Resurrection at UC Davis

I had not been on campus more than five minutes when someone approached me and asked, “What does your shirt mean? I see shirts and signs everywhere that say ‘I Found it’”

My response was simple: “It means that I’ve found a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Can I tell you how I did that?”

Months of planning and preparing had all culminated in this one week. Our desire to make Christ an issue on campus and raise awareness for Christianity was working, thanks to our three week campus advertising campaign.

You may remember that “I Found it” was a national advertising campaign initiated by Campus Crusade for Christ in the mid 70’s that exposed millions of people in the United States to an opportunity to hear about a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Billboards, bumper stickers, buttons, and t-shirts all announced the phrase to a curious community of non-believers and invited them to call a local number to find out more. Those who did call were greeted with the message of the gospel.

The media campaign was so successful and well-recognized that it was spoofed in the classic slapstick comedy Airplane.

Here at UC Davis, we spent much of the fall quarter brainstorming different ways that we could expose the entire campus to an opportunity to hear the life-saving message of Jesus Christ.

After a lot of discussion, we decided to resurrect the “I Found it” campaign and implement it locally on our campus.

At the beginning of our campaign, students on campus began seeing mysterious orange fliers that simply said, “I Found it.” A website address was also listed, though the website did not reveal any information about the meaning of the phrase.

At the same time, students also began seeing small ads in the campus newspaper that said “I Found it”.

The second phase of the campaign included more fliers and more ads in the campus newspaper, along with sandwich boards on campus. This time, however, the fliers and the ads included pictures of 5 different students who had “Found it”. The website was updated to include the pictures of the students, but the meaning of the phrase was still somewhat of a mystery—that is until this week.

On Monday, April 15th, we began the third phase of the campaign. Over 400 students, representing several different Christian organizations, appeared on campus wearing bright orange t-shirts with the phrase “I Found it” on the front.

More fliers were put up on campus, with orange balloons attached to draw attention to the signs. New ads were placed in the campus newspaper and a table was set up near the student union with a six foot tall by eight foot wide graffiti wall. Students were invited to write their thoughts on the graffiti wall concerning where they find meaning in life.

To say that students took notice of all the orange fliers and t-shirts would be an understatement. Students were attracted to the table because of all the activity. Many simply wanted to know “what’s going on over here?”

Non-Christians began asking for shirts, even though they didn’t fully know the meaning of the phrase.

We passed out 500 cold sodas, with orange lids that included the “I Found it” phrase, along with the website address.

We’re passing out 6000 copies of our Real Life News newspaper. In the newspaper there are testimonies from the five students whose pictures have appeared on the fliers. In addition, there is a full-page ad that lists over 500 students on campus who have “found” a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This is certainly our most ambitious outreach ever. As I write this letter to you, we are in the middle of the final week. This event concludes on Thursday night with a special speaker who will be speaking on the topic of “Why Christianity is True”.

We’ve rented the football field and are praying for over 1000 students to show up to hear the life-changing message of Christ.

By the time you read this letter, this outreach will have already concluded. While we don’t yet know the final results, we can say that this outreach has already been a huge success. Consider these facts:

Well over 50 of our students have been involved in planning this event.

Students have been trained in evangelism.

Over 400 students from 9 different Christian organizations have been mobilized to work together to take the gospel to the campus community.

Many students have already heard the gospel as a result of the campaign.

Thank you so much for your continued partnership with us in this ministry. Your generous giving and fervent prayers have made it possible for more students to “find” a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you would like to visit the “I Found it” website you can do so at the following web address: i-found-it-at-ucd.com.