Cru Conference – The Lowedown

Last month, Jen and I attended our Cru25 staff conference in Milwaukee. It was the first national conference for Cru staff in 3 years. It was also the first staff conference with our new president, David Robbins, at the helm.

David Robbins, Cru’s newest president, shares the vision of Cru to help the church fufill the Great Commission.

We both came away from our time refreshed and reinvigorated for a new season of ministry. My overall impression of the conference was that it felt like a reaffirmation of Cru’s original calling – to help the church fulfill the Great Commission.

We live in a culture today that is very divided, with a lot of noise politically and even within the church. For us, it was good to hear from our leaders that our mission is the same as it has been since God called Bill and Vonette Bright to start Campus Crusade for Christ nearly 75 years ago.

We’re a missions organization that seeks to take the gospel to the world and build up multiplying disciples who will commit themselves to that endeavor.

Perhaps one of the most encouraging aspects of the conference for us was seeing the many spiritual generations of influence in our own lives.

Betty Hartley in between Dave & Jen. Two of her disciples had a major influence on Jen when she was a college student. Betty is 95 and still going strong, ministering to International students at Cal State Fullerton.

One of my staff heroes is Betty Hartley, who, along with her husband Bob (now with the Lord), became believers in their adult years and made the transition to full-time missionaries in their late 30’s.

They served as the Cru directors at Cal State Fullerton for many years. While there, Betty discipled two women who were later very influential in Jen’s life.

When Jen was a freshman at Fresno State, her Bible study leader was Kim Kirouac, a staff woman who had been greatly influenced by Betty when she was a student at Cal State Fullerton.

Later, Jen transferred to San Jose State University and was discipled by another Cru staff member, Marianne Elsheimer, who also had been a student at Cal State Fullerton under Betty’s tutelage.

At 95 years old, Betty still meets with students and ministers primarily to international students at Cal State Fullerton. What an incredible legacy!

Dave & Jen with Steph Wee, a former UC Davis student who joined Cru staff and worked for many years with our Epic ministry.

The first night we were in Milwaukee, we ran into Steven and Sam. Steven is the Cru director at Sac State and Sam, his wife, was a student in our ministry at UC Davis. Sam later sent us a text thanking us for our investment in her as a student at UC Davis. She said, “I’m the missionary, wife, mom and Christian that I am today because of you guys!” That is spiritual fuel for the journey ahead!

A few nights later, we ran into Tony and Steph Wee. Tony serves as a Vice President with Cru’s FamilyLife ministry. Steph was a student and intern with us at UC Davis and served for many years with Cru’s Epic ministry. Steph remarked to her kids that Jen’s influence was a critical factor in her joining Cru staff.

Dave with Bob Britton, who was Dave’s first discipler while on a summer missions project in 1987 at Lake Tahoe. Bob is still a missionary, serving with our Bridges International student ministry at Long Beach State and USC.

The next day, while heading to the main session, I noticed a familiar figure walking across the street. It was Bob Britton, a pivotal influence in my life during the summer of 1987 in Lake Tahoe when I was just learning what it means to follow Jesus.

Later that day, while meandering through the conference coffee shop, I ran into Pav and Nalani who were on our Cru staff team when we were at UC Davis. For years, they have served as key support staff for all of our missionaries throughout the Middle East.

Dave, with Eric (Pav) & Nalani who was a student at UC Davis while Pav was on our staff team.

They spoke fondly of their time at UC Davis and how our influence in their lives was instrumental in helping them stay engaged in missions for the long-term.

Time doesn’t permit me to talk about Bob Otten, Nick Castelluccio, Damon Barnes and countless others we encountered, who either influenced us or gave us the privilege of playing a small part in their faith journey.

**Top photo:** Bob Otten was a student on our summer team to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 1992. Bob and his wife Becky later joined staff and served for many years as missionaries in Central Asia.
**Middle Photo:** Nick Castelluccio was a student in Dave’s Bible Study on the Ocean City summer project in 2000. Nick and his wife are on staff with Athletes in Action in Nashville, Tennessee.
**Bottom Photo:** Damon Barnes was Dave’s first Bible study leader at Cal Poly, Pomona when Dave first got involved with Cru in 1987. Damon and his wife Valerie serve on staff with the Jesus Film Project.

When I think of the many people who have influenced us to walk with Jesus and pursue His great mission to reach the world, I’m overwhelmed. That He has given us the privilege of influencing others in that same way is an amazing blessing.

Young Adults crave this same kind of personal involvement – someone who will come along side their faith journey with them.

We are so grateful for your partnership, which enables us to provide this critical ministry of personal discipleship and influence to Young Adults.

Cru22 was held in downtown Milwaukee at the Wisconsin Center

Jen and I were cautiously anticipating our trip to Milwaukee for Cru22 as it’s been 3 long years since the staff of Cru have convened together for a large staff gathering.

About a week before the conference, we started getting text messages and emails from friends telling us they were sorry that they wouldn’t be able to see us in Milwaukee and sharing their hopes and prayers that we would get better.

We were a bit confused until we realized that another Dave Lowe who is on staff with Cru (FamilyLife) had posted on a work forum that he was going to have to miss the conference due to having Covid. Our friends who saw that post had mistaken the other Dave Lowe for me.

I assured our friends and colleagues that the news of my demise had been greatly exaggerated and that we were indeed planning on attending this much-awaited event.

The “Bronze Fonz” is a popular Milwaukee tourist photo opp that was just minutes from our hotel. Are we dating ourselves by saying we grew up watching “Happy Days” before re-runs?

The mood and the atmosphere of the conference was much different than years past.

Not only has it been several years since being together, but our location, which was the same for nearly 50 years, was completely different.

There have also been quite a number of leadership changes in the past two years. Cru has a new Global president (only the 3rd in our 70+ year history), a new U.S. Ministries Director, a new Campus Ministry Executive Director and a new City Executive Director (the division we work in).

Still, it was great to be together with friends and co-workers, many whom we haven’t seen either in person or even virtually for at least 3 years.

The emphasis was on revisiting our roots and reaffirming our calling, which is to help fulfill the Great Commission by Wining others to Christ, Building them up in their faith and then Sending them out to do likewise.

Jen shares a personal ministry story to our Cru Embark colleagues

We spent the first few days with our specific ministry where our leaders crystallized our unique calling and mission to 20-Somethings: to transition, holistically form and launch 20-Somethings to find their place in God’s story.

Jen had the opportunity to share a story about her friend Grace (whom we highlighted in last month’s letter) and how Jen has helped Grace to uncover some of her unique gifts and discover her passion and calling for ministry within the art community.

Our large group sessions took place at the nearby UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, adjacent to the Wisconsin Center.

As our conference shifted from smaller gatherings among the different Cru ministries to the large group sessions with all of our staff together, we started to get reports that people whom we had been in close contact with early in the conference had gotten sick and tested positive for Covid.

Sure enough, I (Dave) started feeling some mild cold-like symptoms after the first full day of large group sessions. As a precaution, we stayed in our hotel room the next day and watched the sessions online.

We were able to watch many of the Cru22 sessions online from our hotel room.

We were able to secure a Covid test that next day and I tested negative. I assumed I just had a cold. Still, not wanting to get others sick, we isolated ourselves and finished out the conference by watching online in our hotel room.

While we were encouraged by the speakers and the different reports about how Cru ministries are reaching people around the world with the good news of Jesus, we were a bit bummed that we weren’t able to connect with as many of our friends and fellow Cru staff as we had expected.

After returning home, I suspected I might be developing a sinus infection, so I went to an Urgent Care where I took another Covid test. This time I tested positive. Jen then tested positive as well.

Fortunately, our Covid symptoms were mild and never too serious. We’re glad to share that we’ve both recovered from our Covid experience, though perhaps I should’ve taken the work forum post from my namesake (Dave Lowe) more seriously!

As our summer winds down and we transition to the Fall, we would appreciate your continued prayers as we seek to transition, holistically form and launch 20-Somethings to find their place in God’s story!