"My grandpa told me you can read Field & Stream until you are blue in the face and never catch any fish," recalls Vince Purpero with a chuckle. "You gotta go where the fish are."

This Student Venture area director knew that he and his staff team couldn't fish all the lakes at once, so he asked for more fishermen. The Rev. Jim Pagan was one who responded. Today the full-time minister to youth and families at Central Baptist Church in Sanford, Fla., volunteers time with Student Venture.

"It certainly got me out more on the campus," says Jim. "In the past, I'd go to the school for regular lunch appointments, maybe be a guest speaker at an FCA [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] meeting. But Student Venture is able to provide school assemblies and non-threatening reasons for me to be on campus."

Vince also teamed up with VITAL LINC, a Campus Crusade phone-coaching ministry that shows laypeople who care about teenagers how to reach out locally with the gospel. Coaches help volunteers forge a new branch of Student Venture, or they work with someone in a city with existing ministries.

Someone like Payton Montague. Payton covers two-thirds of the state of Florida as an account representative for a major orthodontic manufacturer. With the help of VITAL LINC, he helped start a ministry at Apopka High School and Apopka Memorial Middle School.

"A person has to really explain their schedule to me to tell me they don't have enough time to do something important to them," says Payton, "something they believe with all their heart they should be doing."

Time is the only prerequisite for helping with teenagers, and help isn't restricted to doing evangelism on campus. "In Student Venture, there are 1,000 ways you can be involved," says Vince. "You can bring food, drive kids, lead a Bible study, give a talk, open your home."

And, of course, pray.

"Every single church in the community should be praying for their local high school," says Denise Amat, Student Venture prayer coordinator in Seminole County, Fla. "The future of the neighborhood, local government, the country¬it all depends on today's young people. Eventually we will all be affected by what is going on in the high schools."

You don't have to be a missionary to have a ministry¬just be a fisher of men.

If you want to help change the lives of teens for eternity, call 1-800-789-LINC (5462) for more information about VITAL LINC and opportunities near you.