More than Marketing

I love working with and speaking words of encouragement into the lives of college students. I am perfectly content if God desires me to do that for the rest of my life. I have walked away from a corporate career and a steady paycheck in a bad economy to more effectively touch the lives of students. I have invested almost 15 years of my life into the collegiate generation. I have even written a book, College Impact: Empowering Collegiate Christians for Campus Influence, which is self-explanatory.

We have been marketing and telling people about my book for almost a year. The reviews on it have been overwhelming. Students have embraced the material, and adult leaders have told me how vital this book is to the university crowd. To be totally honest, we are still having a little struggle getting it into the larger Christian student population. I try to mention College Impact as often as I can on social networking sites, which is smart. When I am faced with discouragement, I remember one thing: God desires the hearts and minds of university students more than I desire to see that happen.

I was chatting online with one of my former dorm mates. He was talking about the impact that I had on his life when I was Resident Assistant. He remembered the strategic ways in which we (me and my roommate) served him and the other students in our hall. The times of prayer, the trips to church, the conferences we encouraged them to attend, and over ten years later he can't forget the truths shared. That is what College Impact is all about!

I remember walking on my old campus a few years ago and running into another former resident. He hugged me and said, "The man that saved my life." (I understand that it was Jesus using me to reach him, but I knew what he meant.) The irony is that this guy was once so annoyed by may standards and persistent witness that he tried to fight me when we where in school. He literally, approached me and stated his intention to fight me. I stood my ground, and by the end of the year he was considering Jesus for the first time. That is the opportunity that one student has in the life of another.

There is a generation that needs to receive the unconditional love of God, and they may not be open to hear it from a pastor. But after seeing it in the lives of other students, they will yield to Christ's call. That is the message contained in those few short pages. Just like those two students, once you inspire them they will carry that message for the rest of their lives. If students would only awaken to the opportunity God has given them to demonstrate love to others they could change the world.

So, for me this is more than marketing. It's more than a ploy to sell more books. It's about helping students who have a passion for Jesus, see how they might more effectively love those on their campuses in His name. To see students come alive to God and to the needs of those around them is my heart's desire. I wish I had the money to give away hundreds of the books to Christian students and leaders to help ignite them. For me, this is a mission, not just marketing.