Temi's Real Life Video

Temi is a Nigerian student who I actually made contact with even before she enrolled in Cornell last year because she was actually living in New Mexico! (Cool story)

She took some time the other night to record things at our weekly large group meeting.

This is a fun look at our Friday night gathering.

Steak & Bacon......Kale & Quinoa

The vision for Cru at Cornell is that we would be a ministry of small groups.  This means that we regard our Community Groups as our primary vehicle for both discipleship and evangelism.  Among ministries and churches there are different philosophies and methodological approaches, but we believe gospel-centered missional small groups are they way to go.  Cru at Cornell has experienced consistent growth over the past 8 years primarily by raising up and developing small group leaders who help groups of people to discover and follow Christ.

This year, we have over 20 Community Groups in Cru.  A few of our groups took the time to take "group pics" when we were out at our Fall Getaway last month.  I love these pictures because they are portraits of "how we roll" here in Ithaca.

Often when we are promoting our "CG's" I'll say something like this:  "Community Groups are our main course here with Cru.  We used to say they were our 'bread and butter' but then we thought; who eats bread and butter as a main course?  Maybe we should be more gloriously specific!  Now we think of CG's as our 'steak and bacon'!  And if you're a vegetarian and that isn't calling your name -let me describe them as our 'kale and quinoa'!  Either way, we want you to partake!"  

Most of our groups are single gender groups, but we do have a couple of co-ed ones as well.  

I actually believe that it is fundamentally impossible for a student to thrive spiritually apart from a small group. Even going to church every Sunday will not be enough for a student.  A church service isn't nearly personal enough!  People must be united in dynamic fellowship with others who will help them to believe the gospel and walk closely with Christ in order to grow and experience the joy of knowing God.  

Big Break Delivers

CRU's annual Big Break is a power pack combo of  mission trip, conference, Jesus party and road trip all rolled into one.  This worthy adventure delivered as usual this year as we accompanied 37 students to Panama City Beach Florida for a week of worship, fellowship and outreach to spring breaking college students out on the beach.

There is truly nothing like Big Break and it serves as a venue for training in evangelism as well as personal growth for our students.  It's also the time of year when our kids get to spend the most concentrated time with our students.

This year was extra special because we re-united with our Cornell students after a few months apart.

Jack with Isaias Munoz

Joe with Larry Lin

The students put together a Vodcast each day to briefly highlight the days events.  You can find all 7 on youtube here http://www.youtube.com/user/cornellcrusade

In episode 5, Kevin highlights some conversations he and I had when we initiated an impromptu taxi service at midnight on Tuesday night.  The second guy we gave a ride to had literally been approached by three different groups of Christians throughout the day to talk about Jesus.  He'd engaged in three different gospel conversations, and he was literally beginning to get the message that God actually loved him and wanted a relationship with him!  I asked him if perhaps his (Christian) ex-girlfriend was praying for him because it seemed he could not escape the good news!  He said she was.  We had a powerful conversation where he acknowledged that his extreme love for alcohol was adversely affecting his life and relationships.  He talked about wanting God to really prove himself real -and admitted that the days events could certainly be a sign!!  Being completely un-churched he expressed a desire to know more about God.  I had a copy of Bill Clem's book Disciple sitting in my van, so I gave it to him.  Disciple is a pretty thick book, not one I'd typically hand out to guys who are still seeking, but it was what I had with me.   He looked me in the eye with true heart-felt gratitude and said "I will read this book.  You haven't wasted this book.  I'm not going to throw it away, I'm not going to leave it in my hotel room. Seriously.  I want to check this out."  We prayed for him and then dropped him off at his hotel.  

Also in Vodcast 5, our kids were having a ball at the restaurant with our students.