Last month I had the chance to spend a few days in Denver at a training for Summer Mission team leaders. Five other Cru staff and I will be co-leading a summer mission team to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! The training was incredibly helpful as we prepare for 80 students and 20-30 Cru staff to join us. Day one of the training was for team leaders who will handle budgets and operational details for their teams. The rest of the conference was spent learning about different aspects of summer missions and planning with our teams. My favorite part of the planning meetings was when Swede Anderson happened to walk in the room. Swede (pictured right) led the first ever summer mission with Cru back in 1967. When asked how it came to be that Bill Bright asked him to lead the project, Swede answered "I was on staff and I was in the room." Swede has been serving with Cru more than 50 years and has had a variety of roles in ministry. Now in his seventies, he is headed back to campus to be field staff in Colorado. It was incredible to hear from him some of the history of Cru summer mission projects, as well as how the Lord worked in his life to lead him to join staff. We often say in Cru that the first 6 weeks of a school year are the most strategic in terms of reaching students. But the next most strategic time of the year is often during the summer. More growth can happen in a student's life in 6-10 weeks on a summer mission than during the entire school year. Students come home from a summer mission having grown in key foundational areas, especially in the area of Lordship; commitment to Christ to obey him no matter what: to go where he wants us to go, do what he wants us to do, say what he wants us to say, give what he wants us to give. Last summer, across the nation...
There are tangible results from students living out their faith on a summer mission- life change in students' lives, and new believers in Christ. But there is more fruit yet to come as we see students head back to campus and continue to live their lives surrendered to the Lord, both now and hopefully in the future. I can't wait to see how God uses 2016 summer missions to further his kingdom.
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Amy WellnerEncouraging others to intentionally live out their God-given identity. Archives
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