While Harrison played chess at Queens College in Manhattan, “Ali,” a student from Kuwait, approached to watch. Harrison steered the conversation toward God using a spiritual card game. He soon discovered Ali felt distant from his religion and was curious about how Christians grow close to God. Right there, at the table, Harrison shared the gospel and later, with Ali’s permission, prayed over him in the name of Jesus! NYC is a mission field representing 148 countries and more than one million students. During a one-week mission trip, many who had never heard the gospel demonstrated a deep hunger for spiritual truth. The students on the trip had 428 spiritual conversations, 63 gospel presentations, and Five people prayed and received Christ.
The first day of a mission trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, a group of high schoolers invited Wisconsin Cru intern, Justin to a late-night basketball game. Justin mentioned he was in town with Cru to help students know Christ and the teens joked that his “work” must be a cover for trouble. . . so Justin shared his faith testimony. The mood shifted when Justin asked, “Do you guys have a faith?” At the third and final game, Justin asked, “Do you guys know what the gospel is?” He shared it. Right there on the court, all four players prayed to receive Christ! On the final night, Justin met up with a few more of their friends and shared again. Two more guys gave their life to Christ.
Since September, thousands of Orlando high school students have heard the Gospel shared by a peer, and hundreds of students have said yes to Jesus for the first time. More high school students have begun a walk with Christ this year than in the last three years combined!!!
In Mid-April, my team met in Cincinnati from Boston, Indy, Madison, Austin, Orlando, and Charlotte. A huge highlight was time spent on the campus of Miami University (Miami of Ohio). The team met up with one of our heroes of the faith, Jane Armstrong. Jane has been a Cru staff member for more than 50 years. She spoke about the openness of students to the gospel message, and about launching many Christian workers from Miami U! She shared that she has never “aged out” of ministry with college students. Jane was instrumental in my sister-in-law, Jenny (wife of Andy’s older brother, Jeff) understanding what it meant to be a believer. The time in Cincinnati was an incredible encouragement for both the team, and for Jane. Pictures are down below.
JOIN WITH US, AND ALL OF CRU
We are blessed to work with an organization that sees prayer as ministry. We, as staff, are encouraged in our daily walk with Jesus, to spend a 1/2 day with the Lord monthly, and twice a year we all stop our daily routines to spend time in prayer! The idea of the ministry of Cru/Campus Crusade for Christ was born out of a 40-day, 24-hour prayer chain in 1951. This year is Cru’s 75th Anniversary, and there is no better way to celebrate than to declare our dependance on God through prayer.
Join us this fall, from August 23 – October 1, as staff, students, faculty, volunteers, and partners will again be leaning on God through a 24-hour prayer chain. Find our sign-up tool and weekly prayer guide at 40daysofprayer.cru.org. Please sign up, we’d love to have you. As Andy and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary on August 23, we will be praying that day, and then each Sunday, at 10 a.m., throughout the 40 days.
The Kelloggs 