God, Prove Yourself to Me

This is a story from on of my fellow co-laborers in SD. Very cool to hear about this conversation with a student!

On Monday afternoon, I actually found a student who was sitting at a table with no books in front of her. They don’t call UCSD “UC Socially Dead” for no reason. I jumped on the opportunity to talk with her before she got up and left. Linda is a junior pre-pharmacy school student from Nigeria. When Linda and I began our conversation, she was ready to give up on God. She did not believe that He even loved her. After about thirty minutes of listening to Linda’s story, I asked her if I could share my thoughts about God. I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with Linda- how God loves her so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for her. I told her about how the Father’s plans are far greater and better than the plans we could ever have for ourselves, and after almost two hours of conversation, Linda prayed with me to receive Christ as her Savior and Lord! Only after we prayed together, did Linda share with me that this was the morning that she had asked God for a sign that He is with her! First, another student offered to pray for her; second, a different student gave her a free Bible; and lastly, ended up talking with her about God’s love. How could she not see that God is blatantly pursuing her and answering her prayers?! I was blown away by how God was and is truly at work in this girl’s life. Praise Him!

Student Accepts Christ in the Northeast!

I received this email from Jon Imaio, a staff member at Rochester Insitute of Technology (RIT) in upstate New York. RIT has one of the largest number of deaf students enrolled in the country. Throughout my time in Boston, I was able to attend some of RIT Campus Crusade meetings and meet their involved deaf students. It was amazing to watch them worship, as they were signing all the words, which made a beautiful and passionate dance. This is what Jon shared with me:

An involved student, Auzy HAS started a Deaf Christian club. He and some other Deaf students started it at the end of last year. There are about 30 members. On Wednesday they had an outreach event and a Deaf girl ended up receiving Christ! Bonnie Bastian was actually there and wrote me a really encouraging email about it. Here it is:

I finally made it to a Deaf Christian Club event last night. They hosted an Open House and planned to play some games and share 2 testimonies. By the end of the night, I think about 10 students volunteered to also share their life stories in front of the group, including one young lady who confessed she hasn’t accepted Christ yet but was currently struggling with the idea of how God could love her. By the end of the night, she was all smiles and had prayed to receive Christ! I was in awe of the openness of the students and how the Lord moved in that room. Sooo awesome. :) Thought you might like this update!

Please pray for Bonnie and for deaf students at RIT to continue to SEEK and KNOW our Lord!

Tea Time

Tea and crumpets- Am I back in London? Nope, just out first staff woman's time. All of the ladies on our team places a high emphasis on community. In celebration of Jenn's pregnancy, we went for high team in Point Loma. It is probably the last time we'll all be together for a while since Jenn is a mom-to-be any day. We had a great time talking, laughing, continuing to get to know one another, and praying for baby Floth.

Chilean Minor's T-Shirts

This story gives me chills. I love that we're able to utilize technology to reach people, even the minors stuck underground. The Lord uses all circumstances for His glory. Read CNN article below (you'll probably need to copy and paste the link, sorry):

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/14/the-story-behind-the-chilean-miners-jesus-t-shirts/

BIG Monday

This story was emailed to me from a friend who works with Student Venture, the high school ministry of CCC. Big Monday is an outreach sporting event high school students. Below is a story of how the day forever impacted a girls life!

The first Big Monday of the year, held in September, attracted a number of new freshmen--including a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl named Jane. A friend of Jane's--a senior at Poway--had invited Jane to come, and she willingly accepted. Later that week, I had a chance to meet up with Jane and learn more of her story.

Like many students, Jane wasn't raised in a Christian home. She did go to church periodically with her parents; however, both her mom and dad quit attending after an ugly divorce. Jane said she appreciated Student Venture because she didn't feel pressured to believe something she didn't want to believe--she always felt like religion was forced on her during the times she went to church. I took the opportunity to share with her about Student Venture and gave her a copy of the Connecting with God booklet (a gospel tract), but simply encouraged her to read it on her own time, and when she felt ready.

Jane attended the most recent Big Monday, held October 4, and after hearing a powerful message and gospel presentation from a local high school principal, prayed to receive Christ for the first time! In the last month, it is evident that God has been working on her heart and drawing her to Himself. Praise God for Jane's salvation and the opportunity to experience a life-giving relationship with Him!

Hello San Diego!!

Hello Friends and Ministry Partners!!

I am now a full time staff member with Campus Crusade for Christ!! After interning for two years, I decided to join staff and come back to California. My mom's dream came true, as I will be working with students at UC San Diego and San Diego State.

I'm thrilled to be doing ministry in the city I grew up in. My specific focus will be with women in the Greek System. Between these two campuses, there are 67 GREEK HOUSES!

I hope to utilize this blog more to keep you all updated. Stay tuned!

Good Works, Good Deeds

On of my housemates, Craig, had the opportunity to volunteer with a CCC Summer Project (mission trip) in South Africa. This is a short story he wrote about it:

I was able to spend the last month on the South Africa summer project as a volunteer staff member. The project was called “Good Words, Good Deeds” and focused on launching a tutoring program for low-income high school students in Pretoria, South Africa. The goal of the project was to create a sustainable academic support group and a school-sponsored Christian movement at the high school. When I’m not volunteering with the Boston Metro Team, I’m a public high school teacher, so this trip combined many of my passions.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing how God moved in the hearts of the high school students. Many students were eager to hear about Jesus in the classroom. On the last day of tutoring I had doubts on whether or not students would stay firm in their faith. As we said goodbye, our staff team stood in the courtyard surrounded by students. I picked up my guitar and we sang “Days of Elijah”. To see 400 students dancing and singing, “there’s no God like Jehovah,”sent chills down my spine. This was a moment of assurance that the students of Stanza Bopape were experiencing a vibrant joy in the Lord.

Sharing Stories of Lives Changed

Last week all of the Campus Directors gathered for a week conference to share about how things are going on their campuses; positive and negative. Being the conference planner, I had the privilege of joining all of these leaders for the week.

We kicked off the first evening by sharing stories of how we've seen lives changed throughout the year. Here are a few of the highlights:


University of Vermont: Ally came on a rock climbing trip this fall. She was late and cursing in anger. She loved the trip. Her mentality changed from roughness to . She got involved in a life group. She came to the spring break trip to Guatemala. She gave food, medicine and school supplies to orphans and others. At the end of the trip they went to church in a Guatemalan ghetto. It is very poverty stricken. The walked along way to get there. It was very scary for kids from Vermont. There were 5 believers and 5 non-believers when the trip started. Three had then become believers on the trip. Ally came forward on this last night and gave a testimony. She said that she had always refused God in the past. She said, "tonight, hearing the music, I know it is the voice of God and I want to give my life to him for eternity." Everyone was crying. After that, ten Guatemalans came forward to receive Christ. It had been years since any had come to Christ there. Finally the last guy on the trip went up front. All five on the trip became Christians. Katie, Henry, Mel, Alicia and Ally all came to faith.

Amherst: Aaron was a Christian football player but a lone ranger. He want to the AIA Fall Retreat and came back on fire. He went to Big Break and did a great job sharing his faith. He has been transformed from being a lone ranger to a spiritual leader on his whole team.

NYC: Victoria at FIT experienced freedom for the first time in college. She grew up following religious rules. She got to college and broke all the rules. She took advantage of freedom and became burned out, materialistic and vicious. After class one day two girls shared Solarium with her. She discovered a thirst for God. She began to be transformed by Christ. She prayed for the first time in two years and asked God for forgiveness. She has felt alive for the first time in years. She is a leader now.

NYC: Cammi at FIT came in as a junior. She came in late to the dorms and roomed in a guys dorm at FIT. This meant there were many gay men. She started a discussion group with several gay guys and a guy she calls "the anti-christ" who is pretty twisted. It is not an easy environment to represent the Lord. Cammi went to a place of timidity to courage and perseverance.

Syracuse: A kid named Aaron had just broke up with his girlfriend. John (staff member) shared his story with Aaron. He came to the weekly meeting. He loved it. The next week, he had an argument with God and gave his life to God. He got up in front of the other students and told them his story of realizing he needed to turn his whole life over to God. He is going on the Boston Ops Summer Project.

Yale: A student at Yale was an athlete and nominal Christian. He was barely interested as a sophomore but he kept coming and gradually grew. He had been dating a girl and he was excited to introduce her to Charmaine, a staff member. A month ago he shared his story. For the first 18 years he said he was a monkey, with no concept of what life is, but meeting God had given him insight into life. He is excited to begin to lead a fraternity Bible Study.

UNH: Meghan is an athlete at UNH. She was wild but moved in with one of her Christian track teammates. Her roommate loved her unconditionally and shared the gospel with her. Last spring she went to an Easter outreach and heard the gospel clearly. She was so moved she wanted to throw up. She was ready this fall, she trusted Christ in October. From the first day she began sharing her faith with her teammates. She is an emerging leader on her team.

Boston: Nate is a student in Boston who went to Big Break. He wore a bright orange t-shirt that said, "Gay? I'm fine with that." He was wondering how he would be treated if he acted outrageous. All the way through people treated him with dignity and respect despite his expressions. One day Brian (staff) and Nate talked. Nate said the big issue was language and translation of the word homosexual in the bible. But he said the issue is that he has no outlet for his sexuality. Brian said I have no idea how hard this is for you but life is not promised to be easy. It is easy to do what you want. The Gospel is hard but good. At the end of the week Nate updated his Facebook status saying "I am a changed person with confidence bubbles inside, praise the Lord for what he has given me."

Boston: Katie was the archetypal Harvard student. She was bright, a great dancer and skier. She decided last summer to try to answer the big questions of life. She loved Mere Christianity and began to process life in light of that. She was intrigued by the authenticity of Christian community and the facade that is so common to humans. She came to the beginning of the year meetings and was anxious to step into a Christian community. She plugged in. She went on the Fall Retreat. She asked Pat to walk with her and she told her life story. She was ready to confess her faith and burst into tears. She was baptized last weekend.

UMaine: Joe (staff) challenged a student to be part of Lifelines (the outdoor ministry of CCC). He said he would never do certain things; share his faith, raise money, lead a group. But God has helped him do all the things he said he would never do. He is now leading multiple people spiritually and is a natural evangelist.

Praise God for all of these stories ans many more! Please pray for all of these students!

"I Can't Believe this is Happening!"

Big Break was an amazing week of sharing our faith, bonding with students, and hearing great talks about our Idenity in Christ from Roger Hershey. There are so many stories I could share with you about Big Break. Well, since I'm not limited to space on my blog, I can!

After a 33 hour drive, a flat tire, and a fender bender, the 34 Boston students and staff arrived in Panama City Beach, FL. Everyone was tired and smelly, but excited for the week ahead. We made the trip to Wal Mart for groceries (which is like a Macy's on Black Friday) and got settled in.

On Sunday night we kicked-off the week with a great talk and worship with the other 1,200 students at the conference. Then Monday was our first day of sharing. Most of our students had never shared their faith before. This is always nerve racking in the beginning, but once we were all out there we saw the Holy Spirit at work.

One conversation I had on Monday was with a girl Taylor. Taylor was very open to the survey and it became clear that she had a "mixed bag" of beliefs. Her parents were non-practicing Muslims and raised her to be "one with the earth". She was open with Rice and I about her life, but I was surprised when she said that she has a strong desire to know God personally! I was excited to share the gospel with her and kept saying "I can't believe this is happening! This is what I've wanted for so long and now someone is putting it into words. I can't believe this is happening to me right now!" Taylor wasn't ready to receive Christ, but took the gospel booklet to look through it again on her own. Praise God for our conversation with Taylor! Please continue to pray for her and that other Christians will enter into life with her.

*The picture is of guys at Big Break sharing with other college studetns at Panama City Beach

Vision for the Northeast

The Northeast Region (New England and New York) has 2.3 million university students and faculty on over 550 campuses. From first generation immigrant students living at the poverty line in NYC to future presidents at Yale and Harvard, the universities of the Northeast are the most influential and diverse in the world. God, in His wisdom, has given this part of the country a unique position in shaping world thought and history. Our vision is to transform every campus by launching spiritual movements to reach the lost and grow Christ-centered, fruitful leaders.

We're having a Vision Dinner on May 1st to share with people in our communities how they can help see this vision come alive. Through financial partnership, prayers, and/or volunteering, you can be a big part of what God is doing. Please pray for our upcoming Vision Dinner!

Ashley @ Preview Weekend

Wouldn't you love a winter getaway to sunny, Orlando, FL? Many think of Orlando as the capitol for Disney Princesses and Mickey Mouse, but in the heart of the city is also CCC's Headquarters. Known as Lake Hart, over 1,000 staff members work at this state-of-the-art property.

Ashley had the opportunity to visit Lake Hart last month. Every February CCC HQ hosts "Preview Weekend", a time for graduating seniors to see a snapshot of what ministry in Operations looks like. They see the different operational teams: Human Resources, Worldwide Challenge Magazine, Conferences and Events, IT, and the National Campus Office, just to name a few. The great thing about Preview Weekend is that students see how their skills can be valuable in an office setting. Because students are only surrounded by staff on their campus, they feel limited to what they can do within the ministry. Preview Weekend sheds light to that misconception. Ashley came back inspired by the weekend and is ellated the do a one year internship at Lake Hart when she graduates! I'm so excited for her and that she was able to discern God's will while there. She also came back a with little tan, or should I say slightly less white. :)

A Snapshot of the BWC

This is one on my favorite pictures and visual of what happens at the Boston Winter Conference