One of our desires as a BCNet Evangelism Committee is to provide collegiate directors with ideas for evangelism on their campus. We have provided ideas in four categories: First Contact, Conversational Outreach, Community Integration, and Gospel Proclamation. We hope that the following First Contact event will be useful to you and your students!
MATERIALS
We have traditionally hosted Chuckwagon towards the beginning of the Fall semester. We have also had a Cowboy Church that has been at the forefront of this event. They bring an authentic chuckwagon with them and then we set a table out in front of it and serve the breakfast tacos. You don’t need to have these things to pull off an outreach like this… but that is where the Chuckwagon title comes from. For this event you will need:
- as many breakfast tacos as you want to hand out pre-prepared (I would cater the kind of tacos you make to the eating demographic on your campus)
- bacon, egg, and cheese
- egg and cheese
- sausage, egg, and cheese
- bacon and egg (dairy-free)
- etc.
- coolers to keep the breakfast tacos warm
- foil to wrap the tacos in
- salsa, cheese (if you don’t put these ingredients in the tacos)
- ice to keep salsa and cheese cool
- promotion materials (invites to your small groups or events)
- gloves
- hand sanitizer
PRIOR TO THE EVENT
Before the event, you will want to pre-make the tacos and then warm them the day of. I would suggest making them a day or two before and then heating them in the oven. Make sure you have needed permission from your campus concerning handing out food and the proper food handling licensure for your state! You will want to have all the promotional material you are going to use. Have students sign up to help during the event! (This goes better if you have at least 10 students helping, or as many as you can get.)
DURING THE EVENT
Find a high-traffic place on campus where you can catch students in between classes. Even better, split up into pairs and be in multiple high traffic places near where your table is stationed. We have found it effective to do this event in the morning. Getting set-up at 7:30am and then serving till about 10am or until we run out has been the best time frame we have found. (However, evaluate the class schedule on the day you are doing the event and decide the best times.) Setting up near the dorms is as really effective because you hit students who are heading to the D-Hall. This event is very easy, but allows you to raise awareness that your group exists on campus and gives you a practical way to serve the students, but also sharing with them about who you are!
A FEW MORE IDEAS
- You might want to see if you can get a church involved to make the tacos.
- Make posters to show where people can grab a breakfast taco!
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