Carla, an intern with Cru in Central Florida, and her team walked onto campus at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach with a purpose. They hoped to find students who desired to tell their fellow students about Jesus and would actually take action to do so.

They asked student after student, “We’re here looking for students who love Jesus and would say that they’re passionate about telling others about him in a way that makes people want to listen. Does that describe you?”

Her first day on campus, Carla eventually approached a student named Malik (see picture above) with this question. Malik said that described him, and invited Carla and her teammate, Chris, into his dorm.

Carla and Chris shared more about their vision of finding a student who would share the gospel and make disciples through spiritual multiplication (Matthew 28:18-20 and 2 Timothy 2:2). In turn, Malik shared his vision graphically (see picture). To help him accomplish his vision, they guided Malik through a tool that explains the gospel called Knowing God Personally, which he could share with others.

Soon afterward, Carla was meeting with another student in the student union. She looked in the distance and saw Malik approaching a group of students. It looked like he was sharing the gospel.

“Were you sharing the gospel with those students?” Carla asked Malik afterward.

He was. In fact, Malik said he had gone from table to table of students in the student union with the hopes of sharing the gospel using the Knowing God Personally tool, a tool that he had just learned!

“I was blown away by his faithfulness and willingness to go and interact with strangers on campus to share the good news with them.”

Praise God that he has already raised up students like Malik who will be bold and share the gospel with anyone and everyone, friend and stranger alike!

Thank you for your partnership in raising up spiritual multipliers!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Praise God that he has raised up Malik to share the gospel with fellow students at his university!

Pray that God would raise up many students like Malik in Northern California and Nevada and that our team would be to find them, even when campuses are all virtual.

Continue to pray for our digital missions to Central Asia and for the Lord to raise up a team to go in person this summer.

Please pray for our family and our team to remain healthy, to battle against COVID (and zoom) weariness, and stay connected with our respective communities.  

Please pray for continued joy as our family learns and grows together.  We are loving being a family of 5.  The house is rarely quiet!

Nearly everyone is feeling the effects of COVID-19. One of the lifestyle changes has been the cancellation of events. Ministry to college students and young adults, however, hasn’t stopped. Just as classes have moved online, so has our ministry.

In February, a church in a Sacramento suburb (Elk Grove) asked us to train their young adults in evangelism. When the governor mandated that California shelter-in-place, it was clear that we would have to modify our training to be “Zoom friendly”.

Each Sunday night, our team teaches these young adults a new skill to point people to Jesus. During the week, each of these 16 students put what they’ve learned into practice primarily through texts and FaceTime with their friends. Ministry is happening through students and young adults who don’t have to leave their homes!

This pandemic has surfaced major fears and anxiety about life and death, and the quarantine has provided space to address the questions students have. Our involved students and young adults are enjoying meaningful conversations with others who happen to be all along the spiritual spectrum.

We’re excited to see the fruit that God brings that may not have happened without the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you so much for being part of bringing people hope and peace in the midst of such unprecedented times!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Pray for fruitfulness for students and young adults as they reach out virtually to their non-believing friends. Pray that believing students would lean into the peace that the Lord brings in the midst of uncertainty, and that non-believers would place their hope in Jesus.

Pray for us as we continue to adjust to being a family of five. The kids are doing well overall, but life is currently so far from normal for them. It’s hard for 4-year olds and 2-year olds to understand why they can’t see their friends or even do the normal things they do throughout the week. Abby, while persistently joyful even the midst of lots of recent changes, has felt the loss emotionally.

All of us (you as well) are experiencing loss in some ways. Pray that the Lord would use this time to refine our character and deepen our dependence on him.

“You should talk to Scott,” said Pastor Jason said to Lucas. Little did Pastor Jason know that Scott would soon be training 12 other students from his church’s college group on how to share their faith.

Our Cru staff team traveled to Reno at the beginning of the fall semester to find students at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) who had a heart to reach their campus. One of our staff members, Lucas, met with Pastor Jason at his church, who connected him with Scott.

Scott had previously been involved with Cru at San Jose State before transferring to UNR. He had been frustrated by the lack of evangelism happening on campus and was excited that Cru was seeking to reach UNR with the gospel. The same day they met up, Lucas trained Scott to have meaningful conversations about faith with his friends and classmates.

Scott’s vision is to work with his already-existing college group at church in order to mobilize them to reach students at UNR who don’t know Jesus. A few months after meeting Lucas, Scott had gotten the green light from his pastor to share his vision for campus evangelism at an upcoming college group meeting. 

“It would be great to have you come up and do a training,” Scott told Lucas.

“What if you did the training?” Lucas suggested.

“Well, I guess, yeah I could do it,” responded Scott.

Immediately, Lucas took some time to walk Scott through training curriculum that Scott could use to teach his college group on how to have evangelistic conversations on campus. Within a few weeks, Scott had trained his college group. The students are now pairing up to practice sharing their faith on campus with other students.

Please pray that the Lord would use Scott and his college group to bring the gospel to many at UNR!

Thank you so much for partnering with us to train students to share the gospel who will then train others to share the gospel!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Pray that UNR would be reached with the gospel through many more students like Scott.

Pray that churches all over California and Nevada would be equipped to reach out to high school and college students around them.

Pray that our team would be able to train 10 churches this semester on how to have personal ministries of evangelism.

Pray for our family as we soon welcome our son into our family. Please pray for a healthy delivery, sweet time together, and a smooth transition. 

“Hey, what do you think about Jesus?”

Hunter, a student at FLC, has had his life changed by Jesus. He grew up in church, but started living the party lifestyle, and realized he needed to get out of it by the grace of God. He went to church and met with the pastor, and eventually started walking with Jesus.

“Jesus has totally changed the trajectory of my life.” Hunter isn’t complacent with Jesus only changing his life though. “I want to make Jesus available to everyone.”

Hunter is great at making friends. Whether it’s at school, at work, or with the high school basketball team that he trains, Hunter wants to give everyone the opportunity to know Jesus. With such a huge desire to make Jesus known, all Hunter really needed was someone to model what it looked like to share his faith and then some coaching. This happened through one of our Cru staff members, Jill.

“I never knew how easy it is to share my faith until I saw Jill do it.”

Hunter is constantly starting spiritual conversations with his friends using the training that he received from Jill. After finishing a pick-up game of basketball that he invited his friends to, he asked them, “Hey, you guys know that I go to church. What’s your spiritual background?” He listened to their responses, and then asked, “What do you guys think about Jesus?” After listening some more, he asked if he could share what the Bible says about Jesus, sharing the gospel with them.

In response, his friends began asking questions about Jesus, so Hunter started an investigative Bible study through the book of Mark. 11 guys started coming and 6 of them ended up sticking around. All 6 of them have decided to follow Jesus.

Elsewhere, while with the local high school basketball team, he started talking to individual people on the team. Adam and Erick had similar stories as Hunter, growing up somewhat in church and getting lost in the party scene. After Hunter shared the gospel with them, they soon decided to rededicate their lives to Jesus. Hunter is mentoring them in the foundations of the faith, and they are sharing the gospel with their coworkers. Adam has even started a small group bible study with them going through the book of Mark.

Hunter has made sharing about Jesus a way of life, and God is using him in mighty ways!

Thank you so much for helping students like Hunter share the gospel wherever they go.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Thank God for the work he has done in and through Hunter’s life!  Pray that God would continue to use Hunter and bless him in sharing the gospel. 

Pray that God would grow others to take the gospel to their campuses, friends, and communities .

Pray for our team to be refreshed and fruitful in ministry and life!

Please pray for our family (and team) to stay healthy during this cold and flu season.

“We’re looking for students who love God and want to share Jesus with classmates. Do you know anyone like that at Yuba College?”

“Yes, me!” Mason replied.

Lucas met Mason on a Tuesday while our staff team was spending the week at Yuba College and asking students the above question. Lucas sat down with Mason the next day to talk about what it means to be an ambassador for Christ at Yuba College. Little did he know that he’d become a spiritual multiplier that very same day.

After they brainstormed some ways to reach the campus, Lucas asked, “What if we go share the gospel with someone right now?” Mason enthusiastically agreed.

Lucas and Mason walked up to the first two students they saw on campus and asked if they would be interested in talking about life and spirituality. Daniel and Devon were open, so Lucas and Mason sat down to listen to some of their story using a short spiritual interest survey. Daniel and Devon indicated at the end of the survey that they had a high desire to know God personally.

Lucas and Mason began to share the gospel using the “Knowing God Personally” gospel presentation through the GodTools app. It was pretty evident that they had never heard the gospel before, but they were intrigued and drawn to the message of grace and love through Jesus. At the end of the conversation, Lucas asked, “Do you guys want to put your trust in Jesus to bring you into a relationship with God?”

“Yes!” they both responded.

Mason is already planning to regularly meet up with Daniel and Devon to equip them in their new faith. Our staff team is excited to be able to coach Mason as he continues to take steps of faith, both with mentoring Daniel and Devon and also seeking to reach the rest of his campus alongside others.

Pray that God would lead us to more spiritual multipliers all over the Sacramento area and beyond who want to reach their campuses.

Thank you for your generous partnership and investment in the spiritual lives of students on college campuses in Sacramento and beyond!  We are so grateful for you!

PRAYER REQUESTS

Our team is busy at the start of the fall semester searching for students who want to multiply their lives so that every student on every campus can hear the gospel. In the fall semester, we’re hoping to visit 13 campuses to surface leaders. Would you please pray that God would lead us to these students on every campus?

Pray that God would greatly use students on campuses to be part of proclaiming his message of redemption.

Pray for more partnerships with churches in our area so that we can work together to reach every student.

Please pray for our team and family’s health as we enter the fall and start new routines.

Our faith is meant to be entrusted to others and multiplied. What would it take to see rapid multiplication of the gospel through students?

In March, I (Jeff) was able to visit and participate in the ministry that Cru has in Manila, Philippines. I was amazed at what the Lord is doing there! I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. From June 2018 until April 2019, Cru in Metro Manila saw:

• 10,125 individual gospel conversations
• 6,755 students indicated decisions to trust Christ
• 771 students being holistically discipled
• 80 campuses with a ministry presence
• 11 partnerships with churches

What’s even more amazing is that the work isn’t happening through tons of full-time Christian workers; Cru in Metro Manila only has six full-time staff! Rather, the work is happening through students.

Students like Sam, Micah, and Rica (Filapina women pictured above) have been changed by the gospel, and are now sharing the gospel with their classmates, discipling those who have come to faith, training them to share the gospel and disciple others, and also searching for other like-minded students at different campuses without a gospel presence.

At times, they’ve even seen four generations of spiritual multiplication within eight weeks, all through new believers. That is absolutely rapid multiplication!

Praise the Lord for what he is doing in Manila!

We’re praying and working hard to see the Lord bring about this type of impact in Sacramento and beyond. Would you pray with us that the Lord would bring incredible fruitfulness in evangelism, discipleship, and sending through students in Sacramento, much like is happening in Manila?

We are so grateful for your partnership to help fulfill the Great Commission through students!

Prayer Requests

• Praise the Lord for what he’s doing in Manila, and pray for continued fruitfulness.

• Pray that the Lord would raise up students on every college and high school campus in Sacramento and beyond who would have a passion to reach their campus.

• Praise the Lord for students that the Lord has already raised up in Sacramento who are taking steps to reach their campus.

Then [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”   — Matthew 9:37-38

A new school year is upon us, and with it, thousands of new students flooding campuses across the greater Sacramento area. There are about 165,000 college students on the 11 campuses in the region that our team has been entrusted with. A large portion cycles through each year, with a new batch entering college just after a departing batch enters the workforce after graduation. There is so much opportunity for the gospel to spread to these thousands of students and the people they will come across. How do we go about so grand of a task, however?

The Cru movement at American River College is a great example of what we want to see happen all over the Sacramento area.

Designed from the very beginning to be student-led and staff-coached, 3 student leaders (Jeshua, Brielle, Leo) were commissioned two years ago. They found 5 leaders (Leo, Carissa, Regan, Johnny, David) to succeed them the following year. These leaders led weekly meetings, bible studies, mentored younger students in basics of the faith, and trained them in evangelism to the campus. This year, ARC has 5 more student leaders (Bobby, Regan, Haley, Tammy, Abby) ready to lead the movement to reach the campus. We foresee the Lord using them to raise up more leaders and transform the lives of those who don’t know him on their campus of 31,000 students. Praise the Lord for his provision and his work at ARC, and pray for the fruitfulness of the Cru movement there.

Along with two campuses that already have Cru movements (American River College and Sac State), there are 6 campuses on which our staff team is seeking to surface key student leaders who will lead movements this year.

They are:  Cosumnes River College, Folsom Lake College, Sac City College, Sierra College, William Jessup University, Yuba College

We will be visiting these campuses throughout the year to see if the Lord would allow us to start student-led movements of evangelism and discipleship. Would you pray that God would raise up 2-3 student leaders at each campus who are ready to lead new movements of evangelism and discipleship? We cannot find these leaders unless he provides and leads us to them!

Thanks for being part of raising up leaders who can impact their generation on the college campus!

Prayer Requests

• Praise the Lord for his work at American River College the past few years.
• Pray that the Lord would raise up 2-3 student leaders at each college in our area this year, and even at ones beyond the Sacramento area. Pray that the Lord would allow us to find them.
• Pray that the Lord would use these student leaders to share the gospel with hundreds of those who don’t know Jesus and bring many to know Him.
• Please pray for energy, health, and grace for our family and staff team as we get into our fall routines.  Pray that we would love God and each other well! 

God is on the move, and our job is to join him in the work that he is already doing. Our belief is that he has raised up or is raising up the people and resources within a five mile radius of each campus to reach that campus with the gospel.

With that vision in mind, our Sacramento staff team, a few UC Davis Cru students and staff, and ten Salt Lake City Cru students on spring break recently blitzed five campuses in our area (Sac State, Sac City College, Cosumnes River College, Lake Tahoe Community College, and Yuba College) over a two-week period seeking to find people whom the Lord has raised up. We personally initiated with 1,649 people individually on those campuses in order to share with them this vision:

“We’re with an international student missions organization called Cru. We’re seeking to start the group here today. We’re looking for people who love God and want to share Christ with their classmates. Is that you, or do you know someone who fits that description?”

Honestly, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Once you find the needle, however, or the leader that the Lord has raised up, a gospel movement of evangelism and discipleship can really take off quickly.

One person that was surfaced at Yuba College was Joseph. Joseph is one of about a dozen students we found during our one-day visit to the campus who wanted to help start a spiritual movement at Yuba.

“I want there to be a space for people to come and ask questions and talk about God,” Joseph said.

Lucas, one of our staff members, shared with Joseph about the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, and the principle of spiritual multiplication found in 2 Timothy 2:2. They talked about how God might start a movement at Yuba College through Joseph. Joseph wrote down five Christians he could involve in his vision, and five non-Christians he could begin to share the gospel with.

Pray for Joseph and students like him at Yuba College and around the Sacramento area. Our vision of student-led movements everywhere is dependent on them! Pray that God would ignite a passion in them to reach their fellow students with the gospel. And also pray that God would graciously give them what they need, whether that’s training, resources, or simply encouragement.

Thanks for being part of reaching every campus in the Sacramento area and beyond with the gospel!

Prayer Requests

Pray that the Lord would raise up students and volunteers to reach local college and high school campuses with the gospel.

Pray that our established student leaders would walk closely with Jesus and boldly share the gospel with those around them.

Pray for our upcoming staff planning in August. Pray that our staff team would have wisdom, renewed vision, and love each other well.

“And the things you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” — 2 Timothy 2:2

I (Jeff) first met Lucas (left) in May of 2011 when he was a freshman at UC Davis in 2011. He had grown up in a Christian home, but never really understood the gospel and what it meant to give his whole life to Jesus. In the prior few months, the message of the gospel clicked and he decided to seek to live his whole life in submission to Jesus, which included ending an unhealthy dating relationship.

When I met Lucas that May, in just a few short weeks, he would be leaving for a 10-week summer mission with Cru to Ocean City, New Jersey. I was excited to know that in his upcoming sophomore year I would get to disciple him and lead a bible study with him to reach out to freshmen in the dorms.

Lucas came back from Ocean City having experienced a life-changing summer through training and experience in evangelism and discipleship. He eagerly desired to give his whole life to the type of spiritual multiplication we see in 2 Timothy 2:2. While the freshman bible study that year had its ups and downs with attendance, it was a joy to lead with Lucas and another student-leader, and we saw three freshmen men decide to give their lives to Jesus!

Lucas decided to go to Port Elizabeth, South Africa that summer on another Cru summer mission with a purpose of helping to launch student-led gospel movements on college campuses in the city. It was yet another transformative summer, this time in helping spread the gospel cross-culturally.

After graduating with a degree in philosophy from UC Davis in three short years, Lucas interned full-time with Cru at UC Davis for a year, and then joined staff with Cru for the long-term. I was so grateful to find out that his first staff assignment would be on my staff team in Sacramento!

It has been such a blessing to have Lucas on our team! He is faithful, steady, and brings an innovative spirit and mind in reaching college students. This year, he is active in helping launch and coach Cru movements at Sac State University, American River College, William Jessup University, and Yuba College. As a team leader, I know that whatever tasks I entrust to Lucas will be done well and faithfully.

Thank you for being part of raising up spiritual multipliers like Lucas!

Prayer Requests

Thank the Lord for Lucas. Pray for him and his wife, Katy, to continue to walk deeply with Jesus in the midst of adjusting to life with a young child and some family health issues. Pray also for the Lord to continue to use him in Sacramento and in San Diego this summer, where he’ll help lead a Cru Summer Mission that starts in a few short weeks.

Pray students heading out on summer mission this summer (San Diego and East Asia). Pray that they would experience a similar transformation that Lucas and many others have experienced while on mission, and also see much fruit.

Pray for a bonding and refreshing summer for our family.