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Feb 21
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Save the Date. Register Now!

By Nehemiah

First Priority Retreat

April 29 – May 1

Gulf Shores Beach Retreat Center

1054 Beach Blvd

Gulf Shores, AL

Join us Monday afternoon through Wednesday noon to rub shoulders and sit at the pool with other First Priority leaders from around the country.  From leaders who are thinking about starting First Priority new in their community to the tried and tenured veterans, these few days will be a time of encouragement and renewal for everyone.  There are also several options for additional activities including golf and deep sea fishing.

Register HERE.

 

 

Feb 14
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Taking the Role of Nehemiah

By Nehemiah

As the Intiator of First Priority in your community you take the role of Nehemiah. 

In the first chapter of Nehemiah, you may notice that Nehemiah is burdened because he became aware of the condition of the city and the people of Jerusalem.

  • He mourned, wept, prayed and fasted for days.
  • He prayed for favor and an opportunity to share this with the king.
  • He was given the opportunity to ask the king and queen for what he needed to accomplish the task.
  • He surveyed the condition of the city with a team of people and they said, “Lets rebuild.”
  • Nehemiah organized the people to work on their section of the wall.

God has made you aware of the conditions of the schools and students in your community. Have you mourned, prayed, wept, and fasted for them? He will give you an opportunity to influence the community of believers!

Will you take on the role of Nehemiah? 

Praying with and for you,

Brad Schelling

FPOA Director of Expansion

Feb 08
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Student Testimony

By Nehemiah

It was early. 7:10 a.m. to be exact.  I was sitting there, there being a middle school library.  School had not yet begun, but students were starting to walk the halls.  As more people rolled in, so did two boxes of donuts and two ladies.  The ladies were the First Priority faculty sponsor and campus coach.  It was the First Priority morning.  Focus week was upon us.  This is the week where students ask each other the standard questions: What are you learning in Church? How can I help you in your walk of faith? What is God doing in your life? Who are you inviting to Hook Week to hear the gospel of Jesus?

As the campus coach started the meeting, she asked the question, “We had D-now this past weekend.  Many of you were there.  What did you learn?”  Silence.  One 13-year-old boy was volunteered by a few friends so he got up and started talking.  Talking about what they ate, when they went skating, how they got in trouble for doorbell ditching later.  Laugh, laugh.  High fives all around.

A few other students shared. Each a little deeper than the last. Thoughts were good.  It was evident that God was moving in the students’ lives.  Then silence hit again. The campus coach began winding the meeting down, reminding students of next week and what the student leaders were planning. As she spoke, the first boy walked up behind her and whispered something into her ear.  She finished her thought and gave the floor back to him.  He looked off to the left, into the distance and began to talk.  Shared from his heart about his life. He shared about his home life and the influence his older sister and friends had on him.  Of being out late and doing what they did.  Drugs. Drinking, Cutting. Girls.  Being taken from his home and going to live with his grandpa. Grandpa passing away.  Thoughts of suicide. Going into foster care. Did I mention he is now 13 years old? Then, last September, God intervened in his life. He didn’t share the details, but he did share the hope he now has.  We saw the brotherhood that laughed with him before surround him with hugs and words as tears streamed down their faces. Did I mention these are 13-year-old boys?  Did I mention that this was in the open library as the student body walked by entering school for the day?  Do I need to remind you that God is alive and well in the lives of our students? How about that students influence students?  That by giving God a place in the school that Jesus will do his great work?

The spiritual lives of our students are broken. Someone needs to help organize the churches in the area so that God can do his great work, much like Ezekiel when God showed him the valley of dry bones.  Could God have given them life all on his own?  Yes!  Did he?  No.  He asked Ezekiel to be a part.  He wants to use his people to bring life to the spiritually dead.  Will you be the one in your community?

Until the Hope of Christ in Every Student,

Brad Schelling

Director of Expansion

First Priority of America

Feb 08
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Our Number Is Now 808

By Priority Parents
“Our number is now 809!”
 
That’s the message I received one night last week from a First Priority Student Leader at Unicoi County High School.
Several weeks before, I had visited the school and sat down with him and 3 other Student Leaders to discuss how they could reach their campus for Christ. We all agreed that the first thing that must happen, before they began sharing the gospel with their peers, was that they must develop a burden for the students at their school who do not know Christ as their Savior.
Together, they came up with a number. That number was 810. 810 is 90% of the estimated 900 students that attend their school. 810 was the estimated number of students at their school that did not know Christ as their Savior. (90% is a conservative percentage. Most studies say that the percentage is closer to 95%).They began writing the number 810 wherever they could, starting with the upper left hand corner of the white board in the room they meet in each week. They began writing 810 in such places as their notebooks, Facebook pages, and bathroom mirrors.

When I received the message “Our number is now 809!” I knew what it meant. Excitedly, I asked him to explain.

That week, he had begun a discussion with a classmate in gym class. His classmate claimed to be an agnostic. Each day throughout the week, he told his friend of the Personal, Transcendent God who had revealed Himself through the Bible, and had even come to earth to interact with His Creation. Then he shared the story of how this All-Powerful, Personal God is going about the task of restoring Creation and redeeming us from our sins through His Son, Jesus.

That weekend, the student contacted him and told him that he had come to the conclusion that there is a God and that Jesus died for his sins. He had just asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior.

The number for their school had just gone from 810 to 809. Guess what number they are now writing everywhere?

One student began asking God to burden his heart for 810 of his schoolmates. He identified one and built a relationship with him. He prayed for him, ministered to him and spoke Truth into his life. God did the rest, and now he not only has a deeper friendship at school, he has an eternal friendship in God’s Kingdom!

Now the number is 809!
 
Jan 31
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Ministry Report 1-2013

By Uncategorized

At FPOA we focus on doing one thing and doing it to the best of our ability.  Launching training and developing cities and communities to reach students with the “Hope of Christ”.

The Spirit of the Lord went before us on many occasions is 2012 but there is still much work be done. Our goal is to expand First Priority into more than 100 cities and communities in America.Training and developing those local First Priority movements to reach students in their local communities with the Hope of Christ. As we communicate with you each month and throughout the year know that we pray for you and are thankful that God has made you a part of the movement.

We are blessed to have you as a part of the First Priority plan through whatever role your serve.  Just like we have a plan to reach more communities, the gospel is a plan that reaches people with the love and message of Jesus Christ.   A plan that has always worked, a plan that still works today and a plan that will work until Christ returns.

Thank you for being a part of God’s Kingdom and for also being a part of the First Priority family.

We look forward to partnering with you again in 2013!!

 

Jan 30
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Church Leader Update 1-2013

By Church Leaders

 

I believe there are students in your community who do not know Jesus. I also believe that many of them not only do not know Jesus, but have never heard the truth of the Gospel spoken to them. They have heard the name of Jesus used in vain and they have heard Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, or Charlie Sheen make an off-handed church joke, but have they ever heard that God is Love (John 3:16; 10:10), that man is sinful (Romans 3:23; 6:23), that Jesus is God’s provision for man’s sin (Romans 5:8), and that when you receive Him, you experience a new birth (John 1:12)? I BET NOT!

This week, we want to highlight what First Priority means to youth pastors. Sometimes people ask us how we convince youth pastors who already have a full plate to take a campus for First Priority. The answer is simple. Once a youth pastor sees that First Priority is an avenue to extend their ministry beyond the walls of the church to the public school campus, they cannot wait to get involved. Instead of First Priority being another item on a “to-do” list, we become a tool for them to accomplish their ultimate goal… winning students to Christ and helping them find a life full of Him!

Phil Bixby, youth pastor at Trinity Church in Dade County, Florida, has seen the value in connecting the church to the campus and is recruiting his peers. He took Matt Shull, the new youth pastor at Words of Life Church in Miami, to several campuses to check out the ministry. Matt was so excited that he created a video clip to show his pastor and church. In just 3 campus visits, they saw 68 students come to Christ! .

Jan 30
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Relational vs. Door-to-Door Evangelism: Which is FP?

By Nehemiah

In my community group this week, we began to talk about evangelism and the tension between grace and truth which somehow led into friendship evangelism vs. door-to-door evangelism.  Friendship evangelism is good, because most non-believers only develop a curiosity about Jesus when they know and trust someone who believes in Jesus.  Often, however, that is as far as friendship evangelism goes. The love, life, and death of Jesus rarely gets shared.  Then there is the door-to-door approach of finding a stranger on the street and sharing the information found in the four spiritual laws or the Romans Road to salvation.  There was no relationship there, but a process in a believer’s head with the hope that God has the other person ready to hear it.  As they debated and discussed, honestly I felt bored with it.  As we traveled home and I finished the night painting in our girls’ bedroom, it came to me: First Priority is the perfect union of those two opposing strategies to sharing faith.  First, students trust students.  There are believing students on most sports teams at the local school.  The believers are also on the student council, in the band, traveling with the debate team, etc.  What’s my point?  The non-believers in those groups trust the believers in those groups.  They’ve spent time together and trust each other.  That is the first step to friendship evangelism.  The second step is to actually talk about spiritual things.  That is where First Priority comes in.  We all get intimidated when we have to do something for the first time.  Especially by ourselves.  What if we brought the believing students at the school together to create an environment to talk Jesus and share the gospel with the non-believers who trust them?

First Priority of America’s goal is to see the Hope of Christ in Every Student.  We do that by Uniting the Local Body of Christ with a Plan of Action to Influence the School with the Gospel.  My point?  I want you to know that by coordinating a new First Priority movement in your area that thousands of lives will be changed because it works.  Students Reach Students.  The Good News of Jesus Christ is powerful and effective.  Take those two points to 3-5 churches this month and start a movement that will change eternity.

 

Brad Schelling

Director of Expansion

First Priority of America

Jan 24
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Students Reach Students

By Student Leaders

We would like to introduce you to a student from Hartsville, SC. Cora reached out to us on Facebook. She is a student at Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology. Cora and about five other students have developed a passion to reach their school with the gospel.

 

Cora wrote, “These five students are in charge of First Priority at Mayo for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years, along with one of the school’s science teachers, Mrs. Taylor. There are four sophomores and one junior. They are David Hellmig II, Kenny Hellmig (David’s brother), Alex Barber, Elizabeth Sturgeon, and me. As a First Priority Leader’s Squad (our unofficial team name), we are spending part of our winter break trying to plan and prepare for our upcoming event, Ignite. I am asking on behalf of the group for some assistance.

 

Matthew 5:16 and 1 Timothy 4:12,

Cora”

 

We love the opportunity to help students reach students on their school campuses. We have reached back out to Cora and resourced them with the First Priority Strategy. We have begun a friendship and they are learning more each week on how to implement this strategy. Being a leader is hard but leaders are a must in making any change. If no one ever leads then nothing ever starts. We are so thankful for these student leaders in Hartsville, SC. We hope that you are encouraged by their efforts to reach your school for Christ.  Please pray for these students as they lead a First Priority movement in their school and community. Also pray for their Ignite event that is happening this March to help create momentum for First Priority.

Jan 16
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Faculty eupdate 1/13 New Year Same Goal!

By Faculty Sponsors

New Year Same Goal!

We are well into the New Year and all our goals are set. As we look into the New Year of 2013, we are thankful for the past but eager for the future. This past year, First Priority of America saw 9911 students across the nation put their hope in Christ. Praise God! We are so thankful for our faculty sponsors; you play a vital role in making First Priority happen.  In this edition, hear what First Priority means to a faculty sponsor at a Priceville middle and high schoo

 

THE REFEREES IN THE GAME.

These are the faculty volunteers that open their rooms and the doors of the school for the club to hold their meetings. At the school, they are the people who help the players stay in line with the rules of the local district and state. At the monthly leadership meeting, they are the ones guiding and showing wisdom to navigate the school as only someone on the ‘inside’ can do. They do not participate in the game, even though they are right in the middle of it.

 

 

FROM A FACULTY SPONSOR

First Priority is a priceless activity to have at school.  There are other organizations and clubs that focus on God, but First Priority focuses on evangelizing and witnessing in the halls and bringing lost people to Jesus.  First Priority is an avenue to allow these kids who have given their lives to Christ to reach out and lead their classmates to Jesus.  From a teacher’s perspective, I have seen some students’ behavior change because of the power of God working through First Priority.  There is one student who invited Jesus into his heart and now he is bringing his brother to the meetings with him. That is what it is all about.  It is motivating to see students arrive at school early and sacrifice their time to stand up for God.  God gave us Jesus as a sacrifice and to see these students swallow their pride and stand up for Him here at school is amazing.  I wish First Priority would have been at my high school during my high school years.  I believe it would have made a difference in my life.  As a teacher, we hear a lot about how bad this generation is, but this generation is also amazing.  From the words of Mark Cahill in his book about evangelizing and witnessing, One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, “If you’re not fishing, you’re not following,” summing up First Priority.  As a teacher, I am blessed to be at a school that allows First Priority to be active.

 

Joshua Sawyer

Priceville High

Gal. 2:20

 

Jan 10
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New Year Same Goal

By Priority Parents

This past year 9680 students put their hope in Christ. God has granted us 2013 to give hope to many other students. As the new year comes so does the coming of new goals and resolutions. Many will start new fitness programs, and plans on how to change their goals in the new year. Will you make First Priority your strategy and tool to equip the local church to reach to influence the school with the gospel ?

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT
First Priority of Greater Decatur is teaming up with Moms In Prayer this month. The event is designed  to “train mothers in a way they can become prayer leaders around the schools in prayer. ” Check out this article about a training happening in Decatur, AL in a couple of weeks. We share this with you not that you need to attend, but to get the wheels turning for what is possible for your community as well.

The local Moms in prayer ministry covers about 10% of the schools in First Priority Greater Decatur’s area. First Priority of Greater Decatur knowing that they cover 90% of the schools wanted to help in seeing more mothers praying around the schools. To build prayer parent networks by partnering with Moms in touch can help them do this. The event on Jan. 31 will have two options a lunch and a coffee and dessert option that day. Campus coaches have invited mothers and retired ladies from all over the community. At the event a Moms in Touch cordinator will lead a training in how a Moms in Prayer meeting happens. The meeting will give information to mothers and others on how to become a part of or becoming a leader in the prayer ministry.

About Moms in Prayer

The Core Beliefs
We all adhere to the Moms in Prayer International Statement of Faith, a personal acceptance of
Jesus into one’s life as Savior and Lord, and that Jesus is God.
We believe that through prayer God releases His power on behalf of our children and schools. Our
faith is in God who hears and answers our prayers.

The Core Purpose
Mission Statement
Moms in Prayer International impacts children and schools worldwide for Christ by gathering mothers to pray.
Vision Statement
Our vision is that every school in the world would be covered with prayer.

The Core Priorities
God First
Family Second
Ministry Third

 The Core Format and Method
One Accord Praying
The Four Steps of Prayer
Praying scripturally
Praying specifically
Evangelism praying

The Guiding Principles
We are bond-servants of the Lord, completely dependent upon Him for guidance and help.
We do not trust in chariots or horses, but in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7
We are a discipleship and a multiplication ministry.
Discipleship: teach women how to pray and trust God

Multiplication: every school prayed for by a group
We have been called to serve in Moms in Prayer.
We are accountable to represent the ministry and vision with love and integrity.
We nurture, encourage and equip with a godly, gracious, uncritical spirit, setting an example of
biblical womanhood and sexual purity.
We have a message that brings encouragement and hope to mothers.
We maintain strict confidentiality – what is prayed for in the group, stays in the group.
We pray for children and schools.

We are not a lobbying group: Moms in Prayer International is not a lobbying group, regardless of how worthy the cause. Participation in outside political and social issues must be done solely on an individual basis. Under no circumstances should the Moms in Prayer International name be used in conjunction with outside issues.
We will communicate to our financial supporters with the highest professional standards of truth,
accuracy, and propriety before God.

 

Find a Moms in Prayer in your area -www.momsintouch.org/groups/find-a-group

What is a Priority Parent – Fans in the Stands: A network of parents around each school committed to modeling healthy family relationships, discipling their students, while praying, participating, promoting, & providing for the mission and vision of First Priority.

If you are your city would be interested in starting a similar partnership we would love to help you in that.

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