September 2020
Hi everyone!I pray that you are all enjoying the cooler fall weather. Here in Orlando, we celebrate days when the high is 79 degrees (yesterday) :)
Last month, I shared some digital strategy resources that our team developed for our leaders on campus to help them reach students virtually. Today, I want to tell you how these resources, along with your prayers, made a difference for college students!
Join a Small Group... via Instagram
Alan, a campus team leader at the University of Georgia, attended one of the trainings our team developed about effective digital ministry. As a result, Alan and his team decided to clean up the UGA Cru Instagram account and use it to reach new freshmen. They found an unofficial group for UGA freshmen and followed all 2400 students in the group. In return, 600 students followed them back. The team sent a survey about community, Cru, and relationship with God to those students, and 300 of them responded, giving their information to be contacted for small groups.These freshmen were eager to be plugged into Christian communities! Because of the overwhelming response, the UGA team had to train more students to be small group leaders. Impatient, freshmen texted: “When will I find a small group?” Some small groups even had to split into smaller groups due to COVID restrictions because so many students showed up to those meetings! Alan said that this was the best response he had seen in his ten year at UGA.
Who knew you could find Christian community through social media? God did, and the pandemic has catalyzed the ministry to use innovative strategies to reach students without meeting them in person!
Virtual Conferences: More Questions than Answers
A couple weeks ago, I helped update Cru's Winter Conference website. In addition to new design and graphics, the page announced that Winter Conference this year will be virtual. Instead of thousands of students from various universities gathering to worship and learn from speakers in a large hotel ballroom, students will participate online from Zoom. Meeting virtually will obviously be different from an in-person conference, so how do we create a special experience for students to meet the Lord?Just yesterday, I participated in a meeting where we started planning a virtual Preview Weekend. Normally, college juniors and seniors would fly into Orlando in February, tour the office, meet with potential supervisors, and process the Lord's calling with interns and other students. A weekend rich in community, information, and experiences is now limited to a computer screen. What does it look like to cast vision, connect with students, and guide them on their journeys of following God – virtually?We don't have all the answers, so I ask for your prayers as we continue to press into designing experiences to help students deepen their relationships with Jesus.Thank you for your support and prayers. Because of your partnership, hundreds of students are being plugged into Christ-centered communities through online strategies!
October 2020
Hi Everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed an extra hour of sleep and are excited to listen to Christmas music! :) Just kidding. But honestly, we should be celebrating Emmanuel, God with us, every day, right?
Outdoor Worship Night
Early in October, I had the opportunity to help at an outdoor high school student worship night. About twenty-five students from several local high schools came, sang, and shared how they have experienced God during the pandemic.
While at the event, I met a high schooler named Veronica, who joined Cru high school this year when she ran into students and staff prayer walking on her campus. While she doesn't know Jesus as her Savior yet, she felt like she needed God and has been faithfully attending all the large group meetings and events. She told me after the worship night that, even though she didn't recognize most of the songs we played, she felt a lot of peace hearing others worship the Lord.
I am always in awe of the way God uniquely and intimately pursues each person. Please pray for Veronica, that she would experience God's love for her and understand her need for Jesus.
Embracing "And"
Last Sunday, my church here started a series titled “Triggered: Jesus, Politics, and the Church.” I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Pastor Collin’s preaching pleasantly surprised me. Instead of defending either candidate or pushing a specific agenda, he simply stated the reality of our culture and how we, the body of Christ, ought to respond. I hope the thoughts below can encourage you in the coming week, just as they have encouraged me.
Culture tells us that things and issues are either black or white, progressive or conservative, right or wrong, but the world is so much more complex and nuanced. In an “either/or” world, Jesus embraced “and": He came from the Father, and is full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Grace: unmerited love. Truth: unashamed honesty.
The Grace & Truth Graph
The chart above illustrates the different quadrants when we have varying levels of grace and truth. Truth without grace is condemnation. Grace without truth is enablement. A lack of truth and grace is passivity.
Personally, I find myself often in the passive and condemning quadrants. I am often afraid to be involved and quick to dismiss those who don’t hold the same views as me. But Jesus does not give me an excuse to back out of participation, or the right to judge others with my “truth." Through his interaction with the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11), Jesus beautifully balances grace and truth in a moment of tension and testing, extending forgiveness and also telling her to sin no more. In light of Jesus' example, I am challenged to lead with grace without leaving out the truth in my daily interactions.
If you're curious, I would love to connect and share more about what I’m learning, and how God has been challenging me to engage graciously and truthfully. In the coming days, I pray that we, as ambassadors of Christ, will balance grace and truth in our relationships, remembering that every person is an image bearer of God.
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