I’m so excited to hear the hearts of my students as they seek to launch movements where there has never been one before.  Listen to Malaysia from Albany State:

“I am writing this brief statement just to speak having CRU on campus would be extremely beneficial to students. Although there may be positive organizations already, CRU stands out. CRU is an organization for those of us that not only want to grow more in Christ and learn his word, but reach out to the student body as well. CRU is a positive organization that wants to help others.

In college, many students can easily fall away from God, being that some become involved in negativity since they are away from home. CRU is an organization that wants to build up together to make a strong family, and let one another know that it is okay to not follow the crowd. We simply want to have this organization to help others become closer to God, and hopefully it will help transform this campus in a positive way.”

Please pray for Malaysia, for Cru to become an official club at Albany State and for other schools that still have nothing like this.

 

I love the ministry at Angelo State University!  They are the perfect example of what I dream of seeing on campuses all over the US.  Last Spring, we had nothing there, and no prospects of starting anything.  I called a few of the churches in the area and found one that had a heart to reach their neighboring campus.  Out of that call, I got introduced to Rebecca, who (though she’s recently out of college herself) has coached students in an effort to launch a brand-new evangelical ministry where none has been before.

I recently had a coaching call with Rebecca as they continue to work out the bugs in getting recognized as an official club of the school (which will open all kinds of doors for booking rooms, hosting events and getting the word out about the ministry and about Jesus).  She sounded a little discouraged at first, then said, “if it doesn’t happen, we’ll just have to go back to sharing the gospel every week.”

    WOW!

Her biggest challenge is seeing student leaders step up and own the ministry themselves.  I taught her to “MAWL” her students: Model, Asist, Watch, Leave.  Pray for their next semester!

 

Ministry for me has been living in a few different worlds: coaching students and volunteers around the US to run campus ministry, trying to shape the culture of Cru to serve together with the church more, and getting on campus to teach students and volunteers how to live out the gospel and share their faith.  It’s great practice for me, too!

Just the other day, I handed a meeting flyer to a student who had to get to class.  He texted me when he came out and, though the meeting was over, I invited him to tag along as I started conversations with students in the patio (below).  It was so cool for his first experience with Cru to be talking with people of other worldviews about their faith.  He echoed what so many have said before, that people are very open when approached in a respectful and relational way.

The night before, I had over 30 great spiritual conversations at a nearby apartment complex when we were invited to run a Soularium game table at their video game night.  Pray for student Jenny and others who are really searching!

I’ve just got to tell you about my buddy, Eric.  He attends a Spanish speaking church out in LA and has just started attending California State.

I have been coaching Eric in preparing to launch Cru at the Northridge campus of that big school.  He attended Mission Summer, where he said, “I was able to hear God through other students as they told me their experiences with CRU. Again, I find the fact that wherever in the world we may travel to, we have family because we are all united by Christ.”

Since then, Eric has gathered his friends to launch the movement this Fall.  I met with him, and his friend Gaddiel, for a video chat and he said, “it’s funny to think of you all the way over in Florida, because I feel like you’re right here with me.”  I couldn’t resist the chance to record him, so you can see Eric and Gaddiel here.  Pray for their ministry these first few weeks of school (which are the most critical of the year for incoming freshmen) and for their club fair, where we’ve seen hundreds plug in and some even accept Jesus!

     I mentioned a few months ago that I have the great privilege to coach students around the US in living missionally through a “stay-at-home mission trip” called Mission Summer.

We’ve had close to 200 students participating, and it is great to hear them spur each other on and talk about how their lives are changing.  One “student” that I’ve had the pleasure to coach is Jim (below).  He is a student at NJIT and a professor at Sussex County.  During one breakout session, he admitted to never having shared the gospel before and was a little nervous about that week’s challenge.

After some advice that seemed to give him hope, I introduced Jim to Joel (whom I discipled at NJIT) and the two went out to share.  Both came back reporting great conversations and increased confidence to tell people in NJ about Jesus.  Pray for Jim and others sharing Christ for the 1st time!

The following was written by a student, Logan, who experienced only the last 3 weeks of Mission Summer:

I heard my father, minister at a local church, raving about how awesome it was to have representatives from CRU ministries come and speak. I intern at a different church and so I was unable to hear the speakers. After listening to my dad and then doing a little research on my own, I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of this organization. I submitted the online request form and was transferred to Brian and Jeff and that is where I began my Mission Summer journey.

That first night I joined was Roger Hershey’s last night speaking; this idea of having a world Christian perspective. The ways I was challenged and my eyes opened during that session left me speechless. I started bragging about what God did in my life just in that initial first night of joining. God began putting a burden on my heart for international missions that evening. Little did I know He was about to rock my world.

The next Sunday night, I invited some of the high school and middle school students from the church I intern at to join in on the session. We had 10 students come and they thoroughly enjoyed the topic of how to have a mission mindset.

Clearly it struck a heartstring because the next week we had 22 students join in. They took what they heard to heart and began telling others about what God was doing. Little did they know that God was dealing with my heart about pursuing international missions this entire time. God was not only working in the group’s heart but the individuals of the group’s heart.

Now we are in the present. God has continued speaking to me about foreign mission work but for right now God has me in Easley, SC for a reason and I’m not going to waste that time. While I’m here, God has given me a desire to start a bible study in my community that brings together both high school and college students from the locals schools in my area. There are 5 colleges and 5 high schools. God has brought together a team from the students who participated this summer to make this project happen. We’ve decided to use missions as our goal. Showing this community what missions look like and also bringing in sinners to share with them how Jesus Christ can save them!

So far, we’ve had over 70 students from the school I’ll be attending this fall show an interest along with many other students from across our small town radius. I cannot tell you how pumped we are to begin school now knowing what God has in store!

Mission Summer truly promotes a passion for missions and encourages and challenges  all the students involved in a positive way. I am so happy to have been a part of this project and don’t know if my walk with God would be as strong as it is right now if it wasn’t for my involvement with Mission Summer!

     This summer, God is using Jeff to make a big difference in the lives of students all across the US!  He is coaching “missional living” groups in NJ, PA, TX, CA and AZ as they participate in an online mission trip called Mission Summer.

During one session, they taught students how to tell stories about how God changed their lives.  One student, Samantha, shared this:

I was abused for 16 years, I cut myself to release the pain.  I was bullied through middle and high school.  I always struggled with people walking out of my life, being

     Going to a Cru winter conference is when it hit me, I did not have to be perfect.  I realized that trust was the biggest issue and I just had to trust the Lord and let Him lead.  I have hope back in my life and I am thankful to everyone that supports me. The Lord changed my life and He can change yours too, you just have to be willing to let Him.  morevaluable, etc.