School’s out!

It’s a welcome break from all the stress and heavy work that you’ve endured throughout the school year. For students like you, nothing beats the luxury of waking up late, staying in bed the whole day, going places, or spending time with friends, not to do schoolwork, but to simply hang out and chill.

The smell of freedom is in the air!

Well done, good and faithful world-changer! You have withstood many trials and have faithfully lived out your role as a student. You have boldly preached the gospel to your friends and classmates. You were so on fire for God and have stood for leadership, integrity, faith, and excellence. You were unashamed of the gospel! You’re a real world-changer!

As you go on your student summer break, you may now also take off your superhero costume and take a break from changing the campus and changing the world.

Wait, wait, wait…. What?

Since our identity as God’s children doesn’t change come summer, our mission to be His ambassadors doesn’t end as well. Jesus’ command for us to make disciples shouldn’t take a back seat when school is officially over.

While in prison, Paul wrote to his young apprentice, Timothy, and charged him to fully carry out his God-ordained ministry. Paul urged him to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Just like Paul and Timothy, making disciples of Jesus will always be our top priority — in season and out of season!

But how can I change the campus when we’re not even allowed to go in the campus?

Perfect question! Here are some simple ideas on how you can still go through the Discipleship Journey even in the heat of this summer season:

Engage your culture and community!

Summer break is a perfect season to spend time with your friends and family and enjoy different activities together. Remember: You are a man—or a woman—on a mission! As you set your schedule and activities this summer, you can be intentional as well in creating opportunities where you can build deeper relationships and share the gospel to them.

Too hot to stay at home? Why don’t you invite your friends to chill in your favorite coffee shop and simply talk about life? From there, you may ask the Holy Spirit to help you navigate the conversation towards sharing your testimony and your faith in Christ.

You love playing games or sports? Great! Invite your friends for a game or two, then share your two-minute testimony with them on how Christ changed your life.

You may also invite your Victory group to meet on a weekday, do the God Test together, do random acts of service to people, be part of a community service activity, or simply do anything to preach the gospel. If you’re reaching out to your family, this is the perfect time to let your light shine at home! Serve your parents, build relationship with your siblings, reach out to your relatives, and share Jesus to them!

You know the drill: Do the work of an evangelist in season and out of season!

Establish someone in the Faith, Word and Prayer, and the Church!

While everyone’s not busy with schoolwork and other extracurricular activities, you can grab the chance to meet with a new believer and help that person build deeper foundations in his or her relationship with God.

For a start, it’s the perfect time to do ONE 2 ONE with someone! You have a lot of time to hang out, meet up, and talk about God; instead of just spending your time bumming around or sleeping all day, you can use your time productively to help someone grow deeper in his relationship with God.

If you’re the athletic type, you may invite your friends for a morning jog, then pray or do your devotions together. Book-lover? Invite fellow bookworms to read a good book and then discuss the book together.

The idea is that while you have the luxury of time away from school, you can maximize this season by soaking in the Word and enjoying your relationship with God more.

Equip and be equipped!

As you’re taking a break from school, you may beef up on your ministry skills by investing your time, resources, and energy on getting more equipped to make disciples.

On your journal or on a sheet of paper, write down the things that you want to grow in. What skills do you want to grow and develop? What strengths do you want to further strengthen? As you write them down, you may also list down books, podcasts, articles, and mentors that can help you with these things.

Invest your time in getting equipped by taking in materials and talking to people that can add value to your life and help you become a stronger disciple of Jesus.

While you’re at it, look for someone that you can also equip for ministry. That person could be a schoolmate, someone you’re discipling, or anyone who is faithful, available, involved, teachable and hungry to honor God and make disciples.

Empower someone to make disciples!

If you’re a Victory group leader, or if you’re currently helping someone in his or her relationship with God, this season provides a wide margin to empower someone to make disciples. The best way to do that is to have that person tag along as you do the God Test, engage your community, or share the gospel through your personal testimony. After you show him how it’s done, give that person a chance to do it himself, and then provide feedback that can help him improve his ministry skills. This way, that person will be able to gain confidence and competence in making disciples as well.

If you have a group of Christian friends in your school, you may invite them to meet, do a prayer walk for your school, and share ideas on how you can reach out to more students next school year. Take this season to plan your move, strategize, and think of creative ways on how you can make more disciples in your campus.

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Jesus is our best example when it comes to living intentionally for the gospel and maximizing our limited time to make maximum impact in the world.

Jesus knew that he only had three years to do his ministry and start a global movement that will last for as long as the world exists, so he used his very limited time to proclaim the Kingdom, heal people and communities, feed the hungry, and restore the broken.

Jesus wasted no time. Every second was valuable. He went through all towns and villages, talked to individuals, and preached to crowds. His conversations with people were all purposeful. His stories were not senseless chatter; they were filled with Kingdom truths. Even His slumber in the middle of the storm was to prove a point: He is sovereign God in the flesh.

Because of this, the movement that started in the small province of Galilee spread to the rest of the world, transcending distance and time, and bridging cultures and continents.

As you enjoy your summer break, may you find deeper enjoyment in bringing the Good News of God’s grace to your family and friends. Hopefully, when you look at your summer schedule, here’s how it looks like:

• Go to the beach
• Travel to places
• Sleep!!!
• Binge-watch
• Change the campus!
• Change the World!