How to Turn a Conversation to Christ

The good news of Jesus connects to all parts of our lives. Therefore, there is potential within any conversation to turn it to Christ. If this is true, why do we find it so hard to bring up Jesus in our everyday interactions with the people around us, even with the students to whom we are ministering? How do we begin to cultivate habits of obedience in telling people about Jesus and hearing their beliefs?

Getting in Position

So you find yourself in a conversation with someone who is not yet a believer. Good job getting that far! Starting this connection is half the battle.

Now that you are conversing with another human being, you want to direct the conversation toward Jesus and His gospel. In this Go to the Campus video, Kevin and Mark share that there is a touchpoint for the gospel in every conversation and that the gospel should be shared at the first good opportunity.

Every conversation can pivot to spiritual truth if we are creative, prayerful, and Spirit-led. Within the conversation, focus on discovering the felt needs of the person, and when you see that opportunity, do not hesitate or talk yourself out of it.

During a Casual Conversation

There will be many opportunities to share Jesus with students simply by having a conversation with them. As you talk to them, prayerfully look for some common ground or a need in their lives where you could bring up the importance of having a relationship with God.

I met Jaylen at a coffee shop. He and a few of his friends came to hear about what Cru offered at his school and I’m pretty sure he came just because he was interested in one of the girls. As I walked away, I prayed for Jaylen.

Over the next few weeks, I saw him a few more times at coffee shops and got his phone number. I said, “Hey, Jaylen, you know I work with Cru. Would you be interested in meeting with me for coffee and hearing what Cru is all about?” He agreed and we met.

As we sat in a coffee shop, I asked him about his spiritual background. He mentioned that he went to church as a child, but stopped after his parents split up. I asked if he had ever read the Bible and heard about what Jesus offers to us. He said that he had never owned a Bible, and that he had heard about Jesus but couldn’t explain what He means to us.

I shared a Cru tool called Connecting with God with him, and we read through Isaiah 53 in the Bible that I gave him. He indicated that he wanted to follow Jesus, but he still had a lot of questions. Because we have approached the subject once, we are able to easily revisit who Jesus is in our next conversation.

Once you identify where a person is experiencing the God-sized hole in their life, you can share how Jesus has helped you in that specific area.

After an Outreach Event

There are maybe two or three times a year that you can host a guest speaker to come to your school, or take a group of students to a Christian concert. This is prime time to dig into what the students are thinking about the message.

Whether the speaker shares the gospel or not, you can ask questions to gain some understanding of what the person is thinking about God and a relationship with Him.

Four questions:

What did you think of the message/concert?
Are there any questions you have about the event or message?
How do you think we can know God in a personal way?
Would you like to hear how you can begin a relationship with Him?

Obviously, there are other questions you can ask in between each of these questions to help bring more clarity. Check out our helpful tool called Navigating the Four Conversational Sound Barriers for more great question ideas. Memorize these questions so you have them “in your back pocket” to use easily.

If the student is interested, use a tool like Knowing God Personally or your personal three-minute testimony to share the gospel with the student.

After a Shooting, Loss, or Trial

In our broken world, tragedies, shootings, and natural disasters happen far too often. These are times when many people are seeking answers and justice. We believe that God offers both.

Take a risk and ask the student their thoughts on the tragedy and how they think God views what happened and how people are responding. Ask if they know about God’s perfect love and justice displayed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Gen-Z’ers want to discuss what’s going on in our world and they have thoughts about how to fix it; but they likely don’t know how much the gospel of Jesus has to say about justice and restoration.

Using Evangelism Tools

Cru has many wonderful evangelism tools to help us in this process. While some, like Knowing God Personally or The Four Spiritual Laws, are focused on sharing the gospel in a brief manner, other tools are designed to simply begin a quality conversation that moves into spiritual territory.

Here are three tools that will be helpful as you begin Jesus conversations.

Soularium: a perfect tool for artistic or creative students. It uses 50 dynamic images to help people visually explain their thoughts on God and life. BONUS: it comes in a playing card edition to make it even more conversational.
QuEST Survey: a great way to initiate with anyone, or to start deeper conversations with someone you already know. It is five simple questions that start very shallow and fun, and progresses to more serious spiritual questions at the end.
Perspective Cards: perfect for the deep thinker, this helps students put words to understand their worldview, and gives you an open opportunity to share yours.
Exploration Questions: This is a great list of questions to help you transition a conversation toward Christ. Choose a few, memorize them, and try them out in your next conversation.

The gospel is the one antidote to a million different ailments, and Jesus is the great physician who came “to seek and to save the lost.”

Revisiting the Conversation

Once you have talked about Jesus one time, you can always begin a new spiritual conversation by saying, “remember that talk we had about Jesus?” Down the road, it is easier to resume the conversation once the ice is broken.

High school students are dynamic; they are always adapting, changing their minds about many things daily. Just because a student has no interest in following Jesus today does not mean they will never be interested. Be lovingly persistent—their eternity may be at stake!

Jesus Is Vital to All—Some Just Don’t Know It Yet

The gospel is the one antidote to a million different ailments, and Jesus is the great physician who came “to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) Pastor Tim Keller said that “the gospel is not the ABCs of Christianity. It is the A-to-Z.”

It’s not something that you learn at the beginning of your walk with God, and then move on from. We each need the gospel daily. If we model daily dependence on God for all of our needs, people will be drawn to the beauty and freedom of this new life in Christ.

The Gospel provides:

Healing for the Brokenhearted. “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
Peace for the Anxious. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Security for the Insecure. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)
Purpose and Meaning for the Academic.“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Satisfaction for the Searching.“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
Freedom for the Oppressed. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Once you identify where a person is experiencing the God-sized hole in their life, you can share how Jesus has helped you in that specific area. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” (John 3:17) God invites us into this saving work! Share “the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

The next time you find yourself in a conversation with a student, remember that God is on your side, and that the gospel is relevant to every single person on earth.

Next Step

Consider a student you have met but have yet to bring up the spiritual side of life. Choose an appropriate question or tool from this article, and use it the next time you see that student.

Conversations

This article is part of the Conversation Collection. Read the rest of these articles to get an even better understanding of how to have great conversations with students.

Sample Outreach Schedule

Mingling and refreshments
Welcome (3 minutes)
Campus ministry overview from the emcee (3 minutes)
Icebreaker: Famous Couples game (10 minutes)
Dating Game (20 to 30 minutes)
Student testimony with a relationship theme (4 minutes)
Relationship talk and gospel presentation (15 to 20 minutes max)
Comment cards (7 minutes)
Announcements (2 minutes)
Refreshments and hanging out (no set time)

The key is intentional planning with a relaxed atmosphere.

Game 1: Famous Couples

Choose an even number of participants and prepare a list of famous couples ahead of time, such as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia or Romeo and Juliet. Write each name on a 3×5 card and as students enter, tape the name of one character on their back without letting them see it.

Each student may ask up to three yes or no questions per person to figure out who they are. They must also take turns answering questions when asked. The goal is to discover their identity and find their matching partner as quickly as possible. Continue until everyone is matched.

Game 2: The Dating Game

If you don’t have a lot of couples for this game, you could call it the “Best Friend Test” and have them do best friends instead. However, considering this party is about romantic relationships it is obviously better to have romantic couples playing.

This game is similar to the Best Friend Test you’ve probably seen on TikTok or shows like The Circle, or the old Newlywed game. (If you haven’t seen them, check them out). One person answers questions first, then their partner tries to guess what they said.

One partner leaves the room while the questions are asked. The partners in the room write the answers down. Then they come back, hear the same questions, and try to match their partner’s answers. Each correct match earns a point. The pair with the most points wins a prize.

The questions are light, funny, and all about how well you actually know the other person.

Dating Game Questions

For the girls (guys leave the room):

Which ice cream flavor best describes your relationship right now: Vanilla, Rocky Road, Peaches and Cream, or Tutti Frutti?
On your first date, which animal was he most like: Turtle, Kitten, Tiger, or Octopus?
How long have you been going out?
What is the most sentimental gift he has given you?

For the guys (girls leave the room):

Which Disney character would she say best describes you: Mickey Mouse, The Beast, Goofy, or Winnie the Pooh?
What song is “your song”?
What did you do on your first date?
What is her favorite perfume?
Which Valentine’s gift would she most like: candy, flowers, or a kiss?
What outfit is she wearing right now?

Optional non-gender questions

What is their go-to fast food order?
What song would they put on if they needed a hype boost?
What stresses them out faster than it should?
If they had a free day, how would they spend it?

What is something they are secretly really good at?

While relationships matter deeply to us, they also expose one of our biggest fears, the fear of not being truly loved.

Relationship Talk

Overview

The relationship talk should be short, clear, and serve as a natural bridge to the gospel. Valentine’s Day provides an easy entry point into the idea that everyone is searching for love and meaningful relationships, yet few of us have good models of what lasting love looks like.

This talk introduces the idea that there is a kind of love that lasts, a love that does not depend on performance or appearance, and that love is found in God.

Introduction

Begin with a funny or embarrassing dating story to lower defenses and help students relate.

The Talk

Relationships take a lot of time and energy, whether with parents, friends, coworkers, or romantic partners. While relationships matter deeply to us, they also expose one of our biggest fears, the fear of not being truly loved.

Psychologists often describe our greatest need as the need to love and be loved. At the same time, our greatest fear is that if people really knew us, they would reject us. Because of this, many of us wear masks and show only what we think others want to see.

Even people who care about us deeply can disappoint or reject us when we do not meet their expectations. That pain leaves us asking what real love actually looks like.

There are three common types of love people experience:

“I love you if…” love, which is conditional on behavior.
“I love you because…” love, which is based on appearance, popularity, or performance.
“I love you, period.” love, which is unconditional and unchanging.

What we truly long for is the third kind of love.

One Who Loves No Matter What

That kind of love exists, and it comes from God. God loves people for who they are, not for how they perform or what they offer. He invites us into a real relationship with Him where His love is constant and secure.

From here, transition clearly into the gospel and explain how students can have a relationship with God and experience His unconditional love.

If you’re not sure how to share the gospel, learn how to HERE

Comment Cards

Use a comment card to collect name, address, phone number, school, and grade. Include simple response options for students who received Christ, want more information, or want to get involved with your campus ministry.

Next Step

Plan your Valentine’s Day outreach early and involve student leaders in every step so more students can experience authentic relationships and hear the gospel in a welcoming environment.

Partnering with Other Ministries to Reach Your Campus

Groups like Cru, Young Life, and FCA each have their own strengths and strategies. Students connect with them for different reasons—it’s not “one size fits all.” We love and respect every group that’s helping students know Jesus. We’re on the same team, not in competition.

Here are a few ministries we often serve alongside:

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) – Students gather in “huddles” led by coaches, giving athletes a chance to live out their faith through the sports they love.
Young Life – Leaders invest deeply in relationships, earning the right to be heard before sharing the gospel.
Church Youth Groups – Churches are a vital part of every community. Many youth leaders volunteer at schools or visit during lunch to connect with students. Cru isn’t a church—we partner with local churches to help students get plugged in.
Christian Clubs – Many campuses have Christian Clubs focused on prayer, fellowship, and Bible study. They’re often inward-facing rather than outreach-focused.

Cru’s Approach

We share Christ as soon as we have the chance, then build a network of small group Bible studies. We train students to share their faith—through group outreaches, personal conversations, and larger gatherings.

Why This Matters on Your Campus

When you are starting or growing a ministry, ask, “Who is already here?” Sometimes a group has been serving for years. Sometimes no one is reaching that school yet. Often there is room for more than one group to thrive because no single ministry connects with every student.

If another group is already present, the best move is to connect. Grab coffee with their leader, ask questions, learn what has been working, and listen for their challenges. Your posture matters. Come in as an ally, not a rival.

“We’re not in competition; we’re on the same team.”

Stepping Onto a Campus With Other Ministries

If you launch Cru where another ministry exists, remember these things:

Speak well of them in front of students.
Avoid scheduling conflicts when possible.
Focus on students they are not already reaching.
Be willing to partner for events or outreaches.

The goal is not to win students to your ministry. The goal is to help them grow in Jesus.

How to Start the Conversation

Approaching another leader can feel awkward. Keep it simple:

Ask how their group is doing at that school.
Learn which students they connect with best.
Share your heart for students and where Cru could help.
Look for ways to collaborate rather than compete.

You may be surprised how often these conversations lead to friendship and partnership.

A Simple Way to Explain Cru

When someone asks what Cru is about, you can say:

Cru is a network of student disciples who see their school as a mission field. We help students grow in their faith through small groups, training conferences, and mission opportunities locally and around the world.

When it comes down to it, no single ministry can reach every student—but together, we can make a much greater impact. Each group brings unique strengths, connections, and opportunities to the table. By cheering each other on, looking for ways to partner, and sharing a heart for teenagers to know and follow Jesus, we multiply our effectiveness. When ministries work side by side instead of in separate lanes, schools see more of Christ’s love, more students hear the gospel, and more lives are transformed for eternity.

Next Step

Reach out to a local campus ministry leader this week and start a conversation about partnering together.

Sydney’s Story

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.