Many people’s worldviews are becoming increasingly diverse.  And for many, the Christian worldview is becoming increasingly strange and hard to believe.  This is especially true on college campuses like UC Davis.

Even if students wanted to believe the gospel, most just can’t accept it because it goes against what they “know” to be true of the world.  And, what they “know” to be true has to be discussed before they can even come close to a point where they can fully entrust their lives to the biblical Jesus.

Because of this, we’ve been using a conversation starter on campus called “Perspective Cards”.  With the look of a deck of playing cards, this tool allows us to respectfully and casually dialogue with students on issues such as:

What is the nature of God?
What is the meaning and purpose of life?
What is human nature?
Who is/was Jesus?
What is the source of spiritual truth?

Cameron and I love using these cards because it allows us to diagnose where any student is at spiritually.  We get to listen respectfully, ask questions that help them consider what is true, and then present the Christian worldview.  Because a framework has been laid, they are usually able to listen, understand, and consider the message of Jesus in a way that they wouldn’t have been able to had their worldview and the Christian worldview not been discussed.  In addition, a conversation like this begins to establish a jumping-off point for many conversations in the future.  (Coming to faith is often a long process for today’s college students.)

Our students in Cru at UC Davis love using these cards too!  We had an outreach a few weeks ago where we challenged students to prayerfully consider trusting the Lord to try Perspectives with three of their friends over the course of two weeks.  In total, students decided to trust the Lord to have over 150 conversations with their friends who may or may not know Jesus!  It’s so cool to see our students taking steps of faith to trust the Lord to have spiritual conversations!

We are so thankful for innovative tools that foster meaningful conversations with today’s generation of college students.  In the coming months, we’ll give you some stories about how students have used these cards to reach out to those around them.

Grateful for your investment in our ministry,
Jeff and Cameron

P.S. If you want to hear how you might be able to get a deck yourself and how you could use these cards, visit jeffandcam.com/perspectives

Prayer Requests

Thank you for praying for Gabby! And, please continue to do so. God is doing some cool things in her life.

Pray that our students would continue to have a heart to reach out to their friends.

Please pray for our Easter Outreach on March 31 – April 2. Pray for openness and lots of gospel conversations.

Please pray that God would give us and our staff team rest and rejuvenation over spring break and as we head into spring quarter.

Rico came to Christ last year through Cru at UC Davis

Thousands of freshmen will flood the UC Davis campus in the coming weeks.  As they step foot on campus, they come to a crossroads.  Will they continue to follow Jesus, or go another way?  If they’re not a Christian, will they be open to exploring who Jesus is, or will they remain closed off?  We’ve found that many college students are the most open to life change during the first few weeks of their freshman year.  What type of life change will that be though?

Rico (pictured above) is a great example of a student whose openness during the first few weeks of his freshman year completely changed his life.

We encountered Rico during his first week on campus last September.  In exchange for a free water bottle, he filled out one of our spiritual interest surveys.  Although he didn’t really have any history in church or spirituality, Rico indicated on his survey that he was interested in talking to someone about God.

On top of regularly talking with one of our staff members, Rico began to get involved with our ministry.  He attended our events, found a community in which to belong, and was challenged to consider the person of Jesus.

Seven months after his first week on campus, Rico decided to surrender his life to Jesus. He is being equipped in the basics of the Christian faith, involved in a church, and is even preparing to help lead the same freshman bible study through which he came to faith last year for this year’s incoming freshmen.

It all started because of his openness during his first week.

Freshmen move into the dorms September 27-28.  Though we always desire you to pray for our ministry, we especially covet your prayers for these first few weeks on campus.

We’re super grateful for you!

Prayer Requests

Update: Praise God for the 70 people who indicated decisions to trust Christ during the duration of the missions trip in Santa Monica!

Please pray for the freshmen and new students arriving in Davis the weekend of Sept 27-28. Pray that God would draw them to Himself.

Pray that men without church backgrounds would place their trust in Christ and get involved with our ministry.

Please pray for us, our staff team, and our servant team during the next few weeks. Pray for energy and refreshment in the midst of such a busy schedule!

Joan, a transfer student from Vietnam

Joan, a Vietnamese transfer student, shared with Anna (an intern with Cru) about the struggles of making friends and finding her place in Davis. It’s a common story, but Joan (pronounced Jo-Ann) mentioned something we rarely hear: “I go to the church, and it makes me feel better.” Her face lit up as she described all the rituals she does at church and the good things she’s done in her life.

Anna and Joan talked about God’s love for us as his creation and his desire to be in a relationship with us. “I talk to Him all the time!” Joan beamed. Anna proceeded to explain our sinful nature, and with a furrowed brow, Joan agreed that no human is perfect. But, she thought we as humans could do a lot of good things to fix our wrong standing with God.

When Anna opened her Bible and began reading the beginning of Romans 6:23, Joan’s grin disappeared. “For the wages of sin is death…” After even one sin, our record is stained. None of Joan’s rituals and right living could bring her back into a relationship with Christ. Anna again asked how she could come back into a right relationship with God.

“It’s impossible. There’s no way.” Her eyes welled up with tears. Joan truly understood the depth of her sin for the first time and felt the desperation of a life apart from Christ.

“But there’s hope, Joan! That’s what Jesus came for!” Anna was able to share with Joan how God loves her SO much that He chose to pay the highest price, His own son, to connect with her again. She was struck by the grace of God to forgive her record of sin, and Christ’s desire for a relationship with her.

Joan immediately accepted Christ’s sacrifice for her. “Everything is different now,” she exclaimed.

Thank you for helping students like Joan accept Jesus’ incredible invitation of life with him! And thank you for your prayers.  Nearly one student per week has chosen to place their trust in Christ this quarter!

We pray that you also would experience the joy of God sending his son for you during this Christmas season.  Merry Christmas!

Prayer Requests

Praise God for his relentless pursuit of Joan Pray for her to continue to grow in her faith in community.

Pray for our Winter Conference on December 28-January 1^st.  600+ students will gather to learn about, grow in, and serve the Lord.

Praise God for his incredible gift of marriage! We are getting ready to celebrate 2 years of marriage on January 7.  We are so thankful to partner together in life.

Khaya (center, wearing the hat) with the men from the 2012 summer missions team

A team of American college students and Cru staff, including Cameron and myself, arrived onto campus at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in July of 2010.  At that time, Cru hadn’t been on the campus for decades, and there was very little evangelism happening amongst students.  Our team’s goal was to launch a student-led movement that would help bring non-believers to know Jesus and also raise up Christ-centered leaders to be sent throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Fast forward to three years later.  Cru has committed to sending American summer and year-long mission teams to Port Elizabeth.  As a result, there is now a movement of 50 students.  These students are being equipped to walk with Jesus and sent out to reach their fellow students.  In fact, because of the help of the South African students, Cru in Port Elizabeth has expanded to 5 campuses.  The movement is also beginning to be self-sustaining.  Khaya is a great example of this.

Our team met Khaya in 2010.  He grew up in a legalistic church and didn’t understand grace very well.  Previously lacking Christian community, he began to find it in Cru and a local church, where he was discipled by a few godly men.  It was obvious that Khaya had natural leadership abilities.  However, when given the opportunity to lead in 2011, he turned it down in fear of messing things up in the ministry and bringing shame upon himself.

Keith, the leader of the 2012 year-long team, began to pour into Khaya and challenged him to lead a discipleship group.  Keith helped Khaya see that while leadership is a big responsibility, there is also abundant grace.  Khaya finally accepted the challenge to leadership and began to lead a weekly discipleship group.

As Khaya moved closer to graduation, he began to sense God’s call to full-time ministry to help continue leading the movement in Port Elizabeth.  He is now doing full-time ministry with Cru, leading the same movement through which he was raised up as a Christ-centered laborer.

The time is in sight when we will be able to fully turn the movement in Port Elizabeth over to South Africans and go somewhere else to plant evangelistic campus movements.  Praise God for such fruitfulness in such a short amount of time!

Thank you for helping make an impact for eternity in the lives of South African college students!

Prayer Requests

Pray for the Lord to bless Khaya’s leadership.  Pray that he would experience grace continually.

Pray for South African college students to come to know Jesus.

Pray for our current summer team that left for Port Elizabeth on July 9.  Also pray for our current year-long team that has been there since January.