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)

Happy New Year!

As we look back over 2012, we have so many blessings and things to be thankful for. Among all of those things, we are very thankful for all of you! We feel so honored and humbled by your support, prayers and love that you give to us. We truly love our job and serving the Lord along side you! We pray that as you enter 2013, that you will find encouragement, blessings and a renewed passion in the Lord. Thank you for your support in the Gospel and your passion for the lost! We look forward to serving with you in 2013! Happy New Year!

End of the Year Donation

If you are still interested in receiving a tax deduction on your end of the year giving, you can give online at https://give.cru.org/0539211 any time before 11:59 pm eastern time Dec. 31, 2012. If you would like to send in a check, it needs to be postmarked by Dec. 31, 2012.

The Tree Is Up

Decorated by little hands!

Life...

Life can be hard, stressful and sometimes depressing...especially this time of year as we remember the ones that we have lost and will be missed this season or the fact that the money is very tight and we are not sure how we will make it to the end of the month. But, I am so thankful for more than I can put in this post and we choose to make that our focus. I am fortunate to have a wonderful husband who puts us first. Children that I adore and two little ones I get to spend the day with while the older kiddos are school. Silas is such a little sweetheart and such an easy baby and Lola is creative, spunky and snugly. She loves Silas and he definitely gets the brunt of her energy...as you can see in the picture above! Plus, we are fortunate to have an extended family that loves, helps, and encourages us. But, most of all we are lucky to have a job that we love and all of you that support us in it! We are thankful that the Lord has called us to this ministry. We love working with college students! It is such a privilege to be able to share with the future leaders of the world the love of Christ and the importance of sharing that love with others! Thank you to all of you for your support and commitment to our ministry and to us personally. We appreciate your love, encouragement and prayers! Please let us know how we can be praying for you!

Spiritual Multiplication

Tony meets with his student leaders once a week. One of the topics they were discussing recently was Spiritual Multiplication. He shared this mathematical description of how effective we can be in sharing our faith. It really opened up the students eyes to how the Lord can use them and how strategic and effective they can be in ministry. But, this idea isn't only geared for students...it works with all walks of life in every capacity. Below is what Tony shared with his guys:

Let’s say you shared your faith with 1,000 people a day over the course of 21 years. How many people would have heard about Christ? Roughly 7.6 million people. Not bad, you deserve a vacation. But let’s say you led just 3 people to Christ this year, discipled them, taught them how to share their faith and then sent them out to do the same. The next year they each lead 3 people to Christ, disciple them, teach them to share their faith and send them out to do the same. Where are we with this process at the end of 21 years? 10.5 billion people. Guys, can you imagine what would happen if just the 7 of us decided to get serious about fulfilling the great commission? We could fulfill Christ’s mandate to the church to proclaim the gospel to the whole world in about 20 years!

October Newsletter

Tony sent another frantic text message, “Where is the bible study meeting in Emmetsburg?” I knew it was supposed to start in 15 minutes but I didn’t know where to find it. Finally a response, “Room 314c”. As our car pulled into the parking lot, I was glad to realize there was only one building on this campus, a few minutes of quick walking and a couple wrong turns, we found the study. There were 13 students this week at the new bible study on the Emmetsburg, IA campus of Iowa Lakes Community college. There are 50-60 total students involved in the Iowa Lakes ministry of Cru. The group I visited with one of our interns just started this year, but the main campus in Estherville, IA has hosted three strong studies for the last couple years. My co-leader Katie Smith and another intern visited that campus. Earlier in the week three of the interns visited the Cru ministry at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, IA which has about 15 students involved. In all three visits, the students, volunteer leaders, and pastors involved were very thankful for our offer to help in training their students in how to share their faith. And, both areas sent a record number of people to Fall Getaway this year! Iowa State will remain our main focus but over the coming years, Lord willing, we hope to start and coach ministries on every campus within a three hour drive of Ames! Thanks for helping to resource student leaders at Iowa State, Iowa Lakes, and Indian Hills!