Last week, Brad Schelling and Steve Cherrico sat down on the First Priority Podcast with special guest Debi Deboer, Director of First Priority Alabama. Debi has been with First Priority for 26 years and had a wealth of knowledge, stories, and encouragement to share.
Debi likes to say that she “grew up” in First Priority, since she started volunteering at Oak Mountain Middle School 27 years ago and continues her ministry there to this day. Her excitement to witness multiple generations of First Priority is what can be only described as contagious.
The stories and statistics in Birmingham reflect her excitement, and are only growing day by day. With a 5-year plan to start 30 new campuses each year, First Priority Birmingham has 4 full-time staffers and are looking to hire more. One of the strongest aspects of the Birmingham network is the thousands of reports from each club, highlighting the individual stories of students and ultimately what God is doing within their community.
One of the biggest hurdles Debi’s campuses have experienced is mobilizing the church to invest in students. They have been able to overcome this obstacle by plugging in local churches through prayer lists. These lists contain meeting times of each club so that the congregation can pray before and during club meetings. Another way Debi has mobilized the church is through utilizing local college students and plugging them in with local First Priority Clubs.
Debi’s heart for First Priority clubs lacks no passion or excitement, and she encourages us all to be excited for what is to come!
Listen to the podcast today to hear more about Debi’s passion to bring the hope of Christ to every student!
This blog was written by Hannah Blackburn.
