by Angela Knedgen | Jan 30, 2018 | Prayer Letters
It feels a little weird to title this our “Winter Update” when its been between 70 and 80 degrees the past two weeks! We’re learning that Florida life does have its perks, in addition to Angela having a job that is so well suited for her skills and gifts. We also feel like there is something about this warm weather that’s causing Martel to grow like a weed. He’s taller than ever and about to lose his first tooth! More on that and other personal life updates next month. Snapshots from Mission Expansion: Prayer walking every campus, a partnership with Intervarsity Back in September, I shared about Gospel in Action, the compassion and justice arm of the campus ministry. GIA is one of the many parts of the Mission Expansion National Department and this month we’d like to share about another area of Mission Expansion, Prayer Catalysts, to help each of you get to know my team and what we do better. The Prayer Catalysts team is about engaging and mobilizing people toward revival and spiritual awakening through prayer. The Directors of Prayer are introducing #everycampus to the field ministry, which begins with an initiative in 2018 to prayer-walk every campus in the United States. Currently there are only 1200 college campuses with an active gospel presence. This leaves about 1800 campuses and 10 million students without access to a gospel community. This prayer initiative is happening in partnership with Intervarsity and together we hope to see spiritual awakening and revival happen in the lives of students all over the country. In the process, we hope to meet people who can...
by Angela Knedgen | Nov 21, 2017 | Prayer Letters
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...
by Angela Knedgen | Oct 1, 2017 | Prayer Letters
Fall 2017 Update: Irmageddon Edition Thank you for praying for us during this time of transition to Orlando. As promised in our last communication, this prayer letter will be filled with updates from our first weeks here, including our initiation by Hurricane Irma into being Floridians and Detroit Summer Mission Snapshots from Orlando The last month has been busy for both Mission Expansion and the Knedgens here in Orlando. We arrived and moved in just in time to be initiated as Floridians by Irma! Things around town have been quite different following the storm. Trees were down, buildings missing walls, like the Doubletree Hotel ten minutes from our house, and school out for over a week. We are thankful to have retained power throughout the storm and little damage to our home, especially in light of the events surrounding Hurricane Harvey. As a 9 year Houston resident, my heart breaks for the city where I learned how to drive and walk with the Lord in deeper ways. I’m excited to share that Gospel in Action, a department within Mission Expansion is leading the efforts of the Cru Campus ministry in engaging in meeting the needs of people all over Houston following the storm. The Team Leader of the Houston Cru ministry shared this with us about their experience. “Last Monday began an intense first week of classes, spiritual questionnaires, and outreaches at universities all over Houston. Yet only 3 to 4 days into the semester, weather forecasters began to warn of Tropical Storm Harvey hitting the Gulf Coast, with an expectation of heavy rains. Our family stocked on...
by Angela Knedgen | Jul 14, 2017 | Prayer Letters
Detroit Summer Mission Detroit, home of the Detroit Tigers, Pistons and Redwings. “The Motor City”, “The Comeback City,” and most recently according to it’s current leadership, “The City for Everyone”. A city of robust history, art, and influence over the state of Michigan, yet a city with an unemployment rate double the national average, and a graduation rate of 16% lower than the state average. This is the city whose streets we walked each day during Detroit Summer Mission. This past June and July, 25 students and staff came together for 5 weeks, doing campus evangelism at Wayne State University and compassion ministry through our Cru Inner City partnerships. During our time, we trusted the Lord together to cultivate culturally competent disciple-makers that balance proclamation and demonstration of the gospel, as they connect people to Jesus Christ in the city of Detroit, on campus, and beyond. In the midst of the daily grind, sorrow, and pain, the Lord is faithfully working through ministries and churches long committed to the city. We had the blessing to come alongside them this summer to reinvigorate their efforts to reconcile people to Jesus Christ and instill dignity, worth and value in the hearts of people on the margins of our society. It was a joy and privilege and a challenge and heartbreak to enter into the reality of Detroiters everyday lives. Highlights from Detroit Summer Mission We pursued our DSM mission and vision through two means during the summer: engaging in evangelism and discipleship at Wayne State University and partnering with Christ-centered ministries and churches. In addition to living on campus at Wayne...
by Angela Knedgen | May 10, 2017 | Prayer Letters
We’ve wrapped up our time on campus for this year. It has been a blessing to engage in ministry at the University of Michigan. We are encouraged by the many ways God is working through our ministry and in our students lives. Thank you for helping to put the gospel in arms reach of the future leaders of our churches, schools, business and the world. We are privileged to have your partnership and grateful for your generosity, care and commitment to us. Our West Quad Community gathered at the Michigan Cru Spring Banquet Our Pluralist and Biased Society: Concern and frustration regarding the ability to communicate across faith and political lines with those of different positions is an ebbing current at the campus of the University of Michigan. This was an overwhelming sentiment during a recent event hosted by the Association of Religious counselors at U-M. As a member of ARC, we had the honor of sending one student leader to represent the Christian Evangelical perspective on a panel of students sharing about their experience as people of faith at a secular University. The remaining five students were Ecumenical Catholic, Episcopalian, Muslim and Jewish. For the next hour, these six students shared about their experiences as people of faith here at the University of Michigan via questions moderated by an ARC representative.In a response to a question about the openness of others in hearing from you about your religious perspective in the classroom, a student shared, “a lot of people have strong opinions and I tend not to share there.” Another expressed similar apprehension, “I gauge the room first because...
