Cru 22 was our biennial conference for US Cru staff. It was one week to gather staff from the four corners of the country for worship, fellowship, teaching, and direction. We were encouraged by many things, but especially reiterating our call to be faithful to follow Jesus Christ, and lead others in doing the same. Here are some snapshots from the conference.
This was our first year meeting in Milwaukee, and they really pulled out the stops to welcome us!Our large group meetings were wonderful, with fantastic musical worship, testimonies from the field, Bible teaching, and direction from our leadership. Connecting with tons of co-workers/friends from around the country made it an incredible time!Sarah worked as a CruKids leader for 4-year-old staff kids, alongside a wonderful team. (Sarah is front right)Ethan’s CruStudent conference hosted a water walk to raise funds for those in need of clean water in the developing world.
Praises & Prayer Requests
Praise God for the “building up of the body of Christ” that happened at Cru22!
Please pray for Freshmen stepping on campus this fall! For believers to get connected to solid faith communities, and for not-yet-believers to meet Jesus through them.
Please pray for our Mission Trip Team as we roll out a new model for summer mission trip ownership this fall. Pray it will only catalyze and improve our short-term mission sending.
Please pray for Sarah as she has begun her sophomore year at Biola and pray for Ethan & Becky as they begin his junior year of homeschool and sports/theater/choir at Western Christian High School!
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ.”
Outreach continues on campuses across the country throughout the spring! Please pray! In this pic, Destino (Cru’s Latino-focused ministry) seeks key student volunteers to launch a ministry at the University of Central Florida.
As always, thank you for your prayers and support,
This month we would like to take a moment to give you a little deeper look into one aspect of our ministry. Whether it is the staff or the students we send on summer mission each year, one of Scott’s roles is to oversee their care.
One of the primary ways we affect student care is through the application process for our summer mission trips. The questions we ask on the application, and the process we take students through on follow-up calls, needs to be carefully considered. As Cru staff review applications, we want them to see it as a short-term discipleship opportunity to be handled with care. Students frequently share vulnerable things about themselves on their applications that they have never shared with anyone else! They answer questions about their spiritual life, their maturity, how they work and engage with others, moral issues, ministry experience, and more. We need to enter into these conversations with grace and truth, empowered by the Holy Spirit. It’s not just a “yes” or “no” process, it is a divine discipleship appointment with each student.
Another aspect of caring for our staff and students on summer missions, is crisis care. Along with our campus ministry crisis manager, Scott works preventatively and responsively to mitigate crises on our trips. One way he does that is through enacting and enforcing policies intended to keep our students and staff safe. Policies regarding housing and bedding situations, alcohol use, Covid protocols, and appropriate travel arrangements. Scott and the crisis manager have also established quick protocols for what a summer mission team leader should do immediately, in the event of an emergency. During the summer, they are both on call as “first-responders” to guide our staff through any crises.
Thank you for partnering with us to ensure that the right student missionaries are sent, at the right time, in a healthy and safe manner!
Praise & Prayer Requests!
Praise God for the 888 who have already been accepted to a summer mission!
Pray for staff and students to walk through Spirit-led application review processes.
We’re coming to the end of a yearlong process of updating our application questions and review process. Pray God would continue to guide us!
Pray that God would grant safety and protection to all students and staff who comprise our summer mission trips as they go out this summer.
Family Requests
Pray for Sarah as she wraps up her first year at Biola. Pray for Ethan to enjoy track season and being a part of Beauty & the Beast musical!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with is own blood”
We thought you would be encouraged to get a glimpse into what God is doing through Cru’s ministry to university faculty. Molly led Becky’s small group with Cru and discipled her, when Becky was in college. Now, Molly and her husband David, work with Faculty Commons, Cru’s faculty ministry.
1.3 million professors wield considerable influence on U.S. campuses, where 18 million college students show up for class. For those professors identifying as Christian, Cru’s Faculty Commons supports them in their faith, and helps them leverage their academic platform.
“Students graduate, but professors remain,” notes David and Molly ZagRodny, Faculty Commons staff at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
For 11 years, the ZagRodnys, have welcomed each new faculty member with a gift bag: treats, a specially designed coffee mug, a local coffee shop gift card, and a welcome note from tenured professors. Ideally, a Christian professor who is much better positioned to build relationships over the long haul, would deliver the bag.
It often takes a year or two, for a prof to grow bold enough to collaborate in this way; but newly hired Dr. M. jumped right in, asking if she could deliver a gift bag to a new Business College colleague. Sweet! Dr. M. also asked the ZagRodnys to add her name to the list of Christian faculty they make available to incoming students, saying, “It’s so important for students to know there are Christian faculty on campus, and I want to be available for them.”
Dr. M preparing to deliver a gift bag to a new colleague.
Pray for new professors to respond to the welcoming gestures of Faculty Commons staff, and for strengthened networks of support for Christian faculty on secular campuses.
Praise & Prayer Requests!
Praise God for the 1,733 students who have applied for summer mission trips to date, and 412 who have already been accepted!
Pray for many more students to apply for summer missions and for God to remove any barriers.
Pray for Scott and the Mission Trip Team as they simultaneously maintain and improve Cru’s summer missions program.
Family Requests
Praise God for providing a great used sedan for Sarah to have and drive at school!
Thank you so much for your partnership in the gospel and investment in in our lives!
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…”
How do you prepare almost 300 Cru staff to lead 120 summer mission trips that begin in just 4 months? How do you also steward the decades of short-term mission experience among many of those staff? We employed two methods. For the “tried and true” basic training of leading a Cru Summer Mission, we used a new online platform with robust user interaction. But, to offer a more tailored environment, and to capture and enlist all that experience to improve our overall program, we had to convene.
Mission Trip Team – Scott, Dan (team leader), and Amy.
So, January 6-9, our Mission Trip Team hosted a conference in North Carolina, to accomplish those purposes with the majority of those leaders. Here were some of their greatest takeaways from the time together:
Team leaders planning
“I think my biggest takeaway is that we’re not alone. Cru provides so much support for you if you’re leading a summer mission.”
“Having a perspective or humility and seeking to be engaged and connected with God, and leading from that perspective.”
“I loved hearing from and connecting with national leaders and other TL’s, making it feel like a team as we all do our separate summer missions.”
“I really like the direction the conference is headed. If we attempt to innovate each year, I think we’ll stay ahead of the curve in summer missions.”
Scott on stage
Thank you for being a part of enabling us to equip these leaders and to steward their experience and insights, to make Cru Summer Missions an excellent, God-glorifying endeavor!
Praise & Prayer Requests! Pray for those leaders as they spend the next several months praying, planning, and preparing for their summer mission trips.
Pray for Scott and the Mission Trip Team as they seek to change and improve Cru Summer Missions using all the feedback and insight they gained from those leaders.
Pray for students as they consider the opportunity to use their summer months on a Cru Summer Mission. For God to lead many to do so.
Family Requests A big thanks to those who gave above and beyond to help us buy a small car for Sarah and new laptop for Becky! Pray now as we seek those things.
8 summers on stateside summer missions (Newport Beach, CA; Ocean City, NJ; & Santa Monica, CA)
3 summers Internationally (Central and East Asia)
3 summers coaching International Summer teams
3 summers focused on Training
3 summers focused on Biblical studies
1 summer of sabbatical
3 summers focusing on ministry partners
1 summer continuing year round work on summer missions
June of 2021 marked 25 years of Becky serving with Cru! It has been a joy and journey of growth to be a part of what God is doing on college campuses. Seeing the lives of students transformed and resourcing and caring for fellow Cru staff, has allowed me to see God work in so many ways! It has grown my view of who God is and grown my heart for others. Serving in such a variety of capacities has meant ministry has looked like so many things over the years….
meeting and getting to know new students all the time
training student leaders
planning a fall retreat
leading student bible studies
planning and leading meetings for students & staff
emceeing a student weekly meeting
shopping for food for 50-100
a lot of driving
managing a budget for 100 students for a summer mission
connecting with our incredible ministry partners
coaching a team of students going overseas
planning a conference for staff moms
helping students raise support
reviewing applications of students wanting to go on summer mission or recent grads who want to intern with Cru
sharing my faith on campuses, on the beaches of Southern California and the East coast, the streets of LA, in Central Asia, in East Asia
In the midst of all these things, I have learned so much! The Lord has consistently drawn me to Himself and proven Himself faithful. Growing into adulthood and raising a family on staff with Cru has been such an incredible blessing. We have been consistently surrounded by leaders and friends who are full of faith, wanting to grow and desiring His name to be glorified above all else! THANK YOU for being a part of all these years and more with us! We are SO grateful for you! I look forward to another 25 years of serving the Lord and serving others SO THAT His name is praised among the nations!
Praise & Prayer Requests!
Praise God with us for His faithfulness and abundant work in and through Becky these past 25 years!
Pray for God’s continued grace and hand upon Becky and our ministry among college students.
Pray for Scott, and his team, as he is in the midst of leading the process of giving all 2,600 Cru staff summer assignments for 2022.
Family Requests:
Praise the Lord for a special 18th Birthday celebration for Sarah with old & new friends! Pray as Becky & Ethan are settling into some new rhythms for Ethan’s homeschooling, sports & theater opportunities!
THE SLAMERS 