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

11/16/2009 - Another Student impacting her school for Christ!

A student's story

What do you think when someone mentions Salmen High School? Most would say that we are "the jock" school. Others would say that we are racially diverse, And others would even go as far as saying that Salmen is "The problem of Slidell."

As a Christian, as well as a new student at Salmen, I found a problem in this. Are we, as Christians, not called to be a light in the dark? Where are all the missionaries representing Christ around here?

Unfortunately, I often found myself feeling like a fish out of water, that is, I felt like i was the only Christian at school. Knowing that this feeling had to be untrue I set out to start a Christian Club, preferably First Priority.

After much prayer this feeling became a confirmed calling from God. I rejoiced in the fact that God was using me, but had no idea how to start a club. Burdened to fulfill this new calling, I attended church that Wednesday. My youth minister announced that we would have a guest speaker, a representative of First Priority. My heart began to race as I began to see what God was planning to do. An uncontrollable joy filled my heart as Greg Bounds, director of First Priority Gulf South, took the stage and began explaining the FISH cycle. God slowly but surely began opening doors to have First Priority started at Salmen, and as some would say, the rest is history.

I am proud to report that for our first hook week two souls were won for Jesus. First Priority is slowly gaining popularity at Salmen!

Please pray that God continues to move on the hearts of those at the school. Thank You.

Sara