I love days like today!

Today was an exciting day!

THIS MORNING - Youth Pastors in Murrysville got together to finalize plans for our School Year Kick Off event, IGNITION, which they sponsor at the beginning of each school year. Those guys are a lot of fun and they have a heart for the Kingdom of God. We're expecting a thousand students at that event.

LUNCH - Next I had lunch with the Greensburg Youth Pastors Network. Those guys love to share ideas, resources, as well as funny stories. They are praying about and considering doing a large scale outreach with The Freedom Experience - Brock Gill (Christian Illusionist), BMX stunt bikes, and more.

THIS AFTERNOON - The Christian Club at Franklin Regional Senior High in Murrysville met today. They have a lot of new students there and needed a little inspiration. So I arranged to have Frank Audia, a youth pastor and Christian Club coach of nearby Penn Trafford High School, to come and talk about the outreach events they do for different groups of students in their school (mostly sports teams). First of all, Frank is a tough, built, tattooed guy who is just really cool. And he is passionate about students reaching their friends for Christ. The students asked Frank questions and agreed at the end that they wanted to be serious about reaching outreach this school year.

I love days like today!

30 Ways that Adults Can Spiritually Impact Schools

We've heard the mantra of 'separation of church and state' for so long that we often think there's nothing we can do to make a difference. In fact, there's a lot we can and should do!

Prayer Ideas
1. Organize prayer walks at local schools (www.reviveprayerwalk.org)
2. Pray as you drive near/through school zones (www.prayerzonepartners.com)
3. Start a Moms in Touch prayer group (www.momsintouch.org)
4. Make sure Christian students know about See You At The Pole (www.syatp.com)
5. Adopt a School (www.everyschool.com)
6. Claim Your Campus (www.claimyourcampus.com)
7. Copy pages out of a school's yearbook and ask adults in your church to pray for a page.
8. Dedicate a bulletin board in your church to encouraging prayer for schools.
9. Create prayer magnets to remind people to remember schools in their prayers.
10. Plan a commissioning service at your church to pray over, encourage, and support Christian teenagers in your church as “missionaries” to their schools.

Outreach Ideas
11. Encourage Christian students you know to start a Christian Club, prayer group, FCA, Youth Alive, Club 121, or First Priority Club at their school (www.gocampus.org, www.catchthis.net, www.campusmissions.org,
www.fca.org, www.fpoa.org).
12. Buy resources to help students have a successful See You At The Pole event (www.syatp.com)
13. Buy Bibles, Gospels of John, tracts, etc. for Christian students to distribute at school (www.ibsdirect.com, www.pocketpower.com, www.bookofhope.com, www.atstracts.org).
14. Buy tickets to Christian concerts that students can give out to friends at school. (www.genexconcerts.com – western PA only)
15. Buy pizzas for the Christian club at a local school to do an outreach to their friends.
16. Help bring school assembly programs to local schools (there are many out there sponsored by Christian ministries – www.feelthepower.org, www.reachyourcity.com, www.thesevenproject.com, www.sevenfaith.com).
17. Encourage Christian students you know to participate in Fields of Faith outreach event (www.fieldsoffaith.com)
18. Encourage Christian students you know participate in MBA day on January 22 (www.teensforchrist.org/mba.aspx).
19. Equip Christian teenagers with knowledge of their legal rights on the public school campus (www.aclj.org).
20. Become a mentor to a teenager (www.mentoryouth.com) in your church or in your community.

Serving Ideas
21. Join your school district's PTA group.
22. Organize parent meetings on a regular basis to pray for schools, communicate prayer needs, resource needs, and volunteer needs.
23. Meet with school administrators and ask about ways to volunteer.
24. Run for election on the School Board.

Ideas for Youth Pastors
25. Make an appointment to meet with principals, guidance counselors. Ask them what help they need.
26. Work with other youth pastors to bring school assembly programs to schools.
27. Become an assistant coach for a sports team.
28. Do the Campus Checkup your students and other youth groups.
(www.everyschool.com)
29. Sponsor an evangelism and/or campus ministry training event with other youth pastors in your community.
30. Connect with other youth pastors in your community to share ideas, create a common strategy, etc.

If you have other ideas about what adults can do, please comment below. To download a PDF version of these ideas, please go to www.teensforchrist.org.