Transition Transition Transition… oh, and Transition

May is all about transition. The sun transitions to a more visible position. Seniors say their final words of wisdom to the underclassmen before they head out to the real world. Staff families take off to lead in their summer mission assignments known as Summer Projects. Students transition out of their regular schedules. And I… well… I have just been announced as the Jersey Metro Cru female director!

One thing that is not changing this season is my location! This summer I will be working alongside Mark Scott, Jersey Metro male director, to plan how we will help guide the team for next year. I am also coaching new and returning interns on how to raise up their ministry team so that they can be fully supported as they enter into the full-time mission field. Please pray that I grow in discipline with my time and my relationship with the Lord as I lead in these new roles.

Tab, Laura, Nicole, Lakesha (new Kean Cru pres), Kassy, Sarah

I’m excited to announce that Laura Fairchild, former president of Kean Cru who I discipled from her freshman year, is now raising support to intern with our Mid-Atlantic regional office! She will be using her degree in accounting to be a support and resource to our staff across the region. 
I’m so proud of her willingness to take such a large step of faith to raise her salary for the next year as she surrenders her “American Dream” to serve her King full-time for a year. Especially as the first African-American woman to serve in that office! Please pray for her to meet those who God is calling to financially support her so that she can report in August.

Please also keep in prayer our Jersey Metro staff team who are serving this summer in the Dominican Republic, Hampton Beach in New Hampshire, and those staying in New Jersey. Many of our team needs more financial support in order to stay full-time campus ministers. Some have yet to even report because of this.  Please continue to pray as we trust the Lord with all these things this summer.

To God be the Glory

Christa screaming "Jesus!"

Kean Cru News

           I’ve been tempted this semester to feel discouraged as though nothing is happening with the movement at Kean but the truth is God is working a lot! Yet at our last Jersey Cru of the semester, Christa Diaz, Kean Cru leader was able to give her testimony about bringing God glory.

           Earlier this semester my dear sister in Christ and disciple, Christa Diaz, ran for and won the Homecoming Queen title at Kean. This University is not known to show favor in any way to the Christian students and yet in a stadium full of football fans, they mentioned Jesus Christ’s name because of Christa’s involvement and leadership in the ministry at Kean! 

"Right after it was all over, I went to my room and had a Quiet time with the Lord. For me it was just a great picture of how we're going to cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus in heaven. It was a wonderful experience to give Him all the glory!"  - Christa Diaz at Jersey Cru

          Influenced by her passion for Jesus, a student journalist for the Kean ExChange (student media journal) asked if he could video interview several of the members of Cru to find out more about what it is that Homecoming Queen, Christa Diaz, is passionate about. “What is it about Cru that causes so many people to come out?” he asked. “Well, we all have one goal in common and that’s to glorify Jesus!” stated Liscet Duran, last year’s Homecoming runner up and current graduate leader with Kean Cru.

          The same week a follow up video of the Homecoming King & Queen was released, this video on “Kean Cru—a Campus Crusade for Christ Ministry” was posted online just alongside it. Christa’s comments on Jesus were edited out of the homecoming video, but God still got all the glory from the Cru video which mentions Jesus name repeatedly through students!

 

New Believers Follow Up

2012 Keeping Tabs with Campus Ministry                                                           April 2012

New Believers Follow Up

                 In the Fall of 2011, I told you about Dailyn Santana, a sophomore at Kean, who prayed to receive Christ at our annual Jersey Metro Fall Retreat. A few short months later I mentioned Jennifer Gonzalez, a Kean transfer student entering her junior year who prayed to receive Christ with her best friend and leader in Cru, Christa Diaz. This happened as a result of the Spirit’s leading during a conversation Jenny & I had.

Dailyn, Tabitha, Jennifer

 

Both Dai & Jenny (pictured right) were initially interested in making personal decisions to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ because of the relationships they witnessed their friends (like Christa) have with Him. Being mutual friends with Christa, whom I disciple, they both knew of the possibility of a relationship with me, where I train young women to live a godly life. So after they asked to learn more about this “Christian life”, I thought it’d be great to bring them through five basic life concepts for a new believer together. This past week we talked about investing our time to live for things that are eternally worthy instead of the temporary temptations of this world.

Prayer Request:
Please pray for Dai and Jenny as they prepare to enter the summer with a new life purpose.

D-Ship....AKA Discipleship

Make Disciples...

The last Friday in April, the Jersey Metro team was able to send off our seniors as lifetime laborers for Christ at our last Jersey Cru (monthly statewide meeting) of the semester. It was a great honor to see three of the women I discipled this past year give their bit of wisdom to the student body and praise God for what He’s done in their lives.

 

Ash Bivins (pictured left) is one of the wonderful students I was able to work with this past year. As lead singer in the JCru worship band and a student leader in the Cru ministry at her school (Jersey City University),  Ashley was under a lot of pressure to get many "things done" this year. Early in the semester, Ashley realized that amidst all the craziness she was beginning to lose an eternal perspective on the relationships God had placed her in. She immediately prayed about this and brought it to my attention. As her discipler, there were only two things I could do: point her to what God has to say and pray for her as she follows Him. As Ashley continued to seek God throughout the year, her eyes were immediately opened to those with whom God had been calling her to enter into relationship with. Now as she prepares for Grad school, Ashley is readying her heart for ministry with the young women at NJCU. She plans to pour into other young women while she pursues a masters degree in music education at Jersey City University.

Jenn Lee (pictured right), who I discipled at Montclair State University my internship year and this past year, is graduating and preparing to help lead the Botswana Summer Project. Last year Jenn went to Botswana as a student on a 5 week Summer Missions Project to work with orphaned children. Here is a video link to show you more what she did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbYRkSzWwPY At the end of this past semester, Jenn Lee met with me to tell me her full testimony of how God pursued her heart in the midst of what felt like emotional chaos. Jenn Lee always knew her relationship with God could not depend upon that of others and now she's helping teach that to the youth in her church. I’m so proud of the woman of God she’s become. If you'd like to support Jenn in her trip to Botswana you can email her at: imjenniferxp@yahoo.com

 

Rachel Wallner (pictured right) is one of two student women at the New Jersey Institute of Technology  involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. This past year I’ve had the honor of getting to know her the final year of her undergraduate degree. Rachel is graduating and moving to Virginia for a job this June and one of her highest values before graduating was to learn how to walk with Jesus away from family and “Cru”. Rachel has such a sweet thirst for Jesus in her life and makes sure to pursue Him at every new turn. She’s learned how to study the Word, be vulnerable in community and grow in fellowship. I am confident that Rachel will continue to pursue God anywhere He may bring her.

On some occasions, I have the privilege of helping the student president of a ministry walk with Jesus for a lifetime. Although Sharon is just a junior at Kean, I thought you'd like to hear a bit about her story. This past year I was able to coach and disciple Sharon Hawkins, the student president of Campus Crusade for Christ at Kean University. Sharon has grown in her ability to share her faith shrewdly with grace and truth. She even had the opportunity to train others on how to share their faith on our Spring Break missions trip to Daytona, Fl. She is truly growing into a woman after God's own heart.

What I do...

 Steve Douglass, our current National Director of Campus Crusade for Christ explains my role on staff:

We do not engage in ministry to build up and glorify ourselves; we do it to build up others, and thereby glorify God. When we get into the jet stream of God’s work on earth, our agenda wanes and His and others’ agendas increase.

We are expending our lives for the benefit of the people to whom we minister. On campus, we encourage students; we listen to their challenges; we weep with them; we help them; we train them and give them opportunities to minister to other students. Why do we put forth all that time and emotional energy? Because we hope and pray that someday those students will pick up the torch and minister to others – not just during their time as students, but for a lifetime. We dream of our disciples taking the lead to do what we do, with their friends and others.

In light of that, what is the role of a staff member? The answer is simple. Staff members need to do what we have always sought to do: multiply. One of the flagship verses in the Bible for us is 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

As more disciples are “sent,” more is happening and more coaching will be required. Connected with “-led” movements will be staff members who are praying, modeling ministry, teaching, encouraging, motivating and correcting as needed. The question for each of us is, “How much do I want my life to count?” If my dream is to see significant conquests for God, it is going to require mobilizing others. In order to mobilize others, I must serve them and help them do the same for others.