Relevant Media

I celebrated leap year today.

Last week many of you may have heard of the shooting that took place at NIU (Northern Illinois University). I was a student at NIU not too long ago and hearing about it and knowing many of the staff members there was troubling. Our staff team at NIU and the students involved in our Cru movement there have responded to comfort students and staff on campus.

This week I was able to develop a website for the campus and our Cru team there called niutogetherforward.com

Check it out and leave your Sentiments in the Thoughts and Prayers section.

I love December. Not only is it Christmastime, but it also means that Christmas Conference is here. Christmas Conference is the peak time of my ministry. This is when I get to utalize my video production gifts in ministry. Not to mention increase my stress level.

Throughout December, you will most likely find me sitting in front of a computer, even more than normal. In preparation for the region-wide conference, I am filming and editing videos, gathering student workers, and organizing the technical side of this 5-day conference.

It is fun to watch how the Lord works through technology. At the conference, over 2,000 people will see the videos that we have created, both the staff and student video teams. These videos include recruiting pieces that we use to give students a vision of staff life all over the world, videos that inspire and motivate students to share their faith with their fellow students, and just fun, energy-raising clips to keep the momentum rolling.

Not only am I having a great time creating these videos, but I have a student team that I work with, that helps to create videos both before the conference and during, as they film the students that are actually there, participating in the events. I have the opportunity to show these students how their love and passion for technology and videography, can be used to advance the Kingdom of God. I pray that these students will use their gifts by coming on staff and joining me long-term, or by giving a year of their lives in an internship with me, that will further hone these abilities so they can use them elsewhere for Kingdom work.

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As the holiday season gets underway, we wanted to let you know about one of the schools we are working with that we are most thankful for.

This fall, the Lord has done some amazing things at IUPUI. Last year, we had some difficulty keeping the ministry stable and growing. In fact, by April, we had no students left. IUPUI has been a difficult school for ministry, as it is mostly commuter students. It is the third largest school in the state, with over 30,000 enrolled, making it a priority campus to reach.

In August, we walked onto campus with little staff and no students or volunteers. The staff that works with Ryan in the office came out and volunteered to help pass out information and gather surveys from students. Through that effort, ten students starting coming to our meetings, mainly freshmen girls. Also, a couple approached us about volunteering and working with us. They were student leaders at IUPUI a couple years ago and wanted to get involved with what was happening now. Through them, we met another couple, who were students also, that have joined us in our efforts to reach IUPUI. In just a couple months, we went from having no one to having 10 committed students and 4 volunteers!

Of these 10 students, 8 went to our Fall Retreat in October, which is a huge building and training time for our ministry. During that weekend, the girls bonded and really got Pray a vision of reaching the lost on their campus. All of our students are in discipling relationships, with staff or volunteers. One of our older students who is being discipled by a staff member, is disicpling another student.

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