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.

Nov. 2017 Announcement Letter

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  - Ephesians 2:10

PRAY. GIVE. SEND.

“for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part….your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.”

- 2 Corinthians 8:2,14

Puerto Rico is still suffering the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria which hit the island territory on September 20th. Electricity, clean water, healthy food, batteries, and gas are scarce essentials most of these U.S. citizens do not have.

Our Response

The first week of October, I and two others with Cru were able to get to the island and help in a small way. Liberty Church and GAiN, the humanitarian arm of Cru sent us with supplies such as: 

• water filters 
• batteries 
• work gloves
• gas cans 
• flashlights 
• clothes 
• food
• money 
• wipes 
• drinks 
• snacks 
• medical supplies

Our quick response team was one of two sent to Puerto Rico with materials and funds to support and assess the situation so that we could learn what to do next. GAiN will be joined by other ministries in Cru such as the Campus Ministry and Athletes in Action. I'm hopeful for what's to come.

A Call to Humility

I've heard a lot of opinions from all perspectives on #BlackLivesMatter (with which I agree),#BlueLivesMatter (with which I agree), and#AllLivesMatter (with which I also agree). I also believe that it's important to grieve with those who grieve and not respond to #BlackLivesMatter with something that could sound like you really mean "people die everyday, so move on". When we mourn with our Black peers over the loss of someone they relate to, it shows the love of God.  Here's an attempt at a similar example for believers in Jesus. I once told a friend who isn't a Christian about how grieved I was over the loss of Christians in persecuted countries.Her response was "Those countries don't want the Christian faith, those people should've known better. I'm not saying they deserve to die but if they must've done something wrong. And all Muslims aren't murders. After all, Christians used to kill a whole lot more for a long time. Look at the Crusades." Was my friend right? In some aspects. Was she wrong? In some aspects. Was she a friend? Not in that moment. In that very moment, I sympathized with people who I could relate to and she simply explained why I shouldn't grieve. I share this to remind myself and to charge us as believers to rise! Rise above our "right to be heard" or our "right to communicate all the facts as we see them." We have all sinned. We have all been hurt by sin. We have all been separated from God as a result and have experienced the excruciating pains of sin. And we all deserve death as a result... but that word means spiritual separation from God. God came to rescue all that would believe through the sacrifice He made of His "right to equality with God" (Philippians 2:6) to be hung on a tree. He has been hung. He suffered. He gave up His rights (Philippians 3) - it happened. As an ethnic minority, I want to SCREAM for equal rights and corrected systems. As a light-skinned person, I want to SHOUT that I'm not racist and my life matters too. But the reality is that none of those claims help me grieve with my neighbor or love my friend. We can defend the truths behind both of these statements, but how ought we respond? PastorMartin Luther King Jr said “All this is simply to say that all life is interrelated. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality; tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. As long as there is poverty in this world, no man can be totally rich even if he has a billion dollars... Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.” Don't take me at an extreme here. I think it's important to have safe people in our lives with whom we communicate every feeling and thought, but I also think we need to consider how to apply Philippians 2:1-11 to our speech and our actions.  "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy bybeing of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." We ought not decide to behave this way because it is politically in our favor or because social media says it's right. We ought to behave differently from the world, no matter what our view, because in our love for one another, God will be made famous!

How can you love someone today who you feel has caused you pain? With silence? (not fighting against someone else's belief just because you disagree) With a voice? (standing in the gap of understanding that when you're for something, it doesn't mean you're against something else) With a gesture? (listening is a gesture not often practiced and smiling is still acceptable in most societies - even New York City! :) With a question and willingness to learn? (how can I pray for you today?) Differing on an opinion doesn't mean someone is wrong. Being different allows for Christians to bring even MORE glory to God by showing that we are ONE in the love of Christ despite our differences.

Evangelism on Your Phone

Do you remember when everyone kept saying "There's an App for That!"? 

Well, now Christians have a wider variety of apps to use. Not only do we have various Bible apps to study and learn the word of God, but we even have tools to help us share our faith directly from our phone! Many of which are accessible with any phone and can display in multiple languages, including American Sign Language!

One of the things I love about Cru is the opportunity for outreach innovation. 

Here are a few by Cru that I love.

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A Safe Place to Explore Questions About Life and God

Cru started with a passion to reach every student with the message of Jesus Christ. Students are the future leaders of governments, companies and communities. Students are influencers, activists, and often-passionate people.

This website was created to help students learn who God is and develop their faith by facing some challenging questions. Millions of people have visited this website because it answers the tough questions students face everyday. The website is in multiple languages and now available as an app!

In 10 months, there were 53,645 visits to the website from New Jersey alone! 473 people indicated decisions for Christ after reading an article on the website and 158 people signed up for the Spiritual Starter Kit! Praise God!

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Another one of those innovations is an app called “Perspective Cards," a free evangelism app designed by Cru to help you ask good questions and share the love of Christ.

Many people’s worldviews are becoming increasingly eclectic, while the Christian worldview is becoming increasingly irrelevant and confusing. This can be huge barrier to understanding spiritual reality and knowing God. How can we help those we care for?

Imagine a deck of cards, or a smartphone app, which can guide you through an enjoyable and deeply revealing spiritual conversation.Perspective Cards allows people to share what they believe, explore the Christian worldview, and take the next step on their spiritual journey in an environment where they feel safe. This is the beauty of Perspective.

The app has been carefully designed to faithfully reproduce the Perspective Cards experience, moderating great, face to face, spiritual conversations. As a smartphone app the cards can always be with you…and it’s free!
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Jesus Film Media is the digital expression of Jesus Film Project®. The entire Jesus Film Project library can be accessed directly from your smart phone or tablet.

Through the robust search feature users have the ability to find resources by country, language name, and title of the film. You will have access to films in more than 1,300 languages!

Featuring the films "JESUS," "Magdalena," "The Story of Jesus for Children" in full length and segments; the series "Following Jesus" and "Walking with Jesus" and catalog of short films like "My Last Day."

This app has A LOT and so you definitely need storage to keep it on your phone, but it's such a great tool when you are planning to go out sharing with your church friends or on a missions trip. The Jesus Film Project is a ministry of Cru and our students use their Global Short Films to start spiritual conversations or to attract people to their weekly meetings. 

October 2015 Short Stories

It’s not always easy being on mission for the LORD all the time. Andy Mineo, a Christian rap artist, has released music that I think communicates the feelings, dangers and blessings of being on mission with God. A busy lifestyle, even for the LORD, can be the downfall of a Christian. If we don’t stay focused, we can lose sight of the vision and of God’s heart. My life has been busy, but God is still working on me. Thank God! ;)

NEW YORK CITY (Oct. 5^th – 8^th)

Rockefeller Center, NYC

The first week of October, I spent four days learning first-hand about the mission and vision of the campus ministry of Cru in NYC. Many of you know I am from New York originally and only came to NJ to study Deaf education. As a native New Yorker, Puerto Rican woman, and trained leader with Cru I can be an asset to the team of 30 working to reach 1 million students for Christ.

On Tuesday, the Worldwide Day of Prayer, we prayed at Brooklyn College (historically difficult to access) and the next day prayed for the entire city at “Top of the Rock” in Manhattan. Please pray with me as I careful consider this option for my future with Cru.

NJ-NY CRU FALL RETREAT (Oct. 9^th – 11^th)

Fall Retreat with Staff Women

The weekend following, I gave leadership to the New Jersey / New York City Fall Retreat with the theme “Community”. We had ministries from New York City with the Campus Ministry of Cru, Epic (reaching the campus through Asian-Americans), & Destino (reaching the campus through Hispanics & Latinos) join the New Jersey Campus ministries of Cru and they definitely put the word “community” to action.

Cru is a caring community, passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ. It was beautiful to see all these communities with individual stories from various ethnicities & cultures come together to share in the great story of Jesus’ life and death that makes us into one community. Praise God for 150 in attendance!

ORLANDO, FL (Oct.11^th – 17^th)

SLI6 Participants

The second week of October, I spent 50 hours with the participants of the 6^th Senior Leadership Institute (SLI). We discussed the importance of a strong spiritual foundation to our leadership, cultural intelligence of a leader, the roles & responsibilities within the framework of a leader, the growth model, & how to coach students and teams. We also worked on a team to interview a Christian chief investment officer (CIO) to learn about his leadership style.

One thing I am excited for is that I get a coach who is Christian and who doesn’t work with Cru but will pour into my leadership development for the next two years.  I am also part of a small process group with whom I’ll work with to help bring improvements to Cru.

NJ #LIGHTUPJERSEY Evangelism Week (Oct. 19^th – 23^rd)

Large Jersey Light Brite
(Each Gospel conversation is a light)

The third week of October, New Jersey students canvased their campuses, spreading the Good News of Jesus to all who would hear! One day, I got to go to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to train three students involved with Cru in how to share their faith. These days, technology is key to communicating with this younger generation and even more so at an institute of technology like NJIT.

After teaching these three young men how to use the “Perspectives” app, “God Tools” app, and “The Jesus Film” app, we walked onto campus and shared the Gospel with 5 different students.  Although none of the students put their trust in Christ, they all were intrigued with the subject of Christianity and indicated an interest to continue learning about who Jesus is. J The conversations also inspired those three young Christian men to continue to share their faith with peers and family as well as train others to do the same!

Kean Homecoming (Oct.24^th)

That following Saturday, I attended the Kean homecoming event where our student leaders set up a table where families of faculty, staff & students could make masks & get to know more about Cru.

The student president of Cru at Kean decided to keep her brother entertained by playing a picture survey called “Soularium” where she asked him questions about God and his spiritual journey.  At the end of this Gospel conversation, Brandon gave his life to Christ!

Mid-Atlantic Team Leaders Conference (Oct. 26^th – 29^th)

The following week I attended a Team Leaders conference in Winchester, Virginia with staff like myself. There were about 50 team directors in the room and I was the only one who was an ethnic minority.

Sometimes this particular conference gets me down because I feel so alone but this year I grew even more passionate about what could happen if the demographics of the room changed to more accurately reflect the scope we are hoping to reach.

Our Aim

“Marksmen, fire when ready.”

I recently watched a show on Netflix called “Top Shot”. The contestants have to prove their marksmanship to be the best out of 16 who were chosen for a chance to win $100,000!

Paul speaks several times in the New Testament about his aim & what the aim of the church ought to be. Most believers immediately think of our aim to be: to please God, which is clearly true in 2 Corinthians 5:9.

Even so, I get excited to read Paul’s motivation for making His aim to please God. In 1 Timothy 1:5, we see his motivation is love!

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

It’s encouraging to imagine a perfect community or a family of God whose individual and corporate aims are one. Paul writes about this unified aim to the church in Corinth & in his second letter to Timothy. (2 Tim. 2:4, 3:10; 2 Cor. 8:21, & 13:11)

THE DANGER:

Picture an army whose aim is clear: to defeat the enemy & protect its’ own. If individual soldiers became distracted with personal problems, strategy disagreements or even the desire for comfort, the enemy could easily get a foothold.

I have never fought in a physical battle, but my friend (former National Guard & Iraq veteran) has told me much about her time in war. Distractions or selfish desires can completely ruin a unit of soldiers & give the enemy the advantage!

I saw this on “Top Shot”, when contestants became distracted, complained about the discomfort with a weapon, or lost focus, they missed the target & were voted off the show.

The Application:

This made me think. How often are we distracted from our aim to please God? Do the comforts of our lives, desire to spend our paychecks how we want, and disagreements with each other prevent us from our aim to please God? How often do we forget why this is our aim in the first place?

We aim to please Him because:

He loved us SO much & made His aim to redeem a fallen people so that we may know Him & love others as we share this GOOD NEWS! (Watch what Felicia has discovered to be her aim in the video the below.)

Are you ready marksman? … to live out your aim? Don't overthink it soldier. Use the resources & talents God’s given you and simply:  Fire when ready!

The Deaf Community & My Heart

Yes, I am still a missionary with Cru who is a caring community, passionate about connecting people to Jesus Christ. Actually, I'm the state director for Cru on colleges in New Jersey, known as Jersey Metro .... BUT My heart is still to reach the Deaf community and connect them with their Creator and another community - the family of God.

**That's why I love that Cru sent this open letter to the Deaf just last week.**

I graduated Kean University in 2007 and have worked with Cru since. I am still working on developing multi-ethnic movements in NJ with Cru but one day I hope to serve with a Deaf Cru movement, like at the National Technical Institute of the Deaf in Rochester, New York (NTID). Who knows, maybe I will help start a Christian Cru movement at Gallaudet University!!!

For now, I continue to stay connected with my former professor, Dr. Goodman, and the students studying American Sign Language at Kean University. I hope their interactions with me show that not all Christians are pushy and "force their faith" on others, but are willing to "listen/see" others for who they are and where they are.

So April 1st, I will be supporting the Deaf community and those who care to communicate with them at Kean University, at 6pm. Will you care to join me in developing friendships in this way? It will be a FUN SHOW for the Deaf and hearing alike!

Deaf Jam IV - Through the Decades:

**At the end of April, we hope to get The Hilarious Magic of Sam Sandler, a deaf magician who has performed over 8000 shows in 45 states! Just last year he performed over 400 shows in 40 states alone! He is a full-time evangelist and has spoken in churches from Montana to Puerto Rico and for organizations such as Jews for Jesus. Pray with us as we continue to raise funds and book the theater for April 23rd at Kean University as well! :)

Ethnic Diversity Matters

You may have read in my last letter about my trip to headquarters in Orlando, Florida back in August. I went to help the national direction team create a strategic plan for our national priorities and it was an honor to have been invited into that conversation.

I’ve been invited into several projects over the past few months with Cru. Although my new role title is female director for Jersey Metro Cru, I have been invited into several other conversations by some of its national directors that will help change the outlook of our organization as a whole.

Diverse group @ Jersey Cru

Around the nation, Cru campus movements are led and filled with majority White staff and students. Jersey Metro Cru is a rare community with various ethnic backgrounds and cultures represented. Some of this could be attributed to the make-up of the campus or the students’ rare ability to integrate with one another. Sadly, another reason could be the fear and uneasiness in presenting the Gospel to students of a different culture or ethnicity.

My long-term goal is to help Cru campus movements across the nation reflect its scope ethnically. God recently provided an opportunity for me to put these thoughts into a video presentation (visit my blog to view video) that was presented to our national campus direction team at headquarters by the Mid- Atlantic national director and a few others.

God is already moving in the hearts of so many staff, faculty and students to go in this direction. I am excited to see how God will use students from New Jersey to help transform Sunday morning experiences and encourage love and unity throughout our country during this very difficult time. Thanks for being part of this.

“And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.”

(Acts 2:43-44)

1. Students leaders are preparing for finals and the holidays. Please pray they are able to set their eyes on Jesus.

2. Jersey Metro Cru staff are preparing for next semester and for RADIATE in our nations capitol. Please pray for this.

3. Personally I’m tired. Please pray I rest well in Jesus and His word.

www.JerseyMetro.com

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