Tuesday, Becky, the kids, and I, all headed up to Santa Barbara for the day.  The Cru staff team there invited us up to lead a development time for them.  You can read more about what we did that day on our Serving Santa Barbara post.

One of the things Scott did was gather students from UCSB who had been on the Santa Monica Summer Mission in the past three years, when we helped lead.  Six students showed up on only a couple hours notice!  It was a sweet time of reconnecting and catching up.  Scott asked them all the question, “How did the Santa Monica Summer Mission affect your life?”  Their answers were encouraging!

UCSB Sant Monica Alumni: Ashley, Andrew, me, Paul, Jonny, and Veronika.

UCSB Santa Monica Alumni: Jonny, me, Nicole, Veronika.

Jonny is a senior.  He attended the Santa Monica Summer Mission in 2013.  His experience in Santa Monica gave him confidence in sharing his faith, and helped him understand the urgency of sharing the gospel.  Jonny now shares his faith regularly on campus, and has led a small group Bible Study in the residence halls for the last two years.

Andrew is a senior Communications major.  He attended the Santa Monica Summer Mission in 2014.  Andrew said the summer mission gave him a toolbox of ministry skills, ones that he now uses as he leads Cru’s Retreat Team.

Ashley is also a senior.  She manages a pizza restaurant just off campus in the popular Isla Vista college town.  She was on the Santa Monica Summer Mission with us just this past summer.  She learned how to reach out to her co-workers.  She shared a fun story.  In the past, she would make pizzas to take to her women’s Bible study.  But when co-workers asked what they were for, she was too nervous to tell them about her Bible study group.  Since returning from Santa Monica, she was asked by a female co-worker why she was making pizzas to take home.  This time Ashley replied with confidence that they were for her Bible study group.  To Ashley’s surprise and joy, her co-worker replied, “Can I join your Bible study?!”

Paul is a graduate of UCSB.  He attended the Santa Monica Summer Mission in 2013.  On summer mission, Paul was impacted most by the significance of Christian community.  After graduating the following year, Paul and a fellow Santa Monica alumus, spent the year with Cru, reaching college students in the Middle East!  This year Paul is back in Santa Barbara and investing part of his time still reaching college students at UCSB.

Nicole is a senior.  She attended the Santa Monica Summer Mission in 2014.  That summer mission gave her confidence and experience in leading others in Bible study.  She now leads her own small group of women in Bible study in the residence halls!

Veronika attended the Santa Monica Summer Mission in 2014.  That summer mission gave her skills and experiences that she now uses as she leads the Community Team with Cru.

All of these students will be attending their big Fall Retreat this weekend.  175 students from Santa Barbara are registered to attend.  They will have the opportunity now to share their stories with the next generation of UCSB students!

We stand in awe of how God uses summer missions to change the lives of college students for His glory!