Vision and Mission update

Since many people may only know bits and pieces of our vision and mission for ministry at Stanford with Kingdom First, we wanted to share it with you and ask you to pray about how God might want you to partner with us. We are looking for people who will come alongside of us and champion the work that God is doing in the lives of many Stanford students.

Vision (our desires and goals): 

In summary, it is our vision that every student at Stanford would have an opportunity during their time on campus to meet Christ, and as many as are willing to accept Him would have resources available to them as they pursue relationship with God.

Our desire for students is that they would be RECONCILED to their Creator, RESTORED to wholeness through walking with Jesus and through interdependent connection to His Body, EQUIPPED with the tools they need to live Kingdom First, Christ centered lives, and SENT OUT to bring Jesus and His Kingdom into the spheres where they will lead and influence.


We desire for students to really see and come to know Jesus as the Treasure of greatest worth, for their minds to be transformed and aligned with the authoritative Word of God, and for them to depend on and be filled with Christ and His Spirit for the rest of their lives. We believe that obedience, surrender, and a life of true Kingdom significance flows naturally from intimacy with Jesus, a renewed mind and heart, and the indwelling power and work of the Holy Spirit.

Mission (how we accomplish our vision):

As has always been the case, a primary way that people meet Christ is through interactions with His disciples. We recognize that for the most part, it will be through their classmates, friends, and teammates who are already disciples of Christ that non-believing students will have the opportunity to meet Christ. That being the case, our primary focus is on making disciples-- people who are wholehearted in their devotion and obedience to Christ, willing to forsake all to follow, abide in, and become like Him). With discipleship in mind, we engage in the following activities:

• Weekly, large group worship/teaching gatherings called "Cross Training"
• Weekly leadership meeting called "Mission Project" **see notes below for more on this one
• Small group bible studies for each class
• One on one discipleship meetings
• Foreign and domestic service and mission opportunities
• Hikes, backpacking trips, quarterly retreats, bbq's, and other community building activities
• Friday night fun activities initiated by students

We pour heavily into a leadership team of current seniors and recent post grads who play a significant role in determining the overall direction of the ministry. It is our hope that there would eventually be a more established structure for the "Mission Project Internship" in the years to come (** see more about Mission Project below)

**Mission Project: We have had a vision for a few years now of a one year internship program following graduation for any students who have been involved in our ministry. The full vision we have entails 1. part time work with a partner business or ministry, 2. part time work with Kingdom First to serve as a leader to the student ministry on campus, 3. an intensive spiritual formation curriculum covering a wide range of topics relevant to their life stage, and 4. ideally living in a "community conducive" space right off campus that would serve as a hub for ministry to the campus. We have decided this year to experimentally move forward with an Mission Project internship pilot year, and we decided to invite all recent grads and seniors to meet once a week. Our vision for this group is: 1. That these students would serve as leaders in the ministry, taking on various leadership roles and living missionally to the Stanford campus, 2. For this group to help us shape and reshape the spiritual growth curriculum for future years, 3. Most importantly, for this group to fall more in love with Christ and be more devoted to Him by the end of the year, and 4. For this group to become a healthy, thriving body as defined in Scripture. We have about 20 students who have decided to commit to this group, and we have had some really incredible times together. We are very excited to see where God takes this particular group of students and this general vision of ours in the future.

Our Approach to Ministry:

No matter what we do, we believe that it is ultimately God, through the Holy Spirit that does the work that actually matters. He is the one that draws people, prepares the soil of their hearts, and causes His word to take root and grow. As such, we are desperate for the work of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, as well as the lives of every student we interact with. We strive, by God's grace, to be faithful with the students He brings our way each year, and believe that prayer is the single most important thing we can do. While we seek to be as available as possible, we bias our investment of time towards those who are hungriest for God, regardless of how mature or immature they may be in their walk. We do this trusting that God will multiply seed that falls on "good soil."

With that approach in mind, the following is a list of core tenets/values that inform every aspect of our ministry on campus:

• High view of God and His Word
• Fear of God and love for Christ above all else
• Love for the Body of Christ and a deep desire to see all persons reconciled to God
• Dependence on Christ in all things
• Desperation for the Holy Spirit
• A spirit of brokenness, authenticity, humility, forgiveness, and love
• Head level knowledge that is accompanied by heart and spirit level wisdom
• Seeking to teach the full council of God's Word
• Conformity to Christ's image and training to that end

We are very excited about what God is doing on campus, and we are humbled that God lets us do what we do:)We continue to see the monumental importance of future leaders of this world falling in love with Christ and being transformed by Him. As we have said before, a splash for Christ at Stanford truly sends ripples around the world! We hope you will come alongside of us and join in the fruitful ministry that is happening here. God Bless you and yours!