Of the now 64% of Christians who drop out of the church when they get to college, a majority of them are arts/entertainment majors who never learn how to integrate their subject with their faith.  We’re working to change that, and Christina is a good example.

     Christina is a student volunteer helping with audio on a faith-based entertainment industry podcast we’ve helped launch. With mentorship, she’s using her amazing talents in singing and audio production for God’s glory.  She just graduated from Full Sail University saying, “I’m excited to know that whatever I do as a career, the Lord will continue to give me His favor because I’m doing it for Him.”

     You can watch these video updates from our dear friend, Derrick Whitmore, on some of the other things God has done through our partnership with his art & faith ministry called Shattered Studios: tinyurl.com/Shattered2019.

   Megan and Paulina had never been to Cru or met anyone involved. Yet, somehow they decided to go to Fall Retreat last year. How did that happen?

     “My mom saw a Facebook post and told me about it. She said she’d completely pay for me and a friend to go.” So, Megan invited Paulina, whom she had recently met in class. Megan and Paulina got into a car with Elizabeth, one of the Cru student leaders, and drove up the mountain to Fall Retreat. They quickly connected with Elizabeth and others at the retreat, and they found themselves understanding the gospel more deeply through the guest speakers’ talks from Romans 8. They also saw the need to spread the gospel at their school. Back on campus, Megan and Paulina became a fixture at Cru events.

     Elizabeth asked if they would like to be part of a discipleship group she would lead.  She was super nervous because she had never mentored or discipled anybody before, but Megan and Paulina immediately said “yes.”

     Elizabeth reported that “each of them are eager to go out and share their faith with other students. It’ll be a priority every week!”  Elizabeth’s hope is that the girls she is discipling would start their own discipleship group this semester with other girls who are looking to grow in their faith. This multiplication is something that we want to see happen on every campus.

     Please pray with us that Megan and Paulina would mentor others, and that Fall Retreats happening all over the US this month would see similar transformation.  We’re so grateful for partners like you helping us make disciples on every campus!

   Just the other day, Karen and I were blessed to participate in a Global Day of Prayer alongside Cru missionaries and partners from around the world.  While previous iterations have centered a lot around what God is doing and what we’d like Him to do across the various ministries, this time was much more intimate and relational-focused.  We prayed through Larry Crabb’s PAPA Prayer journey, which consists of Presenting yourself to God (as you are, not as you’d like to be), Attending to how you have been viewing God wrongly (ex. as a vending machine or a tyrant), Purging yourself of the things you’ve placed as higher priorities than God, and Approaching the throne of your loving Father in silent contemplation and relationship. 

     As we explored each of those steps in depth, I uncovered and really invited God to deal with some of the issues in my heart.  One issue is the pride with which I can gauge people against myself as the standard.  Too often I apply a version of “anyone driving faster than me is a maniac and anybody driving slower is a space cadet” to all kinds of issues.  As I seek to partner with people from many different cultures and denominations, I need to check my heart for the humility to look for how I can learn from others (Phil 2:3).

     I also explored how quickly I rush past the hard feelings of a situation to find solutions.  Karen and I spent a long time just acknowledging the difficult feelings and experiences we’ve had, without trying to solve or mitigate them (Romans 12:15).  It was a refreshing time of unity and growth!

     One Cru summer mission trip took 14 high school students and two college students to Manta, a city on the coast of Ecuador, helping our national staff there expand to this new part of the country.

     In just ten days, they gave 160 classroom presentations and saw 1,722 students (as well as several teachers) put their faith in Christ!

     One new believer, Justin, came to church that Sunday with the team. On Monday, he asked to come to the next gospel presentation. By the end of the day, he was sharing his testimony with his peers and leading them through a prayer to invite Jesus into their own hearts! Please pray for Justin to continue to grow in Christ and impact others with his newfound faith. Pray also for the ripple effects of all our 200+ mission trips from this summer.

Have an hour to walk on a campus and want to see God do something amazing? This is a strategy that God has used to start gospel avalanches all over the world!

Pray: Nothing of eternal significance is going to happen unless God moves. Before you talk to students about God, talk to God about students.

Speak Up: The best way I’ve found to get people’s attention as they’re passing by is to say “excuse me.” You might follow that up with something like, “could you help me out?” Here, watch this video to hear what to do next.

Challenge: If they’re not a Christian, or they are, but are not interested in leading, they are not the one you’re looking for right now. Feel free to exchange info if they want to and plug them in later, but you are looking for the students who will lead this movement right now.

If they ARE feeling the call to reach their campus for Christ, ask if they can take a few minutes with you to talk about what God might want to do. Then, take them through the exercise in this video below.

If the student has been on board through this conversation, get them to text you or you text them so you can follow up. Just working through the vision and contacts they filled out can empower them to launch a whole movement on their campus (and sometimes more than one campus)! Here’s a video about what those follow-up meetings can look like.

This process can ultimately lead to a whole movement. Here’s a video with some vision.

   No doubt about it, the first weeks of school are the most important for reaching new students. Watch this video from the perspective of our Rutgers student leaders (pictured right): https://youtu.be/FFjtWqlkiQw.

     Micah (pictured below) was a new student last year. He met a Cru student, Kevin, the first week of school during a freshman outreach. Micah told Kevin he grew up as a pastor’s kid and knew “all that church stuff,” but wasn’t sure he believed it all…

     Kevin discipled Micah almost weekly that whole semester, but was discouraged that he hadn’t seen any “improvement” in Micah knowing Jesus. It was humbling, realizing his own efforts alone were not enough. Micah came back from Christmas break hungry for what the Bible said and desiring to be in community with other Christians, but shared that his girlfriend was making decisions that were putting Micah at a crossroads to either follow her or follow Christ.

     Two weeks later, Micah said that after church he was sobbing on his knees and asking Jesus to be Lord of his life. He broke up with his girlfriend and decided to go on a Cru Summer Mission at Walt Disney World here in Orlando! Here, he got to witness to coworkers from around the world. Micah is back on campus now  and God has been revealing a gifting for evangelism. Pray for Micah and for this year’s freshmen!

   This is all still very in-process, so I’m not sure I have a nice bow to tie at the end of this topic, but here goes:  As an introvert, I often feel a tension between God’s call to be His hands and feet in the world and my own limited capacity to be among people.  Do I need to change in order to be faithful?  I understand that we can’t always be in our comfort zone, but how do I know when/how to push myself and when/how to rest and recover?  This is a regular topic of my quiet time with the Lord.

     One thing I feel led by God to consider is, “what is draining me about being with people?”  I’ve heard there is healthy, natural weariness that just needs a break, but that burnout is a sign that we’re doing something wrong (kind of like lifting with your back instead of your legs).  I can be drained by people in an unhealthy way when I worry about other people’s opinions. “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25). 

     I can also carry the weight of other people’s situations in my own heart.  That’s a boundaries issue–owning other people’s shame, pain, or responsibility rather than simply having compassion for them.  Either way, rest in this situation is to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) and “cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken” (Psalm 55:22).

     Putting down those burdens can help, but knowing how to refuel is important, too.  I can idolize “alone-time” sometimes, but what truly refuels us is hoping in the Lord and being filled with His Spirit (Isaiah 40:31, John 7:38-39).  Let’s pray for each other, that we never lose sight of our first love in the midst of trying to care for ourselves and love others well!

This may look different depending on the size group you’ve got. Click the option below for…

Ministry can happen ANYWHERE!  Karen and I had the pleasure and honor of leading this team of missionaries to spread the gospel in the gaming world at a local convention!  Just imagine a room full of people making new friends across gaming tables.  What an incredible opportunity to build relationships with those who don’t yet know Jesus!

God was so clearly present as we prayed for people, heard stories of Him at work during our morning devotionals, and actually shared the gospel (I’m so proud of Karen’s boldness and love).  With the community of mission-minded believers we pulled together, we were able to launch a new Facebook group aimed at equipping churches and individuals around the country to reach their neighborhoods for Jesus through a casual game night!  Please pray that this impact continues to multiply.

I have to admit, I’m always a little intimidated to fly across the country and live in a college dorm again with 5 thousand of my fellow missionaries.  I always encounter the Lord at this staff conference, but the introverted part of me can be overwhelmed.

     When I get there, though, it is like a family reunion.  So many people I’ve had the pleasure to work alongside in storming the gates of Hell on college campuses across the nation, and so many more stories of how Jesus transforms lives in even the darkest of places!

     This conference, I was looking for opportunities to make friends with more Cru staff who have not yet discovered the power of partnering with local churches.  It is amazing how God brought them to me, often when I wasn’t even looking.  One man named Jeff from San Diego found me during a break and was full of questions, saying God had been putting this on his heart.  Another couple was introduced to me in the dining hall when one of our national directors spotted me and dragged me over to the table saying, “this is the guy you’re looking for!”  I looked down to see they had already written my name in their journal :).

     My favorite moments, though, were meeting up with Will, Ryan and Joel.  All three of these guys were students with Cru at campuses I helped launch and are now full-time missionaries!