by Jordan Hinkle

Spring is a beautiful time to celebrate life and the awesome miracles of God as flowers bloom and new life springs up all around. What better way to celebrate all of God’s creation than by spreading His love on your college campus and in your community! Here are some ideas to jumpstart your spring missions activities:

Spread the Word

College students spend countless hours reading textbooks, novels, journals, and about every other resource imaginable. But unfortunately, many have never or have rarely read the Bible. They are missing out on the most important book they will ever read. Within your campus ministry, purchase or locate a free source of miniature New Testament Bibles. Plan a night for students to get together and highlight major verses in the plan of salvation and other well-known verses. Insert a card into the Bibles with your campus ministry information so that students can contact you later. Then, plan a day for students to spread out across campus and place these Bibles in student common areas or randomly hand them out to students passing through campus.

Get Informed

This month’s focus area is on learning about refugees throughout the world and their plight. Plan a night to learn about refugees around the world to better educate students in your campus ministry about specific prayer needs that these individuals have on a daily basis. If possible, hand out some research assignments to a few students and present specific groups of refugees around the world. If possible, plan to collect a love offering in support of a specific refugee group. End the informational evening with a prayer vigil for these individuals around the world.

Living Water

As the weather warms up, look for fresh ways to reach out to students across your campus. On a particularly warm afternoon, plan to hand out cold bottled water to students. Take time to attach Bible verses and your campus ministry information on the bottles. Have students spread out to high traffic areas on your campus and hand out water to passing students. Take every opportunity to talk and share with students about God’s love.

Take Time

In addition to staying involved in missions on your campus, it is important to spread your talents and witness to the community as well. Take some time and plan to volunteer in an organization of your choice. Whether you choose to participate in Habitat for Humanity, spend a day or two at a local hospital, or walk dogs at the local Humane Society, take time out of your busy schedule to give back to the community. Share your time with compassion. Do not be afraid to share God’s love with those you encounter throughout this experience!

Jordan Hinkle is a third-year pharmacy student at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. She loves animals, and enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her fiancé, Jonathan.