Video & Short Film – DDDiSarro.org

Getting the Word Out

September 20, 2018

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!

“Students Reaching Students”

August 17, 2017May 23, 2018

In July I spent a week in Colorado attending Cru’s U.S. staff conference. The theme of the conference was “WITH” – connecting

WITH God
WITH one another as staff members from different backgrounds and ethnicities
WITH people who don’t know Jesus as their Savior
WITH other ministries outside of Cru to partner in the work of the gospel.

I was particularly encouraged to hear about some of the partnerships we have been building with others in the body of Christ. God has been bringing together churches and mission organizations worldwide to help give everyone on the planet an opportunity to hear the good news about Jesus.

Cru has started a growing partnership with Christian colleges for short-term international mission trips for their students. Before the trip, Cru staff members train the students in some practical ways to share the gospel in another culture.

"Know God Personally" booklet — A Cru evangelism tool used in “Students Reaching Students”

Our team is pulling together the content used by different trainers and combining it with a few new items into a packet called “Students Reaching Students.” Our goal is to produce a resource that is attractive, engaging, and practical for both students and trainers. I’m excited that I can use my editing skills (for both content and video) to help further this partnership and train new short-term missionaries!

Prayer Requests

For the “Students Reaching Students” team: Pray that we will be sensitive to God’s guidance so that we will produce material that will meet the needs of those who will use it
For Charlottesville: In light of the recent tragedy pray that God will use His people as beacons of His love and justice, both in Charlottesville and the nation, and that many will turn to Jesus who alone brings true reconciliation with both God and humanity.

Big Break Report

April 30, 2017May 23, 2018

Three one-week conferences in Panama City Beach, FL, each with hundreds of college students from around the country worshiping, learning, praying, sharing the gospel – that’s Big Break.

(Below) I served on the tech team running the videos and slides and I also helped with the bookstore.

(Above) In the morning sessions students learned to use evangelistic materials such as The Words Project, a conversation-starting tool developed by our team in Indy.

In the afternoon, students put their morning training into practice by starting conversations that often resulted in sharing the gospel.

Beach Outreach Results

Spiritual conversations initiated – 3338
Gospel shared – 1470
Decisions to follow Christ – 222

Students also reached out to their friends back home by using email, text, Facebook message, etc., to ask their friends’ opinion on a video that expressed the gospel in a very artistic way. (You can watch it at www.fallingplates.com.)

Digital Outreach Results

Spiritual conversations initiated – 11170
Gospel shared – 3024
Meetings set up to talk personally about the gospel – 601
Decisions to follow Christ – 104

Please pray

that those who heard the gospel through the outreaches but have not yet trusted Christ will do so
that those who began a new relationship with Him will grow in their faith
that the students who attended Big Break will continue to apply what they learned and diligently follow the Lord.

Thank you so much for your partnership and your prayers!

Looking Back and Looking Forward

December 12, 2016May 23, 2018

I sat at a restaurant Tuesday enjoying breakfast with my leaders and fellow project managers. We gathered to celebrate what God has done this semester, and I smiled as I listened to my friends tell stories of how they had seen God work.

One told about prison inmates coming to faith in Jesus through concerts by Anthem City, our new Christmas band.
Another explained how she created a website filled with resources to help Cru missionaries transition back to the U.S. after serving overseas.
One of our graphic designers announced that the book he wrote and designed has been sent to the publisher; High Ground is a mentoring guide to help free people caught in porn addiction.
I praised the great work my Emcee Training team did equipping 15 staff and student emcees to shepherd audiences toward Jesus.
Someone else reminded us of all the people who heard the gospel through our bands that toured Australia and the Republic of Georgia.

As I listened to these stories and at least half a dozen others, I sensed the hand of God directing our small team. I was encouraged to see how He is using our creative endeavors to accomplish His mission to win people to Christ, build them in their faith, and send them out equipped to reach others.

God is already providing significant ministry opportunities for me for the start of 2017:

Editing and promoting another set of 10 Rock Your Meeting videos for our growing library of free online lessons at rockyourmeeting.org or cru.org/rockyourmeeting
Doing research and analysis for our team that is updating a Cru outreach strategy called Freshman Survival Kits
Serving on the event team for three one-week Big Break conferences in Panama City Beach, FL (March 4-25) where college students will learn through experience how to share Christ
Coaching and running sound and video at Comm Lab, our annual communication training conference, which will be held April 3-7 in Orlando, FL

As I look forward to a new year with so many exciting opportunities, please join me in praying for continued sensitivity to God’s leading, both for me personally and for everyone on our creative team.

Worship Training Live and Online

September 30, 2015November 1, 2017

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.

I coached the band from Eastern Kentucky U. in communication.

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!