Please click HERE or on the picture to learn more about how God is using us to reach freshmen and artists as well as the latest news in our family and what God has been teaching us.
Please pray for:
God has called us to offer the good news about His Son to every person and every kind of person. To that end, Cru has launched movements to young people, athletes, doctors, soldiers, lawyers and the impoverished (to name a few), but we’ve not had a concerted effort to establish a ministry to and through artists and entertainers. This is something we are working to change.
At the Cru17 staff conference, I hosted a table for those who either are artists and entertainers or have a heart to reach them. I connected with 29 missionaries with this same interest and we are continuing the conversation as to how God can use us together to pour into this vital part of our society.
One of the powerful ministries already happening is our artist residency program called TransForm in NYC. Residents become a kind of artist missionary for a year while they learn how to reach their fellow artists. A project I’ve been developing is a board game based on our animated series “Archivo Cero” (file zero) which will launch conversations and relationships, teaching the Biblical literacy through a choose-your-own adventure!
Last month, we mentioned briefly how much overwhelming content there was at the Cru17 staff conference and that we’d be unpacking each of the life changing perspectives for quite a while. One of the messages that has continued to impact the way I (Jeff) do things came from Jenny Allen, author and founder of the IF:Gathering. In her message, which you can watch here, she drove home the value of life-on-life discipleship.
Jenny’s first point to us was, “Do not underestimate the value of a Sonic run.” She had been a Christian for only a year when she started at University of Arkansas and felt like the only believer on campus. Before long, though, she met a Cru missionary named Michelle who invited her out to coffee at a local Sonic and just got to know her. This turned into a regular thing, and those simple talks did more to form her heart for the Lord than many sermons and Bible studies.
She said Jesus taught us that life-on-life discipleship is how we change the world (Matt 28:18-28). Things look pretty grim on the TV and the internet, and we can often feel helpless, but those seemingly small relationships where we pour into Christians and non-Christians make all the difference. After all, Jenny explained, “great people do not do great things. God does great things through surrendered people. To do the work of God is to believe.”
The idea of discipling others may seem daunting, but Jesus lives on the other side of our comfort zones, out on the deep water. Would you ask the Lord who He has put in your life into whom you can multiply the faith He has given you?
Please click HERE to learn more about how God is using us to reach freshmen and artists as well as the latest news in our family and what God has been teaching us.
Please pray for:
This month, 5,000 Cru staff and partners gathered at our biannual conference in Fort Collins, CO. I can’t even begin to describe the level of growth, community, passion, and movement of God that we experienced; but here are a few highlights, and you can watch these amazing speakers at cru.org/cru17/archive.html.
Please click HERE or on the picture to learn more about how God moved at our latest staff conference, a student we discipled joining staff with Cru, the latest in our family adventures and what God’s been teaching us!
Please pray for:
Click here or on the image to read about mobilizing churches to reach students at UCF, training Cru staff to partner with churches in Chicago and the latest with our family and our relationship with God.
Just got time for a quick prayer? Please talk to the Lord about:
Students on mission tripsYou can give to keep this ministry going strong by clicking here.
Thank you so much for walking with us through these amazing days!
Last semester, our student ministry teamed up with Faculty Commons (our ministry to and through professors) to host a Thank-A-Prof outreach. We set up a table and encouraged passing students to write a thank you note to a favorite professor. As word spread that we were starting a “Movement of Gratitude” on campus, students quickly warmed up to the idea of blessing their professors, who are usually only critiqued and evaluated.
The response was GREAT! We collected 162 cards which we’re delivering this semester, giving us the opportunity to meet new faculty and engage them in relationship and gauge their spiritual interest.
Sally, a professor at UF, was asked to rate her interest in knowing God personally from 0 to 10. After some silence, she said “I can’t answer this now but I reckon I’ll need to answer it sometime.” After assuring her of God’s love for her and His desire for her to know Him personally, Sally gladly accepted C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” (my favorite book) and an offer to grab coffee and talk more. Please pray for Professor Sally and the Faculty Commons missionaries working to reach influential educators like her who open doors for us all over the world.
Thanks for praying! Click here to see how God has been moving during…
Spring Break mission tripClick here
At a recent conference we learned a very helpful analogy. Did you know that an elephant pregnancy lasts two years? So, in best cases, 2 elephants become 3 after two years. In the same amount of time, 2 rabbits become 1,369! This “conservative” estimate is based on the fact that they can have a new litter (of up to 14) every month. Not only that, but baby rabbits are ready to reproduce in only half a year!
What’s the point? Simpler things can multiply faster. Jesus kept it simple. He frequently sent people out to speak for Him who were no kind of biblical scholars (see His champions on the left)! In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 36 pairs of missionaries and in verse 2, He gives them this very simple instruction, “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out (violently shove) laborers into his harvest.”
On a person
al note, we too can get bogged down by overcomplicating things. In fact, in 2 Cor 11:3 Paul is concerned that the devil would trick believers away from the “pure and simple” devotion to Christ. So, I’d like to challenge you to carry on that simple task. Would you commit to praying one sentence (Luke 10:2) every day—perhaps at 10:02 on the clock? 🙂 Perhaps pair up with someone like they did and see what God does!
Grant Ministry 