There are more than 25 colleges and universities in San Diego, more than 250,000 college students, and a growing number of students who don’t know Christ. In response to this great need, collegiate ministry is casting a large vision throughout San Diego County. It is a full circle vision, one in which college students are reached with the Gospel, discipled in faith, and sent out to serve.

So with a vision that encompasses so much, how do you even begin to unpack it? Strategize? Train? Mobilize? All of these are part of implementing the vision; however, they are neither the first step nor the greatest need for collegiate ministry.

It would be impossible for one church or ministry to reach such a large number of students, so cooperation and unity amongst ministries is essential.

“We want to see ministry partnerships evolve and strengthened to reach the students here,” says Yucan Chiu, a local pastor and Vision San Diego collegiate ministry director.

Fortunately, there is much evidence that ministries are in fact working together to reach students. Many campus entities, like Campus Crusade, InterVarsity, and others, are leading the effort to share the Gospel with college students, joining local churches to minister to this extremely diverse group.

As students come to Christ, the next step is to see them become active in the local church. Therefore, one of the largest strategies for the city is to plant college-relevant churches. Chiu and others are praying that starting new churches with this ministry focus in mind will have a great impact on how the church can embrace college students and help them find a place within the body of Christ.

That place ideally includes an opportunity for service, according to Chiu.

“The hope here is that students experience something that is real and to genuinely be Kingdom agents for the new globalized world that we live in, to be world changers.”

Like any city with a large collegiate population, San Diego simply needs more laborers. Whether it’s a spring break mission trip, a summer, semester, or longer, there are many opportunities for college students and adults to serve on campuses and with local churches to reach out to San Diego students.

Whether you have a special desire to reach college students with the Gospel, want to send a mission team, or are a student desiring to be involved with ministry in San Diego, there is a place for you! For more information you can check out a couple of websites: sandiegomaps.org or visionsandiego.com. You can also send an email to ychiu@visionsd.org or call 858-444-4400 for more information on how to get involved with collegiate ministry in San Diego.

Please see the box at right for specific student ministry-related opportunities.