Have you ever planted a seed? A garden? I planted some dill seeds recently. I put them in the dirt, watered, and waited. And waited. And watered, and waited. I do not like to be a “waiter.” I love that I can cook things in seconds in the microwave. Yet sometimes, we need to wait, and trust that things are happening “beneath the surface.”
I have felt similarly about Cru’s ministry to college students. When Andy and I joined the staff of Cru in 1984, we were part of a group of 250 new staff, and that was just the summer class. Students on campus were interested in spiritual things, most had some type of church background. Since then, the number of students joining our staff has fallen off. Pre-COVID, we would have years where fewer than 100 people would join. Students were harder to reach on campus, both due to the political climate on the campuses, and the lack of interest in spiritual things.
Our staff prayed, and worked, and waited. During the two years of COVID, staff had to be creative with how they were involved with ministry to students. At University of Central Florida, Bible studies met on the top floor of the parking garages so people could distance themselves. Discipleship took place on Zoom. Instagram became a ripe place to have spiritual conversations with students and faculty.
Back to my seeds. About two weeks ago, I noticed that there were small, green shoots coming up. Even though I could not see it, there had been growth! And this has become true of our ministry work, there are more and more examples of the work God had been doing while we waited.
“In that wonderful day you will sing: ‘Thank the Lord! Praise his name!’ Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is! Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world.” Isaiah 12: 4&5
- Since the pandemic quarantines, the positive response rate to hearing the gospel message has increased from 4.9% to 8.9%.
- In 2022, 13,003 students registered to attend a Cru Fall Retreat. Last year, there were 15,756 students registered.
- Since 2022, we have opened 32 new ministry locations (focusing on students and faculty at the collegiate level) including 11 in North Africa and the Middle East.
- I may have mentioned this before, but it is such a great story: there has not been a Winter Conference for college students in the Northeast since COVID. The staff in the region decided to try again, and were expecting about 200 students and faculty members to attend. By the first day of the conference, there were more than 600 people registered for the conference! They were scrambling for enough space to fit everyone, what a GREAT problem to have!!
You might expect growth like this in the “Bible Belt,” but how about at Harvard? On April 18, Tammy McLeod, Cru staff member, was quoted in a front page article of the New York Times. . . .“I have served as a chaplain at Harvard for 25 years, and the interest in and openness to religion and spirituality has never been higher on campus,” said the president of the Harvard Chaplains.”
One more story. This one is from University of Michigan where Jon, a freshman, shared how his year in Cru changed his life. “Cru . . . inspired me to evangelize and be bold in my faith. This semester I was taking English 125, and I learned the professor didn’t believe in God. This inspired me to minister to him, so I shared the gospel with him. He took notes, and I kept checking in with him about his faith over the semester.
“During the last week of classes, I knew I wouldn’t see him again as I wouldn’t be in his class, so I talked with him again about his faith. We talked for 30 minutes after class, and the professor prayed to receive Christ! I was crying, I gave him a hug, and he said he felt healed.”
Thank you for your part in Jon’s story. Thank you for lifting us up in prayer so that we can keep being a part of taking the whole gospel message to the whole world. God is always on the move.
July 5, Andy and I will head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for our National Staff Conference. We will be in the mid-west until July 21. About 4000 of our staff and about 1100 of their children will gather to hear stories like the ones I have shared here, worship the God of the Universe, and pray for people around the world. Much of Cru in the United States operates on an academic calendar, and summer is a time to re-focus and prepare for the year to come. Our hope is that our staff would be recharged and focused, leaving Milwaukee looking forward with anticipation to the work ahead. Would you pray with us? Andy and I are very involved in the operations of the conference. Please pray for our travel to and from the conference, for our time there to be refreshing in the midst of the work getting done, and for our health as we see people from all corners of the globe. Pray for me as I interact with and serve our staff, that I will have the right heart as I help them.
Thank you for allowing us to invite you into our lives! We covet your prayers and we appreciate your support for our ministry.
The Kelloggs 