It was definitely a “Day of Faith” for our students to reach out beyond their comfort zones and see people in deep needs right around them. Our children were touched as well and gained a deeper heart for those who are hurting, as they would walk ahead with Danny to watch him engage with the homeless and offer up jackets and waters to the women. To read more about the conference check out our monthly newsletter! January2015 |
As we reflect on this past year in ministry we are thankful for God’s work on the campuses: our Uncovered Event at CSULA; the Fullerton Summer Project we were able to be a part of, and one of our recent CSULA grads joining our team as an intern after graduating! But one of our greatest passions and joys is seeing students involved with us reaching out to their friends and those friends coming to know the Lord! This year in ministry we saw Mary (from PCC) lead Leslie to the Lord, Alex (from UCLA) reaching out to the fraternities before he graduated, Caleb (from CSULA) being instrumental in International student, Ivan, coming to the Lord before returning to Taiwan, and Joseph with many of our CSULA students being used to bring John to the Lord! We LOVE seeing new lives in Jesus begin!
Another Recent Praise! At our Fall Retreat this past month one student, Kevin, shared that he wasn’t a Christian and dealt with loneliness and acceptance. On Saturday evening Kevin was impacted by the love and grace that Joseph spoke on. In the discussion groups afterwards, students asked if he could rate his desire to know God personally on a scale from 1-10. 7.5 was his response. Students shared the gospel with him and asked him if he would be interested in starting a personal relationship with God.
Kevin expressed that he was interested and he shared some misconceptions that he had about God. ” I didn’t know that God still cared about me. This weekend, I realized that even when I mess up, he still loves me.” Kevin prayed to receive Christ that Saturday and his life is forever changed!
This Fall the 23 campuses of the California State University system has begun enforcing an “all comers” policy. What this means is that leadership in any recognized student organization must be open to all students. Campus ministries like Cru, InterVarsity, Navigators, and many others will no longer be able to select student leaders based on their religious beliefs. We were recently dechartered at Cal State Los Angeles, and we know that Long Beach State, San Diego State, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo have been de-recognized as well – which saddens us greatly.
Recognition as a club on campus allows us to use campus meeting space for Bible Studies and outreaches, to advertise on campus, and participate in things like the student welcome week. It also communicates that we’re part of the larger campus community and approved by the campus to be there.
Please know that regardless of current or future policy changes,we are committed to actively ministering on campus. Whether or not we are formally recognized by the university, we will continue to be involved in the lives of students and serve the larger campus.
Please be praying for us as we begin to navigate ministry at Cal State Los Angeles no longer recognized as a club on campus. It will be much harder to use a room on campus, host events and outreaches and post flyers advertising our meetings. We are confident the Lord is in control and will continue to move in the lives of students there though! We were encouraged just a couple weeks ago as we saw a student accept the Lord at CSULA!
As you may remember we have had 2 students regularly attending our Bible Studies and events at CSULA that were not believers. They became involved with us through the outreach we did last year “Uncovered” and have been asking good questions and seeking to know more about Jesus.
One of these students—John – made a decision to trust in Christ a couple weeks ago! Joseph and various students involved in our ministry have been answering his questions, praying for him, and sharing their faith with him over the past 6 months. It was during a recent event that he made the decision to give his life over to Jesus and put his faith in Him! Joseph walked through the gospel with him again and made sure he understood what it meant to be a follower of Jesus and is now meeting with him weekly for New Believer Follow-Up.
We are so ecstatic to see his passion to know Jesus more and our students are so excited to see a fellow student they have been praying for and sharing with make a decision for Christ! 
It is exciting to have one of our recent graduates from Cal State Los Angeles join us in the ministry as volunteer staff. Alvin (pictured above left) recently graduated with a tv and film degree and desires to become a director or producer in the entertainment industry. As he pursues avenues in the entertainment field he desires to continue to serve with us in ministry at Cal State Los Angeles. Alvin was on our student leadership team all four years as a student and has a heart for evangelism and prayer on campus. It is a joy to see a student we have invested in for 4 years desire to serve the Lord in his workplace and continue to invest in students at his alma matter with us! Please pray for Alvin. That the Lord would open up many doors for him to be a light in the entertainment industry and that he would continue to be used by God on the Cal State LA campus.
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
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 !
Cru City Los Angeles 