Should my friends and I pass out pamplets at school?

[Chica4Christ]

Hey you guys! First off, I just want all of you to know that I love ya! God bless all of you who reply to my post.

Ok, so here is the story:

I am going to be a junior next year in high school (16 years old). All my other Christian friends are going to be sophomores. Last year we all met, and I became a serious Christian. I was too shy to tell people about Jesus and my faith, but everybody at school knew because I wore my Christ shirts and did a presentation about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Plus I witnessed a lot.

Over the summer, my relationship with God became more close and intimate. I started to read the Word more, and I learned many new things. I am so excited about the new school year, because I want to tell EVERYBODY about the love of Jesus Christ. I am very serious; I want every person I come in contact with to hear the gospel. Last year, I know I screwed up a lot and I kept my light inside of me hidden.

This year, my friends and I want it to be different. Do you think it is OK to hand out pamplets about the Good News of Christ Jesus to my peers at school? They would look really cool, and it wouldn't be boring like a lot I've seen.

I know how teens my age have parents who are drunks and they abuse them, their live stinks, maybe they lost a loved one and they think their life is over.

But I want them to know that there IS A HOPE!! Sometimes I just wanted to jump up on the cafeteria table and quiet them down and yell ATTENTION! JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE AND HE IS THERE FOR YOU, AND EVER PRESENT HELP IN DANGER!!

lol!!

Is this going to far? Should I use another approach to share my best friend with others?

I would really appreciate all of your advice!

Blessings in the name of Yeshua

 

[Nessie]

I say do it!!! How can you go wrong? If you go to a public school be wary of those faculty members who are offended by that type of thing (they exist, believe me).

At my school you have to have permission from the principal to distribute stuff to the whole school. If it's just friends, fine, but if you are going to give em to everyone, I would check to see if there's a rule about permission first.

Have fun!!! (I too am a junior now... this is going to be a great year!)

 

[Chica4Christ]

Thanks Nessie!

I know what you mean about the teachers who dont approve of witnessing. One of my friends had a bunch of little flyers about a upcoming youth revival and she taped it all over the school. A faculity member caught her and told her she had to take them all down because it was 'religious material'.

LOL! Its ok though, because that just means we are being a spiritual success and doing our job as Christians right!

I will get permission from the principal.....only if someone says something first. hee, hee!

God bless!

 

[EmSchmem]

I would actually not do pamphlets. I know when I wasn't a Christian that kind of thing REALLY turned me off. I'm not a big fan of "cold" evangelism. If I were you (and I'm not) I would get with your friends and come up with some other cool ways to tell people about God. Of all the people I know who are Christians (and I know hundreds), I know only ONE who came to Christ through a pamphlet. More personal evangelism is much more liekly to have an effect.

 

[thief.on.the.right]

I say no but that's out of experiance....see...when i was in middle school..in 6th grade I started a bible study at my public school. so I handed out flyers. Once they were read bout 20 were thrown at my head or made into spit balls or paper airplanes. It hurt..mentally and physically! Your life is a pamphlet that SCREAMS if you live it as Jesus would. But..if you insist on handing out pamphlets get the schools permission cause it WILL make a big mess of papers all over the floor and just hand them to ppl that are your friends but aren't christians....that way you don't get any negativity! Good luck! I'll be praying!

 

[EmSchmem]

Actually starting a bibloe study at your house after school is a great idea. You can invite people personally. Start with your friends and let them know that the invitation is always open to anyone they also wish to bring. Talk with your parents about it. Maybe they will be willing to buy some extra snacks for it. I know that is what a lot of kids your age that are in my church do! They call them bush groups. Though I have NO idea why.

 

[Chica4Christ]

You know, I think you guys are right. Now I can see that maybe it wont be a good idea to pass out tracts and stuff, because it WOULD be just a giant mess all over the school!

Maybe I'll just make a dozen or so to give to the ones whom I PERSONALLY witness to.

But you know what else, the way you live your life is probably better than anything paper you could pass out. Just letting your light that Christ put inside of you to shine before men...hey maybe that will get people wondering!!

I was thinking about getting a group of friends together a few times a week before school started to pray. That would be cool! And maybe the word will spread and more people will join!

Hey, is that legal? I thought public prayer in school was banned or something..?

But in any case, does any one know of an effective way to spread the Word? Thanks a lot!!!

God bless

 

[daveleau]

We must not be scared to do something for the Lord out of fear of being ridiculed or persecuted. God will provide for those who do His work.

I say do it! You might be the only contact these kids have to Christ in a long period of time. Do not be brash out outlandish in your witnessing, but simply hand out the pamphlets from time to time and answer questions as they come. If you are too pushy, you will hurt your ability to witness. But, at the same time, if you are too shy, you will hurt your own ability to witness by hiding yourself under a bushel.

I will pray for your success and I hope you find the right way to reach your friends at school. You do a great thing that many Christians are afraid to do because of what they think society will say about them. DON'T FEAR society!

God bless you,
Dave

If you are harassed by the administration regarding what you are doing, there are many legal avenues that will freely help you live out what the US Constitution protects- freedom of speech. ...it doesn't only apply to smut and anti-religious venues, you know.

 

[EmSchmem]

You know, I think you guys are right. Now I can see that maybe it wont be a good idea to pass out tracts and stuff, because it WOULD be just a giant mess all over the school!

Maybe I'll just make a dozen or so to give to the ones whom I PERSONALLY witness to.

But you know what else, the way you live your life is probably better than anything paper you could pass out. Just letting your light that Christ put inside of you to shine before men...hey maybe that will get people wondering!!

I was thinking about getting a group of friends together a few times a week before school started to pray. That would be cool! And maybe the word will spread and more people will join!

Hey, is that legal? I thought public prayer in school was banned or something..?

But in any case, does any one know of an effective way to spread the Word? Thanks a lot!!!

God bless

Noone can lead students in prayer. I THINK you can have an advisor but I don't know. If you ask your principal they will be able to tell you all the laws regarding that. I think a short prayer meeting would be a great idea as would a small Bible study. You could probably also talk to your pastor to get started.

 

[bliz]

God calls all of us to do different things. I myself have never been a big tract person, but I know that there are believers who have come to know the Lord through them. The important thing is that you do what God is calling you to do.

If you wish to hand out things in school, you need to know that under the Equal Access Act, if schools permit the handing out of flyers, they cannot prohibit you from doing so becasue the content of your pamphlet is religious. This applies to every public school in the Us and to all religions. Whatever limitations they have for handing out materials in general, apply to you. If talking is permitted in a study hall, they cannot prohibit you from talking about the Bible with someone who wishes to hear. If the school dress code permits you to wear shirts with printing on them, you can wear shirts with Biblical or Christian messages on them.

Many schools are not aware of this. If you run into problems, comply with what they ask you to do at that time, but also state that you believe you have the right to do as you have been doing under the Equal Acces Act. Chances are they will contact the school district lawyer and learn that you do have those rights. But if their lawyer is not up to speed, or if they do not like what you are doing, they may persist. There are Christian legal organizations that can help you if it goes that far. You can get the Equal Access Act on line ahead of time.

I used to work with Christian constitutional lawyers, so I'm up to speed on this. I think that the Christian Legal Society also has information about this on their site.

God be with you!

 

[Chica4Christ]

Noone can lead students in prayer. I THINK you can have an advisor but I don't know. If you ask your principal they will be able to tell you all the laws regarding that.

Is that really a law? Because I guess our school breaks it, because we have this club called FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) I'm sure you've heard of it, the club is internationally known I think. But anyway, I think before every meeting they are lead in prayer by the president/teacher. The reason why I think this is because they had a FAITH section of our yearbook and the pics. in there showed the members of the club in the classroom with their heads bowed, obviously praying. I am trying to join that club for next school year comin' up soon!

All I know is that people in China and other percecuted countries would LOVE to be doing what I want to do because it is forbidden over there. To tell you the truth, I fear God and not man. What are they going to do? Tell me to stop? Give me a warning? The name of Jesus will NOT be silenced in public schools. Not if I can help it! *Shakes fist in air* LOL!!! hee, hee....

I am so excited guys about this school year!!!! WHOOO HOOO!!

Bliz, thanks for the info. about all that legal stuff. That could some in handy in the future.

Can you get anything free over the net such as tracts and things? That would be really cool!!!

Your sister in Christ,
Haley

 

[bliz]

A Bible club or prayer club can pray at club time in public schools. The club cannot have a regular leader who is not a student or associated with the school - such as a pastor or youth minister, but all clubs can have guest speakers.

The club needs to meet school requirements that are there for all clubs, such as having an advisor who is a faculty member or whatever. Some schools have tried to make special rules for religious clubs, but they cannot do that legally. Some school districts, in an effort to shut down a club they do not like, have shut down all clubs. As short sighted as that is, schools may legally do it becasue they are then treating all clubs alike. To the best of my knowledge, that had been done in cases where students wanted a Satan worship club or a gay/lesbian club, not a Bible or religious club, but it will probably happen sooner or later. That is why it is in the best interests of Christians to support religious freedom and the freedom of assembly for everyone, not just our fellow Christians.

 

[bliz]

Religious Rights in US Public Schools

For a nice summary of what your rights of religious expression in public schools are, go to: http://www.aclj.org/publications/srps/intro.asp

Sadly, many school officials are under the mistaken impression that they are to keep religious ideas out of the public schools. That is not the law. The abovesite will give you a lot of very valuable information.

But remember - if you have conflict in your school over such matters, be polite, gracious and comply with initial requests that you stop doing whatever. How you conduct yourself is a far more powerful message than what you say.

 

[daveleau]

Most principles do not know the law regarding this because it is always changing. There is no law saying that you can not pray in school. The only law is that school officials can not have sanctioned prayer in public school. It is your right to carry a Bible,to pray, to congregate in fellowship and prayer and to hand out materials as long as they are not obscene. This is the First Amendment, and if they stop you, then they have set themselves up for a lawsuit for stopping your right to free speech.

The ACLJ link above is superb!

In my workplace, I was initially told that I could not hold a Bible study. I was also told to leave off the title of the degree I am seeking on my performance reports. I was also told that the military does not pay for religious degrees. All of these were false and all were told to me by my supervisors. I was blessed with the fact that they looked into these ideas on their own and changed their minds when they saw that these actions were ok. I didn't even have to try to plead my case.

 

[Theofilus]

Just handing out pamphlets probably won't do much good. Most of them will end up in the trash or on the floor. But that is not to say that pamphlets are useless. When I was a sophmore in high school, I was at a friends house one evening and he took out a 4 spiritual laws pamphlet from Campus Crusade for Christ and showed it to me. I gave my life to God that evening. But that was because my friend was there and talked to me and answered my questions and explained things to me. If somebody had just handed me the pamphlet, I probably wouln't have paid attention to it. Use the pamphlets ad part of your personal evangelism. It'll be much more effective.

 

[Chica4Christ]

Use the pamphlets ad part of your personal evangelism. It'll be much more effective.

Oh yeah, I agree there. That is why I changed what I said in the beginning, I would use the pamphlets only if I were to talk to the person one on one like you're saying.

That is so cool that people actually become believers through tracts and stufff (with the help of loving words of course) ;-)

Thanks guys (and gals!) for the advice and the legal stuff!
your sis in Christ,
Haley

 

[Maharg]

Hi there,

I would just like to add that, for me, the way I was told about things made a massive difference to how I believed. If there was a Christian who had understood me and provided me with some comfort for my concerns, I was more likely to listen to what they said than someone who didn't show concern for me and then tried to preach messages to me. In the second example, the messages made sense, but they didn't penetrate my heart, and in the first example, my heart was already penetrated and i was ready to accept the messages. I don't know if this makes any sense, but i hope it helps.

God bless,

maharg

 

[Davidatwaypointe]

Hey you guys! First off, I just want all of you to know that I love ya! God bless all of you who reply to my post.

Ok, so here is the story:

I am going to be a junior next year in high school (16 years old). All my other Christian friends are going to be sophomores. Last year we all met, and I became a serious Christian. I was too shy to tell people about Jesus and my faith, but everybody at school knew because I wore my Christ shirts and did a presentation about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Plus I witnessed a lot.

Over the summer, my relationship with God became more close and intimate. I started to read the Word more, and I learned many new things. I am so excited about the new school year, because I want to tell EVERYBODY about the love of Jesus Christ. I am very serious; I want every person I come in contact with to hear the gospel. Last year, I know I screwed up a lot and I kept my light inside of me hidden.

This year, my friends and I want it to be different. Do you think it is OK to hand out pamplets about the Good News of Christ Jesus to my peers at school? They would look really cool, and it wouldn't be boring like a lot I've seen.

I know how teens my age have parents who are drunks and they abuse them, their live stinks, maybe they lost a loved one and they think their life is over.

But I want them to know that there IS A HOPE!! Sometimes I just wanted to jump up on the cafeteria table and quiet them down and yell ATTENTION! JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE AND HE IS THERE FOR YOU, AND EVER PRESENT HELP IN DANGER!!

lol!!

Is this going to far? Should I use another approach to share my best friend with others?

I would really appreciate all of your advice!

Blessings in the name of Yeshua

If the things you feel convicted to do are legal to do at your school, do it.

If they're not legal at your school but you really feel like God wants you to do it, talk to your pastor for counsel.

I'm all for living a Spirit-filled life; but the Spirit is also all for obeying authority. Sometimes it's tricky stuff.

Make sure that you witness out of genuine love, also. It sounds like you're there, but test your own spirit.

God bless you -- you sound excited!

 

[brinley45cal]

Hey you guys! First off, I just want all of you to know that I love ya! God bless all of you who reply to my post.

Ok, so here is the story:

I am going to be a junior next year in high school (16 years old). All my other Christian friends are going to be sophomores. Last year we all met, and I became a serious Christian. I was too shy to tell people about Jesus and my faith, but everybody at school knew because I wore my Christ shirts and did a presentation about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Plus I witnessed a lot.

Over the summer, my relationship with God became more close and intimate. I started to read the Word more, and I learned many new things. I am so excited about the new school year, because I want to tell EVERYBODY about the love of Jesus Christ. I am very serious; I want every person I come in contact with to hear the gospel. Last year, I know I screwed up a lot and I kept my light inside of me hidden.

This year, my friends and I want it to be different. Do you think it is OK to hand out pamplets about the Good News of Christ Jesus to my peers at school? They would look really cool, and it wouldn't be boring like a lot I've seen.

I know how teens my age have parents who are drunks and they abuse them, their live stinks, maybe they lost a loved one and they think their life is over.

But I want them to know that there IS A HOPE!! Sometimes I just wanted to jump up on the cafeteria table and quiet them down and yell ATTENTION! JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE AND HE IS THERE FOR YOU, AND EVER PRESENT HELP IN DANGER!!

lol!!

Is this going to far? Should I use another approach to share my best friend with others?

I would really appreciate all of your advice!

Blessings in the name of Yeshua

Amen i think thats great,but remmember the best witness is you.If you go around calling yourself a christian ,,people will watch you to see how you live.
And you really have to be careful because the first time someone sees you mess up they are going to point the finger and say things like"Yeah they call themselves a christian" things like that.And try not to be overbearing or pushy,you plant the seeds and let the lord do the watering.
But i think thats great we need more young people to have the same heart as you do,just dont get discuraged,the more you do it the better at it you will get.God Bless and good luck.