Fall Semester Launch at SDSU
A Season of Growth and Connection!

The start of the 2024 fall semester has been full of energy and excitement! We've officially kicked off our fall launch at San Diego State University, and while the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) launch is still a few weeks away, we’re already in high gear, preparing for an impactful season ahead.

This year’s SDSU launch was both exhilarating and exhausting as we tried to build on our previous years' experiences—learning from our past to figure out what worked well and what could be improved. One big change we made was to get more students, student leaders, and volunteers involved in our flyering and mobile mapping efforts for the first three days. In previous years, we often got so caught up in planning that we didn't focus enough on involving volunteers, leaving us stretched too thin. But this year, we made a concerted effort to communicate clearly with our volunteers and student leaders, letting them know how much we needed them. This intentional approach paid off with higher student leader participation and increased collaboration with our Cru partners.

Because of the extra help, we distributed nearly all of our giveaway bags within the first two days, and turnout for our "Burgers and Sunsets" event was better than ever! Our student leaders at SDSU did an amazing job engaging with new international students, welcoming them to our community, and making them feel at home in the U.S. We even had Cru students drive some of the international students to the event, and one of the Cru leaders formed such a strong connection with a student that they ended up attending church together the following Sunday. The student expressed interest in continuing to go to church, which is such an exciting development!

We also joined forces with Cru for their big launch event—a bonfire on the beach—and we saw a great turnout. We invited our international students, like last year, but this time the response was even better. We’re so thankful to see greater numbers of student leaders stepping up, more engagement and ownership from them, and a growing excitement among international students about the Bridges community. And it’s all supported by a passionate team of volunteers who truly believe in the vision of Bridges.

One of the most crucial parts of our launch week is following up with the students who sign up at our events. Our staff and student leaders have been tirelessly reaching out to each student by text or call, offering them more opportunities to engage with the Bridges community and showing them that we genuinely care. Everything we do, we do transparently, sharing that our motivation comes from our faith in Jesus.

Please continue to pray for the seeds planted during this launch and for all the students we’ve connected with. Pray that we would build trust and authentic relationships, and that these students would see the love of Christ through our actions. The fall semester is just beginning, and we are excited to see what God has in store!

GIVE ME SOME ENCOURAGEMENT!

Please email me and tell me how you're praying for us this year.

Samuel.Davis@bridgesinternational.com