This summer Cru was blessed to have a great lineup of speakers for our 2011 staff conference. There are a few videos from the sessions available for free. Click on the link to hear from speakers such as:
Every two years Cru holds a staff conference where all of the US staff gather for vision, refreshment, training, and connection. And so after taking our classes for the summer we stayed to participate in the conference.
Francis Chan speaking from Rev 3.
Regina leading a seminar at the conference.
A few highlights from the conference:
We are grateful for each one of you who know, love, and support us in this ministry! Because you are the most valuable people in this with us, we want to share a few thoughts and answers regarding Campus Crusade for Christ’s name change. The Epic Movement is under the umbrella of the campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.
As you may have already heard some media outlets have spun this as a politically correct move or speculated whether we have changed our message. These stories have caused some alarm within the Body of Christ. We know it is likely that a number of you are hearing this news, and it affects all of us directly.
If you have questions or concerns, please take a look at this FAQs page. These are answers that come directly from our leadership. We wish you could be here at our National Staff Conference with us to see and hear the humble hearts behind this decision. We respect each of the many wise people who collaborated for years on this decision.
I’m glad to work for an organization that cares about our theological development. Cru offers 11 classes, taught by seminary professors, that Cru staff are required to complete within 10 years of joining Cru. Regina and I have completed 3 courses already (NT survey, Bible study methods, and Doctrine Survey). This summer we’ve taken the 2nd round of classes which include:
I studied 2 Samuel 9 for my Biblical interpretation and communication class. I was richly blessed to study one passage for an entire month. I’ll be glad to share my exegetical paper, small group study, and the outline for my talk. Just email me here! Regina studied Genesis 11 and the tower of Babel. I was convicted and encouraged interacting with her talk. She’s a great teacher.
It was nice to not lead any projects this summer but be developed in our faith and ministry skills. We are so grateful for your prayers and support this summer!
I saw a powerful video recently on the power of words. Communication is a wonderful and I hope to grow in my capacity for it.
Courtesy of Clarence Chan
Epic Missional Team 2011
Thanks so much for your prayers and support for our team. We cannot serve and represent Christ on the campuses of NYC without you. Pray for Jayson Choe (far left) who will be joining staff full time and for Jess Lui (bottom right) who will be joining staff in the Winter of 2012. Clarence Chan (2nd from the left) and Jess Lui will be serving on the San Francisco Summer Project from June-July. Mei Ling (2nd from the right), Glennis (bottom left), Regina and I will be taking seminary level classes through Campus Crusade for Christ.
This photo was taken at the last leaders meeting.
Our purpose at Columbia Students for Christ is to build a movement so that everyone at Columbia would know someone else who is truly following Jesus.
At our last leaders meeting we enjoyed fellowship over a great meal cooked by Jess (2nd year intern with Epic). I love bonding over food! We continued the evening celebrating what God has done and evaluating some of the plans that were made at the beginning of the semster. We prayed through and looked over the strategic plan that the leaders made. Our desire is that we’d be faithful with the resources God entrusts to us.
Im excited for how God is growing our leaders and causing us to pray. Please pray for our initiatives to represent Christ at Columbia.
Work for the peace of the city. This photo was taken on the 7 train platform in Sunnyside.
‘Real life, real community, real men’
Today was the inaugural men’s group. We watched the movie Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. It was based upon Nelson Mandela’s 1st presidency post aparteid and his efforts to unite South Africa from multiple angles. The movie focused on the principle angle of forgiveness hifhlighted through supporting the nation’s rugby team (mostly white fan base). Nelson Mandela helped to unite a divided country of 43 million by doing this.
As a group we focused on a passage in Matthew and the power of forgiveness modeled
by Jesus Christ. We prayed that God would continue to transform our lives that we can forgive others in our hearts based upon Christ’s forgiveness of us. We also talked about how walking with Christ is not easy as the makes it out to be, but God allows suffering in our lives so that we can cling to Him more. It was a powerful time of fellowship and community.
Please continue to pray for God to change lives through God’s amazing grace.
Once a month our student leaders from all over the city gather to pray, fellowship, and get equipped to reach their campus for Christ. This month the theme of the day was discipleship.
We discussed God’s heart for discipleship, how to disciple others, and how to encorage one another in the process.
A resource that our students have is http://www.crupressgreen.com
Thanks for your prayers!
Hot off the press, 
the Tribeca Summer Project newsletter. This is a 6 page publication that highlights each of the 5 tracks on the Tribeca Summer Project (The Epic track summary is on the second to last page).
These past 6 six weeks have been amazing! Thank you for your prayers and support for the summer. Our students and staff spent an intense time of growing in our understanding of the gospel and how it impacts us, our families, community, and the world around us. Here are a few quotes from the students regarding their summer:
“God has definitely changed my character by being bold and open up the sins that I have hidden or ran away from these last couple of years. I also felt that God gave me the heart to be compassionate for others that need to be loved and to hear the Gospel.” – T.C.
These are just a few examples of God building a deeper sense of His heart in our students and for others that are in their circles of influence.
A slideshow of the five tracks of Tribeca Summer Project.
Tribeca 2010 Slideshow from Gary Nomura on Vimeo.
Prayer Requests
1) Pray for rest from the summer and also we plan for the upcoming fall semester
2) Pray for our students and staff on the Epic track of our summer project, that they would continue to follow Christ.
3) Pray for the follow-up of the students whom we met this summer that wanted to know more about Jesus.
4) Pray for our support raising efforts. We will need to find new partners as our support has taken a dip.
jonathan | 
07 28th, 2011| 
