In this episode, Doug Schaupp joins for a conversation about evangelism in a postmodern context, and keys to building a culture of evangelism within a group such as a campus ministry or a local church. Doug Schaupp has served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for the past 25 years. He is the National Director of Evangelism with InverVarsity USA. He also has co-authored three books, including Breaking the Huddle: How Your Community Can Grow its Witness.

Matt Rasch, international missionary and church planter, and current Director of Every Nation Campus in Europe, joins in this episode for a trans-Atlantic conversation! We talk about outreach to international students, planning for short-term mission trips that support local ministry, and long-term missions. Matt also shares a number of supernatural experiences he's had throughout his life and ministry. This episode with stretch your faith and expand your vision!

In this episode, David and I talk about what his upbringing was like as a church planter's kid and what things he things his parents did well that helped to nurture faith in Jesus in his life, instead of the kind of bitterness that, sadly, one often sees in the lives of pastor's kids. David also shares about his journey from college minister to church planter and numerous actionable insights and principles from his personal journey to develop into a better preacher and communicator. Please see the episode webpage here for photos and resources related to this episode.

In this episode, Clayton Bullion, co-founder of the Campus Multiplication Network, shares how his ministry at Tarleton State University developed an internship program to serve as a key step in their discipleship and leadership development pipeline. See show notes with additional episode resource links here. 

Frans Olivier, European Director for Evangelism with Every Nation, tells us about his journey as a missionary and evangelist from the U.K. to South Africa and then back to the U.K. and now serving throughout Europe. In this episode, Frans shares numerous stories of evangelistic encounters and how he's learned to adapt his methods of evangelism to a more secular context. He also shares helpful advice and perspective about how to stay encouraged in the work of sharing the Gospel.

“Follow your heart.” “You do you.” “You are enough.“We take these slogans for granted, but what if this path to personal happiness leads to a dead-end? Trevin Wax joins in this episode for a conversation about his recent book, Rethink Your Self. Trevin  encourages us to rethink some of our society’s most common assumptions about identity and the road to happiness. Most people define their identity and purpose by first looking in (to their desires), then looking around (to express their uniqueness), and finally—maybe—looking up (to add a spiritual dimension to life). Rethink Your Self proposes a counter-intuitive approach: looking up before looking in.See the episode webpage for links to referenced resources. 

In this episode, Every Nation Campus missionary Heather Heck  shares how God met her in the midst of tragedy and brokenness as a young adult and and led her into a life marked by grace as a follower of Jesus Christ. She also talks about why and how she's relocated multiple times over the past few years to extend the Gospel to college and university students. Heather gives a challenge to joyfully sacrifice and move (in some cases geographically) outside your comfort zone for the sake of the cause of Christ.

Adrian Crawford has a passion for engaging people with the Gospel. His ministry approach and preaching style at Engage Tallahassee, the church he planted in 2011, attempt to engage contemporary culture and lead them into devotion to Jesus.  In this episode, Adrian joins for a conversation about engaging culture in the context of ministry in the local church and in particular ministry with young adults.  Additional bio and related links for Adrian Crawford on the episode webpage here>>

As a college campus minister in the late 90s and early 2000s, Gabe Bouch saw significant fruit in ministry and developed many young leaders.  But after a decade of fruitful ministry on campus, he decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Mathematics.Upon completion of his degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey, his path took an unexpected detour. Instead of pursuing a career in academia as he had planned, he became the senior pastor of Freedom Church of Philadelphia. As an analytical person himself, Gabe is passionate about engaging thinking people with the Gospel. In this episode he shares the story of his personal conversion to Christ as a teenager and his faith journey throughout college. He also gets practical about how to ask good questions and how to effectively engage in rational dialogue relevant to core Christian beliefs.

Thirty years ago, while an undergraduate student at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Michael Kruger’s faith was shaken intellectually by some of the views he encountered in the classroom with well-known skeptic and professor Bart Ehrman. However, he didn’t give up on the faith. Instead, he did some deeper study outside the classroom and arrived at a re-affirmed belief in the Gospel and confidence in the integrity of the New Testament scriptures. Dr. Michael Kruger is the now the President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina where he also serves as a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity. In this podcast, we talk about his personal faith journey as an undergraduate student and his new book, Surviving Religion 101: Letters to a Christian Student on Keeping the Faith in College. This well written and highly readable book is aimed at helping college students navigate the intellectual objections to the Christian faith common on college campuses.>>Additional links on the episode webpage here

Steve Murrell, president and co-founder of Every Nation Churches and Ministries, shares the story of how he came to faith in Jesus as a teenager, how he became an “accidental missionary” to the Philippines, and how Every Nation Ministries started after a conversation in his living room. We also talk about relational discipleship and how he and his friends have built (and sustained!) life-long friendships in the context of Christian discipleship and mission. 

Peter Jones, creator of The Daily Kairos Journal, and lover of all things related to adventure and travel, joins for a fun conversation about growing in passion and purpose as a young man. He shares his perspective on living a life of adventure and how, if approached carefully, this aligns with a Christ-centered life. Pete shares some practical tips for how to travel on a budget, and numerous helpful insights about how to grow into a deeper relationship with God through regular consistent engagement spiritual disciplines such as journaling, meditating on scripture, and prayer.

Carol Mkize, Director of Every Nation Campus in Southern Africa, joins for a great conversation about growing in Christ, evangelism, and a discussion weighing the value and potential danger of advanced theological education. When she was an undergraduate student, Carol thought she was “living her best life,” but on the inside she was dying. She shares about her personal journey to faith in Christ, the importance of continual learning as a minister of the Gospel, why she is currently pursuing theological education at Oxford University in the UK, and how God used her empowering approach to discipleship and evangelism to rapidly grow a movement for Christ on campus.

In this episode, Gary Stidham, long-time director of the Baptist Student Ministry at The University of Texas, Arlington and coach with The Campus Multiplication Network, shares about his ministry's journey to greater evangelistic fruitfulness over the past 15 years. The conversation highlights numerous practical things they've learned and put into practice and the heart and mindset behind it all.What God has been doing through the BSM ministry that Gary leads is encouraging and exciting!  For the past ten years, their ministry at UT Arlington has seen at least one person make a decision to follow Jesus every week of the school year which, in total, amounts to hundreds of students who have taken the step to follow Jesus Christ.  Gary is a down-to-earth leader and has a tone of genuine humility. Listen to what he shares in this episode to be encouraged and equipped for greater fruitfulness in your campus evangelism. 

In this episode, Jairus Martin, who has worked as a fitness trainer at various universities, including Harvard University and Liberty University, shares some of the concerning research findings about high levels obesity, depression, and overall poor physical health among ministry leaders, college students, and church attenders.Jairus talks about the importance of defining a Biblical perspective on bodily health, “unselfish self-care,” how to get quality sleep, and the three things you could work on to give yourself more energy. Jairus also gives numerous simple and actionable suggestions for how to improve your overall health this year.

Tim Casteel, veteran campus ministry leader with Cru at The University of Arkansas, joins for a conversation about his voracious reading habit. Tim shares how and why he formed a habit of reading an average of 75 books a year, and  the connection between reading books, the ability to focus, and being a thoughtful and wise person. In this episode, Tim shares a mix of motivation...Read the whole entry...

Courtney Nazaire, campus minister with Every Nation Campus in Philadelphia, shares the story of her personal journey to faith in Jesus Christ and speaks about  her passion for leading from a place of authentic relational connection with others in the context of ministry...Read the whole entry...

This statement is so common it's almost cliche -- "they grew up in church but went wild at college." Why does this happen!? This conversation with Billy Bernhard unpacks this all-too-common ...Read the whole entry...>>

Lauren was raised in a Christian family and was intentional to get involved in a faith community when she went away to college, but says she was “shook” during her first year of college.In this episode, Lauren shares how she navigated the difficult ...Read the whole entry...>>

Kevin McKenzie had a difficult experience growing up in the projects of Brooklyn. He was nearly killed several times and had an outlook on life that was powerfully influenced by those early experiences. However, he made it to college and was on track for "success," but something was missing. Through a series of experiences and miraculous events, his core beliefs were challenged and he became a devout follower of Jesus. Now, years later, Kevin serves as a campus minister with Every Nation Campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts and, along with his team, is finding innovative ways to help college students overcome crippling academic pressure and leading them to experience life in Christ. 

Going away to college is an exciting experience, but it can be a challenging adjustment.In this episode, Gabby Morgalo, a Temple University business major and student leader with Every Nation Campus in Philadelphia, joins for a conversation to walk us through her college experience from freshman year to present.Gabby talks about her struggles freshman year, wrestling through doubts, missing Christian community during that first summer break, and the various opportunities that she has taken, since then, to grow into a closer walk with Jesus and join his mission during her college experience.>Additional details can be found on the episode webpage here.>>Join Dave's email list to get inside access to free resources designed to help you grow in faith and develop in leadership on campus.

Steve Shadrach joins in this episode to talk about the newly updated version of his widely-read book about reaching the college campus for Jesus Christ, The Fuel & The Flame. It's a great conversation about Steve's  focus on evangelism, discipleship, and mobilization throughout 4+ decades in college ministry! More description and details on the episode webpage here.

There is a significant amount of change surrounding the college experience. Campus minister, Brittanie Gilmore, joins in this episode for a helpful conversation about these transitions. Brittanie shares about her experience adjusting to college life after high school and, later, graduating and navigating the transition out of college into working full-time. Finally, she talks about her transition back to campus as a ministry leader several years ago, and how her experiences in the corporate workforce have helped her lead effective ministry on campus.See additional details on the episode webpage here.

In this episode, Adam Mabry joins for a great conversation dissecting the culture of outrage and anxiety and discussing his new book, Stop Taking Sides.Topics DiscussedHow we arrived at this current cultural moment, which is marked by constant outrage and anxiety. How Christians should wisely embrace wholistic truth, rather than accepting small pieces of truth and rejecting those which their “tribe” is uncomfortable with. What it looks like to “hold truths in tension.”Examining areas where we need to embrace complimentary truths. How we can grow more Christ-like and virtuous through navigating disagreements and differences.How we can love people while also disagreeing on some things.More details and links on the episode webpage. 

Athletes and athletic departments represent a significant community within collegiate life. In this episode, campus minister and former college athlete, Grace Hoyt, joins for a conversation about the heart and the how of athletic ministry.Questions DiscussedWhy would someone involved in college ministry think seriously about intentionally reaching out to athletes? Do you have to be a former college athlete in order to have an effective athletic ministry? What are some of the particular challenges that college athletes face that others may not be aware of?Often times student athletes are some of the busiest students on campus. How do you find time to meet amidst their busy schedules? >>Join my email list today to get the inside track to help you grow in faith and develop in leadership.

For many people, this year has been one of the most stressful years in recent memory. How do care for our souls and for those around us during this time? Licensed counselor and pastor, Keith Tower, joins for a conversation about maintaining and cultivating emotional and mental health. We also get to hear some about his career as an NBA basketball player in the 1990s such as Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls and Shaquille O'Neall on the Orlando Magic.Topics DiscussedWhat it was like to play professional basketball with athletes like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neall.Keith’s journey to faith as a professional athlete. Lessons learned as a professional counselor that translate to Christian ministry. Three actions to take when anxiety rises.Additional ResourcesSee the episode webpage for additional resources. 

Many college ministries have an emphasis on reaching first year students at the beginning of a new school year. But how do you do this in the era of face masks, social distancing, and online classes? The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where David leads a campus ministry started earlier than usual this year. As a forerunner, with this early start of this academic year, David has some remarkably helpful perspective and experience on how to start a new school year in the era of COVID-19 restrictions.Whether you are preparing for the start of a new year on your campus or already started but need some fresh ideas and renewed perspective, this episode will help.Topics DiscussedHow do you meet and connect with students with social distancing, masks, and fear of contagion?What strategies are helpful for new student outreach this very unusual school year? Leading amidst various (sometimes conflicting) expectations, desires, and concerns of staff members and students related to COVID-19.Why having a long-term perspective is important when leading through a situation that’s delivering immediate pain to your ministry.The theological basis for issues of conscience.Additional ResourcesSee the episode webpage for additional resources. 

In 2009 Paul and his wife Christy planted Christian Challenge at California State University, Chico from scratch. Since then hundreds of students have indicated decisions to become followers of Jesus, with many growing as disciples and learning to multiply their faith. Paul is the author of “Tips for Starting a College Ministry,” “Do More With Less Time” and the coauthor of the new edition of “The Fuel and The Flame: Igniting Your College Campus For Jesus Christ” with Steve Shadrach. He has a passion for equipping and encouraging fellow collegiate leaders to make disciples on campus through his writing, speaking, consulting and social media. Paul is on the team behind Campus Ministry Today, Collegiate Collective and CollegeMinistry.com. Paul just launched Campus Multiplication Network which provides training and coaching for collegiate ministry leaders who desire to accelerate evangelistic momentum, multiply disciples and plant new ministries. Topics Discussed:How Paul’s ministry has grown from a new ministry, started by he and his wife in 2009, to a large and thriving ministry with 17 staff members. The impact of memorizing scripture in discipleship and spiritual growth.DICE (Discipleship in Context of Evangelism)How Paul’s ministry at Chico State is focused on individual engagement in this season. A helpful strategy to connect with new students using Instagram even if you can’t meet in person.Additional Information:Please visit the episode webpage for links to resources and other items referenced in this episode.

Tom is a dynamic leader with a heart for God, a love for students, and a tremendous gift of leadership!A few years ago Tom was launching new fitness centers throughout Central Florida. Through a series of events and conversations, Tom was led to Christ by Shaddy Soliman, a pastor who had been consistently praying for him.Tom soon became an active member of Lake Mary Church and took a role with the youth ministry. The fruit of his ministry grew so much and he eventually needed to transition into full-time ministry to effectively lead the growing number of young leaders he was mentoring and discipling. Since then this youth ministry has grown exponentially and is impacting the lives of hundreds of students from numerous high schools. In addition, as the middle school and high school students have grown older, they have been instrumental in launching new college campus ministries throughout the Central Florida region. ***Topics DiscussedHow Tom came to Christ in his 30s and then ended up leading a ministry with high school students.Navigating the grief and pain of losing a student to suicide.What Tom and his team have done to build a strong culture of ownership among the students involved in their ministry.How his ministry is effectively reaching and discipling high school students, and has led to launching new college campus ministries.***Additional Links and Full Show NotesSee links to the resources referenced during this episode and full show notes on the episode webpage here.

How can new college campus ministry efforts be effectively launched and sustained? In this interview, Delvin Pikes, of Every Nation Campus, shares about his personal journey to faith in Christ as a college athlete and his new research findings while earning his Doctorate in Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary. The topic for his research was "Best Practices for Starting New Campus Ministries."Resources:"Reaching the Campus Tribes" by Benson Hines"15 Tips to Help You Grow a College Campus Ministry" by Dave Hess"Missionary Methods" by Roland AllenConnect with Delvin:Twitter - https://twitter.com/delvinpikesInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/delvinpikes/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/delvinpikesConnect with Dave:Website/Blog - http://davehess.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/davehess_/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/superdave.hessTwitter - https://twitter.com/davehess****Podcast Artwork - Evan Olsen, Ink Blot Media Group - https://inkblotmediagroup.com

How can we find the humor in life when living in such a broken world and while experiencing such a stressful year? How can comedy be used to build connection and grab attention? This interview with Addison Tweedy explores these questions and more. Addison has performed stand up comedy and has released a sketch comedy album. As a missionary and evangelist he seeks to use humor to lead others to faith (and joy!) in Christ. Resources:Addison Tweedy's website/blogThink Evangelism websiteConnect with Dave:Website/Blog - http://davehess.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/davehess_/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/superdave.hessTwitter - https://twitter.com/davehess

In this episode I share a bit about my journey to faith in Jesus and how my faith was effected during my college experience. Additionally, I talk about my heart to serve college students and those Christian leaders who serve within the collegiate community. Connect with Dave:Website/Blog - http://davehess.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/davehess_/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/superdave.hessTwitter - https://twitter.com/davehess