There I am standing in a sea of what I’m told were 80,000 people attending the Together 2018 conference at the Texas Motor Speedway in October.  What an incredible opportunity to hear from over 40 bands and speakers like Francis Chan, Hillsong and Priscilla Shirer! So why on earth would I stay out of ear-shot most of the time, cooped up in some garage?  The answer is beautiful!

     While many conferences like these suffer from people going back to “normal life” afterward and losing much of what God did in their hearts, we were able to offer another option.  Teaming up with InterVarsity, Chi Alpha, YWAM and several other ministries, we worked side-by-side to create a journey for students to walk through. Here they could explore the next steps God put on their hearts to reach their college, high school and town for Christ.  Watch this time-lapse video of people praying over their communities on a giant world map.

    A highlight for me was meeting Joe and Kayden, both high school students.  After mapping out who in their lives needs to hear the gospel, how to share it, and who could help them, it was my turn to help them plan their next steps.  They texted their youth pastor to hold them accountable to the goals they set. They’re committed to reading the Bible each night, praying more consistently through the Echo Prayer App, asking non-Christian friends the Sometime Question and making friends with Christian students at their future college. What goals will you make?

Across the country, ministries from multiple campuses have been teaming up to host fall retreats, a special time of accelerated community and spiritual growth for many students.  Listen in on this neat conversation some students had at one recently!

     There we were, standing close around the fire, when a guy I didn’t know budged into our talking group to roast a marshmallow. Some of us introduced ourselves and he mentioned that “this is the best weekend I think I have ever had ever!” One of the girls from my school exclaimed “Me too! I don’t think I’ve ever had a better weekend!” When I asked them why, the man said “well I’m really new to religion, so this whole Jesus weekend has been really wonderful.”

He had come to know Jesus only a couple of months ago, under extreme circumstances. To this, the girl said “I just met Jesus on Tuesday!”

What a wonderful sight it was for me to witness this exciting conversation between two new believers in Christ. They were both so joyful, telling each other “I’m so glad you found God!”

Please join me in praying for these new Christians, and the many others exploring faith in Jesus in the midst of new community!

     “THAT’S ME!” yelled Emily, throwing her hands up excitedly.

That was her response when Marissa and Rachel approached her saying, “We are looking for students who are passionate about their faith and want other students to know God and grow. Do you know anyone like that?”

Marissa and Rachel laughed and sat down at the table where Emily had been reading a textbook. It was just her third day at sunny El Camino College in California. “I want to see Christians on campus sharing the gospel and on fire for Jesus,” Emily said, explaining her vision. As Marissa and Rachel presented the Great Commission and the vision of Cru with her, Emily responded: “That’s exactly what I’m about!”

     Emily is one of 500,000 students on 50 college campuses around Los Angeles. I (Jeff) am part of a six week “Expedition” to explore, prayer walk, meet students and, by faith, launch gospel movements at 15 new campuses (including El Camino College, Pasadena City College, Glendale Community College, Cal State LA, LA City College, East LA College, Santa Monica College, and West LA College).

Please pray for me as I help the team engage churches who can help us meet and equip these powerful students.  Pray for logistics and for financial provision.  Also, click here to see more photos from Expedition LA and meet some of our new student leaders!

   Many of the students I work wit

h graduate to head into careers in entertainment.  Just as many students slide in their faith when they get to college, many more can slide when they enter into a culture that is very intense and often hostile toward God.  It’s important to have those who love Jesus and are living on mission with Him to help “unpack your bags” when you enter into a new community of any kind, but especially Hollywood.

This is why I am so blessed to have met Karen Covell of the Hollywood Prayer Network.

A former Cru missionary herself, Karen has been my guide in identifying and building relationships with God’s agents here in “Tinseltown.”  God has not forgotten those who influence the media, and there are several thriving communities of believers who work in TV and the big screen.  I’ve been able to connect with our college graduates out here as well, and many of them are hungry to plug in with believers who understand the industry and how to walk with Jesus and be a light for Him at the same time.  Please join us in praying for Hollywood, these graduates, and the students whose bags they will some day help unpack as well.

   Fun can be sacred, and a lot of work!  The first weeks of school are by far the most important for college ministry.  Freshmen hit the campus lost, confused and desperate to fit in.  Whom they connect with during those first flailing days often defines much of the trajectory of their school years and beyond.

This is why Cru missionaries and student leaders invest an incredible amount of our time and resources on fun to draw the attention of wide-eyed Freshmen and invite them into the promise of a safe community where they can explore and expand faith in Jesus.  Our role has also been to help get more people involved in this process.

We want to see Freshmen coming onto campus having already made friends with Cru because they were introduced as prospective students by their churches back home.  We want to see local churches welcoming the Freshmen side-by-side with us, so they naturally connect to the multi-generational body of Christ while at school.

     We’ve seen a lot of progress here, with churches even hosting our Cru students’ summer programs and semester planning meetings.  Please pray pray pray for these incoming students to plug in and grow for Jesus, and pray for church partnerships to grow everywhere!