It's visionary for me to plan and prepare for our Cru Winter Conference / Minneapolis (formerly "TCX") when I place the event in relation to other conferences that have occurred throughout history. A recent perusal of the book Fireseeds of Spiritual Awakening, which I first read in college, has reminded me of this history and fuels my passion. In 1886, the first-ever Christian conference for college students was held at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts. Participants at the conference experienced a deeper connection with God and a deeper connection with one another. On the last day, 250 students were given a challenge Robert Wilder, a senior at Princeton. Wilder's challenge was for students to consider taking the gospel to the world. One by one, students came forward to accept the challenge to go to the world as foreign missionaries– as many as 100 students from school such as Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Cornell. God was at work. After that, Wilder spend a year traveling to 150 campuses, giving the same challenge. Through this avenue he saw 2,000 more students say yes to taking the gospel to the world. This was just the beginning. For more than 50 years, college seniors would head to the far corners of the world as part of the Student Volunteer Movement. In 50 years, a total of 20,500 missionaries were sent: the largest single missionary endeavor in the history of the church. The group joined up with a newly formed college ministry and begin holding annual mission conferences in Urbana, Illinois (the group is now known as Intervarsity!) Soon after, Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) and other campus ministries joined them in their vision to see a movement of missionaries being unearthed from the campus and reaching the world. God has used college students in incredible ways to change and influence the world for centuries. From John and Charles Wesley, in the early 1730s at Oxford University, to John Mott and the Student Volunteer Movement, to college students today -- God continues to move on campuses around the world. Though the University comprises only 1% of the world’s population, it represents the most influential part of the population. Cru's mission is to turn lost students and faculty into life-long, Christ-centered laborers. John Mott, leader of the Student Volunteer Movement once said: “If I had my life to live over, I would give much more emphasis to student conferences and events because the benefits are far out of proportion to the investment of time and money.” Just like that first Christian conference back in 1866, we desire to see our Winter Conference be a launching point for students. Over the years, followers of Jesus have traced major life decisions they have made to having been influenced by something they heard or experienced at Winter Conference. Cru Winter Conference Minneapolis is not an isolated event. It is part of a movement, as students in 9 cities across the US will come together to worship God, grow their hearts for him and for others, and gain a vision for how God can use them to advance his kingdom. What happens at Winter Conference has a ripple effect that goes out to people and places outside of Cru, and lasts for years. "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
0 Comments
|
Amy WellnerEncouraging others to intentionally live out their God-given identity. Archives
September 2022
Categories
All
|