program they have setup.

oh crikey! that's easy! Sport! a couple of people mentioned how hard it is to reach the unreached youth! No way! just love them! if they follow NBA pick a team and join them. If they play playstation buy one and play online. its all about meeting them where they're at loving them in that! just like someone above said "relationships, relationships, relationships". once ur starting to build relationships and chatting about whatever they're into, trust me, they'll be comfortable enough to talk to you about other things. you gotta give a little to get a little. God loves them where there at and so we need to as well! ..... so excited to see people wanting to branch out! ..... ive been in my small country town with a high aboriginal population for the past 18 months and sport has been my biggest winner which then leads into church and high youth group attendance. shoot me a message if u want more ideas

I am a high school student who became a Christian in February and I feel like I could give you guys some useful advice.

I became a Christian largely of my friendships with friends who are Christians.

I do not want to offend anyone who is a youth ministry volunteer/ worker. I volunteer in the children's ministry at my church so I understand the struggles that us volunteers go through.

One of the two best ways to reach the next generation is to teach the Christians in that generation how to reach people [how to lead people to Christ] and let them do the witnessing to the next generation. It worked with me and I have heard countless stories of this working.

The second of the best ways is for the volunteers/workers/pastors build relationships with the youth first. Let the volunteers get to know the youth, and have them ask questions (general at first, more specific ones later) about the youths' lives (let the youth ask the volunteers questions if they wish). Let the youth guide the direction of the relationship, conversations, and questions as they all have different needs, questions, personalities, etc. Some youth might ask spiritual questions more quickly, others might need more time to see what it is about. They will likely eventually ask spiritual questions once the relationship bond is strong. If they do not, the best way to facilitate this is to slowly, gradually, and subtly over time ask them questions about where they are spiritually. If they are resistant or skeptical , continue the relationship to where it was before and scale back the spiritual questions and ask them again when they get comfortable. They will eventually come around to either answering them or asking them; us young people have been lied to by and hurt by the world more than previous generations- so we tend to be more skeptical about things. If they are receptive, let them dictate the pace of the spiritual discussions/questions. Recruit volunteers who love people, especially youth, that are good listeners, compassionate, give good advice, have personal relationships with Jesus, who live as much as they can by what they teach, and that have wisdom.

In a nutshell, teach the youth how to lead people to Jesus and let them do it and/or have qualified Christians build relationships with the youth (conversions will eventually come either way). There are some other good ways but I don't know of any more methods other than these.

By the way, I have considered volunteering in youth ministry as I get older.