First Priority is quickly approaching its 23rd year of campus ministry in Birmingham. We always saw First Priority clubs as: “A last chance to impact a student’s life before they graduate high school.” Over the years, middle schools quickly became very active and fruitful. Now that more time has passed a trend continues. For years, church leaders have heard the claim that nearly nine out of 10 Christians accept Jesus as their savior before the age of 18. If that statistic was accurate in the past, it no longer depicts U.S. society. Now Barna says that “if Jesus is not already part of their lives by the time they leave junior high school, the chances of them accepting Him as their Lord and savior is very slim (6% to be exact).”

While the urgency to reach a student prior to graduating is still important, we know from experience that it is becoming easier to do so in middle school than it is once they are in high school. Because of this, First Priority has established First Priority Kids Clubs in intermediate and elementary schools. At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, we were working with 25 elementary and intermediate schools with more than 5,000 kids involved on a weekly basis.

The response at these clubs is overwhelming to say the least. We plan to be on 50 campuses with over 10,000 students involved with FP Kids by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. We cannot do this without your help! We will need more volunteers and more financial support than ever before to keep up with the demands that will nearly double the ministry of First Priority in the next few years. When you make a tax-deductible gift, we will use it in a responsible manner to help many more schools prepare to start campus ministry for the next school year. For more information about starting a First Priority Kids Club in your area, contact us at 205-871-8886 or reply back to this e-mail.

Will you join us? This is the generation that will impact the world. They will be the ones who will take the Gospel to the corners of the earth. They are starting now and starting where they live. They need your help! You can make a tax-deductible gift using PayPal or online at www.gofirstpriority.com. We greatly appreciate your prayer and support. Please pray about how you can help us reach this generation for Christ.