Tag: Great Commission

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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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The Mark of Discipleship

A few weeks ago, in my daily Bible reading, I came across a passage in 2 Timothy 4 in which Paul mentions two different disciples (Mark & Demas) who are going in different directions spiritually. I shared my thoughts in a blog post entitled “It’s Not How you Start but How you Finish” which you can read here.

Not long after, I was faced with a real-life example of this blog post when I had the opportunity to meet my long-time friend Mark Loomis for lunch.

Me and my friend Mark Loomis – 35 years later!

I met Mark when I was a student at Cal Poly, Pomona sometime in the previous Millennium. I had just returned from a Cru sponsored Summer Mission Project in South Lake Tahoe where I experienced amazing community, personal and group discipleship as well as in-depth teaching and training in evangelism.

When I returned for school in the fall, I was eager to make my mark as I entered my 5th and final year.

A couple I knew from the church I had grown up in contacted me to tell me that their son Mark was going to be attending Cal Poly as a freshman. They wondered if I would meet with him and show him around. I was looking to start a small group so I saw this as a potential divine opportunity.

I remember meeting Mark outside the upper level of the student union. I introduced myself and we went inside, grabbed a table and talked for a while.

I told Mark about Cru and that I was starting a small group Bible study for guys who were new to Cru and I wanted him to be a part of it. Like me, Mark commuted to school. Also like me, he didn’t know a lot of people because there weren’t a lot of folks from his high school who ended up at Cal Poly. I had relayed to Mark how difficult it was for me my first year in college precisely because I was not connected to anyone and I didn’t know anyone. If I had to do it over, I would’ve gotten involved with Cru right away instead of waiting until the middle of my 4th year.

Mark took me up on the offer to get involved and he joined my small group, which consisted of 4 guys. 

Leading that small group was a pivotal turning point in my own spiritual journey. My experience in leading these men, discipling them and training them in evangelism and discipleship skills was the seed that moved me to give my life to full-time ministry.

Though my time with Mark and the other guys was brief (only 1 year), I’ve maintained a connection with each guy over the years.

Old school photo of me and my old Cal Poly small group (ca. 1988) on a group outing with some of the Cru women. Mark is in the center and yes, we both had hair back then, though the writing was already on the wall for me!

When I sat down with Mark for lunch, I was encouraged to hear that he and his family remain steadfast in their commitment to walk with the Lord. Mark has served as an elder, small group leader and mentor, and has been committed to taking the gospel to the world through many various avenues and projects. 

Yet I was also discouraged when Mark shared with me that another student we both know had recently abandoned the faith in pursuit of a worldly lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this is a story I encounter far too often. The allure of the world is real and it’s becoming increasingly more challenging to walk with Christ in our post-Christian culture.

Our church is engaged in 30 day campaign called One Life. The idea is that one life can have a tremendous impact in the life of another. 

The first week in our home group, the central passage was Matthew 28:18-20, which is commonly known as the Great Commission. The primary command Jesus gives is to “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, hopefully for a lifetime. 

This has been our mission, to make disciples, whether with students in the past like Mark, who continues to follow Jesus, or in our current ministry with Young Adults who are trying to find their way in this crazy world in which we live.

Please pray for us to remain steadfast in our own relationships with Christ and pray that we would continue to impact Young Professionals as we seek to heed the Great Commission by making disciples!

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Making Jesus “Findable” to the World!

Did you know that one of the most frequented internet sites for people wanting to know more about God and Jesus is hosted by Cru?

Since 2002, more than 4 million people have indicated a decision to trust Jesus as a result of visiting one of our evangelistic sites.

Back in February I wrote about how Cru is reaching millions of people through our digital websites everystudent.com and everyperson.com. By utilizing strategic google advertising, literally millions of people from around the world are visiting our sites to learn what it means to trust Jesus for salvation and experience His peace through the adversities of life.

I got involved earlier this year in helping to monitor our Facebook page, which has seen increased interaction as we’ve begun to utilize more advertising on that platform to attract seekers to our site.

A few months ago, Marilyn Adamson, the director of our everystudent.com site sent out a quick e-mail update to let people know how effective the site has been in recent months. I thought you might be encouraged to hear some of the results.

In July, nearly 6 million people visited one of our sites with over 80,000 people indicating a decision for Christ. That’s nearly 2600 people every day making a commitment to Jesus!

Everystudent.com has been translated into more than 40 different languages, giving people from nearly every country in the world an opportunity to access the information on the site in their own language.

Marilyn says, “Many of these people are in India, UK, Egypt, South Africa, Pakistan, China, Australia…all over the world, actually. Some come via a VPN because they live in difficult countries, under threats to them. Yet, in private, God is leading them to EveryStudent.com, then to himself, and revealing himself to them as they grow.”

It’s exciting to see so many lives being changed and it’s especially encouraging to hear from those whose lives have been impacted.

People like Adarkwah, who says, “I appreciate what you are doing for me and am very grateful. I hope by the end of this lesson, I will be the one to tell people how wonderful God is.”

Nikitha says simply, “Thank you so much…my new life has begun.”

Anne wrote, “Thank you for sharing your sites. I read everything you send and more on your sites. Finding this has opened my understanding of faith, grace, etc. It’s amazing! I mean amazing!! I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

Many of those whose lives have changed by coming to the site and hearing the truth about God and Jesus, are in turn, sharing with others and becoming multiplying disciples.

It’s amazing to me how God uses every avenue at his disposal to reach those who are earnestly seeking him.

The great news is that you can use the site to reach those in your community and sphere of influence as well. To find out how you can make Jesus findable to those around you by utilizing the resources of these websites, go to http://www.everystudent.info. There, you’ll find a wealth of resources that will help you to see the various ways you can actively and passively point people to the site.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership as we seek to make Jesus Findable to Young Adults and the world!