Are students still seeking God?

One of my favorite outreaches on campus is called “Pizza & God.” We don’t tend to make a strong presentation of the gospel at it, but it opens FAR more opportunities to share the gospel meaningfully. Here’s a recent example my friend Tabitha shared on one of her campuses in New Jersey…

Click here to learn more about the event Pizza & God

I was recently able to attend a “Pizza & God” our student leaders put on at NJIT. This conversation with 6 student leaders and 22 students who were interested in discussing life as it relates to spiritual things… or they were just seeking free food!

Two students from the Middle East who recently moved to New Jersey for school were definitely there with attentive and inquisitive hearts. Sareesh shared how he has pondered for the last 7 years what the purpose of life is and if there really is a Creator. Arvand who was raised Hindu explained his skepticism in all religion but says he believes God exists but isn’t sure who He is or how He reveals Himself to people.

At the end of the evening, Arvand pulled me aside to ask me a few questions.

“If God were to walk into the room right now, what would you do?”

I was first thrown off but as he repeated the question and pointed to a spot on the floor by the door, I couldn’t help but feel a grin stretch across my face! “I would be so happy! I would hug Him so tight!” Even now, my face hurts from smiling as I think of this moment!

Arvand was thrown off by my response saying: “Oh, okay. I didn’t expect that.”

“What did you expect?” I asked.

“Well most Christians I know say that they will fall prostrate on the floor in worship.”

“Oh… uhh… yeah… oops. Probably that too but I’d be so happy to see Him, I guess I’d forget His holiness for the moment as I’d be overwhelmed with His love! Maybe that’s wrong. Oops. Ha.”

“No. Don’t apologize. It’s interesting. Do you think I should fall down to worship Him?” he asked.

I know at one point Arvand and everyone will one day bow down and worship but did I expect him to do that voluntarily at this point? “No. Why would you worship someone you clearly don’t know yet? I think if you got to know Him, that would be a separate thing but right now, you have no reason to worship Him.”

He responded in awe: “Really?! No Christian has ever told me this! I agree! I don’t know Him, how could I bow down to someone I don’t know…. Let me ask you, where do you think I can meet God?”

(Insert shocked face & huge gasp here – could it be this simple?!) “You can meet God anywhere Arvand, even right here.”

Arvand quickly asked his next question: “Okay, so then why do you go to church?”

I could see that he was trying to stump me and so I quickly responded: “Not to meet God. Sure, I can get to know Him better there but I do that on my own at home too. I go to church to be encouraged by my Christian family and friends and to encourage them. See, as Christians, we believe we are better together because God made us each uniquely and when we share with each other what we’ve learned about Him, we grow in deeper love with Him.”

“Wow. I don’t think anyone has ever had an answer to this question before. This answer makes me want to explore your Christian faith more! Hmm… Thank you.”

I’m holding back tears just thinking about this interaction. Arvand connected with Nick, a student leader at NJIT, who hopes to follow up with him. Nick assured Arvand that if he ever came to Cru, they would talk about whatever he wanted because Christ meets us where we are and we desire to imitate Him. Arvand walked away encouraged and even more inquisitive.

Please pray for Arvand and Sareesh. Also pray for Tabitha, and consider supporting her vital ministry to students in colleges all over New Jersey. If you would like to hear more about running a Pizza and God or other ways to reach people for Jesus, I would love to hear from you.

JESUS VS RACISM

Kassy may look silly here, but she’s a smart and powerful student president at Kean University. This year, she got to lead her brother to Jesus at a homecoming outreach using a tool called Soularium.

More recently, though, her leadership has truly been tested! The lives of black students at her school were threatened after a gathering in front of the student center in support of peace across the nation, especially after the death of a black student at University of Missouri and the terrorist attack on Paris. The threat was made on a fake Twitter account indicating that if any black men or women were seen they’d be shot or killed on the spot.

Under Kassy’s leadership, Cru students wore all black to show solidarity, raised awareness, offered prayer for both students and faculty, and modeled the love of Christ to their classmates in many other ways which demonstrated how a Christian should respond in a country divided by racial tensions. Pray God uses them mightily!

JESUS AT THE BEACH

During the month of March 3,000 college students will head to our Spring Break Mission Trips in LA and FL to be trained in ministry and evangelism, and then put that into practice, sharing the gospel with tens of thousands of partying students on the beaches.

This can be a dark place for vacationing students but it is also such a strategic time, evidenced by over 500 new believers who placed their faith in Jesus last year. You have a wonderful opportunity to participate with us. We will have real-time results and names of people who accept Christ on a daily basis and I would love to be able to get people praying for these individuals by name . . . that same day! The list would be a simple list of first names (potentially 100 names per day).

Will you please pray for these new believers in the Lord? I am looking for as many people as possible to be praying with us. If you would like to get this month-long daily prayer update, sign up here (TinyURL.com/BB16Prayer). You can also watch the conference live right along with our student missionaries each day and night at Big-Break.com/live. 12915558134_391120e01f_z

Met with God in the Mountains!

Rafael and Monica hosted me during my stay in LA, and their kids drove me to visit campuses and churches!

It is a common myth missionaries fall into when raising support for their ministry that it is a “necessary step” in order to start doing ministry. In fact, raising support IS ministry, and an incredibly powerful part of what we do. We often see God show up in amazing ways, transforming our own lives as well as those we reach out to for partnership.

This month, while raising support, I had the opportunity to visit 2 churches in Southern California that are trying to launch Cru at their local campuses of California State University (notorious for its “all comers” policy that has driven Christian ministries off campus). I stayed with Eric, a student I’ve been coaching, and his sweet Mexican-American family. Their hospitality and care filled my heart to bursting and showed me an aspect of God more clearly than I’ve ever seen Him before!

As they took me around from campus to downtown LA and into the mountains, then from house to house to church, I couldn’t believe how grateful THEY were to ME, seeking my advice and asking to hear the many stories of God at work around the world.

Karen and I marvel at the blessing of God, who calls us to connect with His children all around the country, share the ministry He placed on our hearts and invite others to link arms with us and with God in His great rescue mission! During these times, God has shown us again and again that He will provide, and all He asks of us is to be faithful to go, do, say and give as He directs. Bless this family, their church and the united efforts to reach students in California for Jesus!

Ministry Prayer Letter

Click HERE for our latest Prayer Letter. I can’t wait to share:

students sharing their faith in the shadow of MTV Spring Break (55 have accepted Christ already in the first 2 days)!
God’s victory over racism and violence at a NJ campus
update on God using us to launch Cru at California State (where legal battles have tried to keep faith-based clubs out)!
our kids’ latest adventures
and just a sample of what God has been teaching us about sustaining joyful lives in turbulent circumstances

Click HERE to read more

Ministry Prayer Letter

Click HERE for our latest Prayer Letter. I can’t wait to share:

how God is using us to launch Cru movements in California State (where legal battles have tried to keep faith-based clubs out)!
about the incredible acts of God last year in Campus Ministry as well as some of Cru’s other movement builders
our kids’ latest adventures
and just a sample of what God has been teaching us about sustaining joyful lives in turbulent circumstances

Click HERE to read more

Final Call from the Founder of Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ)

It is with a heavy heart that I report our beloved Vonette Bright’s homegoing. She died at home on December 23 due to complications from acute leukemia. We do not grieve as the world grieves, but we do experience deep sadness and will miss her so much. It is not hard for me to imagine her in the welcome embrace of her Savior and of her beloved husband.

As you know, Vonette and Bill founded this ministry on prayer and faith in God. And she has led us very well by her example and encouragement. She was always so enthusiastic and positive. Judy and I and all of us as staff around the world have been so blessed by her.

Of course, we aren’t the only ones who have been blessed by Vonette through the years. Join me in praying for Zac and Terry, Brad and Katherine, and the Bright grandchildren as they process this difficult moment in their lives.

We haven’t finalized a date for her memorial service, but we have set up a website where you can get details about that and about a memorial fund – as well as where you can share tributes to Vonette:www.VonetteBright.com. We also plan to stream her memorial service for those who cannot join us in Orlando.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership in gospel.

Yours in Christ,

Steve

Steve Douglass

P.S. If you haven’t heard her last charge to our global leaders, I encourage you to listen to this special conversation.

My Story – Jeff Grant

Since I was very young, I knew God, and I played the religion game pretty well. I was a “good kid” and a relationship with God mattered to me, but ultimately I just wanted to be happy.

By the time I got to high school, my entire world seemed to be crumbling around me and I discovered there was nothing I could do to “be happy,” so it was a foolish goal to have as primary in my life. I tried to live for others, but that didn’t work either.

I hit rock bottom when I realized that I was not a “good kid.” My heart was prone to wander and only complete surrender to the Lord and his constant filling with the Holy Spirit could keep me from even the darkest of sins. He had pursued me my whole life to that moment and by His grace shown me of my need for Him!

After committing my whole life to the Lord, I discovered how rich with Joy my life had become as I stepped into the works He had prepared for me. I woke up to His rescue mission in the world and have charged head-first ever since.

Now, my wife and I are full-time missionaries to college students in Orlando with Cru, opening up our own stories of the Lord’s goodness and equipping them to carry their own testimonies to classmates and to the world!

You can learn more about what that process was like here.

Running on Empty?

Karen and I have come to realize that our hearts have different needs. If we are going to minister well to our family, our community and our mission field for the marathon rather than a sprint, we need to take good care of ourselves as well. We try to become champions of each other’s “tanks,” keeping an eye on whether our spouse is getting the time they need alone, with God, with friends and doing specific things that bring us life (like art or woodworking as Karen is rediscovering for herself).

It’s amazing to see the difference in our attitudes when we’re filled up, but it’s also important to recognize that those tanks will not stay full. They need to be monitored and refilled, but there’s a deeper truth too. We cannot rely on having our tanks or our needs met as the basis for whether we’re doing well. God talks about not trusting in broken cisterns (or wells), but rather in the spring of living water that is a relationship with God (Jeremiah 2:13) and fellowship with the Holy Spirit in particular (John 7:37-39).

So, what is the answer? Do we take care of ourselves or rely on the Lord? In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” That’s not a mystical concept that we will be fulfilled even without the things we love. God LOVES to lavish us with gifts and opportunities, giving us back whatever we surrendered ten-fold!

Uniting the Church

The other week, I was contacted by Jon, a minister in Minnesota who oversees 240 churches. He said they’ve been looking to grow in their ability to reach college students. They knew that was something Cru excelled at and wondered whether Cru did anything to help equip lay people.

Because God opened up this role for me in Orlando, Cru was able to say “yes” where they would previously have needed to say “no.” I took him through a brief overview of the training and resources that I provide and he kept exclaiming how overwhelmed he was at the quality, at the care, and how we provide this as a complimentary service to lay people and churches. We closed in prayer together, both of us brimming with excitement for what the Lord seems to be doing in our hearts and in the united Bride of Christ!

As many areas of the world seem to darken, watch carefully for the light of Christ to shine brighter among his people and pray for unity (John 17:20-23).