Derecognized!

This morning I went to the first Bible Study gathering of the New Year for the men at our church. We’ve been traversing through the book of Daniel in a series our pastor has entitled “Under Pressure.” We’ve been looking at Daniel as an example of someone who met the challenge to respond in a godly way to the personal and cultural challenges which he faced.

In Daniel chapter 6, Daniel’s enemies are looking for a way to find a charge against him because they were jealous of him. Because he was a person of great integrity, they could find nothing. So they went to the king and convinced the king to issue a decree that for the next 30 days, the people in his kingdom would not be allowed to pray to any god but the king himself. The plan was to cause Daniel to compromise his standards or face the consequences. Of course, we know that Daniel was unwilling to pray to the king and kept his practice of praying 3 times a day to the God of Israel, the God of the universe.

That act of integrity got Daniel thrown into the lion’s den. Fortunately, the Lord honored Daniel’s faith and saved him from harm. In the end, those who brought an accusation against Daniel were themselves thrown into the lion’s den and their fate was not as positive as Daniel’s. The king was so impacted by Daniel’s faith and deliverance that he issued a decree that only the God of Daniel could be worshiped, “for he is the living God and he endures forever.”

As we were reflecting on this passage around our table, we were discussing the tendency we have as frail humans to compromise our standards in order to gain favor with men and avoid unpleasant circumstances. I began to think about many of our campus ministries, especially those on our Cal State campuses.

Paul-Jaimie-2014 — Paul & Jaimie Nunez were students involved in our ministry at UC Davis. They now lead the Cru ministry at San Jose State University, which has recently been derecognized by the campus administration. Click their photo to read their letter about being derecognized.

If you weren’t aware, about a year ago the Chancellor of the Cal State University system made a decision that dramatically impacts religious groups on Cal State campuses, particularly Christian groups. The Chancellor decreed that all groups need to allow open access for any student to become a leader within that group. So Christian groups such as Cru or InterVarsity that have enacted biblical requirements and standards for potential leaders are being derecognized for imposing leadership standards and thus, not adhering to the new policy. Click here for an article relating to this.

Being a recognized group on campus has many advantages. For one, recognized groups can secure meeting rooms for free. Additionally, official groups are able to publicize their activities on campus more freely and may even have access to funds to help their group promote an activity or scholarship students to leadership retreats.

Despite the many advantages of being a recognized group on campus, none of our local chapters has adjusted their constitution in a way that would satisfy this new decree. In short, we believe that while anyone can be involved in the group as a whole, the leadership of the group must be selected among those who hold to biblical convictions and have demonstrated a biblical lifestyle. For that reason, nearly all of our chapters within the Cal State system have been derecognized as official campus organizations. Our campus groups will continue to exist and will continue to reach out to students on campus but the task will become more difficult and more costly. Please pray for our campus groups to persevere in the midst of opposition and adversity and pray that their faith would lead to revival!

In 2 Corinthians 4.2, Paul says that “it is required for those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

Dave and Jen - Christmas 2014 — Dave and Jen – Christmas 2014

I’m not quite sure what the Lord has in store for any of us in 2015, but my prayer is that like Daniel, we would be people of extreme integrity when faced with personal and cultural challenges where we might be tempted to compromise our faith. As our culture continues to shift our prayer for you is that you would
remain faithful. Would you please pray that for us?

We are grateful for you and pray that you experience the Lord’s richest blessings in this New Year!

October 1, 2014

We’re No Longer On Campus, But We’re Still Reaching Students

The role of a missionary is to establish ministries and raise up leaders who can take over, allowing the missionary to move on to establish new ministries.

For more than 20 years, Jen and I worked on university campuses to establish ministries and raise up leaders and laborers. Though we’re no longer serving on campus, we’re still involved in reaching students. By God’s grace, many of our former students are now leading the charge to reach this year’s freshmen on campuses throughout California, Arizona and around the world.

Roper-Dave-UCI2014 — Jon Roper (left), was a student involved with Cru at UC Davis and now leads the Cru ministry at UC Irvine.

This past week, I had the opportunity to spend the day at UC Irvine helping one of our former students, Jon Roper, who is now leading the Cru ministry there. Jon and his team are in the middle of Welcome Week, seeking to reach out to more than 20,000 students on the campus.

As I approached the table where Jon and 30+ students were already setting up for the day, I thought about all the hard work and effort that was expended just to get ready for that week.

Preparing for the first week of school was a gargantuan task when Jen and I were ministering on campus. Promotional materials had to be created and printed weeks ahead of time. Students had to be mobilized to show up early. Rooms and tables had to be reserved. Small groups had to be organized. Students needed to be trained in setting up appointments and sharing their faith.

Jon and I interacting with some international students from India.

A variety of events had to be planned and implemented during that first week. Everything we did was aimed at reaching as many students as possible, in the hopes of introducing them to Christ and plugging them into a community of Christ-followers that would aid them in growing into mature disciples of Jesus.

While the pace was harrowing, the reward was great. Often we would have thousands of new students to contact during the fall quarter. Some were already Christians who were looking for community, but many were non-believers with whom we had the privilege of sharing Christ.

I certainly don’t miss the long hours and hard work that went into the Fall outreach but the excitement and energy that occurs when mobilizing students is infectious.

Beth-CPP-Epic1 — Beth (middle), was a student at UC Davis. She now ministers with Cru at Cal Poly, Pomona.

CPPomona2 — Cal Poly, Pomona Epic students hand out snow cones to new students on campus

At UCI, it was fun to see Jon leading and directing his students to places around the campus to engage and interact with new students. Time will tell how the Lord will use those efforts but after just one day of engaging students, Jon’s team has over 1300 new contacts to follow up in the coming weeks.

Another former student, Beth Sekishiro, helped the Cal Poly Pomona Cru team initiate and collect over 700 surveys during their first few days and through those contacts, Beth was able to lead a freshman girl named Focus to Christ!

Because of your prayers and partnership, we are helping to reach students not only at UCI and Cal Poly, but also at Arizona State, San Jose State, University of Arizona, Chico State and numerous other locations in the U.S. and overseas.

CPPomona1 — Cru students pass out campus maps with info for Cru activities printed on the back.

Thank you for your partnership, which has allowed us to raise up leaders who continue to carry on the work of reaching students long after we’ve tapped out! Please pray for these ministries as they endure long hours to reach out to thousands of students. And pray for us too as we continue to establish a new ministry among Millennials!

Click here to read the pdf version of The Lowedown!

June 2, 2014

NO GROUP FOR YOU!

Click here to download the pdf version of The Lowedown.

Fans of the iconic Seinfeld sitcom series no doubt recall the famous “Soup Nazi” episode, in which a brilliant soup chef requires strict adherence to ordering protocol if patrons expect to get a sampling of his liquid gold creations. Those who violate the terms of ordering are curtly met with the phrase “No soup for you”, while given the proverbial boot and shown the door. (For a funny clip of this episode, go to: http:// youtu.be/MVm1KcrHM6s). It’s a funny made for TV moment that is hard to imagine happening in real life.

But imagine being a young single professional, just a few years removed from college, and being told by your church that there’s “No group for you.” Sadly, that is the case in many of our churches, where young Millennials find it difficult to connect with others who are in their same life stage.

David Richmond — David typifies many Millennials. Though he was involved in a Christian group in college, he found himself disconnected from the Lord after college.

David’s story typifies what is true for many Millennials. David grew up in what he described as an “off and on Christian home.” His parents divorced at a young age. He went to church when he was with his mom but didn’t go to church when he was with his dad.

In high school, David decided that he wanted God to lead his life but that decision didn’t translate into much meaningful change. Christianity was always in the background, never at the forefront.

When David transferred to UC San Diego, he started looking at various clubs on campus because he wanted to meet people. He got involved in Cru because he thought it would be a good idea and a great place to meet people.

David was a Bible study leader for Cru his senior year but for the most part, David was a worldly Christian. He did bible studies and other “Christian” stuff but he also partied and did all the “fun” stuff that he knew wasn’t helping him spiritually.

After graduation, David came back home, had a series of odd jobs and drifted away from the Lord. David became what we call a nomad. He still believed in the Bible and in Jesus but found himself increasingly disconnected from church.

Last year, David’s girlfriend began “dragging him to church.” He really didn’t want to go but did, just to appease his girlfriend. By the early fall, David started to feel like he wanted to make a change. As David looked around to find a place to connect with others like him who could help him navigate the circumstances he was experiencing in his life stage, he came up empty. He noticed a lot of different kinds of groups – groups for high schoolers, groups for marrieds, etc. But he didn’t find any group for a young single like himself who was dealing with a very transitory season of life.

David told me that he came to the conclusion that in order to find a group, “I either need to figure out how to get younger or I need to figure out how to get married.”

I met David back in November when I spoke at a church function. When Jen and I started our home group for Millennials at the end of February, I contacted David and invited him to come. I was delighted when he and a few others showed up for our first meeting.

David shared with me that “if it weren’t for the group we have on Tuesday nights where I can connect with others in my situation, I don’t think I would have made some of the steps I’ve taken to move closer to God.”

Pray for David as he moves to San Francisco this fall to attend Pharmacy school. And pray for us as we seek to ensure that Millennials in Orange County won’t be told “No Group for You!” when they seek to connect with other Millennials in their churches and in the area where they live.

Thanks for your partnership that is enabling us to make a difference in the lives of people just like David!

April 1, 2014

The End of an Era

Reflecting on the Impact of the San Jose State Crusade House

To read the pdf version of this letter, click here.

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail with some sad news. The Crusade House that I lived in my first 3 years on staff with Cru, would no longer exist after this school year.

It seems that the house has changed ownership and the new owners decided not to renew the lease to the students who are living there. Hence, the house that has served as a hub of ministry activity for San Jose State Cru will no longer serve in that capacity.

The Cru house was the brain child of Don Wilcox, who was the director of the San Jose State ministry when I arrived in 1989. As far back as the early 1980’s, Don envisioned a house close to campus that could serve as a beachhead for ministry on campus. Don saw the advantage of challenging young men to live together and sharpen one another as disciples for Christ, being raised up as leaders for the campus movement.

The Crusade House in 2010. The house was a hub for campus ministry for nearly 30 years.

In 1984, Don was able to secure a house within a block of campus that would serve as the Crusade house for nearly 30 years. During that span, dozens of men have lived in that house and hundreds of lives have been impacted through the ministry of the house.

For me, the house was an incredible part of my own spiritual journey. It was the first place I lived on my own after moving away from home. Living with 12 other guys who all loved the Lord and were committed to following Him was incredibly challenging and motivating to me.

The house provided an opportunity for me to grow up and develop healthy relationships with others.

Joshua 24.15 - "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." — Joshua 24.15 – “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

It was a great place for ministry as well. I led Bible studies, prayer meetings and training times. I hosted parties and discipled guys right there in the house.

One of my fondest memories of the house happened within weeks of my arrival on campus. We held a prayer meeting at the house on a Friday night and somewhere during that meeting, there was a knock at the door and then a young man walked in.

Eric Oxford looked like a “deer in the headlights” as he stumbled into our prayer meeting that night. Clearly, he didn’t realize what he was walking into, but to our surprise, he acted as if he intended to be there and he decided to join us.

Afterwards, I introduced myself to Eric and found out a little bit about him. I learned that Eric was a transfer student and one of his friends from back home was living in the house and was involved with Cru. Being a Friday night, he decided to come over and hang out with his friend. That’s when Eric mistakenly stumbled into our prayer meeting.

Eric Oxford came to Christ when he inadvertently walked into a prayer meeting at the Crusade House.

Eric admitted that he was too embarrassed to turn around and leave so he decided to stick around. I asked Eric if we could meet up on campus the next week and he agreed.

The next week I shared the gospel with Eric. God had prepared his heart and to my excitement, he trusted the Lord with his life right there in the student union.

Eric joined a Bible study I was leading and for the next four years, I had the privilege of building a relationship with Eric and discipling him.

The next year, Eric moved into the house and lived there for several years, experiencing exceptional spiritual growth as a newer believer. He was not only my disciple, but he was my housemate, and he became one of my dear friends.

Today, Eric and his wife live in the Sacramento area and they both are walking with the Lord, desiring to serve Him as teachers.

I believe that God’s primary instrument for impacting lives is people. But the Crusade House reminds me that God can also use resources like a house to influence others towards His purposes. Though I’m sad to see the legacy of the house come to an end, I praise God for the role the house played in my own spiritual development and in the lives of guys like Eric.

I praise God too for the role you have played and are playing in helping to reach people for Christ! We are so grateful for you.

If you have a resource, like a house, that could be used for ministry purposes such as a team retreat or special meeting, please let us know. The Lord could use your resource to dramatically impact a life for Him.

December 3, 2013

The Thanksgiving Tree

A picture of our Thanksgiving tree on our Kitchen counter

This November, Jen initiated a new tradition in our house. We call it the thanksgiving
tree. It’s a pretty simple idea. A handful of long, slim branches placed in a vase with dozens of cutout paper leaves attached with ribbons. Every night at dinner, one of us would pull a paper leaf off the tree and read a Bible verse that was printed on it related to giving thanks. We would then go around the table and share something we were thankful for.

Since we agreed not to repeat thoughts from previous days, it was a great opportunity to
expand our hearts and think about blessings beyond the biggies like my home, my family
and the food on the table.

Last week, Jen and I attended our staff conference to say goodbye to the friends and colleagues we have worked with for the past 25 years. It was a bittersweet moment to share our vision with them concerning our new direction and also brought a moment of finality to our 25 years of ministering to college students. We were truly thankful.

In the midst of saying goodbye, we received an enormous amount of encouragement and words of thanks and gratitude for our years of service and the impact we’ve been blessed to make in the lives of students and staff in our region.

Below are a few notes that encouraged us, and hopefully will encourage you as well.
As we read through all the notes that were given to us, we were particularly encouraged to hear about the indirect impact we have made in the lives of people we have never met.

Like us, you may not directly know all of the people whose lives have been impacted
through your partnership, but your impact is real nonetheless.

As November ends and the Thanksgiving season is officially
behind us, we are incredibly thankful for you, our ministry partners.
Because of your prayers and generous giving, we are able to
influence many lives for the sake of Christ!

“Dear Dave & Jen,

I want to thank you two so much as you’ve both significantly influenced me. Your faithfulness has led us to where we are today. So thank you!”

– Chris Warren is a graduate of UC Davis where he was involved with Cru for 4 years. Chris now serves as the director of Cru at the University of Arizona.

“Dear Dave & Jen – You guys rock! It’s a privilege to labor alongside such faithful people and to see you continue following Jesus wherever He takes you. As someone who found Jesus and grew up in faith at Davis when you were leading there, I can never repay you for the change in my life (Jesus can, though, so stay tuned for that). You make such a difference in our world!”

– Beth Sekishiro is a UC Davis graduate and now serves on staff with Cru at Cal Poly, Pomona.

“Dave & Jen – I’ve never met you but I am a UC Davis grad. I understand that you started the movement at Davis. I wanted to thank you because through that movement I came to know Jesus and now I am interning with Cru at UC Davis. None of that would have happened without your vision and passion to reach my campus. God Bless!”

– Lucas Mathews came to know Christ at UC Davis through Cru and is now serving as an intern with Cru.

Click here to read the pdf version of The Lowedown.

October 24, 2013

We’re Moving Again!

5 years ago this month, we packed up all of our possessions and moved our family from Northern California, where we had spent the previous 10 years, to Southern California, where we stepped into a new role as Ethnic Field Ministry Directors. Our job has been to help start new movements on campuses everywhere to reach students of the many different cultures that exist on our campuses, and also to create a culture of faith, awareness and boldness for our staff to step outside of their comfort zone to take the gospel to students of every culture, planting new ministries that would grow and multiply and become self-sustaining.

While there were many road bumps along the way, I look back at the last five years and am amazed at all that God has done. Space doesn’t allow me to list all of the ministries that have been started or all that He’s done. What’s really exciting is that our ethnic ministries have grown and now have their own staff and national leaders.

Over the past 18 months Jen and I have sensed that our role was like that of John the Baptist as our role has decreased while the role of other leaders has naturally increased.

This past spring, we sensed the Lord telling us that our “mission” was accomplished and it was time to take the next step. It was a scary moment for us because we weren’t sure what that next step was. We identified with Abraham as we stepped out of our role before knowing where we were going. It made for an interesting summer of contemplation and reflection on our gifts, passions and experiences as we sought to reaffirm and redefine our calling. We’ve truly been on a faith journey these past 5 months.

One of the opportunities that was presented to us was the opportunity to start something new. As a pioneer, my interest was instantly piqued.

Through the leadership program Jen was involved in the past two years, we learned about a new ministry called Cru City. Specifically, we learned about an incredible need and opportunity to reach Millennials, the group of people in our culture who are 18-30 years old and who are extremely skeptical and turned off by traditional Christianity and evangelical approaches.

After much prayer and counsel, Jen and I have accepted the role as Orange County Directors for Cru City. So we’re not moving locations but we are moving our ministry focus! Our primary role will be to work with churches and volunteers to establish a movement among Millennials that will reach those who are lost and equip them to follow Jesus and impact others for Christ in their workplace, in their neighborhoods and among their families.

In short, we want to see this group, which has been described as the least evangelized segment of our culture, transformed for Christ and His church. After all, these are the next generation of church leaders.

In the coming months, we’ll share more about our ministry and the strategic nature of reaching this audience. For now, please pray for us as we seek to secure all of the funding that’s necessary to start this new endeavor and continue to work full-time for the Lord. And pray with us for this generation. They are lost and desperately need Jesus.

We’re so grateful for you and your partnership with us. Together, we’ve made a great impact for the Lord and great opportunities lie before us!

To read the pdf version of The Lowedown, click here.

October 15, 2013

Brief Update and Prayer Requests

Hello friends!
For the past month, Jen and I have been on a sabbatical. After 8 year with Cru, staff members are eligible for a one month sabbatical. Staff members can take a one month sabbatical every four years after that as well.

Though I’ve been on staff with Cru for nearly 25 years we’ve taken only one 3 week sabbatical 9 years ago. So we were very excited to be able to take the extra time to read, prayer walk, study and converse about what God is doing in our lives and in our ministry. It has been a great time. We’re now getting back into the swing of things with ministry and e-mails and all that. I wanted to ask if you would pray for a few specific things for us:

Please pray for Jen as she is in Orlando all week at some leadership meetings. I’m trying to keep the house afloat and help the kids with school work, etc.

Speaking of school, please pray for our kids who are adjusting to life as jr. highers. It has been quite an adjustment with the level of homework being much more than anticipated. Pray for patience too for me as I seem to have picked up a part-time job as math tutor! 🙂

For the next several months, we’ll be in a season of very focused fund-raising for our ministry. Please pray for the Lord to meet all of our needs and to provide the resources necessary for us to continue to serve Him in the capacity to which He has call us.

I’m planning to send out a newsletter later this week with some more updates and prayer requests. For now, I wanted to pass along a quick ministry highlight that I thought would be encouraging to you.

As you know, we have been involved in helping to launch spiritual movements everywhere on campuses, especially among ethnic minority cultures. Two years ago, we were able to help our ministry at San Jose State start a Destino ministry.

I recently got this update from the leader (Noe) there:

Hello Dave! I want to update you what is going on in SJSU Destino. This fall semester God has been moving a lot in the freshmen class. We have more than 30 students going to Fall Retreat compared to 10 last year. Our new goal is to take 50 student from SJSU Destino to fall retreat.

Noe then asks for prayer that they would be able to raise the funds to rent several vans to get students to the Fall retreat.

Praise God for how he continues to grow and expand His kingdom among the nations. Thanks for your prayers and your partnership with us.

As always, please share any prayer needs you may have with us. We love to pray for you and your needs as a family.

God Bless,
Dave, Jen, Jacob and Joshua

June 25, 2013

Multiplication Revisited

It was 15 years ago and it was our very first day on campus at UC Davis. We were eager but new to the campus and nervous about how we would get a new group started. Armed with only a vision and a stack of questionnaires, we anxiously began approaching students who were there for various orientation activities.

We must have approached a couple of thousand students that first week and we spent most of the rest of the fall following up and meeting with students who expressed literally any kind of interest. It was both draining and rewarding at the same time.

The very first student Jen approached to fill out a spiritual interest questionnaire was a freshman named Tricia. Amazingly, Tricia was interested in getting involved in a campus ministry and after meeting with Jen and getting information about Cru, she ended up getting involved as one of our founding members.

Tricia was involved for 4 years and gave leadership not only to our Cru ministry, but helped us start Epic as well. Upon graduating, Tricia took the principles we had been talking about and became one of the first students from our ministry to go on STINT, a one year international mission. After returning from STINT in Central Asia, Tricia served as an intern with us at UC Davis and then joined the full-time staff of Cru, where she was assigned to give leadership to our ministry in Hawaii.

Jen (left), Tricia (center), and Skyy (right)

Tricia served several years in Hawaii, building into students and giving them a vision for the world, just as she had been taught. One of the students whom Tricia mentored was Skyy. After graduating, Skyy spent last year as an intern with Cru, just as Tricia had. This fall, Skyy is leading a team of recent grads to the Middle East on STINT, just as Tricia had done.

In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul gave this charge to Timothy:

“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

From the beginning of our ministry, it’s been our desire to see students won to Christ, built up in their faith to follow Christ whole-heartedly so that they could be sent out all over the world to Win, Build and Send others.

Thank you for your partnership which has allowed us to do just that with countless students like Tricia and Skyy and now many others.

For a pdf version of our newsletter to print out, click here. Please feel free to pass our newsletter along and share our site with others.

May 28, 2013

The Power of Multiplication

Connecting with students at CSU San Bernardino about Destino

Click here to read the pdf version of The Lowedown.

For years, Jen and I have been talking to students about the power of multiplication. It’s the old adage, “give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”

A book that has highly influenced our thinking is “Master Plan of Evangelism” by Robert Coleman. In the book, Coleman outlines Jesus’ strategy to reach the world, which ironically was not through his own direct efforts, at least not ultimately. Jesus’ approach was to invest in 12 men who would be able to carry on His work long after He had gone. These men in turn invested in others who did the same. It was a multiplication effect that led to exponential growth of the church. It makes sense, and it works.

For the last few years, Jen and I have been trying to apply this principle to movement start-ups. Jen and I have been planting ethnic movements for several years and at the same time have been inviting and equipping others to do the same. We’re beginning to see the fruit of that borne out as new ethnic movements are beginning to take root in various locations throughout our region.

Now, instead of just Jen and I launching these new ministries, we are beginning to see established ministries branch out to start new works. And ministries that were started just in the last few years are beginning to expand as well.

Just a few years ago, we recruited a new team to reach Latino students at Long Beach State. After quickly establishing a ministry there, they branched out and started a group at Cal State Fullerton. And just this last month, students from those ministries spent several days of their spring break out in San Bernardino working to establish a new Destino ministry at Cal State San Bernardino.

After spending two days engaging students on campus in many different ways, students were invited to a free lunch to hear more about the vision for Destino. Over 20 students showed up and after the meeting was over, eight students stuck around to hear how they could play a part in helping to establish Destino on campus.

In the weeks that have transpired, those students have continued to meet and we are well on our way to seeing Destino established as an official organization at Cal State San Bernardino.

Praise God for what He’s doing and pray with us that Destino would be established and begin to grow and flourish at Cal State San Bernardino!

Destino Students converge at CSU San Bernardino

December 10, 2012

IMPACT at Long Beach State University

Our Impact Launch Table at Long Beach State

At this time last year, we had no Impact ministries in our region. By the end of last year, we had one new Impact ministry at UC Santa Barbara.

For the last couple of years, we have desired to start an IMPACT ministry at Long Beach State. This past October, we went to Long Beach State with the hopes of finding at least one student who would want to be a part of an IMPACT movement.

Read the latest Lowedown to find out how God moved on campus and what is happening now.