Recently, I (Catherine) read about students from my alma mater, University of Connecticut. We usually talk about the Mighty Huskies in February and March, due to basketball. This time it is about the Cru movement on campus, and a trip they took to Cuba:
Imagine [being a Cuban farmer and] moving to Havana from the Cuban countryside, thinking you’ll have a better life in the city. There you find that the central Communist planners no longer feel obligated to provide for you. You’re worse off than before. Water, for instance, has to be boiled before drinking, whether from the tap or the well. This drains your meager fuel supply.
One day though, some people come to your home, and offer you the gift of clean water. One such group hails from the University of Connecticut. Ten Cru students (and three staff) packed their shorts and sandals and flew south…. The group also packed dozens of small water filters, modeled after the kind used in kidney dialysis. These filters, disseminated through Filter of Hope, eliminate even the smallest bacteria in drinking water. Astounding!
Under the leadership of a local church … this Cru group divided into four teams, fanning out into neighborhoods, each team accompanied by a Cuban interpreter and a rep from the church. That’s how Mark’s team met up with Mario and Lola. The team showed the couple how to install the gravity-operated filter. To prove its effectiveness, the Cru team stirred in a cup of dirt, demonstrating how the filtered water still emerged sparkling clean from the bucket. For further proof, the team drank the purified water themselves. Then, as Mark began to tell Mario and Lola about the Living Water that Jesus came to give us, this 18-year-old evangelist sensed ‘the Holy Spirit slowly changing Mario’s reluctance, to resolve.’ In total, the UConn team installed 59 filters, shared the gospel 104 times, and 39 Cubans put their trust in Christ.
Working in the campus ministry of Cru, I get to hear many of these kind of stories. Your partnership with us helps students hear about Jesus, grow in their faith, and go on trips like this. There is great joy in heaven when only one person turns their life over to Jesus, imagine the party for 39!! Filter of Hope manufactures and distributes simple, life-saving water filters. Their ministry provides families living in poverty easy access to clean, safe drinking water—250 gallons a day for 10 years. I have since read about similar trips taken by students from West Michigan to Columbia, and from Arizona to Mexico. We are excited that Cru is partnering with Filter of Hope on a greater and greater scale, soon beyond just the Campus Ministry.
In our family, March is the month of anniversaries — Becca and Zach celebrated six years, Cady and Kevin celebrated ten years! Khloe turned seven on the last day of February. Please continue to pray for Preston as he searches for his next career steps, and for our health and stamina in ministry. Rachel is having a great first year as assistant coach of the North Greenville University women’s lacrosse team. Again, thank you so much for your partnership with us and your prayers!
The Kelloggs 