I regularly read Tim Elmore’s blog about Generation iY. Tim is the founder and president of a non-profit organization called Growing Leaders that focuses on training up the next generation of leaders. Awhile back he wrote something that struck me, “Several college deans have told me this: 26 is the new 18.”
Study after study is showing that students are taking longer to mature and looking for more ways to extend the period of adolescence. While I’ve mentioned this before, there are a number of ways that it translates to how we do college ministry. While it’s always been a good idea to stay connected with students over the summer break, I think in light of this it makes even more sense.
We can’t expect students to go back to the environment and friends they were a part of before they experienced growth and change through your ministry and pick up in August where they left off in May.
So, I’d like to encourage you to take some steps to reach out to students this summer. If you can stay even a small part of their lives they will be better off when the fall semester starts up. This is also a great way to show that you care about them as people, not just students who attend your ministry. With the ability to send quick texts, catch up on Facebook, or make a short phone call we really have no excuse for students to be neglected.
Set aside fifteen minutes now and plot out a way to communicate with a couple students each week. A half hour to hour spent each week over the summer is probably all you’ll need to make a big impact and encourage your students. Wouldn’t it be great to see students return from summer break more fired up and excited about the things of God than they were when they left?
For more ideas you can look back at these past posts about breaks.
Have you done anything over breaks that has been especially encouraging to students?