The New Jersey Turnpike makes me think...

As Rutgers held it's graduation ceremonies this past week it reminds me that the time students spend in college is so short. Four years pass by in an instant when we look at the whole of our lives. Yet this time is so critical because it directly impacts the decisions you will make that will determine your life. I never thought I would be in campus ministry after college but because of my experience there I could see no other place to be.

I saw a sign on the New Jersey Turnpike that read 10,000+ graduates, 360,000+ alumni worldwide. That is incredible. Those seem to be pretty generic numbers but I think it still captures the point of why we exist as a ministry on campus. Over 1/3 of a million students have obtained a degree and gone on to other things in the world just from one campus. Rutgers, especially, is such a strategic place because these students go on to live and work in major areas that shape the world. These college studetns that eat pizza in the dining halls become the movers and the shakers in the world. It continues to strike me how important it is to bring the Good News of the Gospel to these students. As we continue to step out in faith and reach out to theses students we can begin to see the world shaped for Christ. That is my hope and prayer.

I put up the picture of four of our ladies that were involved in our Campus Crusade for Christ movement at Rutgers. This past week they graduated and there is no doubt in my mind that they will be among the movers and shakers that help change the world for Christ in whatever they end up doing and where ever they end up. It was an absolute privilege to work with them and to watch them grow. I look forward to seeing the next path that God puts before them.

On a personal note: I have just recently arrived in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire for my summer assignment helping staff the Hampton Beach Summer Project. We are currently preparing the place for the staff and student arrivals in the coming couple of days. I will continue to keep you updated as the project moves forward. Thanks for taking a look at some of my thoughts.

Starting Anew and Looking Back

Hello and welcome to my ministry blog. I'm pretty new at this and I'm not quite sure how crazy I am about putting more of my stuff out on the world wide web for everyone to see. However, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to keep you all connected with myself and the ministry in New Jersey and more specifically at Rutgers.

Just last week we had our last weekly meeting for the year. There was just a tremendous buzz in the room and it was a fun night to kind of celebrate the cool things that God had done on campus. I think often it is hard to really see all the great things we have been a part of until we sit back and really think about it. It was fun for me to kind of look back and see that, yeah, God really was a work on campus. I thought I would share some of those things for posterity's sake and to give a better idea of some of the stuff that has been going on.

This year we had a Pizza and God event that we tried on each of the five campuses at Rutgers, we did a 9-9 prayer event where we had a prayer table and asked people if we could pray for them, many of our students used a "Quest" survey to start spiritual conversations with the peers. Seven of our Rutgers students went on Big Break in Panama City Beach, FL for Spring Break to share their faith with partying spring breakers. We saw great success with that as a few of our students saw people come to Christ. This also helped create a sense of momentum for evangelism that these guys all brought back with them to campus. We had a Talent show where students used some of their gifts and it was a great event to bring their friends. We did a Cru Field Day where we played basketball and volleyball with other students to get into conversations and make relationships with others. One of the coolest things in my mind is that one of our women, Sarah, joined a sorority this year and after a year of some pushing and pulling she was able to start a Bible study in her sorority house. God is so good.

It's always fun to consider what we've had a privilege to be a part of on campus. I look forward to using this space in the future to share with you more of my thoughts and prayer requests and praises for myself and this ministry. Thank you for the part you play in all of that as well.