God is Moving in Paris!

“If terrorists want to put France on her knees … they will only succeed in putting Christian believers on their knees, praying for France.” This is the response of a colleague who is serving to reach the Muslim community in Paris.
The recent attacks have had a strange impact on the movement of God in that area. Well, it would be strange if there wasn’t a divine hand guiding circumstances. The Christians of the city have been trying to gather and unite in the effort of glorifying God in this hard soil, but the distracting busyness of life have always seemed to get in the way.

The events of 11/13, however, have catalyzed them into action, perhaps not the result that was intended. In addition to the increased unity among Christian leaders and ministries, the people of Paris seem more open to spiritual conversations (similar to the impact of 9/11 in the US).

Please pray that God’s people would follow Him into this ripening harvest, and bring peace, love and eternal
restoration to the Creator of Life during these turbulent times!

For more on what Cru is up to in France, click here!

Mentoring Mentors

On campus with Jim Green, former president of the JESUS Film

God has given us the great opportunity, working out of Cru world headquarters, to rub shoulders with many pillars of faith and missionary role models. Most of the time, we are students who drink in the wisdom and experience of those who look back on a lifetime dedicated to the work of the Lord and have seen Him move all around the world. Sometimes, however, God turns the tables and allows us to teach them!

As part of my effort to see more of the Lord’s people actively sharing their faith and pouring into the next generation, I’ve been assembling teams from churches and other Christian organizations to get on campus with the gospel. The JESUS Film Project, a ministry that has brought a visual gospel to EVERY country in the world, has jumped in with both feet!

We’ve been amazed to hear even seasoned missionaries, like Jim Green, exclaim their gratitude to Karen and I for showing them how to interact with students and how easy it is to talk to young people about spiritual things! A video of some of them is posted here: TinyURL.com/JFatFullSail

What God did on Campus October 2015

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

how God used us to train the president of the JESUS Film how to share the gospel with students on campus!
about a director of 240 churches learning from us how to build Cru ministries in Minnesota
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

Why We Fail to Reflect the Image of God

One of the talks that blew me away the most at Cru15, our staff conference, was the one presented by Andy Crouch on reflecting God’s image. It was surprising to hear him describe the image of God as a combination of “authority” (Genesis 1:26) and “vulnerability” (Genesis 2:25). We tend to think it almost blasphemous to consider God vulnerable in any way—but the Bible describes a God who is often grieved, and was there ever a more vulnerable act than for Jesus to put aside all the privileges of godhood to suffer and die for His enemies (Philippians 2:5-8)?

What does that mean for us? Crouch believes that in order for us to truly flourish as image bearers, we must have both authority and vulnerability. He says that the fall created inequality, injustice and idolatry because some would escape vulnerability at the cost of others losing authority. According to Crouch, this hurts both parties, cutting us off from the life God intended for us. He calls “privilege” a wind that blows us away from vulnerability and away from fellowship with God.

You can’t read Scripture without seeing God’s mandate for us to love the impoverished, and that would mean those with power (that’s you and me) becoming vulnerable and giving our authority to those without it. That doesn’t mean a handout from on high, nor does it mean Cru comes to “show churches how it’s done.” Our posture must be to lift others up, and I’ve still got a lot to learn about that kind of humility.

ON MISSION in NJ

A major issue discussed at our staff conference was how our ministry needs to grow to reflect the population. Cru has not had a stellar track record ministering to minority students, and our staff is sorely unbalanced. NJ, however, has always been ahead of the curve in this area. National leaders have even remarked that the ministry there reflects such a picture of the diversity we will see in Heaven. Karen and I have always felt strongly about supporting minority staff as part of our own giving to the Lord and Zara is our newest addition. She just finished raising her initial support and thinks back to when she was a Freshman at Monmouth University:

“I was so nervous that I wouldn’t find a good group of people to spend the next 4 years of my life with. I found Cru the 1st week of school at the club fair. I was so thankful to find a caring community passionate about Jesus and connecting others to Him. Through Cru, I found some of my very best friends and learned how to share my faith, live a Spirit filled life, and live my life on mission.” Pray for Zara as she sets out on campus!

FAMILY UPDATE

What a month of changes! Arthur started 2nd grade and Katherine started Kindergarten (always makes us laugh that we slip into German between pre-school and 1st grade). Kat was so excited to ride the bus with Arthur and MacKenzie (daughter of our dear friends/co-workers/neighbors Brian & Amy)!

Arthur has been accepted into the gifted “SPARK” program at school; we’re so proud of him and thankful he has this opportunity to challenge and inspire his amazing mind. We love his teachers and are excited for him. Little man finally lost both his top front teeth, victorious after many weeks of wiggling. Karen shed a tear when she realized he had officially grown out of his “baby face.”

Katherine has been majorly into “arts & crafts” lately, drawing and cutting all kids of things (creatures, cars, landscape) out of paper and foam pages. We’re still reeling from the idea that our tiny daughter is off to school and growing up so fast. Her first few days have been met with mixed feelings as she adjusts to all the structure in addition to being away from home so much, but we’re confident that her sweet and experienced teacher is the perfect ally as we help Kat grow and develop.

I (Karen) have been delighted to be back out on campus ministering alongside Jeff. I’ve had some really great conversations with students at Full Sail and Valencia East. I had the incredible opportunity to share the gospel with Stephanie and see her put her trust in Jesus. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t get much better than that! I also got to meet with Emily, who is a Christian but has gone her own way recently. While talking, it became clear that she is unsatisfied and has felt a desire to walk closely with Jesus again. I’m hoping God will use me to continue to encourage her and help her grow in this way.

Please join us in praying for Arthur’s teachers Ms. Smith (2nd grade) and Mrs. Whalen (SPARK) and Kat’s teacher Mrs. Beaudet 🙂

Team Effort

God has truly been answering our prayers as Cru has caught a strong heart for partnership. 8/31 was a beautiful example.

Students and staff from different areas (Valencia, UCF, Full Sail and Headquarters) along with members of our church joined us on a campus where we’ve never been before to share the gospel and launch a new movement!

I was thrilled to see our church friends learning how to share their faith for the first time and having deep and wonderful conversations. One of them turned to me and said what many students have before, “I was scared coming here, but this was great! People are so willing to talk. They come right up to you!” She then described how a Buddhist student was asking them all kinds of truly open questions about Christianity.

By the end of the day, over 200 students filled out surveys indicating interest in helping launch Cru on their campus. At least 4 people heard the entire gospel and two people prayed to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior! Praise God for all He is doing, and please continue to pray for Valencia College’s East campus and for more

What God is doing On Campus this month!

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

how God used us to bring a team of ministries and church members to launch a ministry on a new campus which has already seen 2 come to Christ!
about Zara, a powerful new missionary on staff with Cru in NJ
our kids’ latest adventures
and just a sample of what God has been teaching us through our recent missionary conference, about why we fail to reflect the image of God

Click HERE to read more

REACHING THEM WHERE THEY ARE – ONLINE

Our former NJ supervisor coaching digital team leaders

3,059 students are attending 180 Cru mission trips this year in 52 countries. They come back changed forever, saying it was the best experience with God in their lives. But only about 5% of our students get to go, while many of the rest fall away from God without the fellowship they had on campus.

That’s why I’ve teamed up with my former supervisor, Rob Mittuch, to be a part of creating this online mission trip called Summer Connect, which takes them through daily devotions and weekly faith step challenges using apps, social media, etc.

Each Sunday night, 1,300 students gather in a web conference (from as far as Iceland) to share what God’s been doing in their lives and to hear from our top speakers!

Pray for the impact they can have for the kingdom! You can get a sneak peak into what they’re up to THIS WEEK or sign up yourself!

Latest News

Cru student, Tim, teaches me guitar at Worship Night on campus.

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

how God is bringing churches together to reach students in a city
about a new ministry to and through lawyers has just been launched
our kids’ latest adventures
and just a sample of what God has been teaching us through our recent missionary conference

Click HERE to read more