Building a Bridge to the Campus

“The Word became flesh and took up residence among us.” John 1:14

God reached the world by doing something unexpected. Rather than keeping His distance, He came to dwell among us by sending His own Son. This is really good news! It’s the good news.

If we want to reach our local campus, we need to follow the example that Jesus Christ set for us. We must go to students rather than keeping our distance, waiting for them to come to us.

To do this well, we have to become what we call an insider on the campus. An insider is simply someone who clearly belongs. Insiders know the school, have positive connections, and make an unmistakable difference at the school.

So how do we move from being an outsider to an insider?

Where to Begin?

Getting somewhere new requires some work. Crossing a river or a canyon can be hard and uncertain, even dangerous—unless you have a bridge.

A bridge provides a clear, trustworthy way to cross to the other side. However, bridges are not built in a day. If they are going to last, they take time, effort, expertise, and some critical maintenance.

To become a trusted insider on campus, the “bridges” you need to build are relationships. And just like a real bridge, the good relationships we will build take some time.

Make Prayer Your Foundation

Prayer is where you must start. It’s the foundation of Cru’s approach. It can be tempting to jump right into building relationships. We just want to GO, but before we begin meeting new people on campus, we want to ask the Lord for the insight to meet the spiritual needs of the students there. Prioritizing our relationship with God and asking Him to provide will always be the best first step.

Thinking back to our bridge metaphor, starting without prayer is like building without having the foundation securely in place. We want to trust that God has the best plans. We need to align ourselves with His plans, not our own.

We want to pray that God would…

Help us see the needs of the students and staff
Lead us to other Christians who want to help
Teach us to care deeply about the well-being of the entire school
Send students to make a bigger impact than we ever could

If we want to reach our local campus, we need to follow the example that Jesus Christ set for us. We must go to the students!

Understand the School

Getting to know the school’s culture and unique student groups is key to getting a grasp on the needs in the community and on campus.

One easy place to start is just looking for social media groups you can follow for school updates. Even better, go to events on campus like concerts, games, or plays. Be intentional about meeting teachers and staff to build relationships. Network with people you already know to find connections to other insiders who can help you learn about the school.

As you meet people, let them know you are interested in helping students thrive and you are looking for people who can help you get a better understanding of the needs on campus.

Some possible insiders to meet…

Teachers
Recent graduates
Leaders of student clubs
Coaches
Members of the Parent Teacher Organization
Any other school staff

Ask the people you meet about the greatest strengths and weaknesses of the school. Look for needs you could help meet that could make the campus a better place.

Serve the School

Once you understand the needs of the school, the relationships you have built are the pathways to meeting the needs of the students on campus. There will be some practical needs you and others can step into easily, including:

School clean up days
Help the PTO thank teachers for their hard work
Promoting school fundraisers
Join a mentoring program
Become a volunteer coach

Our number one goal with Cru is to share the gospel. Serving the school in these ways might not look like it fits with that goal. However, the truth is these types of actions speak volumes about the gospel, especially when we do them because we care.

You might tell people about Jesus all day long, but few will really listen. However, when you care about others enough to sacrifice for them because Christ cared about you enough to sacrifice His life for you, that is powerful. When you live like that, the things you say make sense to the people who see you live it out. The message becomes embodied and people can truly understand.

Connect With Student Groups

As you serve the school, look for ways to help student groups you come in contact with the most. You could do an inspirational team talk for the track team before the state meet. You could organize or host a cast party after the school play. There are many student groups, teams, and clubs you can find on campus. Look for the ones you might connect with the most.

An insider wants to meet the needs of the school because it helps build up the whole campus and helps make it a positive and healthy place. As you meet students from various groups or teams, ask good questions. Find out what they would like to change about their school or maybe life in general. Schools are usually great at meeting physical and educational needs, however, they are really not designed to answer the spiritual questions about life. This is where Cru can help, and surfacing those BIG questions means you may need to ask good questions too.

When you first meet students, you might not have deep spiritual conversations with them, but you can invite them to your local Cru club or church youth group. Maybe your conversations with students will give you an idea for an outreach at or near the school. In short, connecting with student groups will help you continue to understand and serve the school and give you the opportunity to involve students in the things Cru already has going at the school.

To become a trusted insider on campus, the “bridges” you need to build are relationships.

Build A Network of Adult Leaders

Some of the school’s needs can be very specific and you might not be able to meet them on your own. If there is a high need for male mentors or math tutors, you might not fit the criteria needed for that role. Do NOT try to do it all on your own.

Craft a diverse network of relationships to adult leaders and you can help serve the school by getting the right people for the job. If you work hard at becoming an insider, you can help others get involved at the school because you know the needs and understand the process of volunteering.

Finding people for your network will take creativity. Local churches are a great place to start. Explore churches near the campus to mobilize individuals who can volunteer to meet needs at the school. These churches are a diverse community of people who are called to love God and their neighbors, but sometimes they do not know how. Asking them to meet a need in their community may actually be a huge blessing to them and the school.

Another strategy to use to invite others to help is to have a volunteer informational meeting. This where you gather a diverse group of Christians from different parts of the community to talk about how they can work together to help the school.

Equip and Motivate Students

Adults can make a big difference on the campus—meeting deficiencies, opening the door to spiritual conversations, and inviting others to help. However, there are limits to what adults can do, no matter how much of an “insider” they are. The most effective and dynamic influencers on the campus are always the students themselves.

We want students to follow our lead in seeking what is best for the school and in sharing our reason for hope in Christ, but we do not just want to be the only one doing this. As an insider, we might be really effective at adding people to God’s kingdom, but we want to do more. We want to do what Jesus did and multiply by sending others out to share with more.

When teenagers follow Jesus and take steps of faith to win, build, and send other teenagers to do the same, powerful change will begin to happen at that school. Teenagers will always be better missionaries to their campus than any adult. They are already insiders and have way more freedom to share their faith with other students.

Students and other leaders will follow our lead when we take steps of faith to be present and go to the campus with the good news.

Next Step

Begin building a bridge to a local campus by talking with a campus insider. The Getting to Know your Campus Questionnaire will help.

Questionnaire

From Grief to Purpose: Finding God in the Storm

Growing up in a Christian home, she always knew about Jesus, but her relationship with Him didn’t feel personal until tragedy struck in eighth grade. Transitioning from homeschooling to public school had already pushed her out of her comfort zone, and anxiety loomed as she struggled to find her place. Then, during the fall of 2020, both her parents contracted COVID. While her mom recovered, her dad’s condition worsened, leading to months of uncertainty. She vividly remembers the day he left for the hospital and the long, heartbreaking journey that followed. Despite moments of hope, her dad passed away on February 20th, 2021. At just 13 years old, she faced the devastating reality of losing her father—a loss that shook her world and her faith.

In the midst of that grief, she began to see God’s hand at work. During sleepless nights and moments of overwhelming sorrow, God surrounded her with people who cared—friends, family, and a community that embodied His love. Though the pain of loss didn’t disappear, she found comfort in the truth that this life is not the end. Inspired by Paul’s words about eternity, she started to see her father’s passing as a reminder of the hope we have in Christ. That hope spurred her to action. On a family mission trip to Thailand, she met students leading Cru groups at their schools, and the seed was planted to start something similar back home. Despite initial uncertainty, God provided resources, opened doors, and brought others alongside her to launch Cru at her school—a ministry that has been thriving for nearly a year now.

"Anxiety loomed as she struggled to find her place."

Her story is one of resilience, faith, and transformation. Through unimaginable grief, she discovered the depth of God’s love and the strength found in trusting Him. The loss of her dad deepened her desire to share Jesus with others, knowing firsthand how essential His presence is in life’s hardest moments. Cru has given her a platform to do just that—to tell others about the God who redeems brokenness and uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Her journey reminds us that while pain is inevitable, God is sovereign, faithful, and able to bring beauty from ashes.

Next Step

Check out Christina's Story and consider how God might use an international mission in your or another student's life.

christina's story

The Six Milestones Every Student Needs to Grow in Faith

Why These Milestones Matter

If we are not careful, students can float through our ministry without ever taking real steps forward. They might show up every week, but never really grow or take ownership of their faith. Milestones give us a simple, clear map for helping them keep moving. They help us answer the question, “What’s next for this student?” and give students the courage to take that step.

When we guide students from milestone to milestone, we are not just helping them stay involved. We are helping them grow into strong, confident followers of Jesus who are ready to lead and influence others.

Share Christ with a Student Who Doesn’t Know Jesus

Before anything else, a student needs the chance to hear the good news of Jesus in a clear and personal way. This is where it all begins. Many teenagers have never heard the gospel explained in full, even if they have been around church. Take the time to share about God’s love, our need for forgiveness, and the hope we have in Christ. The first step in their journey is not about them sharing their faith — it is about them hearing it for the first time.

Helpful Resources:

Lead a Student Through Their First Follow-Up

When a student says yes to Jesus, it is just the start of something new and exciting. The first follow-up meeting is where you can help them understand what it means to walk with God daily. It is also a chance to build trust and start a discipleship relationship. This step anchors their new faith and helps them grow instead of drifting away.

Helpful Resources:

Help a Student Understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit

Helping students understand the Holy Spirit is a game-changer. Too often, new believers try to live the Christian life in their own strength, and it leaves them frustrated. Teaching them about the Spirit-filled life shows them how to depend on God’s power for both living and sharing their faith. This is when students start to realize that God is not just calling them to do hard things — He is empowering them to actually do them.

Helpful Resources:

GodTools App (go through the Satisfied tool with them)
Holy Spirit Booklet

Holy Spirit Study in Thrive Studies

First Evangelism Experience

Many students have never had the chance to talk about their faith with someone who doesn’t know Jesus. Taking them out to share, whether on campus, at an event, or in the community, changes that. At first, they might feel nervous, but once they see God working through them, it can be life-changing. That moment when a student realizes, “God just used me to help someone understand the gospel” — that is the spark that often leads to a lifetime of ministry.

Helpful Resources:

Challenge to a Cru Training Event

There is something powerful about getting students away from their normal routine and into an environment filled with worship, biblical teaching, and friends who are chasing after Jesus. Conferences give them the space to grow, hear from God, and take big steps of faith. The bus ride there might be full of nerves, but the ride home is usually buzzing with stories of what God did. Over and over again, we have seen students return from these events ready to lead and make a difference.

Helpful Resources:

Conferences Page

Challenge to Spiritual Leadership on Campus

Teenagers are capable of more than they realize. The world constantly challenges them to step up in sports, academics, and clubs, but sometimes the church forgets to ask them to lead in ministry. Giving students real leadership opportunities — leading a Bible study, speaking at a meeting, planning an outreach — unlocks their potential and sets an example for younger students. Over time, this creates a culture where leadership is expected and contagious.

Helpful Resources:

Student Leader Section – GoToTheCampus.com

Wrapping It Up

These milestones are not a checklist to rush through. They are a pathway to help students grow, one step at a time. Every student you know is somewhere on this journey. Your role is to encourage them, challenge them, and walk alongside them as they take the next step. The goal is not just to build a ministry — it is to build students who live on mission for Jesus for the rest of their lives.

Want to dig deeper? Check out our full conversations about the Six Milestones in these YouTube videos.

Next Step

Write down the names of every student in your ministry. Identify their current milestone and decide how you can help them reach the next one.

The Priceless Project: Impacting Girls in Public Schools

The Priceless Project: Impacting Girls in Public Schools

The Priceless Project is a powerful small-group resource designed especially for girls, offering a safe, encouraging space to talk about identity, value, and purpose. It’s already making a difference in public schools, giving students a chance to connect, grow, and be reminded of their worth.

One of its greatest strengths is flexibility. The Priceless Project comes in two versions:

A Bible study version for church, youth group, or Christian school settings
A public school version with the same strong themes but without Scripture references — making it ideal for campuses that might not allow explicitly faith-based content

The public school version can be a great way to get in the door on a campus that’s difficult to access. It allows you to mentor a group of girls who need it, build relationships with them, and meet real emotional and social needs in a way that schools welcome.

Priceless Project

from Emily French

Why use The Priceless Project?

Creates a safe, respectful space for girls to share and be heard
Meets real emotional and social needs in public schools
Builds leadership and peer-to-peer mentoring skills
Easy to use, with free resources and an app for facilitators
Proven track record in schools through partnerships with teachers and administrators

All digital resources are free for Cru. Use the discount code PricelessCru at checkout. All physical books are available for purchase at iampriceless.me.

A free Priceless Project App is also available for Apple and Android — with digital curriculum, playlists, blog posts, and a safe space for facilitators to connect with the girls they lead.

You can learn more, explore the curriculum, and order resources at iampriceless.me.