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Student Leaders

Jun 13
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Summer Prayer Challenge: Week 2- JOY

By Local FP Communities, Priority Parents, Student Leaders, Church Leaders, Community Leaders

The act of saying “yes” to Jesus causes the “fruit of the Spirit” to come through us! And the second fruit we are focusing on is JOY. As we hold onto God we can have gladness that overflows into our friends, family, and the world. Joy

Challenge: Let’s pray that this week we would pursue the Joy of the Lord even when life gets tough. Let’s pray that that Joy would overflow out of us so that we can impact the people around us for the sake of the Gospel.

Let’s also pray for the students who will be sharing about JOY in their schools during the month two HOPE cycle.

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my Joy. Yes, your joy will overflow -John 15:11

Jun 04
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Summer Prayer Challenge

By First Priority Of America, Student Leaders, Community Leaders, Local FP Communities

For this coming school year, our Hope guides are focusing on the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Our student leaders will be challenged to focus on and give talks on one Fruit each month and how the Lord can use that Fruit to make a huge impact for the Gospel.

fullsizeoutput_16ddSO, for the next 9 weeks leading up to the start of school, we challenge you to actively follow along in prayer as we pray over one Fruit each week starting this Wednesday.

Ask God how you personally can bear this fruit throughout the week while praying for the students who will be discussing that fruit on their school campus.

// This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace. Colossians 1:6 //

May 24
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Connecting the Dots

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

I love watching God connect dots! Most of us as Christians can see the hand of God at work by looking in the rear view mirror so to speak. It seems like the only way we see God at work is when we look back in time. I think life changing faith is seeing God though the front windshield trusting that He is always at work.

With this in mind, I have to tell you a short, cool story of how I got to witness God connecting dots recently. For a few years, we have been asking God to raise someone up in the Orlando area who would work First Priority in the local schools there. We have a few schools that have clubs there that were started previously. Zion, who is a senior, leads one of those clubs and is seeing God change students’ lives. His last Engage meeting (gospel shared) of his senior year was today. He reached out to me a few days ago and asked if I could come and speak. zionAs I was reading Zion’s email it reminded me to check in on a guy named Garfield, who I had been talking to for the past six months. He was a Campus Coach for First Priority in South Florida for years before moving to South Carolina to be a Youth Pastor. He had reached out to me because he and his wife were feeling the call to go to Orlando. When I called him yesterday, he told me that he had already moved to Orlando and was interviewing for a Youth Pastor job! Goose bumps.

The next thing I did was connect him and Zion together and today, Garfield was the guest speaker for the First Priority club at Zion’s school. They had almost 100 students in attendance and they saw eight students give their lives to Christ!

God connects dots. Now I don’t care who you are…that’s cool!

~ Mark Roberts, Associate Director of First Priority of America.

Apr 24
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Meet Allison

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders, FP Success Story

This is a story about Allison, who was a victim of bullying and who suffered from depression. She dealt with her pain by cutting her arms, and struggled with the belief that God had left her. In her sophomore year of high school, she reached a breaking point and spent four months in a psychiatric hospital in Lexington. Allison says it was prayer that helped her survive during this time.

Her dad often told her, “When you are down to nothing, God is up to something.”

After coming home, a friend introduced her to First Priority. There, she found family and a place to belong. When asked to be a First Priority leader, Allison knew her path.

“I saw it as an opportunity to tell my story and help others. I feel closer to other students in First Priority. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ. We are going to heaven together,” says Allison. “Being in First Priority has not only helped me, but also helped others. People know my story, so it helps them too.”

FP Tri-County reaches students like Allison every day. There are 28 clubs meeting in schools across the region every week. Each one is spreading the message of “The Hope of Christ” from one student to the next with the guidance of local teachers, pastors, and club leaders. If you want to hear more of Allison’s story you can click on the video below.

 

Apr 09
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Celebrating HOPE

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

During this year’s 13th Region Basketball Tournament, First Priority Tri-County was honored to present Jillian Enix of Pineville and J.D. McVey of Barbourville with the first annual Hope Award. This commendation recognizes these young leaders’ commitment to their community, school, and Christ.

First Priority Tri-County oversees 27 Christian clubs in middle and high schools throughout the region. These groups provide young people with an accessible, safe space to share their faith and connect with their school community. H.O.P.E is the acronym for the program’s four-week strategy, standing for Hope, Overcome, Prepare, and Engage. This cycle allows students to prepare themselves for their journey in faith and reach out to fellow classmates. During its decade of operation in south eastern Kentucky, First Priority Tri-County has witnessed the growth of countless young leaders who grew through H.O.P.E. This year marks the first time these students had the opportunity to be recognized with the granting of the Hope Award.

Prior to the tournament, every high school in the 13th region was invited to nominate one male and one female student as candidates for the award. The only criteria for nominees was that they belong to their school’s varsity basketball team. tri-countyHowever, in order to demonstrate how they strengthened their community and guided other youth to Christ through H.O.P.E., the qualifying students were then required to complete a rigorous application detailing their involvement with their local First Priority club, extra-curricular activities, community projects, and church programs. The winners were determined based upon points awarded for each activity or area of commitment.

This year’s candidates were truly outstanding young men and women, and we can’t wait to acknowledge more students like Jillian and J.D. in the coming years!

Mar 08
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God is Moving more Student to Reach their School!

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

God is on the move. More students are ready and seeking to start First Priority Clubs in their schools. In FP St. Louis Metro East 3 new clubs are starting! Praise God!

In FP Greater Clayton 90 students gave their lives to Christ in the last two weeks!

Lane, a FP student in Tampa, FL, shares why she has dedicated 6 years of her life to leading a First Priority club at her school and how she also senses the urgency to share the Gospel of Christ.

Mar 05
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Students are Changing Students Lives for Christ!

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders, FP Success Story

Here are some stories from clubs this past week where lives are being changed for Christ!

“I watched an 8th grade young lady, share her story, present the Romans road and 34 students walk across a gym floor to say ‘I want what she’s got’ Praise God!” FP North Alabama

What-we-believe“We had several students this morning that attended First Priority for the first time. We had a lot of First Priority students reaching out to bring in friends. We had more than 60 students in attendance today and we are so excited that 11 students prayed to receive Christ and five students responded that they would like more information about the Gospel! God is good!” FP Birmingham

“Students taught how to share the gospel and offered a chance to respond! 7 students responded and accepted Christ!” FP Blue Ridge

 

Mar 01
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Putting Faith Into Action

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

Last week, the students in this club in FP Blue Ridge faced persecution as they tried to pass out cards, sharing the gospel with their peers. This was really the first time they faced opposition.

This week worked out perfectly, in an odd way. Zack opened in prayer and talked about the persecution received last week. The students helped each other by talking about any new fears after they were made fun of. There was also a rumored threat at school on Monday. Zack brought this up and shared how we have backed down, cowered in a corner for too long. He said we should’ve been using Monday and Tuesday’s threat as an awesome opportunity to share the reason for our HOPE. And even if they missed the opportunity earlier this week, kids will be looking to the “Christians” when all craziness breaks loose as the boy returns to school. It was a wonderful time talking about truly putting our faith into action.

Feb 07
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The Thankfulness of a Student

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders, FP Success Story

Thank you letter from a student to her FP Director: 

We are constantly thanking those who support First Priority financially and spiritually. This past week was engage week at my High School. We had the chance to welcome back a senior from last year that had been involved with the First Priority club here since 2015. With the lure of 6 pizzas we had over 30 people who came and heard the never-ending grace in his testimony.

I have been involved with First Priority since 2015 as well, and it was refreshing to not only hear how his testimony has changed and matured but also to see the number of students in our club grow. But more than that, our club has grown in connection, attention, maturity and conversation. This year, we have been able to hear people talk who have never shared before and have seen students come that we never thought would come to our club.

God is so good and works in ways we often don’t understand. ThankfulnessFirst Priority has been the spark in some students lives to help them be open and eager to further their knowledge in the Lord and they have come to know the Lord personally by joining a church. This year, we have seen things that this club was built on more than ever. Thank you so much to those who are praying for us and giving. Seeing students grow and come to know the Lord is not only a praise in their lives, but also has opened the eyes of our leaders and have helped them grow.  The Bible says in Isaiah 6:8, a verse used quite often but is so true, “Send Me”. As a high school student, it’s hard to grasp that completely when we are stuck in Florida. But, we tend to miss the point of that verse. Everywhere on the planet is a battlefield and my school is our mission field.

As students, we have the chance to do something adults can’t do, which is to reach other students from the inside. This school year we have seen so much growth in every area and we can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

Thank you,

Chloe
FP Student

Jan 03
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Meet Audrey

By Local FP Communities, Student Leaders

First Priority exists so that students can reach students for Christ. Read how a student leader from South Florida was not only reached, but is now reaching others for Christ.

A student named Audrey was the mission week speaker and she shared about her time in First Priority during middle school. She unnamed(1)explained that the message and community of that club helped her to understand her worth and stop cutting herself. The legacy of the middle school club was easy to see through Audrey’s testimony.

Moreover, Audrey was a main key in starting a club at her high school. When asked why, she explained that she has a little brother graduating middle school next year and she wants him to have access to First Priority in high school! Audrey understands that her faithfulness today will give opportunity for her brother and his peers to hear the Gospel in years to come! She is building a legacy for those who come after her!

Chris Lane
Executive Director
FP South Florida

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