This fall, our region has been spending time with the campus staff at these smaller training times to sharpen the skills we already have within the ministry. We are also collaborating with each other to learn new skills, which will prayerfully help us to be more fruitful in reaching out to students in the Great Lakes region and around the world.

My team has also felt that this is a great time to let our field staff know how we can help them. We wanted to personally inform our fellow staff that we can do creative work for them and help them solve their technological problems. Whether they need a flyer for their next outreach or a new website for their ministry, even giving tech support when needed, our team is a great resource.

This invitation to take advantage of my team has been met with great enthusiasm from our field staff with a new realization of what we are able to do for them. This is not a new service that we are providing, but many of our field staff have thought that the regional design team only supported the regional office and conferences. We decided to change that perception. For our local level to know that we are able to effectively help them accomplish many of these creative needs in a real way has breathed life into their ministries.

We have been attending each skill set to personally introduce ourselves and share our expertise with our local teams. What better place to do this than at a skill set training? Sometimes it’s a problem we can fix right there, like a tech problem with a laptop or “I just can’t get my email.” Another staff member came up to me and asked, “We have a lot of ideas for a web presence for our ministry, can you help us?” I am so excited about the opportunity to help our teams throughout the region answer questions just like these.

Our current team is small, but our hope is that the more the local teams realize and value what we do to serve their ministries, the better they can inform and recruit students with these gifts to continue maximizing the ministry in the field.

Ephesians: 3:21-22
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever - Amen!”

Please Pray

> For the skill set training’s to be prosperous for the Gospel that every student would hear it.

> For Ryan’s team to trust in the Lord to accomplish all they desire as we team up with the our field staff.

> For Braden’s continued growth and health.

Unfortunately, this does not take into account our increased health care and our hope to increase our living needs. If you noted from our last prayer letter, we are currently at 85% of our new goal. Over the past year we have seen this deficet met by one time special needs from many of you and we graciously thank you.

We trust that threw you and others, the Lord will provide the last $1,100 of monthly support we are hoping for to continue to keep our family in ministry until the Lord determines otherwise.

With Much Love,
the Relevant Family

Ever since Braden was born, I (Rachel) have been asked, by just about everyone, what I will be doing this fall. In fact, I have even asked myself. I have the wonderful opportunity to stay home with Braden, and eventually our other children, if that is in our future. However, I wish to remain as involved as I can in the ministry and invest my time in things that will help to change the lives of college students.

This fall, instead of being on campus 3 days a week, I will be mostly working from home. My responsibilities include managing our website (with Ryan’s help) Indianacru.com, helping to organize Fall Retreat, and coordinating our volunteers.

This role, the volunteer coordinator, includes helping volunteers get involved in the ministries on the campuses they wish to give their time to. I am working with 10-15 individuals, keeping them up to date with what our team is doing, resourcing and equipping them for ministry, and providing them with additional training that they might need.

I am hoping to add some time on campus with the students, but I know that by investing in these volunteers, I am investing in all the students they are working with, multiplying my efforts and time in ways that I couldn’t do by myself. Braden and I did go to the first meeting at IUPUI last week and he was a big hit! Thankfully, he is a good baby and will go anywhere. We will hopefully be making multiple visits to IUPUI this semester.

So far, my involvement with Fall Retreat has been limited, as I have passed the torch to two of our eager interns. I set them up with all the details and a task list, and turned them loose! My main responsibility has been to get an online registration set-up, that will take credit cards. I am hoping and praying that by making registering and paying for Fall Retreat very easy, that more students will come and catch the vision of what the Lord is doing on their campuses.

Since writing this, I have received the opportunity to distance coach a freshman girl at Indiana Wesleyan. She is looking to start something on her campus and wants our help. I have decided to join with her, and invest in her, so that we can reach the students on that campus. I am really excited about this opportunity to start something new and fresh.

So, that’s a little about me. I love being a mom and we are enjoying parenthood. Braden is a wonderful blessing and is growing so fast! He is already 6 months old and full of energy. Please check out our blogs to see more of what we are up to.

Thanks so much for your partnership. It is because of you that we are able to invest in the lives (and souls) of college students! We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has for us this year!

relevant report archives: November 07, March 08, May 08

For the Crossroads Summer Project team, our motivation rose from the chance to use our unique skills and talents for the greatest purpose: the Kingdom of Heaven. What began as a group of students from around the U.S. formed into a team that creatively constructed an effective promotions campaign for the 2008 Indianapolis Christmas Conference.

But great ideas rarely happen over night. The first week of project found us huddled in constant meetings, trying to work effectively and construct the theme for the conference. Our mission? To effectively convey to students “What it looks like to truly follow Jesus.” After a grueling week of bouncing ideas back and forth, we agreed on our final theme, “You Can’t Walk Standing Still.”

With the conference theme selected, it was time to showcase our God-given talents. Writers molded words to captivate our audience. Graphic designers used unique inspiration to produce artwork for an informational brochure. Videographers shot on-location in Indianapolis and in Dayton, Ohio to create four promotional videos for use on campuses throughout Michigan, Illinios, Indiana and Ohio, while web-designers developed content that can be seen worldwide.

Our job as a design team did not focus on Christmas Conference alone. In addition, the team created promotional outreach material for various campuses and a web site for campus staff recruiting.

On Crossroads Summer Project, learning about and creating design were not the only ways in which we grew during our stay in Indy. Spiritual growth played an in integral in our daily lives. As a team, we corporately worshiped God through song, Bible Studies, and devotionals every week. We grew in our faith as we connected with our neighbors individually and through the Global Short Film Network outreach event; a night when we viewed short films and discussed their spiritual implications.

Thank you for the enormous blessing your support has been for our lives and the lives that our work will reach for God’s Kingdom!

Our Stories…

Luke Jordan, Wright State University

“For me, Indy Innovation Crossroads Summer Project was a glimpse into the world of ministry beyond college. Getting off campus and into an office setting was a wake up call that we will be continuing our ministry beyond academia. The opportunities to share with people will be greatly varied than those offered in college.”

Drew Daniels, Unviersity of South Carolina

“Summer Project was a time for me to grow in my faith, step out of the comfort zone of home, and actively pursue something I enjoy for the Kingdom of God. I learned valuable information about writing and design skills while God taught me what it looks like to be both a leader and faithful follower. Seeing what we accomplished as a team in six short weeks is nothing less than God moving on our project.”

Mary Grace Hager, Rice University

“God has been incredibly faithful to blow away my expectations this summer. I’ve gained greater confidence in my freedom in Christ and have new courage to share the gospel with the people around me. I also really enjoyed the tight community on the project and I’m proud of the work we produced. I learned a lot about what a career in writing, design, or ministry could look like; it’s really cool to see the things I worked on go to print to influence thousands. I had a great time exploring the Midwest—it was awesome to see firsthand how God is working in Indianapolis and Chicago, specifically. Now I’m very excited about returning to Rice with the new things I’ve seen and learned—both spiritually and creatively. Thank you for helping me follow after God this summer.”

Chris Frank, Miami University

“Crossroads was a time for the Lord to teach me more about ministry away from college. My greatest periods during SP came as I was pouring out my heart to God — my joys, failures, worries, and praises — and allowing Him to respond. It was during this summer I grasped for the first time in my life that Jesus is all I need.”

Thank you for your prayers and support! We are seeing the Lord do some amazing things through them!

relevant report archives: November 07, March 08, May 08

I have been helping prepare the videos to be used in New Zealand and on other summer projects this summer. We have made the videos available for download in ipod and cell formats so that they can readily be used, spur of the moment, to start conversations on the Boardwalk, Beach or campus.

“Ready?” I ran across the room to sit beside my wife and son. As the light flashes faster, Rachel rips the pacifier out of Braden’s mouth just before the camera takes a picture of our new family. This happened about 10 times before we got just the right shot. Well, almost the right shot. Our faces are red and there are tears streaming down our faces from laughing hysterically, but Braden looks great. It was the most fun we had had in 4 weeks.

Things are definitely funnier when you are really tired. The past 7 weeks have been an amazing adventure. We have learned a lot about diapers and burps, and have realized that we have no clue how to be parents. Each day is an adventure and an experiment, and we are enjoying every minute of it.

As the summer draws nearer, we are beginning the planning process for the Crossroads Innovation Project. Our summer assignment this year is in Indianapolis working with students from all over the country that want to use their skills for ministry purposes. I will be leading this project with Kristin, another designer that works with me in the office.

This unique project attracts students with operational skills, including design, web development, video production, writing, finance, and conference planning. What makes this project different than the other summer projects is that these students work in the office instead of getting a job at a tourist location.

Our hope for this project is that students would get the same resources and developmental training that student leaders get on the other summer projects. At the same time, we want them to realize the benefit of using their skills and the importance and need for them in ministry.

The atmosphere of this project is similar to an office environment. They will be living together in an apartment complex in Indy, and drive to work. We desire that they experience close fellowship with each other, and professionalism in the workplace.

One of the main projects that the students accomplish every year is developing the theme and design for Christmas Conference, our region-wide conference in December. Besides this main project, they will be working in various areas to expand the ministries on our campuses.

I experienced the call to come on staff and use my skills in ministry through a similar summer project at the National Headquarters in Orlando when I was a student. I pray that the students would be able to leave the summer knowing that wherever the Lord calls them, they will be equipped to use their skills for ministry.

Thank you for your prayers and support! We are seeing the Lord do some amazing things through them!

Please Pray

> Our small group of students would be a tight-nit group who work well together and learn from each other spiritually and professionally.

> Balance for Ryan between family and ministry.

It is a little weird being parents for the first time. I think we are getting the hang of it but, we joke that the Lord must think that we can not handle much. Braden is a great baby and we look forward to sharing his life with many of you. Thanks for your prayers.

IUPUI is the 3rd largest school in the state of Indiana, and is primarily composed of commuter students, making it a very difficult campus to reach with the Gospel. Very few students stay after class and there is very little community on this campus, so having weekly meetings and Bible studies are a challenge, let alone getting students to come to a campus-wide event.

At the beginning of the semester in August, we started the year off with no returning students and one staff member (Rachel). As the semester progressed, students started showing up to our weekly Bible study and we attained 4 volunteers and 3 more staff, and 8 students attended Fall Retreat in October. We were amazed at how the Lord was working to bring students to grow closer to Him and to reach their campus with the Gospel.

Since the beginning of this semester in January, our attendance went from 12 students, with only 1 guy, to 25 students, including 6 guys! These new students just showed up one night, by invitation from their friends, and have been coming faithfully ever since.

Two students, Adella and Sarah, are in New Zealand for Spring Break, returning on March 15th, and there is a couple more in Panama City with Crusade for the big outreach there. Adella also has just been approved to travel to East Asia for the summer and Melanie, a graduating senior, is applying for an internship to work with ethnic students on our campuses.

Recently, the students and staff have been working very hard towards an outreach scheduled for March 4th at 1pm. Andre Kole, a world-renown illusionist that is under the umbrella of Campus Crusade, gave a performance at IUPUI in the new student center. After he performs some phenomenal illusions, he shares the Gospel through his amazing talent.

These students have been posting flyers all over the huge campus, inviting all their friends, and selling tickets to their classmates in preparation for this event. They have been gathering to pray and to encourage one other in this tough endeavor. At the outreach, they saw 55 people attend (11x the attendance of the last outreach!) and 12 people indicated decisions for Christ, with 9 more that wanted to talk more about having a personal relationship with Christ.

Last spring, as we watched this ministry fade into nothing, we never would have dreamed that such things would be happening on this campus. It truly is a miracle of the Lord’s doing that students are gathering faithfully to study the Bible, to pray for the lost, and to seek out ways in which they can bring the Gospel to their fellow students. It has been the highlight of Rachel’s school year and her favorite part of the week. As she gets closer to starting her maternity leave, it is getting harder for her to say a temporary good-bye to these students. Our hope is to transition into parenthood smoothly, so she can return to investing her time into these precious students as soon as possible.

Thank you for your prayers for this campus the Lord has definitely been answering them!

Please Pray

> Pray that spring break trips will increase the students hearts for the lost.

> That good discussions and life change will occur as a result of the Andre Kole Outreach.

> Preparation for parenthood and safe delivery of the baby.