A note from Steve Cherrico this December

Every year all over the world, Christmas is celebrated. The world is consumed with all of the stuff that goes along with a celebration of Jesus and his birth on earth. This celebration does not begin and end on the 25th of December; instead right after Thanksgiving we begin the preparation for this time. We put up trees, hang lights, put out ornaments, all in the name of Christmas. We buy presents, send cards, sing songs all in the name of celebrating Jesus’ life here on earth. While the rest of the world celebrates the birth, life, and name of Jesus during this one season, First Priority helps students on campuses across the U.S. celebrate Jesus all year long.
While it is easy to be distracted by all that goes with this Christmas celebration, a follower of Jesus knows He is the reason for the season. Keeping the main thing, the main things is of utmost importance. The same holds true for FP clubs all across the country. While they will participate in all sorts of functions surrounding their school and club, everything they participate in has one purpose and that is to make Jesus famous in their school and their lives, and keep Him the main thing. At FP we like to think that we help students celebrate Christmas all year long. Steve Cherrico - FPOA Staff

A note from Mark Roberts in December 2010

This is the season when we hear the word Emanuel sung and spoken of often. As a kid I never knew what that word meant. I know now it means God with us. It sure makes a lot more sense knowing that God became flesh (John 1:14). I love how the Message Bible puts it: “God moved into the neighborhood.” The reason Jesus came was to show us who God is and we know he came to seek and to save that which was lost.
As a former lost person, I sure am glad I was sought and saved. I am grateful to the people God put in my life to show me who God is because God was in them. One of the men God put into my life is a board member of First Priority, JB
Collingsworth. Another man who has influenced my life is a First Priority initiator in Oklahoma City, Stan Stafford. If you have been sought and saved it is often because you saw Jesus in someone. As we reflect on the year and celebrate Jesus’ human birthday, remember the people God has placed in your neighborhood and go seek them because God wants to save them. This was Jesus’ First Priority and it must be ours as well. Mark Roberts - FPOA Staff

Priority Parent November 2010 eUpdate

Just talked to the Faculty Sponsor of FP at Chuckey-Doak Middle. They are one of the two formerly "nomadic" ministries that were trained last month and just held their first Hook Week during Kah-riss (7 responses).

Yesterday, they had the girls basketball team attend their meeting...something their b'ball coach has not allowed in years. Coach said that it must be important to her players, so she is now giving them 30 minutes off to attend.

Also, they held their second Focus Week yesterday, and a Senior from the High School gave his testimony before small group time. An 8th grader approached the senior and began asking questions. Before the meeting was over, the 8th grader gave his life to Christ.

Faculty Sponsor was "surprised" at a salvation outside of Hook Week. I told her that when FP's purpose is evangelism, God will honor that at all times...not just on Hook Week. She now understands that Hook Week is only one plan for the gospel to be shared on campus!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Haley - FP Blueridge

to see the rest of the update, go to our FP News Headlines at www.fpoa.org

Bottenfield Middle School Exciting Update B'ham AL

Students at Bottenfield Middle School are hungry to know and live for Christ daily. They are praying more and giving testimonies about how God is moving in their school in mighty ways. Bottenfield's First Priority Campus Club is growing every week with nearly 100 students in attendance right now. On Oct. 28, 2010, three students prayed the prayer to accept Christ into their lives for the first time. Wow! We serve a great and holy God.

Every week this campus club is an adventure. You might see a stomp dance or even hear a song sung by students. Club meetings should never be boring. Students like involvement. And, the key for a successful club is students reaching students with the love and message of Jesus Christ. Student involvement will always breed a healthy campus ministry.

I would like to give a special thanks to Bottenfield Middle School's Campus Coaches Debbie Marshall and Tyrone Fox for their dedication to inspiring students to live for Christ daily. They are showing us how the First Priority Campus Ministry continues to make a huge impact when students have ownership.

"Students are standing up and wanting people to know they love God," said Debbie. "It is truly amazing to see how God is moving on this campus."

James Cato

Another Life Changed - from October Newsletter FP South Florida

It is such a blessing when we see a student whose life was touched through First Priority return to invest in other students at a First Priority club. Stephanie Weinberg is one of those students. here is her story in her own words:

I was raised in a Jewish home, but i drifted away into New Age stuff such as tarot cards and reincarnation by the time i was 14. By that time i was smoking, drinking and hanging out with the wrong crowd. My childhood was very difficult and i struggled with depression as a result. I overdosed on drugs, nearly taking my own life. But God had another plan for me and I finally gave my life to Christ. I was 16 when i was introduced to the Christian world through the First Priority Club at Spanish River HS. Soon i found out how wrong i was about Christianity, God, life, and just about everything. That's when i started opening my heart and learning about God's attributers. He is good.

I attended First Priority because a friend invited me, I didn't want to disappoint her, so I went. Thank you Rachel! I felt so out of place at first, but I still kept going back every week. People actually cared to talk to me and i started asking tons of questions. They gave me a Bible because i didn't own one nor had i ever read it before then.

Even though at times i asked the most difficult questions, i never felt judged. Pretty soon, instead of it being just another after school club, First Priority because a safe place to hangout. I learned a lot from all the different speakers that came. I am now 21 year old, and i recently graduated from a two year ministry school. I am helping out as one of the campus coaches at Olympic Heights HS First Priority Club. I truly love and support this ministry with my whole heart because of what God has done for me through it. i believe that everything that i went through will be used for God's glory. I am SUPER excited for what he has prepared for me now and in the future. To whomever reads this article, i personally want to let you know that God DOES love you and everything good and bad will be used for His glory. God Bless you, Stephanie.

Every week 300,000 students participate in First Priority Clubs all over the country. God is up to something incredible, and we count ourselves fortunate to serve the Stephanies that are out there in Middle and High Schools all over our country!

Just 3 days til Kah-riss...

Name: 5 days of Kah-riss (5 days of grace)

When: the week of Otober 25-29

What: every First Priority Club in America is to put focus on missions

Where: at your school

Why: to see 7,000 students accept Christ in one week. This will only happen by the grace of God to bring glory to Himself. Would you pray for us as we get close? A number of our key cities have already jumped on board. Our goal is share the love and message of Jesus Christ and see lives changed. Thank you for your prayers and support as we continue to unite the local church to reach students at their school.

for more information, go to www.fpoa.org and click on the Kah-riss link, it will take you to our FB "fan" page...

Priority Parent October 2010 eUpdate main article...

A Note From a new City Director with F.P.

After coming to a realization that I, as a student pastor, was making a small ping (not even a dent) on the 10,000 students in my county, I started searching for a tool to make a huge impact for the kingdom. I contacted First Priority of America and asked how could I get this going in my area. The national guys got me right on the path of the 4 phases. i admit it seemed like a lot of hoops to jump through.

At times I became frustrated with others who had lack of motivation to help. I also was tempted to breeze right through and skip steps to just see the clubs happen. For the first time, I said no I will do this the right way, I will put in whatever it takes to build a lasting ministry for my city and county. By doing this, it took a lot of time. But a year later, after making a phone call to the national office and having Steve come and share the vision with about 8 youth ministers, today we have around 300 hundred people in our database and are launching at 15 schools.

I want to encourage whoever is reading this to follow the phases to the T and then you will see a thriving ministry a ministry that will out last you. If you don’t follow the guides and just throw a club together, you will see students come to know Christ but you will also experience that club failing over time, because it has no foundation. Take the time to build the foundation. Luke 6:49 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” This verse can apply to First Priority, Just as Christ was saying to those who do not put His words into practice is like building a house without a foundation, it will fall. The same can be said by not following these amazing guides, they are full of tips from past City Directors giving advice all summed up together to see you become successful.

I can not thank those enough for putting in the hard work before us to make this process as smooth and efficient as I have come to see it.

BRANDON STARNES FP of Greater Decatur, AL

Exciting updates from FP Birmingham

This year's "See You at the Pole" far exceeds any previous year I've seen. Students all around the state seem to have a new hunger for Prayer like never before. Campus coaches and teacher sponsors in the Hueytown, Fairfield and Pleasant Grove areas are reporting that students are on fire with a new passion to see the message of Christ be shared on campus. Being in a new school, Pleasant Grove in particular has seen teens come to Christ and receive salvation. Students at Hueytown Middle School are arriving early to hear the message of Christ each week and are encouraging their friends to join First Priority.

These are some exciting times to be in ministry when you see students take the lead and make a difference. All the hard work and dedication of local youth pastors and campus sponsors is paying off in big ways and we would like to thank you. The love and message of Jesus Christ is going forth and it's a difference-maker.

James Cato
Area Director

A thought from Steve Cherrico - FPOA City Services

A thought for anyone involved in leadership with First Priority across the US...

I wanted to drop you a quick note this morning. Over the past few weeks I have begun to feel something about what I do everyday that I had not in a long time. My actions were following through with our cause but my heart was not completely in it. This morning I had an interesting moment where in my devo time the Lord made me aware I had let “discouragement in”.

Reality was I did not even know what to call what I was feeling. But as I began to add up the thoughts and feelings this is what I came up with; “man this thing is hard.” “The local church doesn’t always get what it means to unify the body of Christ.” “They will invest millions into events and buildings, and then leave unity + evangelism as a step child to fend for itself.” “The world sends me emails telling me it hates me and my cause.” “No matter how hard I work, how many hours I put in, I know for sure there are still more students to be reached, is all this behind the scenes hard work worth it?” It all led up to discouragement.

I am guessing most of you have felt some of this at one point or another. Maybe, you are even contemplating some of those thoughts now. I want to share with you what the Lord gave me next that helped me on my path of recovery, today. He reminded me of these facts, and radically shifted my heart, I hope some of this does for your as well.

Did you know that in America right now there are over 3000 First Priority clubs on school campuses?
**The crazy thing is that this is a conservative estimate, our FPOA team finds 2-4 un-networked FP Clubs somewhere in the US, each week.

Did you know that each week on average about 300,000 students participate in those 3000+ FP Clubs?
**That means that today we have the job of reaching, raising, and releasing 300,000 campus missionaries. No other country in the world has that many dedicated mission staff.

Did you know that there are FP Networks working together in places like Tracy CA, Aurora CO, Grand Haven MI, Odessa TX, Suffolk VA, Corbin KY, Newark NJ, and Miami FL?
**There are over 45 Networked communities throughout the US working the FP Process, and at least 25 communities that have multiple clubs, multiple networks, yet do not have a initiator to start the unification process.

Did you know that this school year we have already had city report over 550 students giving their life to Christ for the first time, and being plugged back into local churches across the US.
**I am sure that number is higher considering we do not get club reports from every city at this point.

I hope each of you know my heart when I say these things. First Priority is NOT the answer. The good news of Jesus Christ being lived out and shared one peer to another is the answer! You and I have been given the great fortune to serve a plan that initiates just that, First Priority.

So today I want to finish this email with a blessing on you, that if discouragement has crept in, that the Lord will help you kick it out (Philippians 4:4-9). That if the world hates you, you who serve Jesus will know that it hated him first (John 15).

May each of you who who work so hard, and give so much, and hurt so deeply for students in your city be found in the peace, grace, and mercy of Jesus.

May each of you who give your life to the high hopes of seeing every student on every local campus experience the love and message of Jesus Christ, get to experience the fruit of that hope today.

May each of you find your rest in the same gospel that you work so hard to serve. That is the good news of Jesus Christ, and may His love for you be as real to your life as you want it to be for the students you desire to reach.

Finally, that you will find hope as part of a body of believers that we call the FP Family, and that together today we will bring Jesus glory! Amen.

Peace,

Steve Cherrico
First Priority of America - Director of City Services
615-491-4129 cell 973-731-7744 office
http://www.fpoa.org
http://visionpassionfaithfulness.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/steve.cherrico

FP Birmingham, Announces New Area Director

Benny Bowman
Area Director
First Priority Greater Birmingham

Benny accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior at the age of 18. In 1986, Benny was ordained as a deacon and in 2005 he was ordained in ministry. He has served in various capacities in student ministry since becoming a Christian. Benny has served as a student minister for over 17 years. He has been with First Priority since 1996 as a network president and Board member. Benny has just recently joined the First Priority Staff Team as an Area Director. He is a member of First Baptist Church Pell City and is currently serving as interim student minister at First Baptist Leeds. Benny has been married to his wife, Connie, for 29 years. Benny and his wife have two adult children and their spouses, Joel Bowman (Christy) and Maegan Jolly (Vann) that reside in Pell City.

You may contact Benny at benny@gofirstpriority.com.

FP Birmingham, New Blog Site

http://blog.gofirstpriority.infomedia.net/


James Edward Cato

Area Director

First Priority Greater Birmingham

James has been involved with First Priority for the past 10 years in the Highway 78 area from Sumiton to Forestdale. James has served as youth pastor at several local churches along Highway 78 where he organized rallies for local churches to fuel campus ministry. James immersed himself in local campus ministry and volunteered as a campus coach at Bottonfield Middle School and Minor High School and is now serving as area director in the Highway 78 Network.

James has been on staff at First Priority for the past year and has also become the area director for Hueytown and Pleasant Grove. James currently serves on staff as youth pastor and young adult Sunday school teacher at Living Word Ministries in Gardendale. James is also a youth and young adult speaker on Sunday night for church congregations in his area. James received ordination through the Church of God in 2006 with 26 college credits in biblical studies and pastoral counseling from Lee University.

James was raised in the Mount Olive area and graduated from Corner High School in 1992. After graduation, James served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a weapons instructor and machine gunner. James has been married for 16 years to Christy from the West Jefferson area. Christy is the Director of Operations at Revenue Discovery Systems (RDS) of Birmingham, where she has worked for more than 12 years. James and Christy have two sons: Drake, 14, who attends Dora High School and Dawson, 8, who attends Sumiton Elementary School. James and his family live in Twilly Town outside of Dora, Ala., where they enjoy giving back and serving in their community.

You may contact James at 205.871.8886 or james@gofirstpriority.com.

Be on the lookout for our next staff member spotlight: Benny Bowman.

FP Decatur Makes the local news...

First Priority launches Fifth Quarter meetings, student clubs in area
Campus-based Christian First Priority student clubs will start soon in some local schools, said Brandon Starnes, city director in Decatur for First Priority America.

He said 70 people, including students and teachers, attended a training session.

“We want to equip students to reach the biggest mission field in their lives, their schools,” said Starnes, student minister at Westmeade Baptist Church.


Many of the 8,500 students in schools in Morgan County are not involved in churches, he said.

First Priority campus clubs meet weekly on campus during non-curriculum time. They are non-denominiational, student-initiated and student-led, leaders said.

Groups at Austin High and a school in Madison are ready to begin First Priority clubs, he said.

Starnes said that equal access laws allow students to run Christian clubs at their schools just as other organizations.

First Priority, along with churches and businesses, are sponsoring fall Fifth Quarter gatherings after football games. The first will be at Decatur Baptist Church on Aug. 27 from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. Bobby Bonner, a former Cardinals baseball team member, will speak.

Starnes said makeup training sessions for anyone interested will be Sept. 12, 19 and 26 at 2 p.m. at Westmeade’s youth building, The Refuge at 1626 Runneymeade St. S.W.

For more details, call Starnes at 256-606-7925.

Melanie B. Smith

On the Net

First Priority Decatur, www.fpdecatur.org

First Priority on Facebook, www.facebook.com/fpdecatural

New Blogpost by YM360.com

“Public schools are the largest mission field in the USA.”

This is a common refrain from Matt Wilson, Executive Director of First Priority (Greater Birmingham). And you know what? Matt’s right.

Our public schools are fertile fields ripe for harvest. And First Priority is one of the most effective organizations in the country for reaching them.

That is why youthministry360 is honored to be partnering with First Priority to impact this generation (and future ones) of teenagers.

We love First Priority’s Vision Statement:

A City Wide Church Vision with a Comprehensive Plan of Action to Reach This Generation of Students with the Love and Message of Jesus Christ.

We like the intentionality of this statement. Two things particularly jump out to us:

City Wide Church Vision

At youthministry360, we are passionate about serving and equipping youth workers in the local church. First Priority, more than any other national organization we have encountered, lifts up the local church.
First Priority are experts at helping youth workers develop and maintain networks, and supporting youth workers through these networks. This commitment fits right in line with youthminstry360’s DNA. We have loved watching the ym360 community grow and evolve. When youth workers equip other youth workers through their own experiences and passions, the Church only gets stronger.
Comprehensive Plan of Action

First Priority has a lot of different ways to help youth workers raise up student leaders on school campuses. Whether it is student-led clubs at school, See You At The Pole rallies, or any other of the many initiatives organized by local First Priority chapters, they are so great at putting their values into action.
There are simply a lot of things that First Priority has been doing for years that match up very well with youthministry360. So, we have committed to working together to reach teenagers for Christ and to support youth workers in the local church.

What does this partnership look like? Great question. Right now, we’re still figuring it out. But here’s what we know . . .

We are passionate about developing excellent, Bible-centered resources that are creative and culturally relevant. So, there is a lot of potential here.
We love to leverage our network of youth ministry experts. You can bet there will be some great opportunities for youthministry360 to intersect with First Priority’s city-wide networks to create some incredible training opportunities.
We’re still ironing out the details. But you can count on us to keep you updated. For now, we’re just excited about the incredible opportunities this partnership represents for you . . . the youth worker.

Andy Blanks is the co-founder of youthministry360. Andy has worked in youth ministry for 12 years, almost exclusively writing, designing, and developing curriculum. Andy is a teacher at heart and loves to challenge teenagers and youth workers alike through his writing and speaking.

Latest First Look from Greater Birmingham

Why is being a campus missionary so important?

As a youth worker, I know that you are passionate about reaching this generation with the love and message of Jesus Christ. Why else would you do what you do? Your camp rocked this year, small groups are in full swing and your Wednesday night services this year are going to blow the kids away. But, what about the other students? What do we do about the students who will never EVER come to a church or church sponsored event? These students are also known as... the majority. On average, 12 percent of students attend church. Your numbers may spike to 20 percent if you are in the Bible belt. Don't believe me? Talk to the churches in your community and run the numbers. It will shock and motivate you. I did in Birmingham, Ala., and it was dead on.
Knowing these things, we can all agree that public schools are the largest mission field in the USA. Twelve percent of students attend church, 95 percent attend school. Do the math.
What do we do then? What is our role? You and I are not there 8 hours a day. We are fortunate if we are allowed to each lunch there weekly, do a devotion here and there, and attend the school functions.
Our responsibility is to raise-up Campus Missionaries out of our groups and give them the resources to be successful.
Campus Missionaries are students who care about their friends and others who walk the halls of their campus every day. Campus Missionaries have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They are interested in seeing Jesus have an impact on their campus and in the people they influence. Campus Missionaries are willing to do whatever they can to see that Jesus is represented on their campus.
Becoming a Campus Missionary
To become a Campus Missionary you need to:
· Have a desire to see your campus impacted for Jesus Christ;
· Begin praying daily for the people in your school;
· Be involved in your local church youth ministry;
· Be willing to tell your story and how Jesus has impacted you; and
· Tell the Gospel story to those who will listen.

The Campus Missionary's Priorities
Campus Missionaries have the opportunity to do several things, but none are more important than these:
· Live the life.
Your example of a strong Christian testimony is a powerful tool in your school.
· Pray for your friends and your school.
You may be the only one who is praying for them.
· Tell the story of Jesus.
It all comes down to you presenting Christ at school to those whom you can.
· Begin or support an ongoing campus club or ministry on your campus.
· Give to other missionary efforts.
Your church probably has mission programs or people you can support.

Matt Wilson, First Priority Executive Director

FP Orlando FL July Newsletter....

School begins in one month. It is hard to believe that summer has gone and very soon the halls of middle and high schools will be filled with tens of thousands of students trying to find their way, make plans for their future, and for some just merely survive. I have been thinking about this coming fall and a conversation I had with about 50 students last May. I asked a simple question, “What do you think of church?” The overwhelming answer was “They hate homosexuals.” To these students church is a place of judgment. I then asked them what they thought of Jesus? Almost everyone them said he was an amazing man that tried to do a lot of good.

Reaching the largest mission field in our country

This struck me because these students have disconnected Jesus from the church. The idea that students would come to church looking for Jesus is insane to them. They don’t think He is there. The media has done a number on our churches as well as some well meaning Christians. If students will not come to hear the Gospel at church, then we must go to them. This is the heart of First Priority Central Florida. We train our Christian students to be missionaries on campus, share the Gospel, and then bring their friends to church. We have to go where they are at. They are not coming to us.

First Priority’s goal is to present the Gospel to every student and then connect students with local churches to be discipled. It is so simple and it works. We will reconnect Jesus with our churches in the minds of these students by going outside the walls of our buildings and into the halls and classrooms of our schools. Armed with God’s truth and grace our students will reach their friends and we will see a spiritual awakening that none of us could dream about. We have the churches, parents, and students ready and the harvest is ripe.

Tony Hevener - City Director of FP Orlando

07.20.10 working together to reach all - 2nd Peter 3:9

Over the last few years I've had the opportunity to sit with hundreds of local church youth workers and I consistently ask them one question: "What comprehensive strategy does your youth ministry have to reach EVERY student on the campuses in this community?" Out of all the great youth workers I have met with, none could share with me a strategy that reached all of those students; there were always gaps.

These youth workers' inability to develop a strategy to reach every student in a school is not due to a lack of desire, mission or resources. These were all incredible churches reaching and discipling teenagers. It was not them; it was the reality of the situation that has been laid out before them. The vision to reach every student, on every campus, in every community is too big for one local church. It will take many churches in a community working together, in sync, as the Body of Christ to make this vision a reality.

That is why we exist at First Priority. We work in communities, networking local church youth workers together for a common purpose: reaching this generation. The hub where all this activity will take place is the local school campus. Why? Simply put, it's where the students are.

The way we must do this is by equipping students with a strategy and resources to share the revolutionary love and message of Jesus Christ. It's their mission field. They are the missionaries. The students are the ones to champion the name of Jesus on their campus. Our role as youth workers is to set them up for success. We must give them the tools, training and encouragement to take this love and message to their world.

As we think about working together with a common purpose to reach a campus, I challenge you to think about your local church youth ministry.

Do you have an environment that lends itself to infusing the local schools with students passionate for reaching their friends? Do you have a culture of partnering with other churches for ministry? Is having a personal ministry on your students' campus even on their radar?

For campus ministry to be successful, your youth ministry must do these things:

· Value every person coming into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ;

· Disciple Christians to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ;

· Encourage Christians to give their lives in meaningful service to Jesus Christ;

· Intentionally work together as the body of Christ; and

· Challenge Christians to impact the culture for Jesus Christ.

Are you ready to unite to reach your city? First Priority can help.

Matt Wilson, First Priority Executive Director

06.12.10 Great article from a ministry partner, YM360

http://blog.youthministry360.com/reaching-teens-in-public-schools-first-priority-and-the-local-church/184/

06.11.10 June 2010 Business Leaders Update

IT’S WORTH IT!

Fox 6 News' Sheldon Haygood shares the gospel with Bragg Middle School


TV personality, students, a local campus and the gospel all in one, oh my! On April 22, 2010, Fox 6 News Sports Caster Sheldon Haygood visited Bragg Middle School's First Priority campus club. Hannah Haygood, Sheldon's daughter, did not ask her Dad to come to career day but to come and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with her fellow classmates. When asked to come speak for the challenge week of ACTS (Accountability, Challenge, Testimony, Seek), Sheldon said he would be honored to share his faith with the students at Bragg Middle School.

During his visit, Sheldon challenged the students to make an effort to share the love and message of Jesus Christ with every student on their campus. Sheldon encouraged the students to be bold in their efforts both in the classroom and the hallway. He stressed the need for students to be an example to others through their attitude, academics and their faith. We as a society take time every day to watch or listen to the news for the day's events surrounding us, but not too often do we ever think that the personality we are watching or listening to is community-minded or even has a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We at First Priority and the students at Bragg Middle School would like to thank Sheldon for being a "Roaring Lamb" in the media today and for being a huge part of molding our students as campus missionaries.

For more details, visit us at www.fpoa.org

05.29.10 May 2010 Youth Pastor eUpdate

Lord of the Harvest

Luke 10 says the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Do you think God is waiting for us to train workers for the harvest. I believe you will reach what you plan to reach. When I worked with Jay Strack and did the youth work in his area-wide crusades, I began noticing a pattern. If we went to a town that had trained 50 counselors we would have about 150 to 200 come to Christ in 4 nights. If we went to a place where there were 100 trained counselors we would see 400-500 come to Christ. God gives us what we can handle.

Is your church and First Priority club prepared to handle the har- vest with trained workers in the field? Have you spent time training stu- dents, parents, and faculty? You will reap the harvest you prepare for. Go prepare!

Keep fishing, Mark Roberts First Priority of America

Testimony - F.P. of Greater Nashville, TN

“This school year we have had more students come to Christ as new be- lievers and plug into our church for discipleship than ever before in our 17 year history. There is no doubt that the strategy of First Priority at Independence high school played a huge role in that. As a church we will be vested locally with the body of Christ, and cannot wait to see what God does next year on all the campuses our students are at!”

Joel Evrist is part of the staff team of New Song in Franklin, TN. He served as a campus coach this year at Independence High, and will do so at another Nashville school next year.

Newly married Joey Proffitt is overseeing First Priority of Greater Nashville, TN as the City Director. He has an amazing history with First Priority having been a student leader in his middle and high school and spent time on First Priority of America staff. Congrats Joey in life and ministry!

05.01.10 Update from FP Blueridge..

Another local student passed away this week. This time, a 6th grader from Unicoi County was killed in an ATV accident...the second student to die in that school system in the last two weeks.

Another local student was charged this week for murder. This time, a Hawkins teen has been charged in the murder of his grandparents...the second teen charged with murder in Northeast Tennessee in the last month.

Each day, there is more and more evidence that our schools need prayer and our students need the gospel. It is obvious that we, the Church, need to have a sense of urgency about reaching a generation for Christ!

Now is the time to come together, uniting around a common cause...reaching this generation of young people for Christ! They are lost, hurting and suffering through things we couldn't have imagined when we were that age.

Now is the time to come together, uniting around a common strategy to reach this generation! It's time we stopped trying to do it on our own, and started working together, as one body, to take the gospel to our schools. We've been doing our "own thing" for way too long, and our children are suffering the consequences.

If what has happened in our schools over the last few weeks isn't enough to wake up the Church, I fear this generation will go down in history as the "lost" generation.

WAKE UP, CHURCH! We have work to do, and we must do it together!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Haley Wherry
First Priority Blue Ridge

04.20.10 Campus Coach Testimony...

Being Consistent in First Priority

Be consistent, we hear that term a lot don’t we? But those words ring especially true for First Priority. Some campus clubs have great turnouts every week while others seem to struggle a little, but trust me when I say your consistency pays off.

Case in point, at Cumberland Gap High School, we have a foreign exchange student from Germany, she comes from a Catholic background, although they weren’t real faithful church goers. She began coming to youth worship on Wednesday nights with a new friend from school. Then she started coming to First Priority on Tuesday mornings. Every week she came looking for a place to belong (even though it was all foreign to her). Every week she would have questions about the Christian faith and every week the students would be there to encourage her and answer them. She would be consistent in asking questions and they would be consistent in answering them. Slowly and consistently the Holy Spirit was working on her until one Tuesday morning during a hook week the gospels was presented and guess who accepted Jesus Christ that morning? That’s right, our new friend from Germany!

We didn’t do anything other than being consistently obedient to the Holy Spirit in our efforts to reach every student on campus with the gospel. Because First Priority is a consistent presence on this campus and because the gospel is consistently being presented, the Kingdom of God grew that day.

Many students we meet on campus, even though they may not be from another country may feel like Christianity is foreign. However, being consistent with the love and message of Christ and being consistent with First Priority pays eternal dividends!

Larry Goad, Campus Coach

03.18.10 Birmingham Leadership Training

700+ Students spend the day in FP Leadership Training

On March 11, First Priority of Greater Birmingham held its fifth annual Leader's Summit, an in-depth leadership training event for students, teacher sponsors and campus coaches involved in First Priority local campus ministries. Over 700 students and teachers across the area attended this year's event. Local school boards of education endorsed the program, allowing up to five students to attend from each school and count the event as a field trip. Some boards even provided a substitute teacher so that the teacher sponsor could attend.

Students enjoyed a day of intense training, as well as praise and worship brought by CJ Blount who performed with the sleep design band. Chick-fil-A sponsored the event by providing financial support, materials, entertainment and lunch for everyone in attendance. Southeastern Bible College also sponsored the event by providing the venue for the summit. Leadership trainers included Tiffany Bittner, local T.V. news station anchor, Ryan Bowman, Chick-fil-A Corporate, Outreach Minister David Nasser, and First Priority Greater Birmingham President Greg Davis. These National Leaders provided students with timeless knowledge to propel them as leaders in their school. We would like to give a special thanks to our sponsors and leadership trainers who helped to make this event a huge success. - Ashlee Lambert, First Priority of Greater Birmingham

Here are a few testimonies from students that attended the training...

"I feel like I've been chosen for a reason, and God is going to help me change my school. This is only the beginning, and greater things are yet to come." -Hannah, Bragg Middle School

"Today has really been fun learning. I've learned a lot that I haven't learned before. I'm really glad there is a place that people can come together in this state and learn about God. - Michael, Etowah Middle School

"The Leader's Summit was amazing! I had a great time. The music was excellent, the speakers did a great job and also free food! But, most of all, I learned more about God and became closer to Him. Thanks for the great time. I can't wait until next year." - Philip, Student

03.10.10 California Club Makes the News

First Priority Club collected more than $1,000 for Haitians

ENTERPRISE STAFF REPORT

Los Baños High School's First Priority club came together to raise funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Club adviser and history teacher Tommy Jones said he couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. There was no class competition or award given for the most donated. The fundraiser was organized solely for raising money for those who need it most.

In one class period, the students were able to collect more than $1,000. And that was entirely from the rest of the student body. The fundraiser turned out to be not only student-generated but student-funded.

"I thought the kids did really good," Jones said. "They were enthusiastic and happy to do their part. They want to do it again."

Jones said he was more impressed with the committment the students made to the fundraiser than the amount raised.

"Everyone was eager to help, everyone was eager to participate. And they want to do it even bigger next time," he said. "That's really positive, that our young people are that caring.

"And that was in just one period, not even a whole day," Jones said.

--Samantha Salas

http://www.losbanosenterprise.com/2010/01/29/61643/first-priority-club-collected.html

02.22.10 indescribable update from FP Club...

In the first two months of 2010 we have been flooded with incredible updates concerning what the Gospel of Jesus is doing on campuses all over the country through First Priority students. This month alone we have heard of hundreads of salvations, students who had tried to kill themselves one week/then found Christ the next week, and then the following testimony came in ...

...four weeks ago our First Priority club exploded! We had been averaging about 80 students per week, however that week over 150+ students came to the club and 50 students gave their life to Christ, WOW! The next week at club time, our room filled up with 270 students, and we had to move to another room for our club, this time 23 more students gave their life to Christ, again WOW! The third week the students decided to move the club to the gym, not knowing what to expect next. It worked out that the club backed into the lunch break, so over 800 students showed up in the gym for the First Priority club. After one of the students shared, a handful fo students gave their lives to Christ again, Amazing the gospel really works!

About an hour later I received a call from one of the FP student leaders at the school. One of the students who gave their life to Christ at the club that day was just caught at the school trying to flush bullets down the toilet. It seems that he had brought a gun to school that day to shoot his girlfriend and possibly others. When he gave his life to Christ, he was convicted and tried to cover his tracks. This young man is in world of trouble with the school and local goverernment, however we are so excited that this possible tragedy was diverted, and that he has been plugged into a local church to help him through this process of restoration.

The Gospel of Jesus is having amazing results all over the country as students are sharing their faith on campuses and through First Priority clubs. We are honored to serve such a bold and faithful generation by helping US cities unite under the cause of seeing every student in their city experience the love and message of the gospel before they graduate.

02.19.10 Update from 1st year FP Club...

Dear Brad Schelling:

I am George Atkins, the First Priority Leader at Mayo High School for Math, Science and Technology. This is our first year getting First Priority started in a really small town. I spoke to you this summer, and we discussed doing the F.I.S.H. series which we just finished doing. Our meetings F through S went well. We can only have our meetings at Mayo before school starts so we have had trouble getting our community involved until February 17. On that day we had a guest speaker named Jad Dean. He was the former place kicker at Clemson University who missed the game winning kick against South Carolina sailed wide left. He gave us his testimony and saved a couple lives. Roughly 200 people were there. We also raised about 200 dollars to go to missions. That was considered our H meeting.

We just wanted to let you know about the success First Priority is having in Darlington County. This is the first year so people are just starting to hear about the name. I believe next year we will have twice as many people.

Thank you for talking to me this summer about this amazing group!

George Atkins
Mayo High School's First Priority leader
Class of '12

02.10.10 FP Birmingham Update...

This was sent out by our City Director in Birmingham AL (Matt Wilson), check out their twitter updates, and the link attached.... MattWilson518

RT @FirstPriorityAL : @GovernorRiley proclaimed March 26 "Day of Prayer for Students Across Alabama" http://tweetphoto.com/11144846

02.05.10 Brandon Highschool Sioux Falls SD Update...

Just received a call from one of our City Staff in Sioux Falls, today they had a focus week during their FP club, and 7 students attending asked for Jesus to take over their lives. The Kingdom is celebrating Big Time, and so are we! What a great present from the Lord as we end our week of ministry all over the country. Each day students are sharing the gospel on their campuses all over the US, and we are seeing students come into new life in Christ Jesus and plugging back into the local church. It really is awesome to be a part of telling this story each day.

02.04.10 I was blessed this past Tuesday morning!...

It was another one of those times when God whispers, “See? This is why I’ve asked you to do what you do.”

Tuesday morning, I attended the First Priority meeting at Greeneville High School. Over 150 students filled the school’s cafeteria as four Seniors, who have been key student leaders of the ministry, shared their personal stories of how God has used First Priority to impact their lives.

One young man shared that he had attended First Priority as a Freshman but “talked the whole time” during the meetings and never took the purpose of the group seriously. His interest didn’t last long, and he soon stopped attending.

Near the end of his Junior year, one of the First Priority leaders had noticed a change in his life, and felt led by God to ask him to consider becoming a leader in the ministry his Senior year.

At this time in his life, he had begun taking his faith in Christ seriously, and had even been feeling that God may be calling him into full-time ministry. After lifting up the FP leadership opportunity in prayer, he realized that it might just be something that God wanted to use in order to grow his faith and develop his leadership skills.

Tuesday morning, he shared that story and confirmed that God had indeed used First Priority to grow him as a leader and to develop his faith. He encouraged the 150+ students to pray about stepping up as a leader, especially as a leader in the campus ministry.

While this young man’s testimony encouraged me, so did the stories of the other 3 Senior student leaders. What was even more encouraging was why they chose to share their stories....they are prayerfully seeking those who God is raising up to take their places as campus ministry leaders after they graduate this May.

These four young men and women of God are already looking ahead to make sure that First Priority continues to impact their school long after they move on. It’s a level of spiritual maturity that is not often seen in students their age. Most high school Seniors are suffering from Senioritis by this time and are only focused on what’s next for them. What an awesome thing to see God burdening their hearts for their generation!

There are thousands of Christian students in our local schools that have a desire to be used by God to impact their peers. All they need is the Body of Christ to come along side them, encourage them, equip them to be the leaders God has called them to be, and have an opportunity to use their gifts and talents for ministry.

That’s what First Priority is all about...Raising Leaders, Reaching a Generation, Restoring a Nation!

Soli Deo Gloria,

Haley

1.29.10 First Priority of Tampa Bay...

I know we are hearing a lot about what God is doing though First Priority Tampa Bay, but I had to share this one. This morning 5 more students at Madison Middle School prayed to receive Christ!! The amazing part of this story is that one of the students that prayed today just got out of the hospital this week because he tried to commit suicide. He is alive today and with a new heart because he happened to be found by his little sister. Today he found Jesus!!!!!

Keep Fishing,

Mark Roberts

Director of Ministry

01.22.2010 FP Johnson City Update

Around October, 2009 my pastor gave me a teen Bible. He wanted me to take it to the First Priority club that I was involved in and offer it to anyone that had a need for it or if someone had a friend that could use it. I continued to take the teen Bible to meetings week after week. Sometimes skipping a week and then making an announcement and offering it again. Before Christmas break, I made the offer again of a free Bible if anyone knew someone that might need it and put it to use. After the club meeting a young lady, we will call her Betty, approached me and said she knew a schoolmate that could use the Bible. I was excited that someone finally wanted to put this Bible to use. Betty asked me if I would take the Bible to the office and ask them to give it to this student. This would have been a simple enough task but I felt that it was important for her to do it. I asked her to take the Bible with her and pray about it and that God would lead her to what she should do.

After Christmas break I was getting very anxious to get to our first club meeting of the new year. I wanted to check in with Betty to see if she had followed through with giving the Bible to her fellow student. I walked up to her before the meeting started and asked her if she had given the Bible to her friend. She had written me a note and I told her that I would read it later.

The note said, “I just wanted you to know about the Bible and who I gave it to. I didn’t really know how to explain it before. This person is in one of my classes and just recently in the past few months became homeless and lives at the local shelter. While living at the shelter this person started attending Church. So because of this person’s circumstances I felt that this person really needed it. How I ended up giving it to this person was wrapping it, putting it in the office, and they delivered it for me. I know this person from class but I don’t know this person that well that I felt comfortable enough to give it to this person personally. So that is why I did it the way I did. P.S.- I put the Bible was from First Priority as a club.”

At our next meeting, I talked with her a little about the note and how proud of her I was that she made this effort to get the Bible to someone she believed could really use it. I thought that was the end of the story but it wasn’t.
After our meeting today, Betty told me that the person she gave the Bible to had attended a youth retreat and accepted Christ as their savior. I have been pumped up the whole day. There are some times where you are not able to tell if you are getting through to the youth. Then you are able to share in an experience like this and God shows you He is working through you. This is definitely a WOW moment from God that I will not forget.

Greg Morelock - Board Member and Campus Coach

01.20.2010 Serving something up for lunch

Imagine you’re a high school student……..a friend invites you to have “lunch on them”. You show up, wolf down a few slices of hot pepperoni pizza, and wonder what this “First Priority” thing is all about. Just then, a kid you’ve seen in biology class gets up in front of everyone and offers a prayer. Then this same kid starts to talk about what it really means to be a Christian. He opens up his Bible & reads a few verses about who Jesus is and how He can change your life. You’re amazed that a kid your age can know so much about this! There’s just something about him that you’d like to have in your own life. As the message is delivered, you feel a real desire to know more about Jesus, so when it’s over, you ask one of the students or campus coaches to pray with you…………………..

This is happening all over the country. Thanks to FP LakeShore for sharing this story...

Keep Fishing,

First Priority of America team.

Mark Robbins
Mark Roberts
Brad Schelling

Steve Cherrico

1/19/2010 - Lives changed in Kentucky through First Priority

My favorite First Priority experience occurred in April of my senior year 2009. That night we had a contemporary Christian band "Seventh Day Slumber "come to our middle school gym. The thing that made this night so special was, not only the fact that a well known Christian band was performing on our campus, but also it was free. This allowed us to have a great crowd! Our First Priority club worked extra hard to make the concert free. We did a fundraiser, different churches and businesses made donations, and my family and I made tons of brownies to sell at school. We worked very hard and all the hard work paid off.

The night of the concert was amazing. We got the awesome crowd we had prayed for, the music was great. The lead singer shared a life changing testimony. Then the best part of the evening was the invitation. Twelve students accepted Christ as their Savior and thirty eight students rededicated their lives to follow Christ! In my opinion this was one of the most life changing services I have ever been in and it was definitely our greatest First Priority event of the year.


Kayla

Whitley High School

1/4/2010 - Update from Vidor, TX

Hey FPOA,

Just wanted to let you know I recieved your voicemail a while back and I want to apoligize for not getting back with you. You were calling to check up on how everything is going and the only word I have for you is "Amazing". We pray everymornig with about 25 students and once a week we have a bible study. First Priorty has a big event each month in the school auditorium that has drawn in over 125 students for the past 3 months. We are very blessed and continuing to try new things to really impact Vidor High School with Jesus Christ. I am planing, preparing, and praying about a huge event in our football stadium at the end of the year but I just wanted to let you know how we are doing and thank you for checking in on us.

May you have a blessed Holiday,
Toby

Celebrating 2009 at First Priority of America

As we come to the end of this year and decade. The National Staff of First Priority wanted to take a moment to celebrate all that is happening with First Priority across America.

Right now, First Priority is networked and active in over 40 cities across the US. Each of these cities are uniting locally, under the common goal of Reaching Every Student, on Every Campus with good news of Jesus Christ. So far this school year (2009/2010) these FP cities have reported approximately 3000 students giving their lives to Christ and being plugged back into the local church! Much of this is to the credit of our hard working FP City staffers are their campus coaches, who give untold hours and effort to seeing these students reached. So we celebrate each of them and their call to the work of His Kingdom. Awesome!!

There are another 40 cities with First Priority clubs, just waiting for the right moment, and right team to unite as the body of Christ and support their campus ministry movements. This means there is much work still to do for First Priority of America to support these cities, and we are so excited for the opportunity for years to come.

As you spend a moment reflecting on all the Lord has been up to in your world this year, and this past decade. It would be our request that you would continue to keep this generation of students, the local FP campus coaches and parents, and FP city staff in your prayers.

We cannot thank you enough for your support; prayerfully, financially, and thoughtfully as we press forward to the year to come. We look forward to all that awaits us in 2010.

His Peace,

First Priority National Staff – http://www.fpoa.org/about-staff.asp

Mark Robbins – Executive Director mark@firstpriority.org

Mark Roberts – Director of Ministry markroberts@firstpriority.org

Brad Schelling – Director of Expansion brad@firstpriority.org

Steve Cherrico – Director of City Services steve@firstpriority.org

12/22/2009 - The Gospel is shared at Ravenwood High

Hey Folks!

I've got an update for you from Ravenwood High School.

We had about 100 show up for the Cookie Crusade!

The purpose was to invite students for some Cookies

and Share the Good News of the Christmas, that Jesus, the Son of God, had come to the world.

We were amazed that in such a quick time and with such limited efforts we saw

4 Student make a decision to Make Jesus their Savior and 6 students rededicate their lives to Jesus!!

I hope this is a testimony to the Gospel and that it WORKS!

and the mission of First Priority is to share the Gospel in our schools.

We have the Right Mission! Be Ever Assured!

Joey