In this Issue:

Welcome to those of you who are new to Campus Vitals and to those of you who have been involved with group leadership for awhile. Campus Vitals will be emailed to you monthly during the school year in order to:

• help you get more connected with Nurses Christian Fellowship
• give you valuable, timely information for your campus ministry

Each month we will highlight different topics that we've planned out according to the school year. We are always open to ideas, so feel free to email them to Bonnie Hann.

New Student Orientation Ideas and Resources

Schools welcome new students in many ways, but there usually is some opportunity to share about student activities and organizations:

• Check with your school to find out how to get in your school's student organization fair
• Think through the supplies you might need – table; posters or decorations to show you are a student Nurses Christian Fellowship group; a sign up sheet for more information; some small things to hand out (Tootsie Rolls are great)
• Have 1-3 students at the table to be available to answer questions.
• Consider having your next meeting time and place, along with a contact name and number, on a small card or bookmark for the new student to keep.

We have many resources already made up for you to order or download.

• Order some NCF and NCF Student Ministries brochures
• Posters to advertise meetings, postcard invitations, and information cards can be downloaded, personalized and printed.

Don't forget to cover the beginning of the school year in prayer! We are praying for you too!

Speaking of Prayer...

Now is the time to start praying for those within your sphere of influence.
Encourage your group to pray for others on your campus:  

• Individual roommates and classmates
• The new class of nursing students
• Seniors (this can be the toughest year)
• Your instructors
• Each other
• Spiritual growth and opportunities to minister to others

Encourage students to pick two non-Christian friends and commit to praying for them to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Have each student choose a prayer partner. This builds accountability and consistency.

Last year we encouraged groups to use 2+ prayer cards. The 2+ Prayer Cards have a place to write down who you are praying for along with ideas for building relationships with them.

If you would like a free pack of 10 cards, please Email Bonnie with your name and mailing address. You can also purchase packs of 25 2+ cards at https://store.intervarsity.org/2-prayer-cards-25-per-order.html

Bible Study Resources

NCF has three series of Bible study guides
(see middle column at http://www.ncf-jcn.org/publications/main.php).

For starters, try these:
Nursing: A Response of Faith (in the "Thinking Christianly about Nursing" series)
The Character of Caring People (in the "Caring People" series).

Ideas for your Group

Looking for ideas to "kick start" your group? Here are some ideas that have worked for groups in the past:

• Have a party or overnight retreat for a fun bonding time. Have some light icebreakers, but then have some more specific questions to get to know one another better, such as "What is drawing you into nursing?" The upperclassmen can to share tips of things they've learned to help the newer students.
• Get new students involved and connected from the beginning. You may want to make a list of the tasks or roles you have in the group. If there is a current need to fill that someone is excited about doing, plug them in. If a new member is interested in a role that are already filled, they could both do the job and get training and mentoring from the experience student in that role.
• There are many ways to let new students know about your group. Three group ideas are featured in a past issue of Campus Vitals. The HOPE kits were a great idea and less expensive than feeding many people. Our InterVarsity group always did a "watermelon feed". We gave away watermelon slices along with an invite to our first meeting. Some schools give candy (Tootsie Rolls, etc) with a small invite.
• Find downloadable posters and invitations as well as follow-up cards.

More great NSO ideas can be found online at StudentSoul.org.

Campus Vitals has been compiled by
Bonnie Hann, RN, BSN, BS-Missionary Nursing
NCF Campus Liaison
Email Bonnie

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