We want to thank those of you who are a part of partnering with us in ministry through prayer and financially. One way we thought we would try to connect you with our family was through a Prayer Magnet that we sent out. If you did not happen to receive one or would like another one to post somewhere else, please feel free to download another copy.
As we got back from our Summer Assignment – Leading the Crossroads Project in Chicago we needed to take some time and evaluate our ministry and support needs. We found that we were in need of $2600 in monthly support. This was significantly more than we were expecting. Ryan worked with his team to figure out how to meet this need and the needs of the Great Lakes Regional Ministry.
Ryan has been hard a work at the beginning of the fall semester trying to wrap up a number of projects and prepare to spend the rest of the semester away from his role in the office and focusing on our urgent financial need.
We have mentioned before that our support has been hit hard over the past year. Devoting so much time to the ministry has left little time for us to focus on personal finances for our ministry. This past July marked six years of our ministry with CCC. Though we’ve seen the Lord work and have been able to pioneer many avenues of ministry, in the past year, we’ve also seen our financial support drop off. So much so that we have been getting paid less than our normal income for several months. We could use your help in this situation. If we don’t get more support soon, we’ll continue getting short paychecks.
We’d love your prayers for us and our ministry in this area. We’d appreciate your prayers for provision and to connect with new ministry partners.
We’d love it if you could pray about ways you may be able to help– whether it be through giving a gift yourself to help us get back on track with our support or whether you can connect us with some friends that would be interested in hearing about our ministry with CCC.
We are grateful to God for His provision and to you through whom He has chosen to provide. Thank you for your commitment to what He has called us to do.
In the midst of this financial need we are experiencing, God has been faithful and we have continued to press forward. Ryan has been developing a new social web tool dubbed ‘Avocado’ for the entire Campus Ministry that will help us connect more. It was presented at our regional Spring Leadership retreat with resounding accolades. Our leaders could not wait to get their hands on Avocado and use it on the campus.
Avocado fills a need for our ministry where there has been a void. In ministry as well as business, the desire is to use the right tool for the job. Unfortunately, many of our staff in the field have had to find other solutions to connect as a campus and with other campuses throughout the region and nation. Many times the later is neglected all together.
We will be Launching Avocado this fall. Please pray that Ryan will be able to keep the development process for Avocado moving forward even as he focuses on our support needs.
If you are able to give to our ministry in our current time of need, the easiest way to do so is to go to give.ccci.org If you would like to introduce our ministry to your friends, please email us and let us know.
-thank you
 |
 CSP | Chicago Summer ProjectStudents that engage in this project can expect to develop practical ministry skills and the tools necessary to be a strategic leader both in Chicago and back on campus. We’ll be partnering with the campus ministry team in Chicago to help them pioneer and establish new ministries on university campuses. Another focus will be to reach out to the ethnic groups that exist in this diverse city and on these diverse campuses. |
 |
 |
Crossroads allows students the opportunity to build deep relationships and serve the ministries of the Great Lakes Region of Campus Crusade for Christ, including campuses in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. Crossroads is an internship with the ZeroCanvas Design Team. Students work side by side with ZeroCanvas on projects that directly effect ministry as well as develop the theme and identity of IndyCC, a conference that brings thousands of college students from the Midwest together to strengthen and share their faith in Christ. |
 |
Moving the Crossroads Project from Indy to Chicago is a huge step for us. The students on this project will have the opportunity to use their skills for ministry AND get the experience of a larger summer project, with more opportunities for growth and evangelism.
The students that participate in the Chicago Project this summer will be working at various locations, practicing their skills in initiating spiritual conversations with their coworkers, while the Crossroads students will be working with Ryan, on regional and local projects for the Great Lakes Region. All the students will be disciples by staff, each having the opportunity to spend an afternoon on a nearby campus, sharing their faith with the students there.
Thanks so much for all that you do for us! We are looking forward to our summer in the Windy City and what the Lord has planned for us.
Please Pray
> Please pray for the many families that will be staffing this project. It looks like the kids will be outnumbering the staff! This presents some unique dynamics and challenges for the staff team.
> Please pray, as the staff and students finish up the support raising process. This is the first time most of these students are raising support. And as many of you are well aware, living in the city is not cheap.
We wanted to share with you some exciting progress with our ministry. This summer, for the first time ever, the Crossroads Summer Project is moving to Chicago!
Historically, this summer project has taken place in Indianapolis, in the Great Lakes Regional Office. Moving to Chicago is going to be a great step forward for this project. A traditional summer project usually takes place at a beach or resort community, and offers some of the best evangelism training out there. The students will participate in building relationships with others on the project, get into the Word in small groups, be trained in how to grow in their own personal walk with the Lord, how to share their faith, how to spiritually multiply their life into others, and how to launch new movements on campus.
Crossroads looks very much the same, except that the Onsite Ministry is a full day’s work in the regional office, working on various projects. We have started to refer to Crossroads as an internship with the Zero Canvas Design team (our design and tech team in the Great Lakes Region) because, the students that join us during Crossroads continue on local and regional projects that we are not able to address during the school year. Every year, the students come up with the concept and design for our annual Christmas Conference. This as well as the other projects they work on during the summer gives Ryan’s team – Zero Canvas a launching platform as we jump into the fall semester.
However, because Crossroads is such a specialized project, there are only an average of 10 students attending each summer. They miss the fun dynamics of the larger project, which has anywhere from 30-150 students. Also, since there isn’t a resort community in Indianapolis and they are spending their days with other Christian students, they lack the opportunity to share their faith as often. Since working with the Crossroads Project, we have been praying for a solution to these problems.
Moving Crossroads to Chicago is a huge step! The 10 or so students that we are anticipating will be able to meet with and fellowship with a larger group of students and staff. They will be met with individually by staff, who will help guide them in spiritual development and train them how to share their faith on the nearby campuses. Not only that, but the Chicago location is attracting students who may not have considered spending their summer in Indianapolis.
We are so excited for this advancement for this project! Even more exciting is the fact that we will be staffing Crossroads this summer. Our whole family will be living in Chicago, with all the other students and staff for the Chicago Summer Project. Ryan is the Creative Director and will be working with the Crossroads students everyday, helping them use their skills for the ministry. Because we will be surrounded by students, Rachel will have more of an opportunity to spend time and invest in some of the students. We will get some really neat chances to minister as a family, providing a great example of a Christ-centered marriage and family environment.
In order for us to be able to participate in this exciting opportunity, we need to raise at least $3,000 in additional support. Anything above and beyond will help provide for the “extras” such as a cup of coffee with a student or cooking a meal for a larger group. Would you prayerfully consider giving a gift of any amount this summer? Please make all checks out to Campus Crusade for Christ and send to us at our home address below.
There are other ways you can give –
We are so thankful for all that you have done and continue to do for us as we strive to reach college students with the Gospel. Without your partnership, and the partnership of others like you, we would not be able to have the ministry that we do. Thanks again!
With all the craziness of the summer and preparing for our second little one to join our family, we had to separate for a short time (10 days) during the CCC National Staff Conference. I went out to Colorado this year by myself since Rachel should not be traveling this close to her due date.
CSU (Colorado State University, the host campus) summers are always a little more of a strain with the extra traveling, but this year was one of the better times that I have had at CSU. It was hard being away from my family and felt strange without Rachel with me, but the content and focus on the conference was really great.
If I could sum up my time together with 5000 staff members, I would say I left the conference encouraged that CCC was taking a hard look at changing our own internal culture in order to reach the ever changing culture around us.
We heard from speakers like Tim Keller, Larry Crab and Rev. Keith Battle. Even though some parts of the conference were hard, I have come away encouraged by our ministry direction, … for our own ministry… for His Kingdom.