Merry Christmas!

"We are not guaranteed tomorrow..."

Our big conference for November was held on the second weekend in Minneapolis. We saw over 300 juniors and seniors attend from all over the Upper Midwest region to hear about eternal perspective and how to make Godly decisions about their future as they approach graduation. This professional conference prepares students for life after college. Whether God calls these students to be teachers, engineers, farmers, lawyers, or vocational ministers...we want these students to know that their first calling is to love and serve God. We challenge them to be a witness of the Gospel and to build God's kingdom no matter what they do for a day job!

Life Options is close to our hearts because it is during a Life Options Conference our senior year at ISU that we clearly heard the Lord's calling on our life. A couple weeks before the conference, we had an amazing opportunity come up to buy a dairy farm in Hawaii. Tony had a double major in Animal Science and Dairy Science and when this opportunity came up for this farm, it was a dream come true! We had booked tickets and connected with the owner of the farm and planned on flying out the week after our Life Options conference. During the conference, we clearly heard the Lord calling us to join staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. We were excited to hear so clearly from the Lord, but also disappointed as we really wanted this farm to be our calling! The farm would have been a great fit for us and was doing so well (it had a contract with Meadow Gold Ice Cream) that we could have retired in 10 years and then went into the mission field. But, during the conference the speaker said something that we just couldn't get out of our heads...he said, "You are not guaranteed tomorrow, so do not put off something that you should do today for another time." We did fly to Hawaii and check out the farm (it was wonderful and a perfect fit for us), but the whole time we were there, we just kept hearing those words..."you are not guaranteed tomorrow." So, we passed on the farm and said yes to the Lord. It has been 11 years since that decision and the road has not been easy, but we can look back on it and know that we were obedient to the Lord and to his calling...and, we still live by the motto that we are not guaranteed tomorrow!

International Justice Mission

We were privileged to spend the last week of October bringing awareness of social injustice to Iowa State. We partnered with International Justice Mission (a national partner of CRU) in raising awareness and funds for human trafficking. We wanted to raise awareness for this problem, share our faith, and give people the opportunity to take action. As part of this week, we showed the film "Sex and Money,'" that highlights the huge problem of sex slavery and prostitution in the United States. We used this film to encourage people to write to members of Congress from Iowa and to contribute financially to IJM's cause. The International Justice Mission is an incredible organization that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression.  U.S. News and World Report highlighted IJM as one of 10 non-profits "making a difference". To learn more about International Justice Mission or how you can be involved with this wonderful organization, visit www.ijm.org.

Fall Retreat

We had such a wonderful time at Fall Retreat and the weather was perfect! The kids truly love this conference and look forward to it every year! Below is a picture of our speaker, Gary Schmalz (former ISU director of CRU) sharing with the students about boldly living out your faith! It was so encouraging to hear from him and we had a handful of students indicate that they made first time decisions to put their faith in Christ this weekend! 

On the last day, we sat in a circle (pictured below) and opened the floor up for students to share how God had spoken to them this weekend. Here are few things that they shared:

"I am challenged to take the 30 day challenge to start each day off with God and to start my day focused on God and not to let myself get distracted by everything else going on." --Jenny

"Apparently I've gained a heart for people...I was just planning on graduating and getting a job, but now I can't think of anything better to do for the next 2 years than serving the Lord with CRU." --Darin

"Hearing about great men who have walked with God and hearing how a simple act of submission in the morning can have such an effect...I am choosing to surrender to God in the morning and throughout the day." --Matthew

"This weekend made me start wanting to move forward with being more involved with God's plan at ISU. We need to take steps to move it forward...it won't move itself forward." --Nick

We feel so privileged that God has chosen us to be here at this place and at this time! We love working with the students at Iowa State and we can't wait to see what more He has in store for us! 

Pumpkin Time!

The staff team has been working really hard these past 7 weeks and so Tony and Katie thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins during staff meeting! Wow! There are some pretty impressive pumpkins! The students will be voting on which pumpkin is their favorite at the weekly meeting on Thursday night! They don't know which pumpkin belongs to which staff team member. Tony hopes to win :)

Tony's is the 3rd from the left...Super Mario!

UPDATE: Tony was the winner!

September Newsletter

Back to school! The first 4 weeks have been very busy as we have been eager to meet many students, set up bible studies, provide a weekly meeting, Destination Iowa State, Coke and Cup and Club Fest. We really enjoy our staff team and have seen some wonderful things happen! Already this year, 336 students have heard the gospel through individual conversations, 8 students have indicated decisions for Christ, and 55 new freshman are involved! Praise God! We are gearing up for our annual Fall Retreat, October 11-13. Will you join us in praying that 100 students will attend? Fall Retreat is a great opportunity for students to get off campus, connect and grow, in Christ!

Students meeting in small groups at our weekly meeting, Overflow.

Bunco!

The first week of class we hosted a Bunco game in the Memorial Union. It was a huge success! We had hundreds of students show up and they had a great time! It was part of the university's orientation time for freshman called Destination Iowa State. This was a great way for us to get our name out there and meet new freshman!

Bunco night in the Memorial Union!

August Newsletter

We hope you have had a wonderful summer! It has been a busy one for us! In June, we were able to go to Omaha, Ne for a few days and visit the Henry Doorly Zoo before Tony began his Area Directors Training on the 12th. This training was great as it will help Tony to lead the ministry and staff team at ISU more effectively. The training lasted until July 12th and included a lot of online classes and a short trip to Colorado. When Tony got back from that trip, as a family, we began preparing to leave for Colorado for our National Staff Conference, July 13th - July 21st, in Fort Collins, Co. It was a wonderful time of hearing from speakers (Alastair Begg, Lisa Harper, James White) as well as our Cru leaders (Steve Douglas, Steve Seller, Mark Gauthier). The conference focused on asking God to direct Cru's ministry through prayer and also emphasized how to respond to today's ever-changing culture. We were able to continue our development through workshops and seminars. We even had a day where our family drove up into the mountains and swam in the Poudre River! Once we returned home, Clare began preparing the kids for "back to school" and Tony began preparing for staff meetings. Tony and Katie (Tony's co-director) began meeting at the beginning of August and the first staff meeting was August 12th. We are happy to have a staff team of 10 this year! We held  a leader retreat Aug. 22-23 for our student leaders and classes began Aug. 26th. During the first week of class, we gave away tons of free stuff and collected spiritual interest surveys! Please pray that our new staff team connects well, that our meetings go well and are productive, and that we are able to meet and connect with hundreds of students! We pray the Lord will direct  us as we begin a new year and we are excited to see what God has in store!

A view of our National Staff Conference in Fort Collins, Co

Tony and the kids in the Poudre River

The oldest 4 swimming in the Poudre!

Students meeting in small groups during our weekly meeting, Overflow

See you in the Fall!

We will be taking a break from blogging over the summer, but we look forward to starting back up in the fall! Have a great summer!

Six Ways to Support a Missionary Without Cutting a Check

Check out this article on Six Ways To Support A Missionary Without Cutting a Check. It is an article from Cru with some creative ways you can financially support a missionary without adding a monthly expense.

What Make the Best College Towns?

USA Today College posted an opinion article on March 2nd -- What makes these the best college towns? They featured 3 universities and Iowa State was one of them! You can check out the article here: http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/ccp/opinion-what-makes-these-the-best-college-towns

Jenny

The following is something that one of our students, Jenny, shared with us after TCX. It is so amazing to see God work in our students lives! Jenny is just one story of how we get to experience heart change for the Lord:

"At Life Options in November, we learned about truly giving our entire life to God, instead of expecting God to approve of our plans. This made sense to me, but I wasn't applying it to my life. The last session at TCX was about being sent as kingdom workers and I really began to think about what my specific calling is and whose plan I was following. In our campus time, I listened to what others got out of TCX, and it finally hit me. Tony was talking about why staff members love people who go on project - not because project is the only good option for the summer; it's more about how those students are following God in their decisions about everything in their life, including their summer. I realized at this point that I was not listening to God at all in my life, or at least not in planning my future. God wants me to give Him all of my life. I have applied for summer project and am waiting to hear if I'm accepted!"

Vehicle Update!

We just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate all of you! We feel truly blessed to have you on our team!

In December, we sent out a letter asking for help in donating a vehicle or money towards one. Well, we have been truly blessed; not only did we receive several thousand dollars in support, but we also received a vehicle!! We are praising the Lord for this huge blessing and thanking him for all of you! It is because of you that we are able to serve the Lord at ISU and surrounding campuses! Thanking in helping to reach the world for Christ!

Weekend to Remember

Weekend to Remember is a wonderful 2 1/2 day weekend set aside for you and your spouse to connect and refresh your marriage! You will leave the conference with encouragement, hope, and practical tools to build and grow your relationship. There is a conference in Des Moines March 8-10, 2013. There is a special going on right now that you can get Buy One Get One free. So instead of $149/person, it is $149/couple! Tony and I have attended this before and it is such a wonderful conference. We would highly recommend it! It is also great for couples that are engaged as well (we went when we were engaged). So, if you have friends or children that are engaged, encourage them to go with you...it is truly a great way to start a marriage and also a great way to refresh a marriage. If you are in the Des Moines area, click on the link and it will take you to the registration page. Type in LOVE when checking out to get the discount: Weekend to Remember - Des Moines. If you are not in the Des Moines area, you can click on the following link to find one near you: Find an Event - Weekend to Remember.

Come Help Change the World!

We are asking this of our students: Come Help Change the World! This is a privilege that we get to live out everyday. We get to share the Gospel, teach others how to share it and send them out! We love our job and love training students to share the saving message of Jesus Christ. One way we encourage our students is to do a summer project. We have been asking you to pray with us for the Lord to raise up 15 students from our ministry to go on a summer project. Summer projects are a wonderful way for students to spend 4, 6, or 8 weeks building Godly relationships with one another, being trained on how to share the Gospel and then being sent out to do it! We offer summer projects all over the United States and around the world. You can visit our www.gosummerproject.com page to read more about what we offer students. Below is a great video on Cru Global Missions. Please continue to pray for 15 students with us to go help change the world!

Cru Global Missions Vision from Global Missions on Vimeo.

TCX: Overcome

 

It was another wonderful and successful TCX this year. Tony worked on summer project booths and gave a seminar on the Holy Spirit and Clare did staff housing. We were able to just bring Silas with us and that freed us up to be able to connect with students and do our jobs. We had 30 students from 2 campuses attend with us. We have 6 students who have filled out summer project applications and our goal is 15...so please pray for more students!

Right before Christmas, one of our students, Carl, sister died tragically. He comes from an unbelieving family. Carl attended TCX and said it was good to be there with "family" and those that love the Lord...it was comforting to him. If you could, please pray for Carl and his family as they continue to walk through the grieving process and also pray for Carl to have the strength to share the gospel with his family.

You can visit www.gotcx.com to hear from students about their experiences from the conference.God did something great with these students and gave them a heart for change, for their families and friends and for the world. Check it out!

Rasool Berry (works with Impact Music -- a branch of our Impact Movement ministry), Candice Siewert (works in our region and connects with staff all over the world), and Troy Dobbs (pastor of Grace Church in Eden Prarie, MN) were our conference speakers this year. You can view each of there talks here: TCX 2012 Overcome.

Thank you for partnering with us and making this life changing conference possible for the students!

1,500 students ringing in the New Year at TCX! (photo by Jim Trewin)