Back to School means Back to Prayers

When I see back to school promotions on radio, tv, or internet, I now consider those returning to school to be a witness--to make more and better disciples on campus. We partner with four campus ministries to share the Gospel in elementary schools, in middle & high school, and in secondary campuses.

Ms Linda Kline

Release Time Religious Education is the heart of Linda Kline. She faithfully prepares each year to share God's Word with students in Northwestern & NorWayne School districts.  Please ask God to provide chaperones to walk children from the schools to the off-campus Religious Ed buildings. If you live in either school district, then please consider being a "walker" for your school. Call Linda at (330) 262-6787 to volunteer.

Ms Mary

Mary Swartzentruber helps with Breakaway where students in fifth through twelfth grade get an opportunity to take as an elective a Bible Class.  Green Local Schools abides by the ruling that schools may release students for a time of religious training off-campus.  Parents give permission for their student(s) to be excused from study hall to attend. Breakaway's mission is to offer Christian, spiritual and moral training to young people. If you are in or near Green Local School District please consider volunteering. Please contact Breakaway at (330) 669-2056.

Ben & Sandie Dyke

Two missionary partner families serve with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). Ben & Sandie Dyke live in Indianapolis, IN where they help facilitate the ministries in the Great Lakes Region for Cru. Many campus ministry teams receive training and equipping to share Christ, to start bible studies, and to disciple new believers in Christ, as well as establish growing believers in their faith.  Please share your prayer for the Dyke's on the Indycc facebook page. "Like," then post a prayer for the team.

Mark & Roxanne Johnson

Mark & Roxanne Johnson serve with Cru at Indiana University-Bloomington. Mark & Rox minister on campus with many students. They help with outreach, bible studies, contacting students, facilitating new student connections with Cru, as well as lead the leaders on campus. Please ask Mark & Roxanne Johnson to add you to their friends and post a word of encouragement.

The College of Wooster has the Wooster Christian Fellowship on campus. Julie Longacre coordinates the Fellowship. You can read about her prayer request from an earlier blog post.

Please pray for these servants of the Lord who prepare to go back to school.  Then offer to help or send a word of encouragement today. 

Campus Crusdae for Christ changes name to 'Cru' [guest post]

New logo

Mark & Roxanne serve on staff with Cru.  Wooster Grace partners with them as they seek to share Christ with university students at Indiana University--Bloomington.  I asked Mark to share about the recent name change from Campus Crusade for Christ to Cru on this blog.

Over the past weeks there have been stories posted by Glenn Beck and FoxNews (and other secular and religious media outlets) criticizing the name change.  Some of the stories posted in major media outlets have been less than accurate.  There has been growing concern in both traditional and social media that we have lost our way and are seeking to make a politically correct name change.  These concerns stem mainly from the fact that "Christ" is no longer in our name.

If you would like to hear from our organization itself, our vice president, Steve Sellers, explained the name change on Fox and Friends Saturday morning, August 27.

Rox and I want you to know from the bottom of our hearts that the name change is not the result of a shift in our mission to fulfill the Great Commission.  On the contrary, we made the name change because we want to be more effective in bringing the gospel of Christ to the lost and broken of this world.  Research showed that 20% of nonbelievers who were interested in hearing more about Jesus would not want to talk with someone from Campus Crusade for Christ.  Another interesting find from the same study was that 9% of believers would not want to be a part of our ministry because of our name.  For clarity's sake, the off-putting part of our name was "Crusade", not Christ.  Through a process of diligent prayer and fasting over the last two years, the leaders of our ministry decided to take a risk instead of allowing 1 in 5 people to miss an opportunity to talk about Christ.

Here is also a great blog post that links to many different articles and blogs about the name change.