Tragedy at SFA

It is with heavy hearts we write this letter to you. Normally we are excited to share in all that is happening on campus and in our ministry, but currently, SFA and our ministry is in the midst of tragedy as 3 students were killed in a car accident Sat. May 4, and another remains in the hospital. Hunter Buck, Patrick Fagan, and Kamila Carrillo’s lives were tragically lost. These were more than just students to us, 2 of these students, Hunter and Patrick, were involved in Cru, and Vince has gotten the chance to have them in the TKE Bible study he has led over the past year. It was just such a shock, Vince was going to help Hunter fix his car soon, have lunch next week, and hang out this summer while he was in town. Patrick had come to our last Crusday a week earlier, and was excited about the influence he could have in his fraternity next year. It just seems surreal that they are gone. It is in moments like this that we pause and remember why it is that we are here- life is short, and eternity is at stake, and our hearts long for people to know the Lord.

Our hearts are broken over the loss of these students, and we are still mourning along with the TKE Fraternity and the University as a whole. We are grateful for the chance we have had to have an influence in these student’s lives.

Hunter was the life of the party, a former president of his fraternity, and known and loved by many on campus. He was easy to be around, and honest. Vince first met Hunter when a different tragic accident took the life of another fraternity brother a few years ago on campus. This year, they reconnected, and God had been really stirring his heart. Vince has gotten the chance to invest in him spiritually over the last year, in Bible Study, and one on one as they meet together to talk about life and how to grow spiritually. Hunter had an amazing impact on his fraternity in spiritual ways, and often brought other guys to Bible study or to meet with Vince. In conversations with his fraternity brothers since the accident, a few guys have expressed a desire to come check out Bible study and make time to talk with Vince about spiritual things. Hunter was always asking them to come to Bible study and always talked about how much he liked talking about his faith with Vince. Vince always knew Hunter had the potential to reach his fraternity for the Lord, and we are praying that amidst the tragedy, the Lord will still use him to do so.

Patrick was a Freshman at SFA, and had just pledged TKE. He was a quiet guy, but well loved by his pledge brothers, and known by them as a man of character. He was a guy who cared about others, late night conversations, and opened up the more you knew him. He was really looking forward to having an impact on his fraternity.

Students and the community gathered Monday night for a candle-light service to remember those lost, and Vince was asked by the fraternity to be part of the service. Hundreds of students came to honor the three students, and the “spirit rock” was painted in memorial. As we looked around, we saw a university united by pain and loss, but also desperate for something to cling to, and we know that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Please pray for this pivotal time. Pray for spiritual openness in the TKE fraternity. Honestly in times like these, people tend to have one of two reactions, to be softened to Christ, or allow their hearts to be hardened. We are praying fervently that God will soften hearts! We are already encouraged by the response of some of the fraternity brothers, wanting to keep Vince in the loop, and some that he hardly knows texting him at 3:00am when they just need someone to share with about where they are at. Please pray that we would have His wisdom to know how we can love and serve the TKE fraternity through this tragedy. There is never a good time for something like this to happen, but days before finals and summer break make this extra hard. We long to have a long term investment with these guys, and are needing the Lord’s guidance for how to love and serve well. Please pray also for the student who is still recovering from the accident, the hard journey ahead of him, and the investigation that continues.

Please pray for the families and loved ones!

Thanks for your prayers!

 

Sequel

Don’t you just love it when a good story has a sequel? Anticipation builds when faithful movie goers hear of the upcoming release for a sequel their favorite movie.  Historical numbers of people come out of the woodwork to see their favorite characters return in movies such as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, The Dark Knight Rises, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It’s with this level of anticipation we hope you receive this letter as we continue the story from last month, and what happened literally the day after we mailed out the update to you!

Last month you may remember us laying out the strategy we’ve used this semester in training students to have a ministry. We shared about Sarah, who was living this out in her life, and asked you to be praying for her friends, especially one who is an atheist. In this episode we learn that Sarah no longer has a friend who is an atheist.

Jeff is a freshman student at SFA. His experience of hurt with family and Christianity eventually drove him to conclude there is no God. Jeff would say that this semester and a half at SFA has been very dark for him personally, but there is a bright spot that he has found some good friends who care for him. These friends just happen to be Sarah, and another student you’ve read about named Eric, and people in the large group Bible study they are part of.

Eric had been sharing the Gospel with Jeff for a while now, and Jeff had been attending his Bible study. Very casually in an answer to a question in Bible study 2 weeks ago, Jeff referred to himself as “Christian”. Obviously catching Eric’s attention, Eric and Vince asked Jeff about it the next day over lunch.

During lunch, Eric and Vince asked Jeff about his recent spiritually growth. Jeff described how a lot of his previous skepticisms had been answered through the love and patience shown him through his Cru friends. Then they asked him about how he mentioned being a Christian, and if he had received Christ. Jeff asked what the exactly meant, saying that he had heard about people “receiving Christ” but didn’t know how. Eric explained the idea of knowing we need a savior, believing what Jesus did on the cross covered your sins, and placing Jesus as the Lord of your life. After a short discussion Jeff happily declared that he had done that in prayer with the Lord just a week before!

Eric then says “Jeff, what should you do next?” Jeff: “I need to tell everyone I know about Jesus, they need to know this.” He gets it.

We are so encouraged to see how God brought life to Jeff! We don’t always get to see how the story in a person’s life progresses, but it is so exciting to see the life change that happens when someone places their faith in Christ! We ask that you continue to pray for Sarah, Eric, Jeff that they would continue to share the Gospel with their friends, and that there may be many stories God will write in their lives

Coaching Group

Dirk Nowitzki, the former NBA MVP and future Hall of Famer, was asked days after winning his first Championship in 2011, what was it that made him so great? After citing his teammates and coaches he mentions the countless hours of training and practice. When asked about Dirk, his coach Rick Carlisle said “Guys like Dirk Nowitzki, these guys are wired a certain way. And they're uncompromising with how they approach their preparation to play." Dirk is known as one of the greatest to step foot on the basketball court, and all of this is credited to his training and practice.

When thinking about being “great” at having an impact for God’s Kingdom, we believe a similar principle applies. We know that if anything is to be accomplished in the name of Jesus, it will be because of His prompting alone. However, He calls us to be prepared. We desire for our students to be used to do great things. In order for this to occur we want them to be trained and practice a and implement so they can gain the necessary skills.

 This semester we have started a group that meets every other week at our house which we call “Coaching Group”. This group meets for the purpose of learning how to effectively have a ministry where God has placed them at SFA. The group is made up of handpicked students from various areas of campus (Greek, Business and Art students, freshmen through seniors) that we see as leaders.

Coaching Group is a step by step training where students are taught a particular ministry skill. They spend the next two weeks practicing it in their life, and then come back for the next step of training. The content is simple, tangible, and designed for the students to succeed while walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here’s a glimpse into their training this semester for how to live life missionally:

Week 1: Vision casting the need. – Open the eyes of the students so see the need for the Gospel on the SFA campus. 14,000 students and only around 1000 being effectively reached

Week 2. Prayer – Talk to God about others, before you talk to others about God.

Week 3. Friendships – It’s critical to build meaningful friendships by taking a genuine interest in who a person is.

Week 4. Spiritual conversations – Taking an everyday conversation and turning it into one where you are listening about a person’s spiritual experience in life.

Week 5. Gospel conversations – The art of turning a spiritual conversation into one where we can share with our friend about how they can know Jesus personally.

Week 6. Follow up – Continuing to love and serve your friend while encouraging them to place their faith in Christ, and walk closely with Him.

Every time the coaching group meets, we always start with celebrating, and hearing how God has been at work as they stepped out in faith to practice what they are learning. We wish you could be there with us to hear how God is stirring hearts and using these students in amazing ways! But we want to share a story of how one student, Sarah, has seen God work as she has stepped out in faith.

Sarah is a freshman believer, and met many friends during the beginning of the year and as she has got to know her friends better, she realized many don't know God, and even one is a professed atheist. Sarah has been praying for these friends, and chances to share Christ with them! As the week and challenges have progress, she has seen the Lord open doors, starting with caring for them, being an intentional friend, and starting spiritual conversations. Now, several of her friends who were not spiritually interested previously have started attending Bible study– including her atheist friend! And she has even been able to have gospel conversations with the atheist friend! Please continue to pray for Sarah, and the friends in her life who are considering Christ.

 

 

Meeting Jesus

Eric, a sophomore, showed up to the Bible study he leads for the start of a new semester. Just days before, he was praying that the Lord would allow him to share his faith and have a ministry. He ended up meeting a couple random guys on campus Ryan and Jack, and invited them and they showed up. Eric led the Bible study and afterwards they split into smaller groups, giving him time to get to know his 2 new friends. Right off the bat Ryan, who is an Asian student who has an atheistic back ground, questioned Eric as to why he would need Jesus to be a good person. Eric was able to explain that Christianity wasn’t about being good, but that’s it’s about broken people who need a Savior. After a few minutes discussion Ryan went quiet, so Eric turned to Jack and asked what he thought about the Gospel. Jack said he’d never been to church, and had never heard any of that before, and Eric continued on about faith in Christ.  Jack expressed at the end of the night that he was very interested in Jesus. He also shared that he was struggling with depression, his self imagine, and that this was the first time anyone had invited him to anything in his 2 semesters in college. Currently Eric is meeting with both of his new friends, continuing to lead them towards Christ. Please take a moment to pray for them.

You may remember that last semester Vince has had the opportunity to build relationships with a fraternity called TKE. In November Vince had lunch with 2 fraternity brothers who were roommates, Josh, and Clay. Josh is a believer who is struggling in his faith, and Clay admittedly wasn’t a believer. Vince had the opportunity to share with him the Clay that God loved him and wanted a relationship with him through Jesus, and that he didn’t have to earn this relationship, that it was freely given. Clay said he wanted to be a Christian one day when he was married and had kids, but for now he was enjoying sex, alcohol, and other things, and didn’t want to say he was Christian but be a hypocrite. After encouraging him not to wait, Clay left and Vince didn’t see him until a week ago.

After catching up for a second Clay told a story on how his life had changed. He said that for weeks after our appointment he thought about who Jesus was, the Gospel, and about his decision to not trust Christ. He said that one day of the Christmas break, that he woke up and decided he was wrong and didn’t want to wait. So he placed his faith in Christ! Next, he went and told his roommate Josh about his decision and said he wanted to be baptized. So Josh took Clay, and 2 other Christian fraternity brothers, out to Lake Nacogdoches, and baptized Clay. Praise the Lord for the work He has done and is doing.

Winter Conference

 

 

Hundreds of College Students Gather for Teaching, Worship, Training and Outreach

 All of us are drawn to a good story.

Over 850 college students from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana rang in the New Year in Fort Worth, at Cru’s annual Winter Conference. This year’s theme, True Story, examined the compelling picture of God’s story of rescue, redemption and restoration, while helping students to see how they fit into this story.

Who will you invite to be a part of God’s story?

On January 4, the students went to the Cotton Bowl and surrounding areas to share Christ with tailgaters. When Katherine and Brittany met Anthony, a Cotton Bowl parking attendant, he had never heard the message of grace before. The Lord used Katherine and Brittany to lead Anthony to Christ!

Another Cru student, Destinee, met three juniors, Jenna, Emily and Alayna, from A&M who were tailgating at Cowboy Stadium. Destinee took the initiative to share Christ and could hardly believe it when they said, “Yes!” to Jesus, and grabbed hands and prayed right there in front of all their friends!

 How will you respond to this incredible story? Students made significant choices during this first week of 2013. Some students chose to place their faith in Christ for the first time. Several made decisions to share Christ with their fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, or others back on campus. Others chose to surrender their futures. Many decided to give God their summer, serving Him in Russia, East Asia, Italy and Ethiopia. Some chose to give a year to intern with us, and a handful committed to serve internationally for a year-long STINT.

The harvest is plentiful and God is raising up laborers. Thank you for all you do to make this possible. Your partnership with us is having far-reaching effects.

Big news! The Lord has been gracious, and we are expecting our first child in July! Please pray for a healthy baby and pregnancy, and the Lord will prepare us to be parents!

Follow up experience

Thanks so much for praying for the first events we hosted to meet students. We were able to meet so many students, and have been following up with them over the past few weeks. Autumn met with one girl, who had many questions spiritually. She grew up attending church sometimes, but really had never read the Bible and was unsure where to even start. As Autumn talked with her, she got to share the overarching message of the Bible is the gospel, and how through faith we can experience a relationship with Christ. The girl’s heart is stirred, and she asked about reading the Bible, and wanting to learn more about the idea of a relationship with Christ. Autumn brought her a Bible, and explained where to start. Since then, she has been coming to Bible study, building relationships, and aksing questions. Please pray with us that the Lord helps her to fully understand the gospel, and that she will place her faith in Him!

Girl reading Bible

-          In our Large Group one week we studied the story of Mary  and Martha, teaching about the importance of spending time with Jesus in prayer and in the Bible. The following week we had a girl share with the group that she had decided to read the Bible for the first time ever! She said she started in Proverbs and read about the importance of reading God’s word. She went on to say she read 4 days that week! As she shared about her first experience in scripture we were reminded that significant moments like this is why we love staff with Cru.

Convo with Muslim

Every Friday we go out on campus and initiate spiritual conversations with random people with the purpose of sharing the Gospel. Vince had the opportunity to share with a guy this past month. He is a Muslim student with family roots from Pakistan, and he is involved with a Muslim organization on campus. Throughout a 2 hour conversation Vince was able to share with the guy about who Jesus is, and why He is the only way to a relationship with God. This was clearly the first time Jason has heard about the concept of God’s grace. He couldn’t understand why God would love us so much that He would die for us. It was a great opportunity to agree and to show him that this was how much God loved him. He did not place his faith in Christ but we pray that he pursue the Truth.

Large Group

Our Bible studies this year are called Large groups. They are co-ed Bible studies where college students can come and learn about who Jesus is, and how they can know Him more and more. The first half of Large Group we spend time studying scripture, and what it is teaching. Then we split up the guys and girls to have a time focused on how we can live our lives differently in light of the Bible study. Our first Large Group saw 28 students show up! It has settled now with a few less than that, but we are so excited about this group. As we’ve had the opportunity to sit down one on one with each of these students, we’ve discovered that they are anywhere from Christian walking with God, Christians struggling in their walk with God, and quite a few of them are just checking things out and are unsure about what they believe. We are so excited for this group, and look forward to seeing what the Lord will do in their lives this semester.

TKE's and Greeks

The population at SFA is largely people who don’t know Christ, but have some experience with Church. The toughest by far of that population to reach are the students in the Greek system. The Greek system at SFA is your stereotypical frat life that is portrayed in movies; lots of partying, sex, and full of people who are searching for meaning and acceptance in all the wrong places. In most cases it takes multiple years to build up enough trust for a fraternity or sorority to let us in, and for us to have an impact. We’ve seen in the past couple years a good relationship forming with one fraternity on campus, the Theta Chi’s, and now we have had another door open up for the TKE’s.

Our relationship with the TKE’s began a couple years ago after we had the opportunity to console a couple of fraternity brothers after the death of one of their members. We had been playing football with them for weeks, and they seemed to like us enough to share that with us. From there we slowly earned their trust, until this semester when we were able to grab lunch with their president. What we ask the fraternities to do is to let us have 10 minutes at their chapter meeting to do a short talk on the life of a man in college. We wrap it up by offering ourselves as spiritual resources for them, and offer to meet with each guy one on one. A week after pitching this idea to the TKE president, I was standing in front of 30 TKE’s in their meeting having a great conversation with them that would turn into an opportunity to follow up with, at this point, 10 of them.

At the follow up appointments I have had the chance to get to know them, field some spiritual questions, and share the Gospel. A few of them are believers in Christ, and a few of them are openly searching for the answer to who God is and how He relates to them. All of them have said how hard college is and how their lifestyle is likely displeasing to the Lord. They ask such great questions about the “point of life”, “why life is so hard”, and “why they do the things they do”.  I love having this opportunity to share with them about the love of God who seeks to forgive them, and who desires to know them personally through a relationship with Jesus. I pray that the Lord would continue to allow me to invest in their lives, and that Jesus would make an impact in the TKE house at SFA.

This past month we had Fall Retreat! We love Fall Retreat for two reasons. For one, it’s where we met each other for the first time 7 years ago, and for two, it’s always cool to see what the Lord does in the lives of students when they take just a few days to invest in Him. Our students learned a lot about how great Jesus is, and were challenged to what a life looks like that is dependent on the leading of the Holy Spirit. One girl who came who isn’t a Christian said at the end, “For the first time ever I am interested in opening a Bible and seeing what it has to say.” So we gave her, her first Bible.

Thanks for enabling us to be a part of what God is doing at SFA!