Checking In and Summer for Students

    Hello friends!  I don't know about you, but the last few months with COVID have been just a blur for me.  Our family is hanging in.  Our girls were sad to not get to have in-person closure with their friends and teachers, especially as both "graduated" from their respective schools this year - Zoe from Middle School and Sophie from Elementary.  But, that said, they've been handling the challenges of this COVID season about as well as can be expected.   I'm trying to treasure the gift of extra time together rather than count the days until it's over (with more success on some days rather than others :).

Zoe with her 8th grade graduate sign

Sophie taking a virtual painting class from her art teacher

 
   

On the Cru front, our normal summer offerings for students were all canceled this year.  Instead, we've created some virtual opportunities for them, one of which is the "Summer of Theology,"  a 10-week small group topical Bible study on the basics of Christian theology (the Trinity, the Incarnation, etc).  Students go through material on their own, then have a Zoom group discussion once a week led by a Cru staff person.  More than 520 students have participated!  The organizers keep adding extra waves and small groups because so many keep signing up.
    Here are a few quotes from staff leading these discussion groups:

• "It's amazing how just keep going through the material and showing up to our calls even though they don't have to {i.e. they could be doing something else with their time}."
• "As a staff person who works in an office and doesn't get much time with students, this has been so refreshing."
• "I can really see how Summer of Theology is laying a spiritual foundation for the next 2-3 years of student leadership."

    Pray that the Lord will use this unconventional summer to draw these students closer to Himself and that, as a result, He would use them to minister to their friends and family in what is a very hard season for so many.

Quick Update and Prayer Request

Hello there friends!  I hope that this finds you well and hanging in through this unprecedented pandemic.  Our family is doing OK - for both girls, this is the last year at their respective schools and the thought of not getting to say good-bye to teachers and friends is sad, but they are mostly rolling with all of these changes with positive attitudes, for which I am so grateful.  And I do my best to give them space to just be sad and disappointed at times. 

Jonathan and I are both staying pretty busy with work.  This is my busiest time of year and that has not really slowed down.  But I also find myself getting tired more quickly and also being more on-edge emotionally.  I'm doing my best to recharge while also slowing down and connecting with the Lord during this time. 

I wanted to be sure and reach out this week and ask for your prayers for a couple of specific ministry things: 

1.  New intern applicants.  This is the season when interns for next year are hired and begin raising support in order to report in the Fall.  We have several great office interns who have applied and been accepted this year, even in the face of much uncertainty regarding what the Fall will hold.  Please pray for them as they seek to move forward - and really for graduating seniors all over the country as they try to launch into official adulthood in what is likely to be a challenging next few years.
2. Our current Headquarters interns.  These folks are finishing up what was to have been a year of professional learning and a community of their peers in the midst of "sheltering in place."  This is the time of year when they would normally celebrate a completed internship and say their good-byes.  This is now all having to happen virtually.  Pray for them and for our team who lead them as they grieve these disappointments.
3. SLI (The Senior Leadership Initiative) - next week was to have been this SLI class's second in-person module in San Antonio.  Instead we are hosting a much abbreviated virtual module for them.  As with the others, pray for the participants as they navigate the disappointment of not getting to be together in-person.  Pray that the Lord would use the content and connection to minister to their hearts and grow them as leaders.  And please pray for me - as Operations Director, I'm responsible for the technology and many of the details.  Pray that I would lean into the Lord, walk in the Spirit, and that God would guard us from crazy technological difficulties.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!  They are making a difference for us in this challenging season.  Please let me know how I can be praying for you.

Ministry in Crazy Times

    Hello Friends!  How is it mid-March already?  Life is moving so quickly....  Last week was Spring Break for our family and, thanks to Covid-19, we get two more bonus weeks :).  I'm telling my kids this is making up for all of the snow days they have missed out on since moving to Texas.
    In all seriousness, though, how are you doing?  Are you healthy?  Hunkering down at home or in a job where you are on the front lines?  Please let me know how we can be praying for you.
    It's definitely an interesting time to be in college ministry, as most campuses are closed for the foreseeable future.  Would you join Cru in praying for a few things?

• For students who were in dorms who might not have an easy transitional living space 
• For campus employees who may have lost their incomes, at least for now
• For Cru staff who are having to completely change the way they are approaching ministry, both now and in the upcoming summer
• But above all, pray that all those who love Jesus would accurately reflect Him to the world - being his hands and feet to those who are hurting

     As always, I'm so thankful for your prayers and support.  I'm praying for the Lord's care and provision for you and yours during this unusual time.   

Fort Worth Winter Conference

The theme of the Cru winter conferences for students this year was "Your Path to More."  We are all on different paths in our journey with Jesus, growing in an understanding of the Gospel and who God is in discipleship together. 

Hundreds of college students gathered together in Fort Worth during the first week of January to understand how God is writing a unique story in each of our lives to transform and gather us in the beauty and grace of the Gospel.   Students were given opportunities to learn, discuss, and reflect on the ways this might play out in their own lives through large group meetings, seminars, and an interactive prayer experience.

During the prayer experience students used a reflection guide in community with each other to search Scripture, pray, and learn what it looks like to engage in the journey of following Jesus together.  They were given time to slow down, focus on the Lord, and let Him speak to them through Scripture.

Students were also given the opportunity to serve local churches by bringing the Gospel to neighborhoods throughout the DFW area.  God used simple conversations to bring glory to His name.  Through this outreach fifteen people chose to commit their lives to Christ!  In one conversation, Luis, from SMU, was talking with a Spanish-speaking woman.   Luis speaks Spanish, but had never shared the Gospel in Spanish before.  During their conversation, Luis realized that God was equipping him and giving him the words to have a spiritual conversation with her.  Luis shared the Gospel with her and she came to faith that afternoon!

By the end of the week, hundreds of students reflected on the cost of discipleship and what joys would come from surrendering their lives to follow the King of Kings.  We are excited to see how the Lord will move individually in the lives of students as they return to their campuses and continue to take steps of faith as they journey together.

I'm so grateful to be a part of such impactful experiences for students!  I am even more grateful to have each of you be a part as well.  Your prayers and partnership play a critical role in this ministry.  

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