Some students just received Christ at your outreach! So, what’s next? Here are four things you want to do to help ground these new believers in their faith.
Contact Them Right Away
First, take a minute and thank God for each student by name. Then, call or text them within 24 to 48 hours of the outreach. Responding quickly communicates that you care about them and the decision they’ve made to follow Christ. Make sure you try to meet with students who have indicated a decision for Christ as soon as possible. If you wait too long, they may forget who you are and wonder why you’re contacting them.
Have an Initial Follow-Up Meeting
Once you’ve set up the initial follow-up meeting, the goal of it is simple- to build your relationship with the students, help them understand the decision they’ve made, and help them begin to grasp God’s incredible love for them.
It’s a good idea to go through a gospel presentation at that first meeting. You want to be sure they understand who God is and the decision they’ve made to accept Christ. Even if they think they understand the gospel, going through the gospel together allows them to ask questions.
After you go through the gospel with them, explain how Cru is designed to help students grow in their faith. Tell them that we have four studies that teach the basics of the Christian faith that you would like to go through with them and ask them if they would be willing to meet with you for the next four weeks – same time, same place.
No one is instantly mature; it happens one step and one decision at a time.
Teach Them Basic Truths
For the next four weeks, keep connecting with your students at your follow-up Bible studies. Cru offers a great foundational truth series we would encourage you to use. The START Series in Thrive Studies is a four-week series that will help ground your students in the basics of their faith. They will also equip you as the leader for your follow up appointments. These studies come complete with scriptures, discussion questions, and other helpful resources. These follow-up Bible studies are a focused time to interact, build relationships, and discuss many different, important spiritual principles.
It Takes a Village
Helping someone grow spiritually is rarely a one person job. Each student needs many godly influences around them to help them grow. Help your students get involved in other parts of your ministry, find a good church home, and connect with other believers at their school. These relationships will give the student a much better support system when times get hard.
Keep Meeting and Building Relationships
All relationships take time to grow. A new relationship is a time of discovery. You want to help these new believers learn to walk, read scripture, and enter into a new community. No one is instantly mature; it happens one step and one decision at a time. Enjoy this journey with them. Be a living example of Christ’s love for them by providing a good foundation of truth with love, patience, and genuine care.
Once you’ve gone through the basic follow-up materials with your students, ask God to help you identify potential steps of growth for each student. Thrive Studies has over 76 studies covering multiple topics. Choose studies that most interest your students and help them begin a life-long relationship with God’s word.
As you invest in the relationships, by God’s grace your new brothers and sisters will soon be walking, talking, and feeding themselves spiritually as committed followers of Christ! How exciting that God is using you to invest in their lives!
Next Step
Who do you know that is new in the faith? Someone who is new to Cru? To your youth group? Invite them to join you to go through the START Series in the Thrive Studies.
thrive start series
