First Priority of Alabama

The Hope of Christ in Every Student

God is using students’ testimonies to change lives!

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This school year, we have seen exciting things happen in Thompson Sixth Grade Center’s First Priority club. This is a club that has struggled with student leadership in the past. At First Priority’s Leader’s Summit that was held in September, we focused on the “how to’s” of effective campus ministry and trained students on how to implement the First Priority HOPE Strategy. This strategy equips students with a plan of action to reach their school with the hope of Christ. There are now nine girls that serve on the leadership team at Thompson. The “P” week of the HOPE strategy is Prepare, which is designated for students to give their personal testimony of how Christ has impacted their life. Recently during Prepare Week, MaKayla, a 12-years-old student leader, got up and shared her story about how she was involved
in a tragic accident when she was in 2nd
grade. To summarize, she has a passion for horses and had been playing with a foal that she snuck up behind and it kicked her in the left side of her chest. She continued to share how she turned blue from lack of oxygen and then white as paramedics were called to the scene. Her mother began praying as she struggled to know what she could do for her daughter. CPR was dangerous because if the ribs were broken they could puncture the heart. The moment when all seems lost, Jesus is the answer… MaKayla’s only injury was a mark of the horse’s hoof imprinted on her chest. Her only reason for what happened is that God had a plan for sparing her life and she is now impacting her classmates by telling the story of how Christ has delivered her. Wow, to God be the glory! Speaking in front of a large group of students can be very scary, especially in middle school. We’re so proud of MaKayla for overcoming her fears, listening to God’s call and reaching her campus for Christ by sharing what God has done in her life.
 
This is just one testimony of what occurs every week on nearly 200 campuses across the Greater-Birmingham Area. God is using the lives of students to reach their peers for Christ. Equipping the next generation of leaders to share what Christ has done in their life is vitally important and has become our First Priority. Do you want to get involved? We need your prayer and support to continue equipping students with a platform, strategy and provision for ongoing effective campus ministry outreach. Call us today at 205.871.8886 or visit firstpriorityal.com to learn about the different ways you can help us continue to reach students with the hope of Christ.

New Year, New Opportunities!

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New Year, New Opportunities! 
  

It’s a new year filled with new opportunities! We hope you’ll take a moment to learn a little bit more about First Priority and the different ways you can be involved with this great ministry. The impact First Priority is making on students’ lives would never be possible without your prayer and support. Together, we can continue to reach students with the Hope of Christ. Let’s make 2017 the best year yet!
 
First Priority is a strategy for students to share the Love and Hope of Jesus Christ with every student in their school. We connect the CHURCH to the CAMPUS to share CHRIST with students. We are currently in our 26th year of ministry serving elementary, middle, junior high and high schools across the nation and world.
 
New studies from Barna say, “If Jesus is not already part of students’ lives by the time they leave junior high school, the chance of them professing Him as their Lord and Savior is very slim (6% to be exact).” That is why we unite the body of Christ with a plan of action to influence the school with the Gospel.
 

First Priority helps the local church extend its ministry to school campuses. We partner together to work with schools to help set-up and organize clubs that meet before school that are student-initiated and student-led. The public school is the largest mission field in America. We provide Christian students with a platform, strategy and support for ongoing effective campus ministry outreach. These students are on a 9-month mission trip when school is in session. None of this would be possible without your help! There are several ways you can get involved:

 
Pray – The ministry of First Priority could never be what God truly wants it to be without consistent prayer. Ask your church congregation to pray over students and commission them to go and be disciples in their school. Please be in constant prayer for students who don’t know Christ, and for Christian students to be bold in sharing their faith. Pray for our staff, volunteers, faculty sponsors, campus coaches, students and schools. When you pass by a school, pray for that school. Make a school zone your prayer zone.
 
Promote – Share the vision and mission of First Priority within your circle of influence. Pray about who would be blessed and interested to know about and support the mighty work that God is doing on our school campuses. We have a lot of resources available that you can share with others at firstpriorityal.com. Ask your church to give First Priority opportunities to speak and raise awareness about the ministry. Encourage your church’s youth pastor to promote First Priority with your youth group and to encourage students to attend club meetings, be on leadership and to invite their lost friends.
 
Participate – First Priority is always in need of volunteers. Most of the students in our schools will never step foot in a church, but they will attend school. We need to go to them. Encourage members of your church to get involved with First Priority and to participate and connect with students on our campuses. E-mail us at info@firstpriorityal.com to get involved.
 
Provide – Support First Priority financially and help ensure that every student in our area is reached with the Hope of Christ. It takes $3,000 to fund each school that we serve. I would like to encourage you to help support one or several of the more than 200 schools across the Greater-Birmingham Area. CLICK HERE to support First Priority. Call205.871.8886 or visit firstpriorityal.com to learn how you can join this Gospel movement to advance the Kingdom of God.
 
Will you commit to praying about how you can be involved with First Priority?

Hurry, only 3 days left to DOUBLE your investment to reach students with the Gospel!

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Hurry! There’s only 3 days left to DOUBLE your investment to reach students with the Hope of Christ! 
Once again this year, some donors have agreed to match every special gift we receive in November and December dollar-for-dollar up to $100,000! DONATE HERE online or place your gift in the mail today and it will be counted toward our 2016 campaign and be instantly doubled: First Priority – PO Box 59365, Birmingham, AL, 35259.
If you have already given a gift, thank you for your generosity. If you haven’t given a gift yet, please let me take a moment to remind you that in these challenging economic times there’s no better way to continue your partnership with First Priority! Your year-end gift of $25, $50, $75, $100 or even more will have twice the impact in young lives during the 2016 Victory Matching Challenge. Can I count on your support?
 
We continue to be excited about the success we’ve had in this 26th year of First Priority’s ministry, and the opportunities that lie ahead for 2017. That’s why I’m asking for your support right now during this important challenge. Your help is vital support to the work of thousands of students who bring the Gospel to the public school campuses through First Priority. During our 2016 Victory Matching Challenge, your extra special gift of $25, $50, $75, $100 or even more will be twice as effective! Please consider sending your generous gift by 11:59 p.m. on December 31! A gift in any amount will be instantly doubled for twice the joy, twice the hope and twice the love to a student who so desperately needs to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ! Please let me hear from you soon!

Keeping Christ the First Priority,

Greg Davis

President

Only 3 days left!

Nearly 300 decisions for Christ this fall… it’s because of you!

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Students’ lives are being changed because of
your help! 
We are excited to announce out of the schools that have reported, nearly 300 students have made a decision for Christ on their school campus this fall semester. There have been countless more salvation decisions at First Priority sponsored events this school year as well. These students have been followed-up with to be discipled and become involved with a local church. Wow, God is good!
First Priority works! Lives are being changed. With this movement, all it takes is one student and an entire school and generation can be changed for Christ. God is truly amazing and we know He can do anything. We can’t wait to see how He is going to move in our schools and through our students during the spring semester 2017.
None of this would be possible without your help! Will you continue your partnership with First Priority and participate in our Victory Matching Challenge? Some friends of First Priority have gotten together to challenge the ministry to raise $100,000 in November and December, and they will match every penny donated. Your gift of $25 will be immediately doubled to $50. Your $100 gift will be matched to make a $200 gift and $250 becomes $500. We hope you will consider giving a gift for our year-end Victory Matching Challenge. We have been doing this campaign for over 15 years and because of the impact it has made we have seen tens of thousands of lives changed. Every gift of love, every prayer, every word of support to a Christian student, faculty sponsor or youth worker means that another student will have the opportunity to hear the life-changing Gospel of Christ! Please prayerfully consider giving a gift for our year-end Victory Matching Challenge. Thank you for helping us share the HOPE of Christ with the next generation through your generous donations!

Over 90 decisions for Christ since October!

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Hope
Over 90 decisions for Christ since the
beginning of October! 
We are excited to announce that, out of the clubs that have reported, there have been over 90 decisions made for Christ in First Priority clubs just since the beginning of October! Wow, God is good! These students have been followed-up with to be discipled and become involved with a local church. First Priority works! Lives are being changed. With this movement, all it takes is one student and an entire school and generation can be changed for Christ. God is truly amazing and we know He can do anything.

Last school year, middle and high school clubs began implementing First Priority’s HOPE Strategy, a 4-week cycle that is repeated every month: Help Week, Overcome Week, Prepare Week and Engage Week. To assist with carrying out this strategy, First Priority developed the HOPE curriculum, a comprehensive, informational packet of resources that leads, guides and directs teacher sponsors, campus coaches and students as they prepare for their meetings. Teachers have informed us that the HOPE curriculum is very exciting. It has raised the bar for students and provides valuable resources for them to be successful.

We have received more and more reports of the impact First Priority is making on unchurched students. These students thirst for God but can’t make it to church on Sunday because they live in a family that doesn’t go to church. We have seen students take on leadership roles who would not get that experience if it wasn’t for First Priority. We have seen lives changed due to the power of prayer. The great things happening in our clubs for God’s Kingdom is endless! The public school is the largest mission field in America. Students on our campuses work each week to ensure the gospel is spread throughout their school. They are unashamed and eager to share their faith and help their friends mature in their relationship with Christ. The desire to see their friends accept the love and message of Jesus Christ is evident in the number of salvations reported each school year. While students are reaching students, God is at work shaping lives.

None of this would be possible without your help! There are several ways you can get involved during this remaining school year: Pray, Participate, Promote, Provide. Please click on those links for more info. We hope you’ll begin praying now about how you can get involved in 2017!

Beth Nimmo’s word of encouragement at our SCORE Benefit Lunch

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Beth Nimmo shared her heart at our SCORE Lunch 

 

First Priority held its SCORE (Students Count On Real Examples) Benefit Lunch on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, at The Club. We would like to thank all those who attended and helped support this special event financially. The ministry of First Priority has been able to touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of students over the past 25 years because of faithful people like you.
Nearly 160 guests and volunteers joined us for a great time of encouragement and fellowship. Everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch and an amazing and inspiring message by Author and Special Guest Speaker Beth Nimmo. Beth is the mother of Rachel Scott, the first person murdered during the Columbine massacre on April 20, 1999. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room during Beth’s message. Beth shared personally about her daughter’s life. She talked about Rachel’s journal entries and how God protected her story so that no one would interrupt what He was doing. She shared that Rachel prayed for one friend who would unite with her, and talked about the importance of First Priority and how it unites students together to be strong in their faith and share Christ with others. Beth talked about this world and how bad everything is today. She stressed the importance of being there for our children. “We need to do our part and be there for this generation,” said Beth. “Our children need us desperately. We are their safe place.” In closing Beth said, “She’s gone, but we’re here. We have a mission. I’m asking that we do our part. It’s essential we’re here for our children.”
You can learn more about Rachel and how her life has touched millions by
CLICKING HERE. We appreciate Beth for opening up and sharing Rachel’s story personally as we can’t even begin to imagine how hard it must be.
We continue to work to raise up a generation of students who will choose to make Jesus Christ their First Priority, and who will not be ashamed to share Him with their peers. 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 chance of them accepting Him as their Lord and savior is very slim (6% to be exact).” That is why we unite the body of Christ with a plan of action to influence the school with the Gospel.
If you weren’t able to attend the Lunch but would still like to support our SCORE Campaign, please mail your gift to: PO Box 59365, Birmingham, AL 35259, or you can make an online donation by CLICKING HERE. We hope you will help us continue to reach this generation with the hope of Christ. CLICK HERE to view pictures from the Lunch.

We would like to give a special thanks again to our speaker Beth Nimmo, and to all those who helped make this event a huge success.

“I’m Not Ashamed” movie hits theaters THIS Friday!

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Take your students to see “I’m Not Ashamed”

 

On April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School, two teenage boys entered their school with guns and homemade bombs planning to kill hundreds of their classmates. They would murder 12 students and one teacher before turning their guns on themselves. The first student that died that day was Rachel Joy Scott. She was eating lunch in the courtyard outside when she was shot. The killers knew Rachel. They were in classes together. Rachel had shared her faith in Jesus with them. Moments before her death, they mocked her, “Do you still believe in your God?” With a gun at her head she replied, “You know that I do.”
“I’m Not Ashamed” is Rachel’s story from her own words. Drawn directly from her writings, we discover the hope in this tragedy. We find the story of a student who showed radical compassion to the hurting and unnoticed. It’s the true story of a girl who was not ashamed to share her love for Jesus to those around her, even to her killers.
“An older generation needs to be reminded and a new generation needs to be told. We cannot be ashamed to speak the name of Jesus.”
“I’m Not Ashamed” will hit movie theaters this Friday, Oct. 21, 2016. We would like to encourage you and your church to take your students to watch the powerful and inspiring true story of Rachel Scott. Click here to find a movie theater near you that will be showing the film.
October is “I am Hope” month and First Priority’s HOPE Guide for middle and high school students is based on the “I’m Not Ashamed” movie and encourages students to Live it & Speak it based from Joshua 1:1-9. God reminds us through the life of Joshua that in moments of growth in our lives, we must not only do as He has commanded us –Live it, but we must also have His word on our tongue, ready to share – Speak it. Verse 9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Students are encouraged to be bold and unashamed to share their faith.
First Priority will be holding our SCORE (Students Count On Real Examples) Benefit Lunch on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016, at 11:30 a.m. at The Club, One Robert S. Smith Drive, Birmingham, Ala. 35209. Our special guest speaker is Author and Speaker Beth Nimmo, the mother of Rachel Scott. If you are interested in attending our Benefit Lunch, please click here for ticket information.
We hope you’ll make plans now to take your students this Friday, October 21, to watch the inspiring true story of a girl who was not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus.

Leader’s Summit recap and pictures

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Students were encouraged to share the Hope of Christ at this year’s Leader’s Summit 
On Tuesday, September 20, 2016, First Priority Greater Birmingham held its 12th Annual Leader’s Summit at Southeastern Bible College. The Summit is a high-impact, one-day conference that features live music and inspirational messages geared toward highly motivated student leaders and teacher sponsors involved in First Priority campus clubs. This year’s conference trained students on our HOPE Strategy and prepared them to lead their First Priority club. This year, our focus was “The how to’s of effective campus ministry,” and the theme was “Seen” based from 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Approximately 600 students, teachers, youth leaders and parents from over 50 intermediate, middle, junior high and high schools across Central Alabama attended this year’s event. Local school boards of education continue to endorse the program, allowing a group of students to attend during the school day and count the event as a field trip. Superintendents continue to excuse First Priority students and teacher sponsors to attend because they see the value in this type of leadership training event. They also witness the positive impact it makes on students’ lives. Superintendent of St. Clair County Schools Jenny Seals told us she continues to approve for students to attend because, “I know that our students will walk away with valuable leadership information that will help to prepare them for whatever paths they may choose.”
Praise and Worship Band The Multis Project kicked-off the morning with upbeat and interactive music that led students into the presence of God. Students enjoyed a day of intense training from First Priority of America’s Director of Ministry Mark Roberts followed by First Priority Greater Birmingham Area Directors James Cato and Debi DeBoer. These directors trained students on the HOPE Strategy, a 4-week cycle that is repeated every month. “God gives us opportunities to be a servant and we must be willing to say ‘yes’ to God’s call,” said James.
To assist with carrying out this strategy, First Priority developed the HOPE curriculum, a comprehensive, informational packet of resources that leads, guides and directs teacher sponsors, campus coaches and students as they prepare for their club meetings. Students were trained on how to use and implement this guide as well.
Following the HOPE training, we held a panel of youth pastors who were available to answer questions students had about how to effectively lead their club. Students also heard an inspiring testimony from Honorary UAB Football Player Timothy Alexander. Timothy was involved in a car accident in 2006 that paralyzed him from the neck down.

Special Thanks To:
“My experience at the Leadership Summit was great. I loved the praise and worship. It truly moved me. From the testimonies, I learned that we should never give up because you don’t know what God has planned for our lives. I am committed to sharing Christ on my campus. I really love sharing the word of God and introducing Him to others!”
– First Priority Student Leader
“I learned many things at the First Priority Leadership Training. One thing I learned is how to use the HOPE strategy to share the love of Jesus, and how not to judge others. Another thing I learned is that you need to act like yourself to witness to others. I loved the Summit! Thank you for inviting us.”
– Salome, First Priority Student Leader
 
“The Leader’s Summit was life changing!! You and your team did an amazing job equipping and encouraging the students! I was fired up to reach more people after I left! Thank you for all you do for the Kingdom!
– Kim, Parent
Leader's Summit Fall 2016
Leader’s Summit Fall 2016

Bring Your Bible to School Day is October 6

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Tomorrow, Oct. 6, 2016, is Bring Your Bible to School Day. On this day, thousands of students across the whole country will share God’s hope and celebrate religious freedom by doing something simple, yet powerful: They’ll bring their Bibles to school and talk about it with friends! Be a part of this nationwide, student-led movement! Bring your Bible to school! Post pictures with your friends to our Facebook Page. We hope you’ll participate!

Eat at Newk’s and support First Priority!

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Eat at Newk’s and support First Priority! 
We would like to invite you to join us for First Priority Spirit Night at Newk’s on Thursday, September 22, 2016, from 4-9 p.m. Ten percent of every purchase made that evening will directly benefit First Priority. We are very excited about this great opportunity! We hope you will come and enjoy a wonderful dinner and support First Priority at the same time.

First Priority is a strategy for students to share the Love and Hope of Jesus Christ with every student in their school. We connect the CHURCH to the CAMPUS to share CHRIST with students. We are currently in our 26th year of ministry serving elementary, middle, Jr. high and high schools across the nation and world.
First Priority helps the local church extend its ministry to school campuses. We partner together to work with schools to help set-up and organize clubs that meet before school that are student-initiated and student-led. The public school is the largest mission field in America. We provide Christian students with a platform, strategy and support for ongoing effective campus ministry outreach. These students are on a 9-month mission trip when school is in session. None of this would be possible without your help! Please plan to join us on Thursday, September 22, from 4-9 p.m. and help support this great ministry!
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