First Priority of Alabama

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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?

Nearly 750 students made a decision for Christ during 2015-2016!

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Raising up a generation for the Kingdom   
Dear Friend,

For the past 25 years, First Priority has worked to see the Hope of Christ in every student across the Greater-Birmingham Area. During this time, we have seen hundreds of thousands of lives transformed for the Kingdom. We thank God for His great power and we give Him all the praise and glory for these changed lives.

During the 2015-2016 school year, out of the schools that reported, over 13,210 students attended First Priority and FPKids every week when school was in session; and we are excited to announce that nearly 750 students made a decision for Christ on their school campus. There were countless more salvation decisions at First Priority sponsored events throughout the school year as well. These students were followed-up with to be discipled and become involved with a local church. Wow, God is good!
FPKids was a hit again with nearly 4,000 students in attendance each week. FPKids is a First Priority curriculum for elementary and intermediate schools. Our mission is to reach students with Christ at a younger age.
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 for the 2015-2016 school year. While students are reaching students, God is at work shaping lives.
In my 20 years of working with this great ministry, I can tell you that First Priority works and that lives are truly being changed. I am very blessed to have witnessed the incredible transformation of students first-hand. 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 in the years to come. We hope you will take a moment to check out our full ministry report to learn about all the incredible things God did during the 2015-2016 school year through First Priority.

Keeping Christ The First Priority,

Greg Davis
President
First Priority Greater Birmingham

What is your First Priority story?

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What is your First Priority story? 

The following is a testimonial from Adria, who was a member of First Priority when she was in high school:
When I committed my life to Christ as a sophomore in high school, I got involved in my youth group and invited people to church. When I got my driver’s license, I loaded as many people as I could each week into my little car to take to church with me. That was good, but I realized there was so much more that I wanted to do for Him. I wanted everyone I knew to experience what I had by allowing Jesus to be Lord of my life. I thought about all of the students that I was around each and every day in my own school. I couldn’t fit them all in my car, but I could take church to them…at school. When I shared my burden of my school with my youth pastor, he told me about First Priority. I rallied together a few friends and shared with them how I would simply like to meet each week to pray and have a Bible Study before school. By hanging up a few posters and passing the word around, we began a First Priority Club my junior year at our high school that had about 30 students at our first meeting. By the end of the year, we had about 80 students gathering in our gym each Wednesday morning and grew to have up to 150 my senior year. Within those two years, I saw our club become one of the most happening things in our school. We had many of the area youth pastors involved and saw the churches begin to work together to grow the Kingdom of God. As the music began to play loudly each week, students would come rolling in to see what was going on in the “old gym.” But the best part was the impact that was made on their lives before they would leave the gym and throughout the day by students who were using high school as a mission field.
First Priority had given me a place to really let my light shine so others could see His grace. It was a place where students felt safe and accepted, and we saw so many make decisions to follow Christ. Our school became a different place because of the ministry of First Priority.  As I think back on the many unbelievable stories of lives being changed, I am reminded of two that stand out the most. One of my friends, who could possibly have been voted, “Most Likely to Never Become a Christian,” finally came to First Priority and made the decision to seriously follow Christ. I saw his life totally change! But, what was even better was when he asked to share his story at First Priority one Wednesday morning and filled the gym with people who came to hear what he had to say. So many people were saved because of his testimony then and even now as he pastors his own church.
My other story is a simple comment made to me one day by a girl I didn’t even know. “You are the reason that I’m saved,” she said.  That comment reminds me still to this day to do everything I can to help be the reason that people receive the love of Jesus.

After being in youth ministry for nearly 10 years, my husband went to work for First Priority because we believe in the ministry taking place in the local schools. We want to help begin and better First Priority Clubs throughout our area to help ensure that every teen can be introduced to Jesus in the place they spend most of their time. I love First Priority because I believe it gives students somewhere to be real in a place where they are trying so hard to belong and fit in. I love seeing churches come together with a common goal, realizing that students are searching for something to fill a void and Jesus is what they need. He is the best thing that could ever happen to anyone.

Do you have a First Priority story? If so, please share it with us at:info@gofirstpriority.com. We would love to highlight your story!