What an amazing time we had being face to face again with so many friends and co-laborers for Christ across all of Cru’s ministries in Milwaukee for our national staff conference, Cru 22!

WORSHIP

We enjoyed worshiping Jesus together with about 4000 Cru staff members! The worship time enabled us to enter into God’s Presence and have open hearts for all He wanted to teach us.

WIN, BUILD, SEND 

It was so refreshing to hear from Cru’s US leadership as we focused on our desire to WIN people to faith in Jesus, BUILD them in their faith, and SEND those disciples out to reach others with the Gospel until the whole world can experience the love and forgiveness of Christ. Cru’s vision remains firm and centered on fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission in this generation!

SPEAKERS     

We heard from many great speakers. Two of our favorites were Heather Hollman and Beth Guckenberger. Heather is a Professor at Penn State University and also serves as an Affiliate Cru staff member with our Faculty Commons Ministry (our outreach to professors and teachers at many universities around the country.) She told how she prays for God to work in the lives of all the students in her classes chair by chair! She has seen great answers to prayer and changed lives through her efforts by God’s grace!

Beth Guckenberger is an author, speaker, and a member of Cru’s Board of Directors. She spoke about her experiences as a missionary and a mother of 11 children. Her latest book is called Throw the First Punch which teaches us to take steps of faith in combating the Enemy. Her favorite quote is “Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the Devil says, ‘Oh crap! She’s up!'” Steve and I want to grow in fighting the enemy by faith and in prayer so that more people can be won to God’s Kingdom!

CHANGED LIVES

Erika Moore shared about her experience of LeaderImpact (a Cru ministry to business leaders)

“I want to say we have 15 women in our group, and how we all just come together and open up. It’s been a wonderful experience. I am very grateful that this door has opened up and I know that it was God talking to me. I grew up in a very religious household, but I never understood that I was supposed to build this relationship. And once that clicked I was like wow, this is amazing. When the LeaderImpact opportunity came up I thought, this is what I need in my life, I need continued spiritual guidance.”

SENDING TO THE WORLD, PAST AND FUTURE     

Together we were able to celebrate the legacy of God’s work through Cru in East Asia over the last 3 decades. Steve and I were a part of opening up this work in 1982 with a trip there after our summer mission in Japan. We are so thankful for the hundreds of US staff and students who have served and have seen God raise up a thriving national ministry there!

God has led the Cru national leadership in the Middle East and SouthEast Asia (the Crescent Window) to invite US staff and students to help them reach their people with the Gospel! The Holy Spirit is doing unprecedented work in this area of the world with many becoming disillusioned with the main religion there. So we will be sending students and staff to go to 6 campus ministries already in existence in the area and to help launch four new locations this year! 

FAMILY TIME

Another highlight for us was getting to visit Ben, Quinn, and Aira who were also attending the conference. What a special joy as we don’t get to see them often. Aira is an adorable 10 month old who smiled, giggled, ate an amazing amount of solid food, and loved to walk holding our fingers. We are so thankful that Ben and Quinn are continuing to serve the Lord with Cru too!

THANK YOU!

Thank you for your financial support, extra gifts, and prayers that enable us to serve the Lord with Cru! We are so grateful for your part in all the work of Cru and in our lives as we serve to send out new laborers into God’s harvest fields around the world. We love and appreciate you so much!

You can also see some of the changed life stories we heard by visiting this site:

https://bit.ly/Cru22ChangedLives.

All Staff Gather at Cru22!