In my last post, I mentioned that we were stepping out in faith and trying to launch at Stoney Brook University. Our team traveled there this past Sunday evening, spent all day Monday and Tuesday on campus, led an informational meeting Tuesday evening, and then returned home.

So what happened?

After meeting students, having 400 surveys filled out and sorting through the responses, we had 114 students interested in being involved with Cru and 45 were interested in helping to lead the ministry. They had the chance to meet up with quite a few of the students to share the Gospel and one girl named Tiya even prayed to receive Christ!!

However, at the informational meeting, only 4 students showed up – one is a guy who is for sure going to be leading the Bible study we are launching and the other 3 were girls who were not believers. One of those girls is a Mormon and insisted that we believe the same thing as her, which we confidently know is not true. What happened to the other 110 students and why didn’t they come? Who knows – classes, friends, studying, something more fun for them to do. But we are excited about the one guy who is going to lead the study and we are excited to see if more leaders surface, more students get involved, and where the Lord takes things.

The other really exciting thing that happened was that we found a group of student athletes who are already meeting as a group and have a desire to reach other athletes on their campus with the message of Jesus. The two leaders are a girl from the lacrosse team and a guy from the football team. They don’t have anyone coaching, resourcing, or providing leadership and they seem really excited to get resources and training to help them reach other athletes. So, our opening at Stoney Brook and where the Lord wants us to concentrate may end up being with athletes!

Would you pray that the Lord would continue to lead us at Stoney Brook and help us figure out where he wants us to invest and which students to invest with? A few members of our team are traveling back next Tuesday to meet with our guy students leader, help lead the Bible study, connect with the athletes, and connect with some more students.

Also, would you pray that our family can stay well over the next few month? Winter here is brutal with illnesses and viruses and while we have managed to stay relatively healthy, all that changed last week when Brynn was diagnosed with the flu and an ear infection and Blake started having breathing issues while dealing with a cold. Thankfully, she is recovering really well and everyone else has managed to stay healthy.

Thanks for your prayers – we couldn’t do this without you!