Tommy and Karen's ministry blog!

A Full Semester

2011-11-10T11:33:00.002-05:00

We've had a very full semester so far this year. God is doing so much in our ministry that it's just so hard to keep up with. We started the year with the craziness that is meeting new freshmen and new students. We held our annual Fall Retreat where we had just over 100 students from New Jersey hear how to change their "Focus" and direct it towards God and off the things of this world. This group included over 20 from the Rutgers ministry where there is a tighter bond and desire to grow among the students. Every morning these past several weeks several students have gotten together to pray. They are up and at it before we are as staff.

Here are a couple of fun stories from the past several weeks:

One Monday afternoon, Sarah shared with Karen how that morning she had the opportunity to share the gospel with her roommate Phi, Sarah has been rooming with her for several years now and has had a few spiritual conversations before. However, that morning, Phi gave her life to the Lord! A few days later, Phi was telling her sorority sisters about how Jesus was changing her, and now several of the sisters are anxious to talk to Sarah, to find out about how their lives can be changed as well through a relationship with Jesus Christ! Now Sarah is considering where God is calling her to serve Him after she finishes school. Please pray for Sarah as she makes those decisions and for the relationships she builds with the sorority sisters.

Just yesterday, Karen went out with Jen a student leader to share our faith. She actually ran into an old friend named Afua, that she hadn’t seen in 10 years since she was a little girl! She’s a sophomore at Rutgers now. Karen asked her to tell about her spiritual side of life and where she was at. The conversation led into a full dialogue over the gospel. Jen was able to be stretched in her faith, as Karen ‘nudged’ her here and there to share alongside of her. At the end of our conversation, Afua gave
her life to Christ! We’ve invited her out to more events and meetings, and will hopefully be meeting up with her soon to help her grow in her new relationship with Jesus!

At Monmouth Karen was recently able to meet up with a Muslim girl to talk about God and had the great opportunity to share Christ with her multiple times during the conversation. God is at work in the lives and hearts of college students. We have only just scratched the surface of what God is doing. We are really enjoying ministry this year and feel like the students are really pulling us along as they go for it together. It is awesome to be a part of and we love sharing it with you.

Pray for us and for the students as the semester moves towards its close that we would all finish well and not coast.

Irene shakes up our fall ministry plans... But GOD...

2011-08-31T14:25:00.003-04:00

One of our favorite times of the year is the end of August/early September. The main reason is Student Involvement Fairs! All of the campuses have an interest fair within the first week or so of students being on campus. This is where all the clubs set up their tables, give away free stuff, and get the word out there about their organization. For us, its not just about informing people about Cru... it's about Jesus, it is a chance for us to get information from students on spiritual things, and follow-up with them the following week about the survey that they fill out for us.

These fairs are essential to our entire year and also to the next 4 years of the ministry. It is said that the first few weeks on campus freshman will decide the group of friends/clubs/organizations that they will attend for the next 4 years of college. The influence that those 4 years have on them will affect the rest of their life-- their belief systems, their jobs, their values, etc. So these first few weeks are sooo crucial not just for our 'organization', but really for their souls! The activities fair--- is one of the greatest tools we have in reaching the student population for Christ.

At Rutgers we usually collect 200 students' info, and spend a week or 2 calling, emailing, visiting, inviting, and having many spiritual conversations with these 200 students. Also the week after, many of our schools' cru movements (mainly Rutgers) have a Freshman week. A LOT of events planned-- barbeque's, getting ice cream, and the ever so famous at Rutgers: 'bubble tea nights'...sooo fun!! It is meant for us to connect more quickly and more deeply with the freshman that we invite (one's we met at orientation and at the activities fair).

HOWEVER.... this year... IRENE HIT!! I know that there are people who had severe damage as a result of the storm and our challenge is nothing in comparison... but this is how it affected our ministry at Rutgers. Rutgers postponed the activities fair that was supposed to be yesterday to next Friday... a week and 1/2 later than it was supposed to be. We have events planned for THIS week.. and very few freshman students to invite them to. So yesterday we and our returning students went to Livingston Campus the freshman campus and tried to meet as many freshman as we could, and asked them to fill out our surveys and invite them to our events... we had to think quick, and by faith thats what we decided to do. So we're not sure what this week will bring, but by faith we're going to hold our events and invite the few freshman that we can. Tonight is our first freshman event, we're going to get Bubble Tea :) !! If you read this please pray for this event for new students to show up. Please also pray for our other events: Friday, hanging out in the "Rutgers Zone" (a cool arcade) on Livingston, Saturday- BB-CRU (bbq), and then also pray for us on Sept. 9th and the week that follows..that's when the activities fair is rescheduled for.

Here's the first curveball of the semester...we'll choose to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and trust Him, because this isn't a curveball for Him.. because He is in complete control as our Sovereign King! Praise the Lord, He knows what He's doing...ALWAYS!!

What we learned this summer.

2011-08-31T14:10:00.002-04:00

Karen:
I really learned a lot about God's provision. The way that he provided for this project: re-opening the project by providing a house, providing beds/matresses,kitchen supplies, dressers, hangers, couches, chairs, a car and bikes when we were short as the students only brought 2 cars for 24 people, the churches and their care for our students.... it was unbelievable. I was in awe of God this summer for his provision. It made me trust Him more for His provision for Tommy and I as we continue to pray and work on our monthly support. We want to be fully funded by the end of this school year-- and I really believe that God can do that..the economy is NO match for my God... and this summer restored faith for me in this area. I also learned a lot about leadership-- how to love and serve people, how to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus in the midst of 'surprises' that leaders sometimes have to deal with, how desperately I need to cling to the Lord for his help in ALL things including patience, his wisdom, his power, his provision, his strength, my need for intimacy with Him, and in leadership. I love Jesus more today then I did at the beginning of the summer, because I am so utterly desperate for him. As I look forward to this year ahead, I am so dependant on Jesus, that I know whatever 'surprises' of this year that come my way, I just need to look to him and trust Him that He is never surprised, and He's in control, I just need to walk with Him and follow Him. I love Jesus so much...

Tommy
He learned a lot about wisdom in leadership. God has wired Tommy so wonderfully in the area of accomplishing tasks. He's faithful, loyal, a servant, and is reliable to 'get things done'. Where Tommy was really stretched this summer was in the area of not just getting things done, but REALLY caring well and connecting with students and loving them well. He grew a lot in this area!

WE GREW TOGETHER...
Our marriage is soooo much stronger after this summer! As we battled leadership together, and faced this new experience as directors together, we were so dependent on the Lord, but also became somewhat dependent on each other. We had never led together in this capacity prior to this summer, and it was a life changing experience for us separately, but really for our marriage it was so grounding as we knew we had each others' backs. It was so good to work alongside of each other and do ministry together and share our dreams, hopes, disappointments, and joys!

Return to Hampton...stories stories stories....

2011-08-31T13:45:00.003-04:00

Last we wrote we were headed off to Hampton Beach to close the project for the summer. The thing that really struck us as we were up there were the changed lives!

For a reminder the way that a summer project works is that the staff are there for the first 5 weeks and then the staff leave and let the students run the project for the last 5 weeks. As directors we had the privelege of returning for the last 4 days! Because this was our first time directing this was a new experience for us, and it made a lot of difference in being able to see the visible change in the students from when we had left 5 weeks earlier. They all looked more like Jesus!

Here's a few quick bullet points of change we saw in the students:
- Tim, a boy full of pride, through the working of the Holy Spirit is now clothed in humilty and has an amazing servant's heart and a smile full of joy instead of pride
- Cyrus (one of our NJ students that Karen works with at Monmouth)- is working on forgiveness and rebuilding of his broken relationship with his dad. Where there used to be bitterness and resentment, now there is love and excitement
- Will (one of our NJ students, that Karen works with at Monmouth)- grew a ton in leadership skills as he was one of the student directors when the staff left. He grew a lot in overseeing resolving of conflict and leading other men spiritually
- DaShawn (a Jersey MAN)- grew in the area of taking responsibility and becoming more of a man of God in male leadership
-Santei (from Rutgers)- grew in his heart to lead other men spiritually. This year Tommy will be coaching him in leading the monthly Men's Time for our Rutgers Movement
- Carrie- I (Karen) AM SO PROUD OF HER!!! Previously to this project she was a little rebellious and I think she just needed someone to believe in her so that she could grow to be more like Jesus. I asked her to work on some things before she came to project. The last few days of project she said to me "Karen, I was so mad at you for making me change... but thank you, I'm so glad you did, thanks for believing in me"... this is definitely not something to pat myself on the back for...but it was a absolute JOY to be a part of watching God change her life.
-Erika- previously was not confident in herself... She has grown A TON in taking steps of faith
-Rachel- has grown a ton in her heart to serve the Lord. She took Karen's job of the associate project director when the staff left. I really could see her making an impact for Christ wherever the Lord leads her in the future.
-Natalie- made efforts to end a relationship that was not pushing her towards Christ but hindering her in her walk. She chose her walk with Christ above her personal temporal relationship!
- Several women healed this summer from broken relationships with parents and healed from break-ups that took place in the spring semester
...and much much more!!!

Stories of Evangelism:
-all of the students grew in their knowledge and experience in evangelism. They shared their faith often
-All students made efforts to share their faith in the workplace and really learn what it means to build relationships with others in the workplace and be a good witness
-Many co-workers of our students heard the gospel
-Many people at Hampton Beach heard the gospel this summer
-Linda our summer neigbor across the street came to know the Lord through Collena(a NJ student) and Abby one of our summer project staff.
-A 13 yr. old girl was convinced not to commit suicide by Santei offering her hope. The little girl's mother was so grateful that she came and visited our summer project house. The mother was headed to jail in 2 days. She accepted Christ that night with Shelby (one of our student women). Shelby wants to go into prison ministry after she graduates-- this experience confirmed that calling from the Lord.
-Esther, one of our staff this summer, led 3 people to Christ-- this experience was so life changing for Esther (and for those 3 people) she'll never be the same!!

There are many many other stories that we could share, these are just a few!!

Overcoming Obstacles :: Campus Crusade for Christ International

2011-08-05T16:25:00.001-04:00

Overcoming Obstacles :: Campus Crusade for Christ International

Check out this article about Mike one of our Rutgers students sharing his faith on Spring Break in Daytona Beach!

FUN!! Our student Mike from RU made Cru headlines!

2011-08-05T16:09:00.003-04:00

Check out this article on our national website about our student Mike and his experience on spring break this past spring! There's a picture of him and Tommy with the article.. fun! we wanted to share it with you!

http://www.ccci.org/ministries-and-locations/ministries/campus-ministry/mike-oriundo.htm

We're headed back up to Hampton Beach, New Hampshire tomorrow, you can be praying for us and the students. The four days that we spend up there will be a lot of closing ceremonies,cleaning, sharing stories about what God has done in and through our students all summer (especially after all the staff left), and preparing our students for what's next: going back to campus.

-pray for safe travels for us and our co-director Jeff
-pray that the students feel some closure as they leave
-pray that they finish well-- and are able to step out in faith and share the gospel a few more times on the beach and with their co-workers
-pray that our students take the lessons they've learned and their passion for Christ and sharing Him with others back to their campuses, families, and friends
-pray for our student's emotions as they leave project... sometimes when our students come from this saturated environment of growth in the Lord it can be so hard for them to return to and assimilate back into 'normal' life, and sometimes it wears on them.

Jesus is the Name above all Names

2011-07-28T15:46:00.003-04:00

We just got back from our week and 1/2 training in Fort Collins, Colorado at Colorade State University. What an amazing week to be with our extended (5000+) U.S.staff family to hear from our leadership on the direction of our ministry nationwide.

As you may have heard, Campus Crusade for Christ has changed its name in the U.S. to 'Cru'. After hearing and trusting our leadership's prayerful decision, we are fully confident that this name change will help us further the most important name, the name of Jesus. There are numerous reasons as to why this name change has occured. (1) being the name 'campus', did you know that there are over 40 different kinds of ministries in the U.S. alone under campus crusade for christ, including ministries to family, military, athletes, etc.? Well when we use the phrase campus, it is confusing. Although Tommy and I personally work with the campus ministry under 'cru', many of our fellow staff members work for one of these other divisions, and it is helpful for us to drop the name campus, so that we can be under one unified mission which is to be a caring community passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ. (2) being the word 'crusade'. In recent years this word has become a hindrance to the gospel. In 1951 when Bill Bright originally felt the Lord calling him to use this name, it had a different connotation. The word crusade used to have the connotation to mean 'christian revival movement'. over the years, this word has gone back to its other meaning ... referring to THE crusades. It has become offensive, specifically to Muslims (which make up a large percentage of the population on our NJ campuses), and now we find it difficult to even have a conversation with people, and never even get to talk about Jesus because off the bat, they are offended by the word Crusade. Let us give you an example: We go to student freshman orientations and student involvement fairs ever year. At Rutgers alone, THOUSANDS of students walk by our table at the beginning of each school year, probably 10s of thousands statewide. About 200 (at Rutgers)of them sign up for free stuff and to hear more about Jesus and/or our ministry. Most often the other thousands of students will look at the word 'crusade' and make some sort of comment about the word 'crusade' in a negative way. Some read the word 'crusade' and walk the other way without ever asking what we're really about, which is Jesus.

You may have heard in the media some negative comments about taking 'Christ' out of our name. Please talk to us if you are questioning our spiritual fervor-- the media as you know sometimes portrays things inaccurately. Let us assure you that this was a prayerful decision that took two years for our leadership to come to. Now more than EVER before are we committed to taking the NAME of Jesus Christ to the college campus and beyond. We are so excited for the possibilities that this name change might bring, we are hoping that in New Jersey we will be able to share with Muslim students and other skeptical students without the name crusade getting in the way. We are excited to give meaning to the word 'cru' instead of letting the name give us meaning as it did before. We are excited to be a caring community passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ! Our vision and mission in ministry has not changed along with the name. We promise! Please call us and talk to us if you have further concerns or questions.

Ok ...enough about the name change. We absolutely loved our staff conference this year. We heard from speakers such as David Platt and Francis Chan, and worshiped two nights with 10th avenue north and the David Crowder Band. We learned about ministry strategies using the ever-changing world of technology as a means to telling the world about Jesus. We feel refreshed, renewed, and are so excited to reach our campuses with the gospel in new and fresh ways. The biggest thing we took away from this conference is to Love Jesus before ministry. We of course know this, but it was so good to be reminded and renewed in this purpose. We want to have a greater devotion to Jesus and His kingdom work. I am praying that what God has started in our hearts at this conference he will continue throughout the year in our hearts as we minister to our students. We truly believe that if we reach the college students of today, we can reach the world tomorrow as we send out these future leaders of our world into the churches, into multiple countries as missionaries, and as we send them into the secular workforce as 'missionaries' in their fields.

We are so excited for what God has in store for the future of 'cru' but ultimately what He has in store for the spreading of His Kingdom throughout the world. We look forward to the day when "at the NAME of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" Philippians 2:10-11. AMEN!

New Hampshire...bienvenue!

2011-07-12T13:06:00.002-04:00

Hampton Beach, NH is a funny little beach town. People come from all over New England and even Canada to vacation there (that's why the signs say welcome in french and not just English). It's not much, a beach, a 'strip' : some restaurants including the ever so classy McDonald's and the quaint coffee shop of dunkin donuts, sand, a little concert hall, a few arcades, fried dough, pizza, and ice cream shops...but this is where God transforms the lives of college students and the employers they work for every summer for the past 35 years. And this funny little beach town is one that Tommy and I are completely enamored with, because these summers spent here have and continue to transform our hearts and lives as well.

So what did God do this summer? exactly that. Every student changed for Christ...every single one. I made a list of the students and what they were like when they first arrived-- every single student changed to conform more to the image of Christ by the time the staff left!

We were faced with some challenges. Tommy and I were new directors, and as I mentioned in our last blog, although this is an 'old' project, in many ways it was new! New house for the students, new staff housing, new directors, new staff, new students, new neighbors. A lot of things to figure out... a chance for us to walk by faith and not by sight. What a challenge!! By God's grace we were able to lead this project of 24 students, and 14 staff, trusting Him for every thing that we had to figure out.

Some highlights/things we saw God do/things we learned this summer:

-watching Esther come alive. She's our friend from our Jersey staff team and finished her 1 year internship with Cru in Hampton Beach. She led 3 people to Christ this summer, and led our staff team for our weekly prayer meeting. She is truly gifted in many areas, and we were really blessed to be a part of helping her realize and use those giftings this summer!

-chances that we got to breathe life into students through God's truth! Everyday we had the chance to watch and be a part of the transforming work of Christ in these students' lives. One on one, we had chances to care for broken students and help them through showing them God's word. On a larger scale, I had the chance to share with the women about being pure before the Lord with their emotions not just their bodies. I also REALLY enjoyed speaking to the students and challenging them to share their faith and take steps of faith in areas of their lives. Tommy had the chance to challenge the students to pray in faith, he did an amazing job challenging them!

-Tommy absolutely LOVED his job as the Operations Director. He embraced this role with humility and authority and did a phenomenal job making the project happen logisitcally.

-I loved my job as well as the Associate Project Director. I really enjoyed the whole process going back to last summer. The project closed, we sold everything-- beds, kitchen supplies, you name it..we sold it, I prayed in faith, the project re-opened!, I was challenged to be APD, accepted, read applications, accepted girls, went to project nervous we'd have to furnish an entire house!... but it was already ready!!, staff arrived, students arrived, staff and students changed, staff left... and NOW... we get to go back in August to see what God continued to do after the staff left...an opportunity that is a special blessing that directors get to experience (something I've never done before). I'm so excited and looking forward to August 6th-9th to be back up in New Hampshire to close the project for this summer.

- Watching God provide: a house, parts of the house: new couches, new bunk beds and mattresses, 3 fully stocked kitchens, a new roof, new electrical wiring on the top floor, a brand new kitchen upstairs, bikes and a CAR when the students didn't bring enough! .. God used Dave and Amy (a couple from one of our church partnerships) to provide ALL of these things. Watching the Lord work in and through them in stewardship was like something I've NEVER seen before and it was such a blessing and a picture of generosity in the body of Christ.

-6 people accepted Christ! one was a neighbor Linda, one was a mother of a girl that we helped prevent from committing suicide, and 1/2 of those people were led to Jesus by Esther (something that will forever change Esther's life). The other guy's name was Wes and he was a result of our students stepping out in faith one night and sharing the gospel with 13 people!

-Student leadership took over smoothly after the staff left. Some of our NJ students have positions. Will from Monmouth is the Project Director, Da'Shawn from NJCU is in charge of a community group (we divide the project into 3 smaller groups on wednesday night for dinner, bible study, outreach, and fun-- they're called community groups) , Santei from Rutgers is the Prayer and World Vision Servant team leader, and Cyrus from Monmouth is the bible study leader for all the men and both him and Will disciple all the rest of the men on project!

-We've learned dependence on the Lord in ways we've never clung to Him before, and our marriage has been strengthened through this dependence on Christ together.

-much, much more!!

Next week we head off to Colorado for our national staff conference that happens every other summer at Colorado State University. 6000 staff gather from around the country and we hear from our organization's top leadership about the direction we're headed as a ministry. This is a great time of refreshment and renewing our vision to reach the next generation for Jesus! Its also a great time for us to catch up with friends on staff, for example my old hampton beach roomie will be there..as students our lives were changed on that project, and now she's on staff in Wisconsin and I'm on staff in New Jersey...every 2 years we grab coffee and catch up, it's so awesome to see how God continues to work in our lives after that summer!

Prayer requests:
-July 18th-July 27th for our staff conference: refreshment, rest, and renewed vision for our work with the Lord.
-August 6th-9th Jeff (the PD), Tommy, and I travel back up to NH to help the 2011 hampton beach summer project students to process their summer, and cast vision to them to impact their campuses as they go back!
-rest during vacation time that we have here and there this summer
- the hampton students to persevere through the busy summer schedule and be able to see how God is working in and through them
-for the incoming freshman that they would encounter Christ during their years at college
-for our student leadership for the fall around the state, that they would stand firm in their faith over the summer and be strengthened in preparation for the fall semester

until next time...

A lot has happened....

2011-05-24T16:18:00.002-04:00

Obviously it has been awhile since we updated this blog. We're hoping to keep it going. The last time Tommy wrote this, it was just his blog as we were both still single and engaged and looking forward to our wedding(this is Karen by the way). We got married January 9th, 2010 and have been married now for a year and a half. We love being married, it's so much fun and we love doing ministry together, watching God use us as a couple and encouraging each other as God uses us separately..it's a great partnership!

This past school year was so amazing and God did many wonderful things... and since it would take us forever to update you on all that, we're just going to move forward from here and start telling you stories of right now and beyond! If you want to know about this past year, just ask us!

So here we are. Tommy and I have been working hard since January to plan and prepare for the Hampton Beach Summer Project 2011. Last year project housing fell through for this summer project and the project officially closed after 35+ years of running. HBSP is the 2nd oldest of hundreds of summer projects that Campus Crusade runs. And personally WE both separately and together have a ton of history with this summer project and LOVE it dearly. Tommy was up here is 2003 as a student, I was on this project as a student in 2005. Tommy came back as staff is 2007 and 2008, I was here in 2009 as staff... and as you can read in our last blog entry-- this is where we got engaged two summers ago. Last year supposedly THE last year, Tommy and I finally got to be here together on project. Well... GOD SHOWED UP! To make a massively huge God story short-- the Lord put it on someone's heart to BUY a project house for the students so that the project could continue!

Tommy at this point was set up to be the Operations Director for the project and I was in for the ride. However, in November I was challenged to take on the role of Associate Project Director by the 2011 Project Director, Jeff. Sooooo I prayed, and here we are... I'm the 'APD' for the summer and Tommy is the 'OPD'. I am so excited to be here, it is a huge step of faith leading other staff as they disciple and lead students.

Our theme for the summer is 'FAITH'... and I know I will need to trust the Lord for every moment of this new adventure of HBSP 2011. We arrived on Thursday to the lovely New England weather of 40ish-50ish degrees and rain.... typical May weather for Hampton Beach. The staff arrived yesterday and we've started meeting to prepare for the students who are arriving on Tuesday May 31st-- 1 week from today!

Pray for us this summer, we need God's strength, wisdom, and courage to step out in faith as we embark on this new journey and opportunity that God has challenged us with. Pray for our marriage as well, we have been enjoying this journey together, but have never been in a position of mutual leadership to this capacity before, so pray that this would help us to learn a lot about each other and grow us closer together.

That's all for now...we'll update you again soon!

Wow...

2009-08-13T16:07:00.003-04:00

Well, it sure has been a very long time for me to sit down on this and write something out. I apologize because I had such great intentions for this and keeping people updated with ministry. I hope to still do this and plan on using this time and space more wisely. Just to update you a bit on my life, I'm engaged! I proposed to my girlfriend Karen in June and we are planning on getting married in January. So that's been a very exciting new aspect of life as we plan and prepare for our wedding and marriage. Please pray for us as this can be a fun but stressful time in our lives.

You can also pray for us because the new semester is approaching very quickly. New students start moving in to the dorms in just over a week. There is a lot to get done and a lot to think through and prepare before then. I'm very excited about our new leadership team that is taking over things this semester. We've got a lot of good ideas and hope to see God really come through at Rutgers this year. Please be praying for these new freshmen and transfers as the transition to college can be a challenging one. Thanks for your patience with me in this blogging world and I hope to continue to keep you update better along the way.

2008-11-06T11:00:00.004-05:00

Wow, I realize that I haven't updated this in such a long time. I'm really sorry for that. This semester has been a great one and a busy one all together. I will have more stories and information up shortly. Thanks for being patient with me as I step into this new technology.
Tommy

"The best thing we do"

2008-07-09T12:44:00.003-04:00

I just returned from my summer assignment in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. I was helping to staff the Hampton Beach summer project. Many people who have been involved in Campus Crusade for Christ have said they think that Summer Projects are the best thing we do. I have no real reason to debate that point. Every summer students from all over gather together to participate in either stateside or overseas projects. Stateside projects like the one in Hampton Beach consist of some of the best times of evangelism and leadership training that students could get.

Let me briefly walk through the weekly schedule of a student on summer project from the perspective of the Hampton Beach project that I just returned from. Starting on Sunday the students and staff attend church at one of the three partnership churches we have in that area. These churches love having our students each summer. The students help serve in the church also through leading Sunday School lessons. They also connect with their "host family" from the church. Monday students will go in to work somewhere in the local area. Students work Monday through Saturday as their schedule works out. The main emphasis of a US summer project is for students to get jobs so they will learn how to actively do ministry at their work. They will connect with co-workers and hang out with them in order to get to know them and even share Christ with them. In Hampton Beach many of our students work at places like McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts, and a local arcade. This is a great experience for students since they won't be in college all their life and will want to minister outside of their experience in college. That Monday night they had a weekly meeting like their weekly meeting on campus. The students lead worship and a speaker talks about how to apply the Bible to their lives.

Tuesday night they meet with Servant teams to help plan events for the project. The servant teams included an Evangelism, Community, Prayer, Operations, World Vision, Men's/Women's time and Weekly meeting team. After that they had a "Night of Reflection" basically a night to connect with God and process what He is teaching them on project. These were my favorite nights when I was on project myself. Wednesday night was Community Group night. This was a night for different groups to get together and connect over dinner and fun stuff. They also did Bible study and evangelism within this group. It is a fun night of just 10-15 students instead of the whole project. Thursday they had Men's and Women's time which is always a highlight for so many of the students. Friday night they had off to have fun and do what they wanted. Saturday they could work in the morning. In the afternoon the Evangelism team put on an evangelism event. This year they did a volleyball tournament which attracted over 100 people before getting shut down. Saturday evening the Community Team put on an event for the students to have fun with. This year they put on a $5 prom dance party. Throughout the week students are meeting with their staff discipler to get some teaching and also to do evangelism. US summer projects last for around 10 weeks.

After 5 weeks the staff loosen the reigns on the project and let the students take ownership of different servant teams discipleship groups and the overall leadership of the project. The staff actually leave and let the students take control. This sounds like a scary concept but the reality is that these students are put in a place to step up and lead. This can be the best time of the whole project. This challenge to lead can set up students for life back on campus and beyond. They no longer have the staff to fall back on but have to make decisions for themselves.

I love summer projects in general and Hampton Beach summer project specifically. I went to Hampton Beach as a student in 2003 and really learned what it looked like to lead. I'm excited to hear from these students just what they saw God do through them this summer when the project ends. Please be praying for these students as they take part in the project especially Sarah, Dan and Ema three students from Rutgers. Sarah has taken over leadership for the Evangelism team. I'm looking forward to what God will do through each of them. I hope this gives you some insight into summer projects. Continue to enjoy your summer and I will update you again soon.

The New Jersey Turnpike makes me think...

2008-05-23T22:03:00.004-04:00

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

2008-05-07T16:20:00.005-04:00

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.