Headed to North Myrtle Beach Summer Mission

It has been a bit of a crazy week for us as last weekend we spent time visiting our families in Bismarck and Turtle Lake before heading to the east coast for six weeks.  We ended up spending a bit more time there than expected as Kamaya's grandma Schnabel passed away and we attended the funeral in Wishek on Wednesday (May 13).  It was fun to celebrate her 83 years of life and celebrate that she is now in her heavenly home with Jesus.  After the funeral we headed back to Grand Forks to pack up and prepare for our summer.

Yesterday (Sunday, May 17) we left Grand Forks to head to North Myrtle Beach, SC where we will be spending the next 6 weeks.  The staff team will be discipling almost 90 students and challenging them in their walks with the Lord, training them to share their faith, and also helping them to grow in leadership skills along the way.

Here are some highlights from our travel time:

Just leaving Grand Forks.

Donut stop in Clearwater, MN.

Todd's turn to nap while Kamaya drives.  (Todd was just excited  that Kamaya logged any minutes at the wheel...last year on the way to and from Jersey she logged a grand total of 0 minutes.)

On our way past Iowa City, IA.  Kamaya was still driving!

We spent Sunday night right outside of Indianapolis, in Franklin, IN.

Leaving Indianapolis on Monday morning for day two of travel. 

Saw these NASCAR semi's just outside of Louisville!

Downtown Louisville on our way by!

Driving through the Mountains after crossing into North Carolina.  BEAUTIFUL!

Then it started to rain pretty hard and we saw this cloud in the mountains.

It was a little hard to get a picture of.

We made it to North Myrtle Beach last night.  After getting settled and getting some groceries we spent a bit of time on the beach today!

Please pray for us and the rest of the staff here in NMB over the next week as we prepare for the students to join us next week.

Also pray for the hearts of the students that will be joining us here next week.  Pray that God will provide their support and that they would come ready for God to work in their lives and through their lives as well.

  

Celebrating God at Work

Where does the time go? It's crazy to think that the school year is coming to a close this week and soon enough we will be headed to North Myrtle Beach, SC for the summer. While it is sad to close the books on another year, we always enjoy looking back at the year and seeing how God has been at work on campus and in the lives of students.

Here are some of the things we are celebrating that God did this year:

Approximately ten freshman men that Todd has gotten to lead in a small group Bible study all year who are faithful and invite their friends.

Watching the sophomore women that Kamaya disciples grow closer to the Lord and take steps to have spiritual conversations with those around them in their dorms and classes.

Moving our Cru meetings back on campus, has been a great change to make our meetings more accessible to students.

The women's small group Bible study in Squires Hall that has blossomed during spring semester, mostly from meeting random women while sharing our faith on campus who now attend weekly.

Students have been sharing their faith and leading student's to Christ and then walking them through follow up to help them grow.

In addition, we love to hear how God has worked in the lives of students during the school year.

Here is what a few students had to say about how God has grown them this year:

Christian - UND Cru Alumni (Graduated Fall 2014)

“While taking classes at UND and especially now since graduating, God has used Cru to help me learn how to engage well with coworkers to share about the life that can be had in Jesus. He has been gracious to provide many opportunities for this and has used the training I received while involved with Cru to help me know how to ask good questions and listen well. There are times when I have no idea what to say to a coworker or how to start or continue a spiritual conversation, but in that moment God leads and provides a thought or an idea or a question. It's terrible because it's difficult and involves taking a risk, but it's awesome because it draws me closer to Christ and makes me rely more on him.

God has been merciful to me in putting me in these situations and allowing me to see more of who I am in Christ, what I’ve been called from, and what I am made for: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)”

Darby - Junior

“First, it is just a great comfort to know people are praying for me and that God would be present on our campus.  This not being a private Christian college, I also know the people who attend Cru actually want to be there and are intentional about their relationship with God.  The community at Cru is great.  Even in times when I feel far away from God, I can come and worship alongside many other college students.  Cru keeps me accountable in my pursuit of God and reminds me that there is a whole world of people out there that need to know Him.”

William (Billy) - Junior

“My spiritual journey has seen many ups and downs this year.  It is an ever increasing difficulty to stay pure and lead by example as an upperclassmen, but it is important to note that Jesus has made me whole.  Truly, the group of freshmen guys have blessed my life beyond compare with fellowship, growth, true brotherly love, and friendship.  This is a real blessing of God to be accepted, loved,  respected, genuine, and led by this group of men.  There’s a reason for me being here at UND and these guys were in God’s will, which makes our Lord’s work evident to me in our lives.”

Haily - Freshman

“It’s amazing how God has been working through Cru by reaching thirsty hearts like mine.  God has challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and to reach people searching for salvation.  I saw this during TCX and the day of outreach.  TCX was an eye and heart opener where I realized how sinful I am as a person, but understood that God looks at my heart and covers me with his sweet saving grace.  Through Cru, I have made lasting friendships.  It makes me excited that the Lord is at work in the lives of my friends as well!”

Jacob - Freshman

“I have grown more in this one year than I have in all the years of my life combined.  I have seen God move in mighty ways, in ways only He can.  To start, my family and I prayed for a long time that I would get a good roommate.  Now, my roommate is my closest friend and he and his family have been such a huge blessing in my life.  More than a paragraph could describe.

Going into spring break, I asked God to challenge me.  I thought someone would ask me about God and that would be it.  But God, instead, used me to pull a friend through a really difficult time in his life.  These are the two biggest things.  But, He has done countless more.  I have an incredible group of friends (another thing I prayed for.)  I have become more sure of who I am.  I am more aware of God’s presence, I have come to  appreciate my family more.  There’s so much that God has done in such a short period of time.  God is so good!”

Jonathan - Freshman

“Cru has shown me what it really looks like to desire God and what it looks like to truly walk with Him and have Godly community.

God used Fall Retreat to start relationships in my life that have only grown since.  I  also was given the opportunity to go to Big Break where God grew me in ways I didn’t expect Him to.  I grew in sharing my faith, but I also grew in caring for fellow believers, which I didn’t expect in that environment.  God showed me how blessed I am to be able to be involved and be friends with all these people who share my love for God.”

Morgan - Freshman

“God has shown me many things through Cru this year. Coming into college God tested me with a roommate that pushed me to take a path that was against my beliefs. God spoke to me though through the people at Cru. They took me under their wing and introduced me to Cru. Through the support and encouragement of the friends that Cru has provided me, I took a huge step of faith and decided to start a personal relationship with God. I didn’t even know that was something I could do until I went to TCX this winter. At TCX I had many great conversations with my roommates and learned how great God really is and how I could get to know him better. If it wasn’t for Cru and all the wonderful people in it, I wouldn’t have the personal relationship with God that I have now.”

Carter - Freshman

“I have seen God grow in me much this year. Coming into college, God really wasn’t in all aspects of my life. However, through my time and experiences with Cru, God has really established himself as the priority in all of my life. God placed people with me that have affected me forever. The friends I have made here have been an incredible influence on me. At one point, I was in three separate Bible studies every week. One of them was through Cru, and the other two were led by people that I met at Fall Retreat and TCX. I had to make leaps in my faith when I chose to do evangelism at Big Break, and God was definitely with me in my time there. Though I was flat out rejected many times, God renewed my motivation by using me and a friend to bring somebody back to Him. I also was blessed with the opportunity to sit down with a Muslim and have a two hour long talk about Islam, which was incredibly informational and reminded me how incredible it is that Jesus came and died and rose again for me.

God has been so incredibly prevalent in my life this year, and I honestly cannot describe how that makes me feel. Knowing that such a wondrous, uncontainable, and indescribable God would bring himself down to my level just so he can say “I love you” absolutely blows my mind. God is good.”

Grace - Sophomore

“Through Big Break, I grew as I learned to trust God to give me strength to speak of His name boldly in a setting that was out of my comfort zone.  I learned to trust Him to guide each    conversation and that the outcome would be for His glory, even if I didn’t directly see the outcome I would’ve liked.  Immersing ourselves in community of people like those in PCB that are so desperately seeking something to satisfy was a great opportunity to share the hope & satisfaction that is found in Christ alone.  My heart for reaching others with the Gospel grew during that week as I gained more experience and knowledge about ways we can reach others not only in the setting we were at but back home on campus.  I can honestly say that I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend my spring break!”

Kristi - Sophomore

“The Lord has used the ministry of Cru this year in many ways in my life.  One specific way is in the area of leadership. I have had many opportunities to grow in this area and one of the coolest ways is through co-leading the Bible study in my dorm. It was my first time leading a Bible Study and I wasn't really sure what to expect. It has been a challenge but I have definitely enjoyed it. I love seeing the women in the Bible study learn more about Jesus while we study God's Word together. The Lord has definitely showed me that if I trust and rely on Him in all circumstances, that he can use me to help  others learn more about who He is and how they can be walking with Him.”

Danielle - Freshman

“God has touched my heart in a very deep way through Cru this year. Leaving everything that has been  important to me for so long to come to college was such a challenge for me. As I got connected with Cru, however, I was led to discover that there is so much more to life than living for myself and only spending one hour per week on Sunday morning with God. The first time I really got  thoroughly involved and engaged in Cru was fall retreat. It led me to the wonderful  Christian community I get to  surround myself with now and started a fire in my soul for the Lord. Through Cru, I have grown a passion and love for the Lord and his word that I didn't even know was possible. In addition, I have been challenged to really look at my heart and mind as God has began to really reveal himself to me and show me areas in my life that I turn to for the joy and satisfaction I can only find in Him. I look forward to continuing to grow in my faith throughout my college years in Cru and I am   excited to see what plans God has in store for me!”

Francisco - Junior

“Before Christ, I did not know what direction I was taking upon in life and I was relying too much on others for my well being. During TCX, I prayed Galatians 2:20 in my heart to sacrifice myself to Christ for He sacrificed  himself for me and when I opened my eyes, the future suddenly felt brighter. After accepting Jesus into my life, He showed me a pathway into trusting in Him and His plans for me. I  realized that all the painful roads that I took in life were just part of God's plan that brought me into a much better place that I could have never imagined. With Christ in my life, I lost the   anxiety of uncertainty, knowing that He's always doing what is right for me. God also showed me that I no longer need to look for love from others because His love is enough for me.”

Rachel - Freshman

“Becoming a part of Cru this year has taught me about what it means to be a follower of Christ through the people I’ve met. Never in my life have I experienced Christ in such a body of believers, not only every Tuesday night singing praises to Him but also each and every time I meet them outside of the Cru setting. Christ’s love shines through each time, and the joy seen daily through these fellow believers draws even non-Christians towards Jesus. So often, I find myself going through the motions of being a believer: going to church every Sunday, praying quick before a meal, speed-reading my Bible. This year in the people at Cru, I’ve seen this desire for more and more people to come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. I’ve seen a hunger to not only read the Word but meditate and incorporate it into their everyday lives. I’ve been in the middle of a joyous crowd singing praises to God with every part of their hearts because of the reminder in the message about being saved by Grace through Faith, turning to Jesus with hearts full because it’s impossible to respond in any other way.

How has God impacted my life through Cru this year? He’s showing me this amazing love for those still broken and poor because the lack of Christ in their hearts, to the point of wanting to run up to each person I meet asking if they know Jesus. Through the Christians I’ve met along the way, God has planted the desire they have into me.

“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”  ~Colossians 2:6,7”