Below is our Crusade staff team here at UNL–they’ve been my family this year. Four of us will be gone next year, so this team will look entirely different. For the past nine months though, by God’s grace, I can say I’ve never had so much fun working.
Tonight, I was at an international grad student Bible study, filling in for a Crusade staff member who is at a conference. Toward the end of the evening, I started to instruct the students how they would go through follow up lessons with a new believer. I prefaced it with, “We’ll go through this pretty quickly, since you three already know Jesus.” Then, Soo (pronounced “Sue”), who is from China, said, “Uh, I am not Christian.” I looked at him and said, “Oh, then this will be really good for you!” I couldn’t tell because his answers to the questions were very “Christian.” What he said next was shocking and exciting wrapped up in one: “I am trying to become Christian.”
I couldn’t help but smile when I heard this. At that moment I prayed, “Lord, make him a Christian…and soon!” I know that God is sovereign and he calls and chooses those who will come to him. That is first and foremost. But I also understand that we have a responsibility to place our trust in Jesus. The Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13). I fully believe that. Right now, Soo is wrestling with the truth of the Bible, the claims of Jesus, and the promises God makes in Scripture. His childlike heart is utterly refreshing to me. It gives me so much joy because I don’t know if I would have ever heard an American say anything close to that.
There is no doubt in my mind that Soo will soon place his dependency on Jesus and turn from darkness to light, from death to life, and experience the power and joy that comes with knowing Jesus as Lord, Savior, and Treasure.
The Sunday before school starts is always a night full of energy, excitement, fun, and, of course, food.
Today is the Big Red Welcome street fair on campus. Almost 5,000 freshmen are going to start the first day of their college careers tomorrow. Tonight, Campus Crusade, along with hundreds of other student organizations are vying for their attention, allegiance, and phone numbers.
What’s our goal in getting information from students? Simply, we want to connect with them on a deeply personal level. We want them to know they are loved and cared for. We want them to know they are somebody–that they matter to us.
And to God.
Freshmen can be so funny. Parents follow them everywhere. They are embarrassed, yet at the same time they don’t want the parents to leave at the end of the weekend. A familiar passage comes to mind when I think of freshmen coming to town.
In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Now, what in the world does that have to do with 18 year-old students? It might seem strange that this verse came to mind. But, it has so much to do with them! They are so young, impressionable, and ignorant to the world around them. Most of these students have lived a sheltered, suburban or farm-town lifestyle. They haven’t experience true independence, just like a little child. Furthermore, freshmen can be considered less-thans or non-importants. Not to us and not to God, either.
Jesus says, “Bring to me the ones who are the less-thans, the young ones who no one else will care for and I’ll take care of them.” We want these freshmen to experience true, life-changing community. We want these freshmen to see, meet, experience, and delight in Christ more than anything.
Let them come to us tonight and Lord willing, may we lead them to the fountain where they can drink and never thirst again.
A big part of this year is figuring out what God has in store for my future. He already knows what will happen. It’s my job to figure it out as it comes! I’ve already told a lot of you, but God has given me the desire to go to seminary full time to pursue a masters’ in divinity in order to be a pastor. I’m excited to continue learning and pursue knowledge for the glory of God. I love to learn and this would be a great opportunity.
Next summer, I am required to go on a summer project as a staff person and from the outset my heart has been on Africa. There is a small possibility of being able to go to East Africa to teach theology to African pastors. How amazing would that be! A staff member with Crusade, John Matthews, told me about this opportunity, and my face lit up when he mentioned it. John told me that I probably know more theology than most African pastors and I would be able to shadow professors and teach classes there. This would be an experience of a lifetime! Pray that God would open doors to do this if it pleases him. There is also a possibility of working with Crusade next year, doing this exact thing, in Africa in lieu of seminary. Seminary would be pushed back a year, but the chance to live overseas and teach for a year would be awesome. There would be no experience that could match teaching in Africa. I think that experience would be more valuable than getting to seminary right away after working on campus here in Lincoln. Pray that God would lead me where to go after this year.
Thanks for your support! I covet your prayers.
Grace and Peace,
james
