As we begin our 17th year with Cru God has led us to transition into another division within Cru. As we shared last month, this Fall we are desiring to go beyond college campuses into the communities of Los Angeles!  God has put into our hearts the passion to be a part of Meeting the City’s Deepest Needs.  We are transitioning to a ministry in Cru called Cru City!  One aspect of Cru City we will be involved in is helping church planters plant churches that will plant other churches.  One church planter we are working with is Tommy and his wife, Fatimah.  Tommy and his family have moved to South LA (near USC) from Philadelphia—to plant Epiphany Fellowship LA, which is a church plant of Epiphany  Fellowship Philadelphia.  Please pray for them as they transition to LA, begin to build community in South LA, and find a few key leaders to begin to work with as they start the church plant. 

This summer we will also celebrate 17 years on staff with Cru! God has so blessed us throughout these years and we truly believe that our best years of ministry are before us! That’s one reason why we are so excited about our US Staff Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado this summer. As we gather with over 5,000 fellow U.S. staff and hear from our leadership and other  Christian speakers, we anticipate that God will broaden our perspective for the world, equip us to be more effective in our  ministry roles within Cru City, and enable us to go forth to bear even more fruit.  We are excited to hear from Dr. John Perkins (founder of a reconciliation, leadership training organization), Francis Chan (author and speaker), James White (Pastor of Christ our King Community Church) and many others.  Please pray for our travel to and from Colorado and that the Lord would use the time greatly in our lives. 

Cru City – Kingdom citizens advancing the mission of Jesus for the well-being of the city. 

This summer we celebrate 17 years of ministering with Cru!  When Joseph and I first joined the staff of Cru we knew the Lord was calling us into full-time ministry and are so thankful He has given us the blessing and privilege to serve Him full-time all these years.  It continues to be a life of faith, trust building in seeing His provisions, an adventure in walking with Him and amazing joy in watching Him work in the lives of the students we minister to.  There is nothing we would rather do in life than serve Him fully.  Thank you for being a huge part in allowing us to serve the Lord full-time through your prayers and generosity. 

This Fall we are desiring to go beyond college campuses into the communities of Los Angeles!  As we have grown older each year (and the gap between our ages and the college students increases ) and grown in our passions and gifts the Lord has given us, we are excited to share with you the next steps we feel God is calling us to!  He has put in us a desire to reach beyond the college campuses into the communities around us.  Our hearts are burdened to see communities reached with the love of Jesus through adoption ministries, fighting sex trafficking within Los Angeles and helping to plant churches within communities that are not being reached.  God has put into our hearts the passion to be a part of Meeting the City’s Deepest Needs.  We are transitioning to a ministry in Cru called Cru City!  Since we will be working with church planters that are located near a University we will still connect with college students—challenging them and working with them to be a part of reaching their communities around them.  We are so excited about this next step the Lord has called us to and ask you to please pray for us and the work the Lord is going to do in reaching the communities of Los Angeles!

The Heart of Cru City: 

“For many, life in the city offers only a bleak existence. The bitter realities of human slavery, homelessness, neglect, and food insecurity plague the lives of countless men, women, and children in cities around the globe. Although none of these issues are easy to solve, the love of Jesus compels us, followers of Jesus and kingdom citizens, to action. Cru is partnering with hundreds of like-minded churches and passionate organizations in an effort to catalyze Gospel transformation and bring light to the darkest places of the city.” 

We recently had a Vision Night and students shared their testimonies and how the Lord has been working in their lives.  One student, Kevin (from Cal Poly Pomona), shared his story….

Kevin grew up in a very difficult home.  Anger permeated everything and his parents were continually yelling and fighting with one another.  Many times bottles would fly across the room and neighbors would call the police.  Police would appear on their doorsteps often to access the situation.  As Kevin began High School he became very involved in partying and drinking.  He began to steal and vandalize property.  The party culture he attempted to be friends with rejected him and he was a depressed teenager.  He graduated and went to college where he was assigned a Christian roommate in his housing.  It was through his roommate that Kevin experienced a real acceptance for the first time.  His roommate invited him to Epic (Cru’s Asian American ministry) on campus and it was there he experienced a real love and genuine friendships for the first time as well.  Kevin became very involved in Bible Studies through Epic—desiring to learn more about this Jesus the students believed in.  This past Fall Kevin went with his Epic friends to our Fall Retreat in the mountains.  Joseph was one of the speakers and Kevin shared how through the Fall Retreat talks he felt as though something was stirring within him.  Jared, a staff member on his campus, shared the gospel with him during the Fall Retreat and Kevin accepted the Lord into his heart!  Since then he has been growing in incredible ways in his relationship with Jesus!  He is meeting with another student leader on campus for discipleship and very involved in the ministry on campus.  He attended our Epic Winter Conference in January where he shared that he was so excited to see the Lord use him to share his faith with others for the first time!  And now he is preparing to go on a summer mission trip with Epic to San Francisco—where he will spend 6 weeks ministering to the people of San Francisco and grow in his own love for Jesus.

Praise God for always working in students, like Kevin’s, lives!  We love seeing hearts changed and lives transformed for His glory alone!

Kevin sharing his story at our Vision Night!

 The New Fall Session for the College Campuses have begun even though it definitely doesn’t feel like Fall in close to 100 degree weather here in Los Angeles!  Last week our team of 6 were out on the USC campus for their club week.  This week we are at Pasadena City College as well.  We were able to talk with students, invite them to our Christian ministry on campus, have some great spiritual conversations with those interested and pray for the campus.  At the end of the month UCLA and Cal State LA will begin as well.  

 “At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ…” Colossians 4:3

Please Pray:

• For all 4 of the campuses as they begin again this Fall.  That the Lord would use us on these campuses to bring many students into a relationship with Him!

• For our new team ministering together.  There are 3 full-time staff and 3 part-time staff on our team this year.  Pray that we would be united together and support one another.

• That the Lord would raise up more student leaders on our campuses that are passionate about Him and sharing the gospel.

“Prayer is where the action is.” John Wesley

Thank you so much for your continual prayers and support to us and the ministry here in Los Angeles.  We appreciate you greatly.

Fullerton Summer Mission Project

We recently finished our Fullerton Summer Mission Project! The vision behind this missions project was to dissect the layers of the city and allow  Christian college students to understand and engage the city for the gospel. Our desire is that they would now take back what they have learned to their own churches and cities around them. We partnered  with various ministries within Fullerton and helped to plant a new church, Renew, in the city  of Fullerton!   Here are some photos and highlights of the summer!

2 Minute Recap of Renew Church Launch!

One life we have recently seen changed at Cal State Los Angeles is a student named Ivan.  Last Spring, Joseph and another student (Caleb) went out on campus to share their faith with fellow students.   During that time they met Ivan.  Ivan was an International student from Taiwan.  As Joseph and Caleb began to talk with him they learned his story and were able to share the gospel with him!  Ivan was very interested and asked many questions.  Following their conversation Caleb continued to meet with Ivan as a friend .  Through their friendship Caleb was able to continue to share about the Lord with Ivan.  Last month Ivan returned to Taiwan and we learned through Caleb that he has become a Christian!

We praise God that Ivan is now a believer back in his own country and thank God for students like Caleb, who are committed to sharing the gospel to fellow students.  God is at work in the hearts of students! 

“In November I moved into my apartment complex and began to look for who God would lead me to. It was my neighbor, Rubi, who is a single mom raising two teenagers. I began to make friends with her as I knew she needed Jesus, just like we all need Jesus. At first she was not to open, but with love, laughter and shared experiences we became friends. I began a women’s group in my home a few months back and invited her. She came once, then said she was busy with her kids functions. I assured her we would be here in case her schedule opened up.

Last week she texted me before group and asked if she could join us. Of course I answered…we missed you. Then I invited her to church for Easter. She accepted the invite, her kids were going to be with their dad and she would be home. I told her she could ride with me. As soon as the worship music began my beautiful neighbor Rubi began crying…I put my arm around her and comforted her. She listened to the whole message but did not stand up to say that she wanted to receive Jesus. Hmmm….so as we got into the car I asked her how she liked the message. She said she loved it, and she was so glad she came. I then asked her if she had received Jesus into her life ever before. She said no, but today I did and I felt his presence!

She said she is excited to return next week and bring her kids…I am truly blessed to see my neighbor know Jesus! We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. Your neighbor might be the grocery store clerk or the mail lady. Today look for your neighbor, so they could know the Love of Jesus as you do!”

~ Jessica

 We wanted to share a highlight of a former student! How the Lord is continuing to move in her life and through her to reach people for Christ, even after college. 

“Are we doing things that require faith?  If God doesn’t come through then will we fail or are we just doing things that we can manage on our own?” Joseph challenged the students involved in our ministry at   CSULA.   Through this challenge the students and staff prayed and asked God to help them reach out on the campus of Cal State LA. 

Uncovered was brought to life.  Hosting a two day outreach focusing on the Reason for God.  The Lord opened the doors for us to rent a large room at CSULA, finances from a partnering church to provide dinner for the students who attended each night and two wonderful speakers with the knowledge and heart to challenge students in their belief systems and share the gospel with them.

Thank you for your prayers for this outreach.  Though it did not bring the amount of students we were praying for we are trusting that the Lord used it in the hearts of those who were present.  We were hoping for more, but we did see 45 students come to the outreach.  John, who is a non-believer and continues to attend all our events, attended as his biggest question is “Does God even exist?”  After the outreach Joseph talked to him about what he thought of the talks and John shared that he really connected with the 10 questions Gordy shared before he himself believed in Jesus. He  also is seeking answers to those questions. Joseph was also able to share the gospel with Oscar, who came and is searching and desiring to learn if God is real.  Oscar  is reading the Bible we gave him and Oscar and John are both attending our Bible studies and men’s time.  Pray for them as they continue to seek the Lord.

The two main speakers: Andy Wrasman sharing on Are All Religions True?  Is Truth Relative?  and Gordon Cucullu sharing on the Existence of God.

Alex, a biophysics major and 5th year graduating senior from UCLA, is one of the students that will be missed greatly when he graduates this year.  Alex became a believer in 2012 through another student, Justin, in the ministry we have at UCLA.  Alex has grown greatly in his faith and desire to follow Jesus with his life.  He loves worship, singing, beat box and brings joy and fun to the students at UCLA!  About a month ago Alex had an desire to reach out on the UCLA campus in a tangible way to the fraternities.  He shared his testimony at our weekly meeting and challenged students to put God’s love into action.  He wanted to show God’s love to the fraternities and He encouraged all of the students to participate in this act of service and to realize that these non-believers may never have encountered students who love Jesus before and it would be an opportunity to witness to them.  

We broke into teams and handed out cookies/water; asked to clean the fraternities and  prayed for the students.  The outreach began at midnight and went until about 3am—as the campus came alive with students going out for the night.

It was an encouraging time to see the students involved in the ministry reach out to their fellow classmates, pray for them and gain a deeper heart to see those around them come to know Jesus.  The Lord granted many surprised reactions from those we connected with—appreciating the love being shown to them.

We love to see students, like Alex, have a passion for Jesus and a desire to FINISH WELL their years on the college campus in the ministry God has called them to with those around him.

 UCLA students gathered to pray and ended the night praising God. All were super tired !