RADIATE2012 -Restore

This year at our annual conference called RADIATE we had over 370 students express some interest in Global Missions in either wanting more information on international summer projects, 1-2 year overseas internships called STINT or in being a Have His Heart Ambassador back on their campus. We are so encouraged by all of this interest and can't wait to see what God will do in the weeks and months to come. As the new semester starts, we want to remind you of a few of our faith goals and ask you to please be praying with us that God Will Raise Up Laborers To Go Into His Harvest Field.

President of Cru Visits NJ

Dr. Steve Douglass, president of our entire international ministry, came to speak at Jersey Cru at the end of May.  It was such a momentous occasion for the ministry, and I’m not even sure the students realized who he was!  They don’t care a whole lot whether it is the president of the largest mission organization in the world speaking or one of their fellow students.  What impresses them is the word of God, seeing Him move in people’s lives and being challenged to follow Him with their own.  When Dr. Douglass began to speak, the students were absolutely captured by the stories he told about God.

I was a little nervous about how a prestigious and refined gentleman like Dr. Douglass would respond to the milling throng of unruly NJ students, but this past week he sent his monthly global communication and, wouldn’t you know it, he was talking about us!  He said, “The mood was electric. It seemed like every time I gave an example of what God is doing around the world, there was spontaneous applause... you could see the joy of Jesus Christ radiating from their faces... I sensed a depth of commitment to and involvement in the ministry.”  He built a lesson on how God used our ownership of the ministry to do great things.  You can read his entire article at MovementsEverywhere.com.  Please for that ownership of God’s mission to spread!

New Believers Follow Up

 In the Fall of 2011, I told you about Dailyn Santana, a sophomore at Kean, who prayed to receive Christ at our annual Jersey Metro Fall Retreat. A few short months later I mentioned Jennifer Gonzalez, a Kean transfer student entering her junior year who prayed to receive Christ with her best friend and leader in Cru, Christa Diaz. This happened as a result of the Spirit’s leading during a conversation Jenny & I had.

Dailyn, Tabitha, Jennifer

  Both Dai & Jenny (pictured right) were initially interested in making personal decisions to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ because of the relationships they witnessed their friends (like Christa) have with Him. Being mutual friends with Christa, whom I disciple, they both knew of the possibility of a relationship with me, where I train young women to live a godly life. So after they asked to learn more about this “Christian life”, I thought it’d be great to bring them through five basic life concepts for a new believer together. This past week we talked about investing our time to live for things that are eternally worthy instead of the temporary temptations of this world.

Prayer Request:
Please pray for Dai and Jenny as they prepare to enter the summer with a new life purpose.

“Who Am I?” Seminar Outreach

Last Thursday, Matt Baehr (fellow Cru missionary) and I teamed up to run a brand new outreach we put together that teaches students to identify their own personality types based on the Myers-Briggs scale.  After a short test, we explained what their results revealed about their interests and passions, helping them see what majors/careers would bring them life, and how to interact with those they don’t naturally get along with. 

     It was an easy transition from how fearfully and wonderfully they were designed, to introducing the Designer that made them with such care.  Over 60 students attended, and several stayed long after the seminar was done, like Sparkles (right) who is ready to choose Christ!

      Since this event, Cru missionaries around NJ have been trying out this "Who Am I" outreach on their campuses.  Please pray that we are able to help students discover how God designed them and why as well.  Please pray also that we are able to refine this complex but potentially campus-shaping program.

Recent Highlight— Sharing Jesus at GCC and Stockton

Michael has just about the brightest smile I’ve ever seen.  He started with Cru at GCC like so many others—excited about God, but not recognizing how God affects every part of his life.  Michael wanted to connect with other Christians and to grow in his walk with the Lord, but didn’t really know how or even why he should connect with non-Christians.  I’ve been encouraging him to put his God-given talents with people toward helping change people’s lives and bringing glory to his Heavenly Father at the same time.

At Jersey Cru, our statewide meeting, he saw hundreds of other students committed to sharing the unconditional love of Jesus, and he came back excited to help us start our Alpha course outreach on campus, but still resisted the idea of starting conversations with people he didn’t know already.  This past month, however, we’ve started setting up a prayer request table outside the cafeteria, and Michael’s heart has swelled with joy as he’s been able to stop people casually to ask if we could pray for them about anything.  Pray for his continued growth.

On the other side of South Jersey, I’ve been building connections with the students of Stockton Christian Fellowship, a large group of young people who spur each other on toward loving Jesus while at college.  Similar to Michael, most of them have not been taught about evangelism, and shy away at the very word.  Since Cru is entering into partnership with this pre-existing ministry, and since I am not able to be there every week, I have been pretty gentle with introducing the concept so far, prioritizing relationships with the students and earning their trust.  Last time, however, Casper (left) went out to share the gospel on campus with me.  We had a great time, and he’s excited to use these new skills with his apologetics club when they visit the Atheist convention in DC!

Seniors Share @ Rutgers

With the end of the semester approaching, we hear from two of our graduating Seniors at Rutgers, as they share from their heart.

New Connections

God doesn’t take breaks, and He’s never caught unprepared!  Not every campus holds a club fair in the Spring, but Rowan recognizes the many students who transfer in halfway through a year, and we were given another opportunity to give out the gospel and form new relationships.

I was in a shy mood with shy student helpers, crammed in the middle of this village of tables with bright balloons, t-shirts, music and loud conversations.  We had to share a table with another club, neither able to display our handouts or signs very well.  Students barely passed our way, and those that did usually didn’t even notice our station.  It never hurts to ask, so I poked around and got permission to slide over to a table left empty by clubs that didn’t show, and spreading out turned out to open up plenty of opportunities!

Over a dozen transfer students signed up to get involved and assured us they’d come to our first meeting that night, which they were promptly reminded about by email and text.  Many people took our free book Jesus Without Religion that contained our club information as well as a list of solid local churches in the area.  I handed out dozens of Bibles to students sitting at the other club tables, and established relationships with several of them. 

Please pray for Pat, who gabbed with me about board games (his club) then told me he wasn’t religious, but respected the message of every religion.  He sounded intrigued by EveryStudent.com, and we exchanged contact info to continue the dialogue.  Christian, pictured below, writes for the newspaper (something I did in college as well) and he told me that he believes God is probably out there, but doesn’t know that he can trust the Bible or anything else to be sure.  We talked for over an hour about worldviews, religions and the trustworthiness of the Bible.  He’s already been emailing me since, so please pray!

Planning Retreat

Friday and Saturday 1/27-28, about 80-100 students around NJ headed to Camp Tecumseh in Hunterdon County, for our Spring planning retreat.  By the end of the weekend, they were re-centered on Christ, equipped and excited to serve on the campus with a calendar full of all their events for the semester.

Some churches nearby were able to provide food and catch a glimpse of the ministry in action.  Some brought their youth to see what’s next as well!  Please pray for students to carry the vision for God’s mission back to campus, for the new bonds across campuses, for the tough conversations that had to happen and for God to lead us rather than our own ideas.

Recent Highlight— A Day in the Life!

Missionary [mish-uh-nayr-ee] (noun): one of those crazy people who seems able to survive without any sense of stability or schedule.  Sometimes I forget how little God’s plans are dependent than ours, or how much better they are than ours!

Last Wednesday, my heart was pounding on my way to campus to take a student out sharing the gospel.  No matter how many times I experience how easy it is to start a conversation with someone and see God pave a way, I still get nervous.  I looked forward to this meeting, though, because it marked a major step of growth in Josh, a student who flat out refused to go last year but has stepped up in so many ways over the past two semesters.  As I stroll toward the bee-hive of a student center, though, a buzz on my phone throws all my plans.  “Need to reschedule.  Alexis (another student) needs me to drive her to the hospital.”

My first thought was to go home and call the day a wash, but then a voice inside said, “roll with it,” and I called around to see who else might be free on campus.  As I’m hanging up the phone and about to call a freshman (Brent), he comes breezing out the door saying he’s “just hanging out.”  I told him I thought God had other plans for him!  A few minutes later, another freshman I’d been looking for (Mike) walks up to us saying that Alexis told him to find us but didn’t say why!  We had a great time having good conversations with random students. At leadership time that night, one of the other freshmen asked Brent in astonishment, “you mean no one yelled at you or hit you or anything?”  “Actually,” Brent said, “it was easy and a lot of fun!” His simple comment had more credible weight than anything I could have said.

RADIATE2011 - Be Free

80 Jersey students plus staff just returned from Cru's 4-day winter conference, RADIATE. This year the theme was "Be Free" and 1000 students were able to hear from special guests like Pastor Jackson Crum, Claude Hickman, our own Roger Hershey, and "I Am Second" speakers: Chris & Adrienne Plekenpol. Students from all across the mid-atlantic region started off the conference worshiping with The Bridgeband and Phil Wickham....

There is a lot more to tell, but for now it's time to rest. If you're interested in more videos and pictures, check out my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/edithann.morales