Spiritually Centered Follow Up

Today we have the privilege of hearing from Esteban, a student helping plant a LaFe chapter at Rio Hondo Community College in Los Angeles. As I met with Esteban last week to debrief NSO followup I was struck by how he calls contacts, and so I asked him to write a few words on the topic. In the midst of a busy season of New Student Outreach where our focus can drift to numbers and strategies, Esteban reminds us what spiritually centered follow up looks like.

"When outreaching, the simple part is getting people to sign up and write down contact information. The hardest part of the outreach is the follow up. How will the person act? How will they will respond? Will they still be interested? These are all questions people have when following through with contacts. However, in my experience, these aren’t the questions you should ask yourself when following through with contacts. The question you should ask is, “What does God want to speak into these people’s lives?” Following through with contacts is difficult when you lean on your own understanding. Personally, before I follow through with contacts, I spend time with Jesus. I spend time in the Word, time in worship, and time in prayer. What this does is it centers me and relaxes me. As soon as I finish, I begin the calling process. Before every person I call, I say a small prayer and ask God to speak into their lives. Then, they answer and God takes care the rest. Don’t let numbers be the center of your success."

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