If you’ve been around First Priority for any length of time, you know that a core value of ours is teamwork. At our core, the adults in the community play roles to support the students as they lead their club. To use a sporting analogy, the students are our Michael Jordan and we are their Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and BJ Armstrong. The student leaders are the hero of the First Priority story. We are their support. It takes all of us to influence students at school with the gospel.
In Nehemiah chapter 3, over 39 groups of people worked on their section of the wall; they each had their area and role to fill. For example:
28 Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house. 29 Next to them, Zadok son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. Next to him, Shemaiah son of Shekaniah, the guard at the East Gate, made repairs. 30 Next to him, Hananiah son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. Next to them, Meshullam son of Berekiah made repairs opposite his living quarters.
Notice that each priest made repairs in front of their own house. Each of us in the ministry is responsible for the area God has placed us in. As you work to build a team of people that will help you make First Priority a reality, think of the essential networks: Students, Teachers, Church Leaders, Parents, and the Business Community. Each network works on their own section of the wall, ‘runs in their lane’, and does their part. Students use their freedom of speech and assembly to assemble as Christian students and talk about Jesus. Teachers are needed as ‘faculty sponsors’ of the club under the Equal Access Act. Church Leaders coach the students to implement the HOPE cycle. Parents pray together. Business Leaders oversee the long term health and direction of the ministry movement in the entire community. If everybody builds their piece of the spiritual wall in your community, you will see the ‘Fear of the Lord’ as the beginning of wisdom passed on from one generation of adults to a new generation of students.
Brad Schelling
Director of Ministry
FPoA
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.” Hafford E. Luccock
