Please click HERE or on the picture to learn more about how God is using us to reach freshmen and artists as well as the latest news in our family and what God has been teaching us.
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Fall is always a crucial time in our ministry. When even Christian students get to college, 3 out of every 5 walk away from the faith they grew up with, largely because new friends make Christian life seem foolish and lonely.
That’s why we put out so much effort the first few weeks of each semester to welcome all the freshmen to school with lots of fun activities. This year, Karen and I brought the kids with us onto UCF, the largest school in the nation. In the heat and the crowds, we gave out music, videos, comic books and invites to the always popular Cru pancake party! No one could resist the children and we built bonds with students, staff and even other clubs. It was truly a family effort!
That same night, I went out to Full Sail University to team up with InterVarsity and Every Nation at the club fair. Together, we got over 40 contacts, 8 of which came afterward to our joint hangout at Chewy Boba (a bizarre smoothie shop across the street). Pray for more unity like this across churches and organizations!
God has called us to offer the good news about His Son to every person and every kind of person. To that end, Cru has launched movements to young people, athletes, doctors, soldiers, lawyers and the impoverished (to name a few), but we’ve not had a concerted effort to establish a ministry to and through artists and entertainers. This is something we are working to change.
At the Cru17 staff conference, I hosted a table for those who either are artists and entertainers or have a heart to reach them. I connected with 29 missionaries with this same interest and we are continuing the conversation as to how God can use us together to pour into this vital part of our society.
One of the powerful ministries already happening is our artist residency program called TransForm in NYC. Residents become a kind of artist missionary for a year while they learn how to reach their fellow artists. A project I’ve been developing is a board game based on our animated series “Archivo Cero” (file zero) which will launch conversations and relationships, teaching the Biblical literacy through a choose-your-own adventure!
Last month, we mentioned briefly how much overwhelming content there was at the Cru17 staff conference and that we’d be unpacking each of the life changing perspectives for quite a while. One of the messages that has continued to impact the way I (Jeff) do things came from Jenny Allen, author and founder of the IF:Gathering. In her message, which you can watch here, she drove home the value of life-on-life discipleship.
Jenny’s first point to us was, “Do not underestimate the value of a Sonic run.” She had been a Christian for only a year when she started at University of Arkansas and felt like the only believer on campus. Before long, though, she met a Cru missionary named Michelle who invited her out to coffee at a local Sonic and just got to know her. This turned into a regular thing, and those simple talks did more to form her heart for the Lord than many sermons and Bible studies.
She said Jesus taught us that life-on-life discipleship is how we change the world (Matt 28:18-28). Things look pretty grim on the TV and the internet, and we can often feel helpless, but those seemingly small relationships where we pour into Christians and non-Christians make all the difference. After all, Jenny explained, “great people do not do great things. God does great things through surrendered people. To do the work of God is to believe.”
The idea of discipling others may seem daunting, but Jesus lives on the other side of our comfort zones, out on the deep water. Would you ask the Lord who He has put in your life into whom you can multiply the faith He has given you?
Please click HERE to learn more about how God is using us to reach freshmen and artists as well as the latest news in our family and what God has been teaching us.
Please pray for:
This month, 5,000 Cru staff and partners gathered at our biannual conference in Fort Collins, CO. I can’t even begin to describe the level of growth, community, passion, and movement of God that we experienced; but here are a few highlights, and you can watch these amazing speakers at cru.org/cru17/archive.html.
There are few things as encouraging as spending time with people you have poured into and hearing how they have continued to faithfully follow the Lord’s leading. Mike “Butch” Bucceroni is one
of those stories for us.
I (Jeff) got to disciple Butch at Rowan University, teaching him how to walk with the Lord in college, how to lead, and how to share his faith. Butch became a student leader of the Cru movement at Rowan, pouring himself into younger men before graduating.
Now, Butch has joined staff as a full-time missionary with Cru, serving on our conference team (which puts on events like our Big Break mission trip in March that sees hundreds place their faith in Jesus).
Please pray for Butch, for the financial support team he needs to build, for his impact on others, and for his heart as he steps into this wild new chapter in the adventure God has lain out before him
While there is more to unpack from the staff conference than I (Jeff) can write here, I’d like to highlight some of the things I am still processing.
As a Hispanic American with a rough past, Dr. Adam Saenz had beautiful experiences growing in Christ while on staff with Cru; but he also had some very painful experiences in a mostly white community that didn’t always get or accept his differences. He
has gone on to get more degrees than I can count and was asked to help us learn what it means to truly “ō heis” just as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:21).
Adam explained that people can go through different stages of community. In the first stage, “pseudo community,” we’re all smiles and talking about what we have in common (avoiding any parts of ourselves that might divide). It feels good, but it’s shallow and short-lived. Life happens, those differences come out and we fight
over who is right. We can’t stay there, so we either retreat back to pseudo community or move forward by surrendering our need to fix, convert and control. When we share our own brokenness, and accept each other’s with love, true community and healing happens… usually with lots of tears!
Pray for this to happen across the body of Christ!
Please click HERE or on the picture to learn more about how God moved at our latest staff conference, a student we discipled joining staff with Cru, the latest in our family adventures and what God’s been teaching us!
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Grant Ministry 