As the first few weeks of school wind down and the semester is no longer new, our hope was that students would come to Fall Retreat. We had a great turn out and wanted to tell you a little about it.
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This past weekend was Indiana Cru’s Fall Retreat. Indiana Cru is what we have named the entire ministry through the state of Indiana. This includes the movements on over 15 campuses. These schools include Butler, IUPUI, Indiana State, Wabash, Manchester, IPFW, and several others. Almost 200 students came and we had a blast! Our speaker was Mark Gauthier, the National Director for the Campus Ministry and he spoke from Luke 5 about what it meant to experience Jesus and what effect that would have on one’s life.
The students were trained on how to share their faith, to disciple others, to lead Bible studies, and how to walk in the Spirit. A few attended a breakout session on the different opportunities to serve in the ministry after college. Many of those will become our next staff members.
Through Mark’s talks, the students were encouraged to share their faith, on campus, with their family and friends, and perhaps on staff with Crusade. The Lord used his talks to convict many students of their heart for the lost. One student from Butler came to me, weeping for her lack of care for those who don’t know Jesus. We talked late into the night about how to develop a mission-minded heart and how sharing her faith is crucial to this process.
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Of course, our favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with our students. Ryan got to spend some quality time with some of the men from IUPUI. In the picture is Wes, a freshman transfer student. He has been attending Ryan’s Bible studies and hopefully will be helping to lead the movement at IUPUI. His wife, Jessica, also attended the conference. She is an art teacher at the local elementary/middle school, and because she was at this conference, she was able to learn how to share her faith and caught the vision of sharing the Gospel wherever she is, including her workplace.
It was very exciting to announce the beginning of Indiana Cru and our up-and-coming website, IndianaCru.com. Ryan is currently working on that and hopefully it will be up soon. It will be a place for the students to connect like they did at Fall Retreat and to see what the other campuses are up to. It will also be an opportunity to post specific opportunities for further building and hopefully some overseas and stateside trips.
Ryan and I are loving our assignment here and our new home. Our teams have welcomed us graciously and we have just blossomed out here. We definitely have been called here and we can tell that we are just where God wants us. It was for sure, worth the wait. Every note from a student, every hug and giggle, and every time we share the Gospel with the students on the campuses, makes those two years seem like a day. Thanks so much for all your prayers and support! You truly are a blessing to us and to these students.
Please Pray
> For wisdom as we find the need to purchase a second car.
> Praise for the Lord working this year at Fall Retreat.
> For the ministry at IUPUI – that we would see people come to know the Lord and for the ministry to grow.