Dave is a native Southern Californian and avid sports fan of the Dodgers, Lakers, Rams and USC Trojans. Dave is married to Jen and has identical twin boys who attend rival military academies (Jacob - Naval Academy & Joshua - West Point). Dave is on staff with Cru and ministers primarily to Young Professionals in Orange County.
Fall is the busiest time of year for our ministry. Our campuses spend an incredible amount of energy reaching out to new students and getting our message out. Most campuses attempt to engage with thousands of students during the first week, inviting them to fill out spiritual interest questionnaires. They then spend the next 6-8 weeks following up on new people and getting small groups up and running. It’s almost like a Greek Rush event that lasts for half of the first term, culminating with their Fall retreat.
Me and Epic Volunteer Aaron before heading out to engage new students with spiritual interest questionnaires
The Lord is doing some exciting things throughout the Pacific Southwest Region. Read the latest Lowedown to hear some updates of what the Lord is doing in many of our ministries this fall.
It’s hard for me to believe, but this summer marks 20 years that I (Jen) have been on staff with Cru. Wow! Am I really that old? As I reflect back, there are so many memories but for me, my job is all about people.
My first campus assignment was The University of Arizona. It was a challenging time at first. I was a new staff person trying to learn my job. I was also far away from home. Things weren’t familiar. But then I started a bible study and I had the chance to influence so many women to grow in their relationship with the Lord.
Erin was a student leader in Jen’s Bible Study at the University of Arizona. Erin now lives in Vermont with her husband Charlie and 2 daughters
Erin was one of those women in my study. I saw her take new steps of faith to go on summer missions projects. I loved watching her grow in her faith, and her maturity. Erin is now married to a great guy named Charlie whom Dave discipled. Together, they have two beautiful girls and pastor a church in Vermont. Erin is one of the reasons I keep pressing on, doing my job. It’s all about people, and their lives being transformed.
A few years later, when Dave and I moved to Davis, I was pretty fearful about starting a new ministry. Dave has always been the pioneer while I’m more of a shepherd who loves spending personal time with others and helping them grow in their faith.
My first day on campus we were doing some spiritual interest questionnaires, and the first student I approached was a freshman named Tricia. She filled out the questionnaire, we connected, and she got involved with Cru.
As I look back, I am so grateful for those handful of students who got involved in our little group that started meeting initially in our apartment! Those students must have thought we were a little sketchy…but they stuck around and we saw God do amazing things at Davis. Now, Tricia is married and on staff with Cru, leading our Epic ministry in the South Los Angeles Basin. She is a new mom, and I have loved to see her grow.
Tricia was one of the first students to get involved in Cru when we started at UC Davis
Lately I’ve been thinking about what a privilege it’s been to raise Jacob and Joshua while working with Cru. They’ve been surrounded by Godly young men and women who’ve modeled walking with God to them.
And I love getting the opportunity to work with Dave. It is fun and rewarding to work through new challenges in ministry with Dave. Together we are tackling some pretty significant challenges in the campus ministry. With our different skill-sets it has been exciting to work together to complement each other and to see progress in our mission of reaching every student with the message of the gospel.
I’m now a part of a leadership program that has been challenging and stretching for me. I get the chance to be around global leaders of Cru who are building into me to help me be a better leader and follower of Christ.
The research project I’m working on is helping to launch a brand new ministry to 18-29 year olds in the cities. This is been very eye-opening, and has helped me to see the need to be relevant and approachable to this generation. They are the most technologically connected, but also the most lonely. What an incredible opportunity we have to share God’s love to this generation that is looking for deep and meaningful connection.
Thank you to all of you who have partnered with us over the past 20 years. It is truly a privilege to be able to serve God and partner with people who want to see students reached with God’s love. After 20 years with Cru, there still is no other job that I’d rather be doing.
I love getting the chance to help people look at life from at eternal perspective, to help them meet God, begin a relationship with Him, and grow in that relationship. The work is challenging, but incredibly rewarding, all at the same time.
Praise the Lord for what He has done! I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me in the next 20 years!
To read the pdf version of the letter, click here!
Check out this video from our ministry at ASU. Great footage and scenery. It gives a glimpse into the typical student whom we are trying to reach for Christ. Enjoy!
Each year, at our National Leadership Conference, we pause to acknowledge God’s faithfulness in bringing more students and faculty into his kingdom! Check out this video, which celebrates the good things He has done in 2011 through the campus ministry of Cru.
On Mother’s Day, we celebrated by visiting Hollywood. On our anniversary, we celebrated by attending the Cirque du Soleil Iris show at the Kodak theater in downtown Los Angeles.Dave finds the Hollywood Star on the Walk of Fame for the greatest baseball team of all-time, the Los Angeles Dodgers!
Last week was a week of celebration. On consecutive days, we celebrated Mother’s Day, Jacob and Joshua’s 11th birthday, and our 19th anniversary together.
While Jen and I were driving to downtown L.A. for dinner and an engagement with Cirque du Soleil, we spent time reminiscing and reflecting on our 19 years of marriage. Here are a few of our most vivid memories:
1993 – getting married in Fresno and honeymooning at DisneyWorld.
1994 – moving to Tucson. Our Ryder truck breaking down in the Mojave desert on Hwy 395.
1995 – driving from Fresno to Ocean City, New Jersey for our summer mission project. Staying in St. Louis to celebrate our anniversary.
1996 – Moving back to Fresno to be staff members at Fresno State.
1997 – spending the summer in Colorado taking Bible classes.
1998 – moving to Davis to become new campus leaders. Summer training in Myrtle Beach followed by vacation in New York and D.C.
1999 – beginning to explore the adoption process. Davis ministry continues to grow.
2000 – buying our first home in Davis – a real fixer upper! A summer in Ocean City, New Jersey.
2001 – Jacob and Joshua arrive. Crazy summer leading Lake Tahoe summer project
2002 – Jacob & Joshua’s one year birthday. Impact and Bridges start at Davis. First students begin to graduate and go to the world as missionaries
2003 – Epic launched at Davis
2004 – Destino starts at UC Davis
2005 – PreSchool for Jacob and Joshua. Summer leading the Newport Beach Summer Project
2006 – Driving to Seattle and British Columbia for a wedding and vacation. Re-starting the ministry at Sac State
2007 – Summer in Colorado. Family trips to Kansas and Hawaii. Remodeling and Renovating our house in Davis.
2008 – God’s call to Southern California. Selling our house and moving to Mission Viejo. Spending the summer overseas.
2009 – Season passes to Disneyland. Summer trips to Davis, Colorado and Zion National Park.
2010 – Summer trip to San Jose, Destino team started in Long Beach.
2011 – Summer in Colorado. Bathroom leak and bathroom remodel.
2012 – New ministries established in San Jose (Destino), Chico (Bridges), Santa Barbara (Impact), Fullerton (Epic) and San Luis Obispo (Destino).
Thanks for your prayers and partnership which has helped us experience 19 amazing years of life and ministry together!
“…how sure are you that you would make it into heaven and live with God for eternity?” His answer surprised me.
“To be honest, I don’t think I would make it”, he said. “I have done some really bad things and I’ll have to do a lot of good things to make up for all the bad things I’ve done.”
Last month, I had the opportunity to help coach and train some of our new staff in evangelism. Read the latest Lowedown to hear about a gospel conversation we had with Jose, a student at UC San Diego.
The spotlight blinded me as I stood before 1000 students and staff who were gathered together for our biggest event of the year – our San Diego Winter Conference. I had just been introduced by one of our former students, who was serving as the MC for the conference.
The San Diego Town & Country Hotel. Our Winter Conference location for the last 17 years!
Pray for Jen and me this week as we are in San Diego with nearly 1000 students from all over the Pacific Southwest Region.
If you want, you can check out our conference as our evening meetings are live streaming on the internet.
Check it out by going to facebook.com/sdwinterconf. Note, you do not have to have a facebook account to view.
On Friday evening, Dave will be on stage during the last 15 minutes of the meeting. Sometime after 8:30, I’ll be getting on stage to talk a bit about Ethnic Field Ministry.
One of the exciting parts of our jobs is helping our staff step out in faith to start new ministries in ethnic contexts. This fall, we’ve seen new Destino ministries started at San Jose State and the University of Arizona.
We’ve seen a new Impact ministry (African American students) started at UC Santa Barbara as well as a Bridges Ministry (International students) at Chico State. But two of the most exciting ministry launches both include Epic (our ministry to Asian American students).
The Lowedown 