My father, Jeff Belcher, and his wife lived in Maine. They loved to garden and every year, like other Mainers, they would have a huge harvest of zucchinis. HUGE!! It’s not unusual to see “free for the taking” zucchini in baskets in the office. One person placed them on the windshields of unsuspecting people around town. When you have zucchinis, you are busy, not only harvesting them in a timely way, but also sharing them with others.
The college campus ministry’s work has been like the zucchini harvest: busy!! Cru is seeing students come to faith in Christ, people praying for ministries to start in new places, and students stepping up to take leadership on their campuses.
Capital University is near Columbus, OH. This fall semester, the Cru staff have been overwhelmed by the work that God is doing. As they began the year, they sat down with student leaders to inspire a vision of seeing the gospel transform the campus. The staff and students were able to take spiritual interest surveys with more than 2000 students on campus, and are working to connect those young men and women with spiritual resources.
At Clemson University, a staff member had lunch with Dawson, one of the Cru Greek Life leaders, who has been discipled for a year. Dawson has been doing an awesome job living out his faith in a really difficult environment, and it has earned him an audience. Many guys in his fraternity have been coming to him with questions about faith. One of those guys is Henry. This frat brother described looking to fill his life with worldly things, and then trying different philosophies. . . . His wake-up call came when his 24-year-old cousin died from an overdose. Since then, Henry had been exploring the Christian faith. God had clearly been preparing him to hear the gospel! As the staff member shared it with him, Henry’s eyes were wide, and there were multiple times he exclaimed, “oh wow!” He indicated that he had never put his faith in Christ before, but that he would like to. Dawson had never been a part of anything like that before, and it was an exciting moment, knowing that his steps of faith for many months leading up to this moment had paved the way to seeing one of his pledge class brothers put his faith in Christ!
Here in Orlando, Andy’s team works to get older computers (ones traded-in by staff when they upgrade) refurbished and sent overseas. Those of us who work in the U.S. are fortunate to usually work with up-to-date computer technology, something that’s not always true in other parts of the world. This was a thank you note the team received this month from a recipient of one of those computers:
“I want to thank you for the computer you have sent my way. I am very thankful to God, this computer speaks of God’s faithfulness and restoration. My other computer was damaged in a fatal car accident from when I was in Tanzania while filming in a hostile Muslim community. For more than a year and a half I have found it difficult to work because of the accident and lack of a functional computer. This gift sends me back on the mission field to serve God and serve others, as I tell the stories that God is mightily working on in Africa.”
Whether on the college campus or in the cities of Africa, God is mightily at work.
- From Chattanooga, “80-100 new freshmen are plugged in to Bible studies, and 200-250 students come to our weekly Thursday night meetings in the biggest auditorium on campus where we get to worship together and have students share their testimonies.”
- From the University of Illinois, “ With just a few days to go before our fall getaway (Sept 29-Oct 1) for Cru campus ministry, Destino (Latino Students) and Bridges (International Students), 132 students are signed up. We are running out of beds at the camp we normally book!are thrilled that 42 students showed up for the first Latino Bible study; only eight showed up last year.”
- From Southern Colorado, “Four students have placed their faith in Jesus Christ so far this semester.”
- From New York City, “Three freshmen guys came to our first Bible study at Queens College. That was exciting for us.”
God is at work! Thank you for joining us in this plentiful harvest! Join us in praying for peace in the world.
The Kelloggs 