Getting the Word Out

In an organization as large as Cru, some resources remain “hidden gems” unknown to many staff members. Our communication training resources (conferences and videos) fit into that category, so my teammates and I have spent the past several weeks planning and preparing ways to help get the word out within the Cru community.

  • We made a schedule for posting announcements to our in-house email newsletters and staff-only online bulletin boards.
  • We wanted a fresh, new look for our materials because we’ve used our previous designs for a long time. One of my teammates came up with a concept for a new logo for our conferences, and I finalized the design (below).

  • To help people mentally connect our events to one another, we tweaked the names. Comm Lab (the most well-known) remained the same, but Emcee Training became Emcee Lab and our 2-day communication training events (focusing on either delivery skills or story writing) are now called Comm Lab Clinics.
  • To create engaging content for our announcements, I edited video footage of testimonials about our training into seven “ads” of about 20 seconds or less. Here’s a link to the first one: https://vimeo.com/288213964.
  • I organized information on resources from my broader department (including our communication training) into a website. I also designed this sample one-page website (see screenshot below) that can be used as a template for anyone who hosts a Comm Lab Clinic.

While I was in “web design mode” I made some tweaks to this ministry website. I hope you like what you see!

Prayer Requests

  • For our announcements and website to be effective in reaching staff members (and their students) who can benefit from our training
  • For wisdom for me as I write and post the announcements
  • For MUCH wisdom for me as I write two talks I will give for the women of my church at our fall retreat September 28-29; the topic for the retreat is God’s grace

Thank you for your partnership and prayers!

Acts of Compassion Open Doors for the Gospel

At times I am asked to help with projects outside of my normal responsibilities. One was to help set up the registration website for a unique spring break mission for students. Traditional Cru spring break trips focus on evangelism at a beach or resort, but this one focused on service. Each week in March, a new group of students went to the Houston area to partner with churches and relief ministries to help rebuild after Hurricane Harvey. More than one thousand college students from 57 universities in 23 states gave 32,544 volunteer hours to repair damaged houses, demolish mold-infested homes and build new ones.

Here are the stories of two students who went on the Harvey Relief Mission.

Edgar’s Story

Edgar is a student at Indiana University (IU) who loves to cut hair. While building the foundations of a new home, Edgar met the homeowners, Pang and Kim. This Cambodian-American couple had been living in a corrugated tin roof shack ever since the floodwaters of Harvey destroyed their house. With the help of Google Translate, Edgar shared the gospel with his new friends. Both Pang and Kim committed their lives to Jesus on the spot. Edgar celebrated by giving Pang a haircut, and Pang and Kim celebrated by getting baptized later that week.

Pang, Edgar, IU staff member Brandon, Kim

Brittney’s Story

Today’s college student has a huge heart to show compassion and fight for justice, so 20% of those who served on the Harvey mission were not followers of Jesus. Brittney, for example, was one of the first students from Kansas State to sign up. During her week of hard work side-by-side with students who love Jesus, she began to yearn for God as she never had before. During the closing event for the week, the speaker asked the students to compare their personal lives to the homes they had repaired – perhaps looking good on the outside, but broken and even unlivable on the inside. He challenged them to surrender their lives to Christ, the only one who can fix broken lives. The Lord moved in Brittney’s heart, and she surrendered her life to Jesus that night.

It was encouraging for me to hear these stories of God at work through another part of Cru. I’m also glad I was able to help, even though it was only in a very small way. You, however, help me in a BIG way. Thank you for your partnership!

Please Pray…

  • For the gospel to continue to bear fruit from the Harvey Relief Mission.
  • For God to open up calendar spots this fall/winter for Emcee Training and for short versions of Comm Lab in East Asia (probably by video conference) and North Dakota.
  • For Comm Labs scheduled in 2019 in South Africa (February – and no, I’m not going on this trip) Raleigh, North Carolina (April) and Dublin, Ireland (November).

Thank you for praying!

Comm Lab 2018 Report

Thank you for praying for Comm Lab! God answered:

  • He provided someone to help me with the administrative details and gave me peace during the conference.
  • He provided a total of 21 people to attend—not the 35 we had prayed for, but enough people for a good training atmosphere.
  • The Irish staff members loved the training, and together we are making plans for a training event in Dublin in less than a year!

Please Pray…

  • For the Comm Lab trainees as they put their new skills into practice
  • For wisdom as we determine when best to schedule training events in the upcoming months. In addition to our plans for Ireland,we also have requests from Cru ministries in North Dakota, North Carolina, South Africa, and East Asia!

Thank you for praying!

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Preparing for Comm Lab 2018

I am once again in the midst of preparations for our annual communication training event called Comm Lab (see the details below the photo). Cru staff members are often called upon to speak in front of groups, and Comm Lab gives them tools to grow in those skills. I would love it if you would pray for me and for the conference as a whole!

Please pray…

  • for me as I juggle many administrative details, that I would rely on God and experience His peace
  • for God to use the letters, emails and social media posts about Comm Lab to draw at least 17 more
  • people to the conference (as I’m writing this, we have 18 registered)
  • for the 5 staff members coming from Ireland (yes, Ireland!) and for our conversations about their request for us to come train staff members from all over western Europe
  • for safe travel for all the coaches and attendees
  • for God to use the conference to encourage and equip people for ministry.

Thank you so much for your partnership! I couldn’t do this without you!

Comm Lab coach
One of our trainers coaching a trainee at Comm Lab 2016

About Comm Lab

“The day of average is officially over.”

And being an average communicator is no longer good enough. People are bombarded by thousands of messages a day, so how do you ensure your message punches through the noise and resonates with your audience?

Whether you speak at weekly meetings, cast vision for your ministry, give evangelistic talks, or train your students and staff to share their God stories, Comm Lab can help you to more effectively communicate your message to your target audience.

Don’t settle for average.
Join us for our next better-than-average event:

Comm Lab
April 9-12, 2018 in Indianapolis
Learn more at https://cru.org/commlab
Conference Cost: $269
Registration closes April 2.

February Worship Arts Weekend

Back in February, I traveled with members of Cru’s Artist Team to western Pennsylvania for a Worship Arts Weekend. We trained 32 Cru students from 6 campuses in both the art and the heart of leading worship.

Please pray that God will continue to work in the lives of the students as they apply what they learned at the conference to their ministries on campus.

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