From our family to yours! It’s been a full fall and winter in Orlando is in full swing, though its still 80 degrees! We’re excited to share with you the ministry we’ve been learning, launching, and leading. This is the first of a two part series on a new strategy we’ve incorporting here in America that’s been pioneering movements all over the world.
Expedition Strategy: Mobilizing Students and Staff
Every day our staff all over the country go with faith-filled expectation in who God is and what he has promised to do. As we go, we encounter students at different stages of their faith journey. One thing is clearer and clearer to us each day. God is at work to build his kingdom and he graciously gives us the privilege to participate with him. He is advancing his kingdom by bringing people into relationship with him, birthing a vision and heart to reach the world in his followers and sending people like us to intersect with their lives and mobilize them to engage in the Great Commission.
The Mission Expansion team is working with staff across the country, in offices and on campus, to bring the gospel to campuses with no consistent gospel presence. In partnership with other Cru Campus Teams, we are trusting the Lord to launch new student led movements so that everyone knows someone who follows Jesus. In the same way that Paul found key people, rooted and grounded them in their faith, passed on the ministry to them and moved on to new places, our expedition strategy connects with key student leaders and coaches them with the training they need to lead a movement on their campus.
During the last week of October sixth teams of 10-14 staff traveled to cities across the US to explore how God is at work in the lives of students and launch movements where there is no consistent gospel presence on campus. I had the privilege of participating in LA and am excited to share stories from that city with you.
We praise the Lord for the stories of gospel advancement. We’ll know more of what happened over the next few months at the 40 campuses where we were, but there is so much to celebrate from these launching weeks in Los Angeles, South Florida, Charlotte, Seattle and Salt Lake City. This month we’ll share with you about the Impact on Students. Next month, we’ve got some very encouraging stories to share with you about the Impact of the Launch Weeks on Staff.
Impact on Students: Engaging in the Great Commission
In faith-filled expectation in who God is and what he has promised to do, our launch teams set out to establish movements of like-hearted disciples to win, build, and send toward fulfillment of the Great Commission. We looked for key volunteers that have a heart for God, heart for people, heart for the great commission and are faithful, available and teachable. These are students that are already experiencing God at work in their lives, have a vision without the tools to live it out on their campus and want to own the vision of reaching their campus via building a movement and being coached to be successful. Each day on campus we approached students with the invitation, “Do you love Jesus and want to share him with your campus?”
“Little Did they Know” Robert’s Story
In response to that invitation about Cru, Robert and Jeremiah started grinning to one another. When Chuck, a Cru staff member, asked Robert why, Robert shared about how he had been telling Jeremiah about God, “God will keep bugging you until you come to him.” Over the next hour Chuck conversed with Robert about his faith and what it would look like to impact his campus with the vision God had been birthing in him. Robert had already begun the process of starting a new Christian group on campus because, “no one shares their faith.” “I want to start a group that preaches the gospel…but that gospel must be a gospel of grace, does your group believe in grace?”
The next day, Robert met up with Kai, the local staff guy. Kai went through the rest of the key volunteer challenge with Robert who eagerly suggested five friends he’d like to connect to the ministry he’s starting on his campus and five friends he’d like to share his faith with. During the rest of their conversation, Kai showed him how to share his faith and that same day Kai took Robert to share his faith. Little did they know, that the first student Kai and Robert would approach, Alfredo, wanted to hear about the gospel and accepted Christ.
On Thursday of our launch week, Kai met with the three key volunteer students we met earlier in the week, Robert, Logan and Jeanette. During the meeting, they took turns sharing their testimonies and it became clear that each one had a vision that if people really knew Jesus their lives would be different. They had seen lives changed by the Lord through their churches and had all been looking for how they could be used by God and connect with other believers on campus. While dreaming about next steps, one student said to Kai, “We really need an advisor!”
Little did they know that earlier in the day, Bev, another one of our launch week staff met the assistant to the dean of students during lunch. As she conversed with him, it became clear that he was a Christian, so Bev shared with him our desire to start a movement on campus that would connect student to Jesus Christ. He offered to be the advisor but also suggested a professor he thought would be perfect for that role. It was so encouraging for Kai to be able to provide the students with exactly what they felt they needed as a next step.
Only God could have orchestrated what we saw and experienced on campus. It was a clear demonstration of his care for students and faculty at CSU Dominguez Hills and our team as we stepped out in faith. Kai plans to take Robert to meet with Alfredo to go through Cru’s Bible study series made for students who have recently accepted Christ and the key volunteers are excited to connect other students and faculty to Jesus Christ and mobilize the like-minded but unengaged to serve alongside them on campus. Robert is currently registered for Winter Conference and trusting the Lord to bring some friends!