He is Sovereign

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. - Psalms 46:5

God’s sovereignty has always been one of my favorite attributes because it communicates that He who sees my inward thoughts also loves me unmeasurably and will use His supreme authority for my good and His glory.

The sovereignty of God is the attribute I can use to trust God when my financial support is running low. It is where my friends can seek out hope amidst the loss of their mother. It’s the truth that my friends and family in Puerto Rico can hold on to when the winds and the waves slam up against their windows. God’s sovereignty doesn’t always bring complete comfort because our finite minds can’t comprehend His supreme knowledge and authoritative decisions, but combined with the knowledge of His love and compassion, we can find rest.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. - Psalms 46:10, 11

This last Winter Conference (WC) in Baltimore, Maryland I was honored to host four

Christian student leaders from Puerto Rico. During the conference they experienced biblical community with close to 2000 students from across the region, solid teaching from multiple speakers and deep intimacy with Jesus through prayer and worship. Before heading back to the warm island, I took Gabriela, Ruben, Veronica and Sonya to see Rockefeller Center (picture right) and debrief with them over dinner.

During our conversation, the students communicated: “I just don’t know why I was chosen to represent my people and help raise money for them. Why me?” Another common statement was “I am so overwhelmed by the kindness, I just needed to go cry.” Each of these young adults admitted that on the island, they had to be strong and ready to help their families survive each day post-Maria. One student had just received power two days before leaving for WC and two were still without. Like most students in Puerto Rico, their education can literally lift their families out of poverty and yet it was put on pause for several months just after being interrupted by protests in April.


So often we don’t understand God’s ultimate plan for working things together for our good and His glory but it’s comforting to know that He can and that He loves. 

Click here to watch the video we shot in November where these students talk about just that.

PUERTO RICO

Cru exists in more countries than Coca Cola… AND NOW, we are in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the campus of Rio Piedras!

University Campus Center

This week, I took a short 4 day trip with 10 other staff from the military ministry, faculty ministry, and campus ministry of Cru to San Juan.

La Escalerita - A Christian group we hope to partner with

A campus outreach we attended with all the Christian groups

We explored the campus and the community to see if we can start a Cru movement on the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras! We met students with a Catholic background and some who were protestant. We met a group of Christians who gathered together to sing everyday from 12 - 1 called “Confra” (conference) as well as another Christian club who gathered for Bible  studies and prayer called “Escalerita” (little stairway). We are hoping to partner with Gabriella and Carlos, who lead Escalerita and train them in multiple methods of evangelism and leadership skills. 

God did amazing things in my heart for the people of my heritage as I engaged with students and locals in lots of conversations in Spanglish (English & Spanish). Prayerfully, with the financial support and training needed, I’ll be able to lead a Summer Mission trip to Puerto Rico in 2017. Please pray for our team as we continue to partner with Dr. Bob, a Puerto Rican Christian leader who is helping start Cru movements across the island.

March Madness – Missions Style

All month long, students in the Jersey Metro ministry of Cru have been making famous the story behind the name, the man, the living – Jesus Christ!

Big-Break (Panama City, FL)

While students from around the nation made their way toward the sun for Spring break, our students looked for ways to connect them to the Son for every season that may come their way.

Gas for 1250 miles - $650, sitting in a minivan with 6 other women - 0 leg room, caravanning with another minivan of 6 women - 10 pit stops, sharing the Gospel with over 2000 students  --- priceless.

I had the privilege of accompanying 12 student women to join about 1200 others in Panama City Beach, FL to share the good news of Jesus. We started conversations with over 5000 people and it led to over 2000 Gospel presentations, which then led to 157 beach goers indicating decisions for Christ!! 
The week was long and I am still recovering, but God is so great!

BigBlitz (Ramapo, Rutgers, Stockton, Montclair - NJ)

Students preparing at MSU to share

During the same week, the students who were on Spring Break but couldn’t go to Florida went to blitz two campuses who were not on break. The following week (Spring break for the other ten campuses we work on) the other students blitzed two new campuses! 

Campus Blitz - Where a large group of people post flyers, take spiritual surveys, prayer walk, and start spiritual conversations with as many as possible within a day!

Staff and about 20 students who participated visited a total of four universities and had 158 spiritual conversations that led to 68 Gospel presentations and 1 decision for Christ!

Quest Week - #getoutthere (NJ)

Soularium, a picture survey used to
start spiritual conversation

Just before Spring Break, an alumni panel came to Kean Cru to share how they live out their vocation (to know, enjoy & share God) through their current occupations (what occupies their time). 

During that week many students were challenged and made efforts to start spiritual conversations despite what occupied their time – midterms!

Although there are many obstacles to living out our vocation, we must keep intimate connection with the King who calls us and has gone before us into the field.

A Willing Heart

Will you check out this video describing the organization I work with as a full-time missionary and consider joining my team through prayer or financial support today?

Back to School

Those are three words most students can’t stand to hear…

But when going back to school means returning to a Christian community who shares a common goal to reach your peers and professors for Christ, going back to school isn’t so bad.

 
It’s just the 2^nd week of classes and I’ve already received about five emails from new students asking what Cru is about and hoping to get involved with a Christian community!

Immediately I respond with our tagline explaining that we are just what they were looking for!

Each semester every college & university holds a club fair for new/incoming students to acquaint them to the many opportunities available to get involved. This year, our students at Kean met over 220 students at this fair! Following up with them has been going great with the new MissionHub tool! (missionhub.com)

Surviving VS Thriving

WE SURVIVED! 

...AND THRIVED!

It's been an extremely DIFFICULT and yet EXCITING month! 

I expected to do a lot of planning for the Fall and I knew my role on staff would be different but I didn't expect to have so much more responsibility. My new role as the Missional Team Leader (MTL) in the Urban area in New Jersey expands my responsibility to coach a team of student leaders to include staff and intern leaders as well!

To the left is a collage of pictures of my coaching group this Summer on our trip to go white-water rafting. Being a city girl, I didn't often enter into nature's uncontrollable scene. That was God's work and I typically appreciated it from afar with my paint brush and canvas but this time God had something else in mind! I was SO nervous to head into the unfamiliar and basically learn through experience and yet, none of us fell out or were injured! Our guide was younger than us and had only a High School education but he was the expert and knew how to correct our mistakes if and when we did!

Similarly, I know the Holy Spirit is an expert (at the very least) in winning people to Himself! He controls the waves of the sea and he reigns over the waves of ministry! 

Just as the guide taught us how to row correctly, my job now calls me to be a guide and coach the staff, interns & student leaders in how to lead others to Christ, build them up & send them into mission. As their team leader, I will have to be the example but I can't do it alone. I need the help of my team to maneuver through the waves of ministry and I especially need the leading of the Holy Spirit to show us where to go.

• Please take a moment to stop and pray for the Holy Spirit to move before us in the lives of students who don't yet know Christ and those who know Him but don't know how to serve yet.
• Please also pray that God will remove all obstacles that can cause our team to row out of sync and any obstacles that may not allow us to report to campus full-time. (ie: financial support) Pray that we may thrive in His power!

Did you know?

Did you know this about Cru & my ministry scope?

I figure since I will be getting training for the next few weeks to be the Missional Team Leader of all the Urban schools in New Jersey, I should share a few fun facts I learn. There are many reasons why I chose to work with college students, here are a few:

Did you know?

• Professors influence every student with whom we work. Over the course of four years, every single student spends around 2,000 hours in a classroom, being taught and shaped by 25-30 professors. And the influence doesn’t stop there—add textbooks, homework assignments, papers to be written, and so on and we begin to see the incredible reach of university professors. 

Help me reach students who can reach the professors who shape and mold the next generation of  leaders. Visit give.ccci.org/0597677

Missional Team Leader (MTL)

This summer I’ll be getting trained for my new role as the female Missional Team Leader (MTL) of the North Urban area of NJ. J

I’m so excited to take on this role where I will coach and train staff to lead diverse movements on several campuses in the urban area of New Jersey!

There are 106,000 college students in the Hudson County and surrounding urban areas of New Jersey. I pray the Holy Spirit will work through me as I co-lead with Mark Scott (the Jersey Metro Cru director) to direct several new interns and staff whom God has called, to reach each of these campuses with the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God! There is so much untapped potential in this community and I can’t wait to see what God does!

            This summer is very important for me to spend time listening to God’s voice as He guides me to set goals and make plans to reach every future leader on the urban college campus.  I trust the Lord to teach me new strategies this summer through the Spirit-led training given by senior Cru staff in Colorado. I also trust He will raise the financial support that my team and I need to implement those plans this upcoming new school year.

            Please pray for me as I hope to incorporate all three reasons God has called me to staff in these plans. Those are: to help Christian minority students make their faith personal; to build up young women in Christ so that their hearts would be set on Him; and to bridge the gap between the majority and minority cultures in the Christian world.

            Please also pray that the Holy Spirit will lead His children to give to this purpose so that every college student will know somebody who truly follows Jesus Christ. I imagine a day where young minorities are working as missionaries alongside the majority culture to advance God’s kingdom everywhere. Will you help in making this possible this year? Will you consider giving a one-time $100 gift or making a monthly pledge?

In order to reach college students (like Sharon pictured left) with the life-transforming truth of the Gospel, I need be fully funded by supporters like you. My monthly support is currently 30% shy of where it should be to receive full paychecks and when retreats, conferences, or training occur, those funds are depleted even more for payment of these events.

Would you consider helping meet my one-time needs for this summer or beginning your monthly gift today?

Visit give.ccci.org/0597677 for more details on how to give or email me at edithann.morales@cru.org