California School Project is launching a new campaign to train high school students in Christian clubs to share the Gospel with 1,000 of their peers at each of their respective schools.
The campaign, called Share the Passion, ultimately aims to reach 50,000 high schoolers in the greater Los Angeles area with the Gospel. Share the Passion is designed specifically for Biola’s CSP ministry and underscores the organization’s primary goal to mentor high school students wishing to spread the message of Christ on their campus.
“We really felt like God wanted us to push out from our comfort zone this semester,” said Michael Towson, director of Biola’s CSP chapter.
CSP is a Whittier-based organization that enables college students to mentor high school students in pursuit of Christ on their campus. Share the Passion will be entirely carried out by members of Biola’s CSP ministry.
While members of CSP will not directly mentor 50,000 students, they will inspire clubs to spread Christ to their peers. The goal is an unprecedented one.
“CSP regularly tries to encourage students to do outreach weeks during the spring semester, but we have never tried anything this ambitious or coordinated before,” Towson said.
The plan outlines five challenges for high schools involved in the Share the Passion campaign. These challenges include prayer, rallies with guest speakers and the distribution of Christian materials, such as tracts and “The Case for Christ” books. Each challenge is designed to increase the number of students who will attend the events during the week of Good Friday.
Biola’s CSP ministry began when Warren Willis, a long-time member of Campus Crusade for Christ, contacted Biola about a new ministry he was establishing in the area called the California School Project.
Biola is located in a strategic position between Los Angeles and Orange counties, and Willis desired to work in collaboration with college students. After Willis obtained volunteers from Biola, the ministry was launched. Today, the ministry continues to work with local high schools.
“The strategy is to coach and mentor college students to coach and mentor high school students,” said Willis, now the site supervisor at CSP. “I chose L.A. because of the close proximity of 300 high schools. I want to change America’s downward spiral and morality by working with high school students who have a great propensity for Christ.”
Share the Passion has seen some success so far this semester. Approximately 30 schools have said they will participate in the program. Some are near Biola, such as La Habra High School, while others others like Temecula Valley High are an hour away. Even if 50 schools aren’t involved by spring break, Share the Passion has surpassed the number of schools CSP reached in 2009.
“Between our roster of schools for Share the Passion, our spring break trips, and our local schools that we work with, we will be able to easily impact anywhere from 40-60 schools this semester,” Towson said. “This is a huge increase from last semester.”
CSP volunteers desire for a practical and instructive mentorship of high school students. Share the Passion does not intend to meet a written objective in regards to the number of students reached. Goals aside, Share the Passion is a plan to mentor a few students who will in turn reach many.
“Like any ministry that focuses on evangelism, there is definitely a temptation for pride and self-reliance to creep in if we focus too much on our own ideas and boosting our ego,” Towson said. “We really want to put a lot of focus into loving the students that we are working with and leading them towards God.”
Biola’s enthusiasm for Share the Passion is appreciated and supported by those at CSP.
“It’s very exciting,” said Willis. “CSP doesn’t start Christian clubs [or] take over Christian clubs, but we help them pursue goals … at the end of the day the entire project is student run.”
Ultimately, CSP created Share the Passion to increase the number of high school students who will hear about Christ this Easter. The ultimate goal is to spread the Gospel.
“We’re trying to help high school students reach every student on their campus,” said Mark Hopson, director of California School Project’s Los Angeles and South Bay division. “[We want] to give them a chance to hear about Christ.
