Category: Missions

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Signs of Spiritual Renewal

“Christianity has an image problem.”

These are the opening words from “UnChristian”, the 2007 book by David Kinnaman, President of Barna Research Group, and Gabe Lyons, founder and president of THINQ Media. The purpose of of the book was to highlight the perceptions of the church from those who are unchurched, in order to give meaning and understanding to the decades-long decline in the influence of the church on the culture at large.

In 2011, Kinnaman published “You Lost Me”, which sought to explain why so many Young Adults who had grown up in the church were leaving the church.

For those of us who are older and have been Christians a long time, it’s been obvious that the church’s influence has been waning for years, perhaps even decades. But recently, we’ve seen that lack of influence breach the barrier of the church, as hoards of young people have been leaving the church for one reason or another.

Recently, however, there have been signs of a spiritual renewal in the U.S. and beyond.

You may recall that in February 2023, a routine chapel service at Asbury College in Kentucky turned into a 16-day outpouring of spiritual renewal that impacted nearly 50,000 people, mostly young adults. (See article here)

Many Christians pointed to that event as a possible starting point for the greater spiritual awakening that we’ve spent decades praying for.

Since then, signs indicating a spiritual renewal here in the U.S. and beyond have amplified. We hear reports of new people attending church for the first time and people returning to church after a long absence.

Since the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, renewed interest in church and Christianity has seemingly increased even more, in the U.S. and beyond.

You may know that Jen has been a part-time student at Talbot Seminary for the past several years, pursuing a degree in Spiritual Formation.

This semester she’s taking an online Theology course and one of the other participants is from the UK. The professor asked the UK student if the rumors he has heard about an increase in church attendance in the UK are true. The student confirmed that from what he’s seen, church attendance definitely seems to be on the rise.

Still, it’s sometimes hard to know the actual substance of what we’re hearing.

Are these reports merely anecdotal, or are they actually reflective of a larger trend of spiritual renewal?

It appears that these stories are not just isolated events but are actually mirroring a larger trend of renewal.

Earlier today, I saw a post on X.com with an image that showed that Bible sales in the U.S. have increased by over 40% in the last 3 years. Downloads of spiritual apps and Christian music are also way up.

Barna research confirms that there are signs of a spiritual awakening in the U.S. The surprising aspect of their research is that this awakening is being fueled by Young Adults!

According to a Barna report released in April 2025, there has been an increase in the number of Young Adults who claim to have made a commitment to Jesus. At the same time, many of those who say they’ve made a commitment might not identify themselves as “Christian”.

While this may seem contradictory, it actually reflects how the younger generation is attracted to the person of Jesus (at least their understanding of Him) but are often skeptical and wary of institutional religion.

A more recent report from Barna in September 2025 indicates that there has been a resurgence recently in church attendance and it has largely been led by Young Adults.

What’s surprising is that contrary to past experience, young adults are going to church more frequently than older generations.

Even more surprising is that young adult men are outpacing women in their spiritual interest.

While there are many reasons to rejoice and be hopeful, there are still challenges. Kinnaman notes that even though Young adults are attending church more frequently, they still are only attending less than 2 times per month and “churchgoing alone does not in itself create devoted disciples…there is still the challenge of shaping hearts and minds to live out their faith beyond church participation.”

This is why we are focused on Young Adults. We seek to fill in that gap – to provide coaching, mentoring and discipleship for Young Adults to help them thrive spiritually and live with purpose.

Thank you for your partnership in ministering to this vital community. Please pray for us and with us, that a spiritual renewal would continue across the U.S. and beyond and that young adults would continue to turn to Jesus as the only one who can fulfill their core needs and desires!

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Encountering Generational Influence at Cru25

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.

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What Does it Mean to Have Eternity in The Human Heart?

Ecclesiastes 3

9What do people really get for all their hard work? 10I have thought about this in connection with the various kinds of work God has given people to do. 11God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12So I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. 13And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

In Ecclesiastes 3, Solomon contemplates the meaning and purpose of work by asking the question, “what do people really get for all their hard work?”

Solomon’s answer is interesting as he states that “people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

Basically, people are too limited in their comprehension and their perspective to fully know and understand God and His purposes.

But in his response, Solomon uses an interesting phrase to make his point about meaning and purpose. He says that God “has planted eternity in the human heart,..”

What exactly does that mean?

I think it means that God has placed within people this innate understanding that we are eternal beings and that we have been created with purpose and meaning.

Think about it. Just the fact that Solomon is able to contemplate the purpose and meaning of work, as all humans are, is something that sets us apart from animals. We may not completely understand everything around us, like the purpose and meaning of our work, but we DO understand that there is something that sets us apart and gives us meaning and value.

Don Richardson, a famous missionary and author, takes this phrase even deeper. In his book “Eternity in their Hearts”, Richardson argues that within every people group and culture, God has placed a redemptive analogy that will enable them to understand and accept the gospel more readily.

In the book, he supports his premise with many stories of how the gospel has been communicated to various peoples and tribes.

In one story, he tells about the Sawi tribe of Indonesia. They were one of only a few tribes globally that practiced both head-hunting and cannibalism.

When they were approached by missionaries and the gospel story was communicated to them, there was a very unexpected response. The Sawi actually thought that Judas was the hero.

This was because the Sawi admired the characteristic of treachery. They would often deceive people into a friendship all the while they were only fattening their future victims.

The Sawi had an interesting tradition, however, to avoid acts of treachery from being performed on them. A Sawi chief would offer his child to another chief as a “peace child.” Acts of war and aggression would be avoided in the future because to attack that tribe might result in the death of your own son.

When the missionaries learned of this tradition, they had their redemptive analogy in hand. They then re-explained the gospel message,  presenting Jesus as the ultimate Peace Child. This time, the Sawi understood and they did not look at Judas as the hero, for to betray a Peace Child was considered the ultimate offense.

With this new understanding of Jesus, it wasn’t long before the Sawi accepted Jesus as their Peace Child.

So what does it mean that God has placed eternity in the human heart? At minimum, it means that people have an inner sense that we are not finite creatures and that we have been created by someone greater than us for a greater purpose.

This inner “understanding” means that the gospel message can be explained and understood by people around the world in a way that uniquely helps them understand the person and nature of Jesus as their Creator and Savior.

Reflection

What do you think it means that God has placed eternity in the human heart?

Author Don Richardson contends that God has placed a redemptive analogy within each people group to make the gospel more readily understandable and acceptable to them. Do you agree with Richardson’s assertion? Why or why not? How do you think this view lines up with other Biblical passages?

How would you answer Solomon’s initial question – what do people really get for all their hard work? What do you think is the purpose of work?

Solomon says that even though God has placed eternity with the human heart, “people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” What do you think he means by this statement? How would you explain its meaning to someone else?

 

Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash

Photo – Text added by Dave Lowe

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What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar….or a Coke?

January marked the 35th anniversary of me (Dave) being on staff with Cru. As I reflect back on the many years of ministry, I’m amazed at all God has done in the lives of the students, staff and Young Adults to whom we’ve ministered. What follows is the story of one student whose life was impacted at San Jose State University and the many ways he and his family continue to make an impact for the Lord today.

It was the fall of 1990 and we were on campus at San Jose State University for Registration Day, a day when students could change their classes, settle their schedules and get their books for the Fall Semester.

Our goal was to surface students who had a spiritual interest and since we really wanted to engage with freshmen, we set up a large banner that said “Freshmen, Stop Here!”

Over the years, the “Freshmen STOP Here” banner was effective in drawing new students to our table.

We offered ice cold Coca-Cola drinks in exchange for filling out a spiritual interest questionnaire.

One of the students who filled out a card was Dexter. I still remember his bright smile and friendly demeanor. I flagged his card to ensure that I wasted no time in getting back in touch with this potentially “hot” lead.

What I didn’t know was that Dexter wasn’t his real name and the phone number was not his home number. Being a Cru Staff “NEWB”, I wasn’t yet wise to all the tricks that students use to feign interest in order to get free stuff.

Not long afterwards, I called “Dexter” to set up an appointment to meet. Dexter had decided to put his work number down instead of his home number. And instead of using his real name, he gave a stage name that he had used as part of a dance group. He knew that if he got a call at work from someone asking for “Dexter”, he would know it was someone from this “Campus Crusade” group (as we were known back in those days) and he could avoid the call if he desired.

I was oblivious to all of this of course. I just called the number, which turned out to be an Office Club. I didn’t know any better so I asked for Dexter. Someone on the other end put me on hold while Dexter was paged.

Dexter was surprised to hear his stage name being paged. He thought the call would never go through because there were no “Dexters” who worked there. So why the person chose to page for Dexter in the first place remains a mystery. 

Dexter ended up answering the phone and amazingly, he agreed to meet with me.

When we met on campus, I learned that Dexter was a fairly new Christian. I also learned that he wasn’t a freshman. He was a sophomore who recently changed majors, so he was a “freshman” in his major. He stretched the truth on the questionnaire so that he could get a free Coke. We had a good laugh about that.

Maricar and Rauderick (Dexter) are actively planting churches, building disciples and reaching the lost around the world.

Dexter (whose real name is Rauderick) and I hit it off and began meeting regularly for discipleship and ministry training. He ended up becoming a leader in the Cru ministry at SJSU.

A few years later when Jen and I moved to Davis to start the Cru ministry there, Rauderick drove over from the Bay Area and brought us an overhead projector from his job at Office Club that we were able to use for our weekly meetings (yes, those were still the days when we used transparencies for worship music!)

Today, Rauderick is living in the South Bay Area with his wife Maricar and their 4 children, three of whom are in college. He works as a clinic director in San Francisco, providing mental health services and care for those who are most marginalized. But that’s just his day job.

For the past 23 years, Rauderick has been living out his passion for the gospel as a bi-vocational pastor, providing spiritual care and direction to those in his congregation.

Rauderick has a passion for making Jesus known. He and Maricar have been involved in numerous church plants and are active in world missions, training missionaries in the Middle East and pastors in Vietnam.

Raud and Maricar also have a heart for families. They love counseling and mentoring couples using HomeBuilders materials produced by Cru’s FamilyLife ministry.

For the past 35 years, we’ve sought to make disciples of all the nations, raising up leaders and laborers who could make an impact for Christ wherever the Lord might lead.

To me, Rauderick (aka Dexter) is an amazing example of a former disciple who exemplifies our vision: to raise up disciples who will walk with Jesus and become life-time laborers, impacting those around them for His kingdom purposes.

Please pray for Rauderick and Maricar as they lead their family and those under their care. And please continue to pray for us as we seek to raise up others in this younger generation who will become life-time laborers, just like Rauderick and Maricar!

The De Silva Family
Isabel (front), Gabrielle (middle left), Samuel (back left), Abigail (back middle), Maricar & Rauderick (back right)

 

Header photo by Mahbod Akhzami on Unsplash

Freshmen Stop Here photo by Dave Lowe

Other photos courtesy of Rauderick and Maricar De Silva

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Finishing the Task

Matthew 24

1As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2But he told them, “Do you see all these buildings? I assure you, they will be so completely demolished that not one stone will be left on top of another!”

3Later, Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and asked, “When will all this take place? And will there be any sign ahead of time to signal your return and the end of the world?”

4Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will lead many astray. 6And wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7The nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8But all this will be only the beginning of the horrors to come.

9“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because of your allegiance to me. 10And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11And many false prophets will appear and will lead many people astray.12Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13But those who endure to the end will be saved. 14And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then, finally, the end will come. (Matthew 24:1-14, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Last weekend at Saddleback Church, there was a Rick Warren sighting. If you didn’t know, Rick Warren stepped down as the Lead pastor of Saddleback Church last August (2022) after more than 40 years at the helm of one of the largest churches in America. I wrote about Pastor Rick’s replacement in a blog post here.

Pastor Rick showed up in a video at church sharing about some of the current needs of the Finishing the Task initiative of which he has taken oversight.

Finishing the Task is a network comprised of hundreds of churches, denominations and missions organizations that are all committed to “finishing the task” that was given to the church 2000 years ago when Jesus commissioned his first disciples to “go and make disciples of every nation…” This task is commonly referred to as the Great Commission.

Matthew 24 is one of the few passages where Jesus speaks prophetically about future events. In this passage, the disciples point out to Jesus the various temple buildings and Jesus uses this as a launching pad to share with his disciples about future events.

The first thing Jesus points out is that the Temple buildings that his disciples are so fondly admiring would one day be completely demolished. This actually happened not long after Jesus’s death and resurrection as the Temple was completely destroyed in 70 A.D. and has never been rebuilt.

Later, at the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask Jesus the question of timing: “When will all this take place? And what signs will accompany your return?”

Jesus responds with some general information about the state of the world that would precipitate His return. He says the following things will be true before His return:

    • There will be many false prophets…many who will claim to be the Messiah and will lead many astray
    • There will be wars and rumors of wars among the nations
    • There will be famines and earthquakes

There is no doubt that this list so far has been fulfilled as these conditions have been true for many years. Yet Jesus says that these conditions are only the beginning of the horrors. In other words, these signs alone aren’t enough to signal that the end is near. There are additional signs that will signal the nearness of Jesus’s return:

    • Christians will be arrested, persecuted, killed and hated for their allegiance to Jesus.
    • Many followers will fall away and more false prophets will lead others astray
    • Sin will be rampant everywhere.

These additional conditions begin to bring more focus to the state the world will be in before Jesus returns. One only has to take a cursory glance at daily headlines to see that Christians are being persecuted and killed around the world. Sin is rampant everywhere and many Christians, in an effort to placate the culture, are compromising on Biblical standards of morality and ethics.

Still, whether or not the stage is set for Jesus’s imminent return is still somewhat of a subjective evaluation. One could claim, in just about any decade since Jesus uttered the words of Matthew 24, that these conditions have been met.

Yet Jesus gives one more condition that must be met before His return will be imminent, a condition that is not subjective but can be objectively evaluated . That condition relates to the spread of the gospel around the world. Jesus says that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached around the world so that all the nations will hear it, and THEN the end will come.

So even though all the conditions seem ripe for Jesus’s return we know that His return is not imminent until this final condition is met – the gospel must be preached so that all the nations (people groups) hear it. Once that happens, we know that Jesus’s return is imminent.

This doesn’t mean that Jesus will return the instant the last people group hears. It simply means that the stage is set and we have no reason to doubt that he may come at any moment.

What’s exciting is that the Finishing the Task initiative, which was launched in 2000 as a cooperative, collaborative effort between hundreds of churches, denominations and missions organizations, has made amazing progress in taking the gospel to the remaining 3500 people groups that were previously unengaged. This YouTube video from 2020 not only gives a history of the Finishing the Task initiative, but also highlights the progress made in the 20 years since the group was formed.

And now, Rick Warren has made it his remaining life mission to give leadership to this network as they push to reach every remaining unengaged people group within the next 10 years. As he says in this short video, “it’s time for Finishing the Task 2.0”

We are living in exciting times as we are quite possibly the generation who will be alive to see the fulfillment of Jesus’s command to take the gospel to all people groups and make disciples of all the nations.

Lord, may you mobilize your people and empower us by your Holy Spirit to fulfill the command that you gave to your initial disciples 2000 years ago!

Amen.

Reflection

Are you familiar with the idea of the Great Commission? What has been your experience in making disciples and going to the nations?

What thoughts and feelings do you have when you think about the idea that Christ could return, possibly in your lifetime?

One of the things Jesus says is true of the world just before he returns is that there are many false prophets and many will fall away. What do you think makes someone a false prophet? In other words, how can you tell if someone is a false teacher? 

What steps can you take to ensure that you are not one of the faithful followers who is led astray? 

What do you think are some practical ways you could be involved in helping to “finish the task”?

 

Logo from the Finishing the Task website