The youth organization Christian Union hopes to reach 75,000 students at elite secular universities with the gospel during an upcoming eight-week evangelism tour.
Matt Bennett, founder and president of the group, says the theme “Jesus Disrupts” was chosen “to introduce students to how radical Jesus is. We are doing a much more extensive outreach this year, including national media outreach, so in terms of exposure, we expect this will be our biggest year yet.”
The schools where the campaign will focus on include Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale and Stanford.
“Jesus ministered among the downtrodden as well as the influential, and these nine universities produce a disproportionate number of future leaders for the nation and the world,” Bennett said. “Also, students at these schools are, on average, less exposed to the gospel message than college students elsewhere. God loves all people and wants them to be saved if possible.”
The campaign seeks to reach students through what Bennett described as “a multifaceted plan incorporating digital media as well as on-campus events.” This will include promoting the “Jesus Disrupts” campaign extensively on social media, as well as offline advertisements placed around the nine campuses. There also will be “student-on-the-street” interviews asking youth about Jesus and religion, with these set to be combined into videos that will be posted on social media platforms. Flyers, posters, stickers and shirts promoting the “Jesus Disrupts” message will be distributed at the nine schools and evangelistic gatherings will be held.
“Students today at the nation’s most rigorous schools are largely unaware of the most important message in the history of humanity,” Bennett said. “Jesus Christ has brought more good into the world than any other person, and these students deserve to know. He also is the only one who can forgive sins and transfer us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. We need to do everything we can to give these students the opportunity to believe in him.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice