This semester our team has been hard at work creating and editing the following training sessions and workshops.
- Two Bible discussion series for students investigating the Christian faith: The Snake Crusher and Made To Thrive; these are nearly ready to be tested on campus.
- Team Innovation Training, the four-session curriculum for staff teams that we’ve been teaching and refining over the last few semesters; I’m leading the final edit of the session materials and facilitator notes.
- Initial drafts of new stand-alone workshops for staff teams: Four Roles of Creativity, How to Make Team Decisions Quickly and Easily, Three Questions to Spark Innovation, and more.
- Understanding Gen Z as a Missionary, a workshop on the importance of empathizing with today’s students so you can reach them with the gospel of Christ.
Earlier this week we led the Understanding Gen Z workshop with the Indy Metro Cru team. These staff members lead Cru movements on four college campuses in Indianapolis and coach a student-led movement at a campus in Terra Haute. These five campuses have a total enrollment of 74,842 students. That’s a lot of students to reach!
As part of the workshop, I briefly shared the following story. My first Cru staff assignment was in Canada. I was immersed in a different culture for seven and a half years and went through the typical stages of culture shock: at first I was excited, then I became irritated when Canadians did things differently than I did, and then I gradually adjusted and even started to see things from their point of view.
I returned to the US and eventually began training new staff members. When it was time for me (a Baby Boomer) to train our first Generation X staff members, I soon became irritated with them because they saw things so differently. At some point it dawned on me that I was experiencing the same symptoms I felt in Canada!
I learned from this that ministering across generations is just like ministering across cultures; in both cases, we missionaries need to immerse ourselves in the world of those we serve in order to understand their point of view and discern their true needs. Then we’ll be able to discover the best way to relate the gospel to their lives.
Please Pray…
- for wisdom for our team as we write, edit and refine new training materials;
- that the campus tests of the new Bible studies will help us make them effective tools to reach seeking students;
- for the Indy Metro Cru team as they reach out to the 74,842 students on their campuses.
Thank you for praying!
