May you have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
Merry Christmas!
Year: 2015
You may not realize it…
You may not realize it, but if you have been praying for or giving to my ministry, you helped change lives in Armenia this fall.
Vardan’s team of Armenian nationals had faced a lot of stresses in the months leading up to this training conference. This group had not been together long, and many had uprooted their families to come to their new (and in some cases unexpected) ministry assignments in the city of Yerevan. Adjustments had been difficult for some, creating tense team relationships.
As team director, Vardan was responsible for molding this collection of individuals into an effective missionary team. He wanted them to be better equipped to take the good news of Jesus to their countrymen, so he arranged for four of our communication coaches (whom I helped prepare) to come teach his staff.
By the fourth day, Vardan could see that his people were growing in their ability to communicate God’s message. But he also saw something else that I think perhaps he hadn’t expected. His coworkers normally didn’t interact much, but now he saw them talking and laughing together. God was using the communication exercises to heal their hearts and knit them together as a team!
Your partnership with me enabled me to prepare four communication coaches who became God’s agents of healing and equipping for a group of Armenian missionaries. Thank you for standing with me to help change lives!
May the Lord bless you and continue to use you this Christmas and throughout the New Year!
Thank You!
During this Thanksgiving season I am thankful for you! God has used your gifts and prayers to help me equip leaders to communicate God’s message more clearly. In the past few weeks alone, your partnership has enabled me to accomplish two important projects:
- Missionary Preparation – I helped train communication coaches bound for Armenia and Macedonia, where they will coach local missionaries in public speaking skills.
- Emcee Training – I administrated a conference where I helped teach four Cru staff members, six Cru students and two other missionaries to shepherd their audiences to meet with Jesus.
I couldn’t do this without you! Thank you for serving God together with me!
Worship Training Live and Online
Live…
I loved helping at Cru’s Worship Arts Training weekend September 11-13! The Communication Team worked with Cru’s Artist Team to train 23 students in worship leading skills. The students came from several universities and included four entire worship bands.
Musical worship can play an important role in the weekly meetings that are so vital to a Cru movement on a local campus. Our goal with this weekend conference was to equip and motivate students called to serve in this significant area.
We taught a variety of topics to help them function well as a worship team—everything from a biblical view of worship to godly conflict resolution to practical tips for organizing bands and rehearsals. Every student received personalized communication coaching, and the four bands each received music coaching on two or three songs.
To cap off the conference, each of the four bands led the rest of the students in worship. Joy and excitement filled the air as they led one another in praise!
…and Online
RockYourMeeting.org is now live! Ten training videos are now on the site with more coming soon. Five of the videos are on worship leading, three are on how to emcee, and two teach communication principles.
Please Pray:
- for the students who attended the Worship Arts Weekend as they seek to apply what they learned back at their campuses.
- that God will use our Rock Your Meeting video series to help Cru staff members equip their students to lead worship and other aspects of weekly meetings.
Thank you for praying!
Resources Ready for Fall Term
I love working on creative projects with creative people! I especially love knowing that our projects will help Cru win people to Christ, build them up in their faith, and send them out to reach others! I told you about two of those creative projects in my February newsletter, and they will both be ready to influence students this fall.
Ramen with a Side of College in Freshman Survival Kits
Every year at the beginning of fall semester on campuses all over the U.S., Cru staff and students give out Freshman Survival Kits to – you guessed it—incoming freshmen. These kits are a goody bag of items designed to help students feel welcomed to their new college experience, and to provide a way to start spiritual conversations. This year one item available for these kits is our very own Ramen With a Side of College.
The announcement sent to Cru staff described Ramen as “a handy, 7×7” book written by college students. It’s designed to be a quick conversation-starter and an easy-to-use tool for any college student. Built like a survival guide, Ramen is full of tips, tricks, advice and questions—everything from how to do laundry or get to know your roommate to finding a mentor or reflecting on spiritual things. It’s light, fun, and practical, but also prompts students to start thinking about the bigger questions of life.”
I’m so pleased that I helped produce this book, even if it was only in a small way (I was one of several proofreaders). I look forward to hearing stories of how God will use this tool on campuses!
Rock Your Meeting Online Video Series
The first batch of the training videos I’ve been editing will be available online this fall! Twenty videos in our Rock Your Meeting series are almost ready for the campus ministry’s section on Cru’s website.
Weekly Cru meetings play a significant role in introducing students to Christ, encouraging their spiritual growth, and mobilizing them to help reach others for Christ. Students can learn leadership skills by serving as meeting planners, emcees, worship leaders, and even speakers for these meetings. Our Rock Your Meeting videos will help Cru staff members equip their students for these roles.
Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry! Your prayers and gifts are helping me produce tools that will play a significant role in the lives of many students!
Short Takes
- The Cru website has a great article about Comm Lab! Read it at http://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/are-you-communicating-well.html
- I’m attending Cru15, our staff conference in Fort Collins, CO from July 13-21.
Prayer Requests
- Pray that God will use Ramen With a Side of College to start many spiritual conversations on campuses this fall.
- Pray that God will use our Rock Your Meeting video series to help Cru staff members equip their students to lead weekly meetings.
- Pray that all of us who are attending Cru15 will meet with God and come away refreshed and motivated for the work He has called us to do.
Thank you for praying!