Back to campus life...

Hey friends!
I hope your summers have been just as rejuvenating as mine has! I’ve been praying about what to tell you in this newsletter since summers are so unique on staff with Cru. If I’m not on a mission trip (summer project) or taking classes, most of the summer consists of planning and preparing for the new academic year, connecting with students, and encouraging them to walk closely with Jesus. As you already know, this summer consisted of classes at the Institute of Biblical Studies in Orlando. August however, was very strategic.

  Just two weeks ago, I finished my New Staff Development Curriculum and then went to the Jersey Metro staff retreat. This year we have one new intern coming to Kean University, Joel Aponte (pictured right with Jon & Mario - Kean Cru student leaders), and two part-time female staff for the North and the South parts of the Jersey Metro team. Please pray for Joey & Jenn Sforza (pictured left) who have been raising their financial support for two years and have not yet reported to full-time campus work. We need them in the Urban region, especially at Jersey City University and Kean! Just following the retreat, we had one full week of staff meetings 10-4 everyday to pray, strategically plan, have devotions, and set goals for the entire state. I’m so excited to see what God is going to do at Kean University!

This week is already the first week at Kean University for incoming freshmen. Upperclassmen move in on Friday and classes start on Tuesday, Sept. 4th.  Please pray for the Kean Cru leaders to continue to prioritize their relationships with Jesus as the semester begins to unravel and that be an overflow of their service to the King. These leaders truly love Jesus and want to see His kingdom expanded here, but it can be often difficult to keep that a priority when there are so many other things fighting for their attention as students with jobs other responsibilities. Please pray for me as well as I take on more responsibility with multiple students and ministries in the Urban section of New Jersey, that I may keep Jesus as the focus of my time and affection. :)

These leaders will be coming together on September 14th with Christian student leaders from around the state ministry. Please pray that God will give them wisdom to learn what to do at Kean to reach their community here with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks for your prayers and financial support, which encourages us all as we prepare! :)

Working alongside Christ,

 Tabitha Morales

It is day. But it won't be forever...

Urgency—There might not be tomorrow

Campus Crusade’s role is to help build movements everywhere so that everybody knows somebody who truly follows Jesus Christ. Part of my role in that ministry is to be trained in how to win, build and send people by the power of the Holy Spirit and so, help the body of Christ to fulfill the great commission. In this training, post summer Bible classes, I read an article by our current president, Steve Douglass. “Future Direction” describes how and why Steve felt led to more clearly define our ministry’s role in the Church universal, and he does. At the end of this article, Steve emphasizes John 9:4 in  regards to the very ripe harvest all around the world in saying: “It is ‘day.’ But it won’t be forever. So let’s work… together!”
When I met Dina, a new Latina staff joining Destino (Cru’s effort to reach Latin Americans & Hispanics), in Orlando this summer, I didn’t recognize the seed God was planting in our relationship to create a thicker unity within the body of Christ. In connecting us through my former discipler and good friend, Jen Hu, God began to align us to the same vision Steve Douglass mentions in this article, “movements everywhere...so everybody knows somebody who knows Jesus Christ.” Dina and I both recognize the quickly growing Latino community and plan to: help bridge their knowledge of Christ so that they may know Him, bridge to the majority staff (not Destino) with them on the mission field level, and bridge the generational gap within their culture and churches. With this community quickly growing, we recognize the urgency in our mission to see every Latino & even every minority have an opportunity to know somebody who truly follows Jesus Christ.

Discomfort vs Disunity

Minorities in ministry often feel uncomfortable as they are surrounded by people of a different class, culture, etc.
One of the things God taught me when I first became a part of Campus Crusade for Christ was that comfort is NOT something He has given us a right to. Christ’s divinity in flesh, Paul’s radical life change, the disciples living off of whatever they were given, Abraham leaving the only place familiar to himself, Moses speaking & leading a nation, Esther confronting a King on behalf of her people are just a few examples of people who were obediently uncomfortable for Christ. Even Peter, who didn’t want to take the Gospel to the Gentiles was challenged to do so in a vision from the Lord recorded in Acts 10. Like Peter, in Acts 11 was in an uncomfortable position to bridge the gap between the Jewish believers and the newly converted Gentiles, I think God has called me to be a bridge builder within Cru. Please pray for me and Dina as we seek the Lord to know how exactly He wants us to do this.

My Mission:

“Through the leading & power of the Holy Spirit, may Christ be fully known to all peoples, by our love for one another, as we raise the standard of this Christian nation and ultimately be a light of unity to the world.”

For more information on what I mean by this, feel free to email, call, or look to my Facebook or Blog. :)

Keep reading and praying! Thanks for helping me work full-time to be part of fulfilling the great commission.

In Christ,
E. Tabitha Morales

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.