Graduated, but not from living for God

I am proud to announce that one of my disciples, Tanairí, just graduated last month from UASD! She was one of the first Vida Students to do so and finished with honors. She worked hard, developed her skills as a Publicity major, loved her peers, and was a strong leader in our ministry.

With her graduating and leaving UASD, it is easy to feel a little sad at the loss of a great contributor to our ministry. However, I am thrilled that I still personally get to see her often and that she is continuing to be a messenger of God’s love to the people around her.

So how does she make sharing her faith with others a normal part of her life?  Here’s some observations I’ve made about Tanairí that I think we can all learn from:

1. She loves the Lord and makes spending time with Him a daily priority.
2. She loves others by taking time to get to know them, develop relationships with them, participates in activities that will allow her to connect with them.
3. She is not ashamed to share Bible verses and what the Lord is teaching her with non-believers.
4. She does not isolate herself from non-Christians, but pursues meaningful relationships with them while remaining committed to living a Godly lifestyle.
5. She prays to be used by the Lord to bring others closer to him and for the people in her life often.

The point I’ve shared in bold above is something I recently witnessed as I went on a weekend trip with her and seven of her friends from her graduating class. I was deeply encouraged as I watched her model Christ to her friends, none of whom are followers of God. It was evident that in the four years of developing a relationship with these friends, she was not only respected for her beliefs, but adored for her passionate and genuine walk with the Lord.

Perhaps the biggest thing that stuck out to me about her behavior that weekend that I believe all of us desiring to lead others to Christ can learn from was her refusal to hide who she is. Since she normally spends time praying and reading Scripture in the mornings, she continued to do that while on the trip, even inviting our roommate to participate with her. When discussing a song that had some suggestive lyrics, she stated that her reason for choosing to not listen to the song was based on what Paul says in Philippians 4:8, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.” There was a little confusion at first because one of their friends was named Paul and they were a little shocked he would say something so poetic (haha!), but it provided a way for her to share what the Bible says about how to live.

Tanairí recently told some friends of ours that it was because of her time in the university with Vida Estudiantil that prepared her to be an effective witness to others. She learned how to be a student of Jesus, how to love others, and how to share the most important thing with those around her. My prayer is that many more will leave the university prepared to be life-long followers of God, just like her.

Being Less Stingy with Celebrating

Someone asked me what I love most about when the spring break teams come to visit. After two weeks of hearing story after story of how God became real and personal to students at UASD through interactions with the spring breakers, I was hit with the sensational reality of how cool my job is and how quickly I can forget that.

On Stint, we share our faith regularly, sometimes seeing students enter into a relationship with Christ and others not. It can be easy to focus on the overwhelming need for more people to know God or the imperfections of our ministry. However, I was woken up from my slumber when I heard one spring breaker share with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face how precious this week of telling others about Christ has been. She was able to see someone invite the Lord into their life for the first time and recounted the story to us with such wonder—you could tell that it was an experience she will not soon forget. She told us how this trip has opened her eyes to the joy that is to be had when we share the goodness of God with other people.

Claire celebrates what God has done by sharing her experience with us at the weekly meeting

To see this girl celebrating so joyfully just one person coming to know the Lord made me realize that I also need to recognize and celebrate what God is doing at UASD each day and trust Him through the upsets. I celebrate the fact that it’s so easy to have spiritual conversations with students on campus. I celebrate my relationship with my disciples and how God is their Rock. I celebrate it when our Vida students laugh and play together, growing in community. I celebrate the times when students tell me they want a relationship with Christ, but just aren’t ready to take the next step yet because it helps me pray more effectively for them.

Thank you Red River team for spending the week with us and loving Dominican students by telling them the best news ever, and for being a huge encouragement to me! I pray that this trip is just a paragraph in your story of adventures with God!

Spring Break Week #2

It’s been a very busy week! I’ll post more soon, but I wanted to give you all an update on how the second week of our spring break visits—this week from Oklahoma University and RSU—has been!

Above:The team shares observations about student life at UASD and discusses how to effectively minister to a Latin American culture

With forty five spring breakers, we were able to spread wide and tell lots of students at UASD about God’s love for them and how to find authentic community within Vida Estudiantil. Some fast facts:

• Between the spring breakers, our Vida students, and the Stint team, over four hundred UASDianos (students at UASD) were told about Vida Estudiantil and invited to a weekly meeting.
• We received contact information from over two hundred students interested in learning more about how to have a personal relationship with Christ and Vida Estudiantil.
• I don’t have an exact count just yet, but I was personally introduced to two students today who received Christ as a result of meeting with the spring break/Vida students.
• Saw over forty new students come to the Friday weekly meeting!

I can’t wait to share more stories with you about how we saw God answer our prayers to give us opportunities to share his love in powerful ways this week. Thank you for praying for this time and please continue to pray for those who are just beginning their walks with Christ and for those that are new to Vida Estudiantil to find life-giving community here!

A spring breaker jots down some details on the back side of a contact card (one of over 200) so we can follow up with them next week!

Got to worship the Lord in two languages at the weekly meetings!

One week down, one more to go!

The first group of spring breakers completed their final day of work at UASD today. While we will miss their help expanding our reach on campus, we are celebrating all the amazing things the Lord did through them that will last beyond this week.

Praise the Lord for the ways he has blessed the week and answered our prayers!

• Six of the spring breakers shared how one can have a personal relationship with Christ for their first time ever!
• Ten follow-up appointments were made with students the team met at the beginning of the week.
• As a result of being a part of leading a student to Christ and experiencing the “tremendous joy” of witnessing it happen, one spring breaker was inspired to reconsider what is most important in his life.
• After a week of being challenged to share her faith with strangers, one spring breaker is preparing to share about Jesus with her mom as soon as she picks her up from the airport!
• Students shared a message or testimony before a crowd for the first time in their lives!
• God answered our prayers by giving the spring breakers wisdom in knowing who to invest their time in—will keep you posted on how some of those friends they made remain involved in the ministry!

There are dozens of stories I want to share in more detail, but for now I will just say thank you to the PSW spring break team for taking a week to share the most important thing with students in a country that is really important to me!

Lots of new students join the weekly meeting today at the end of the first spring break team’s week in the DR.

Student leader Albelina prays for the PSW spring break team as they prepare to return to the States

Only at UASD…

A respite from my more serious posts…

Only at UASD will you find the bathrooms labeled with permanent marker:

You’d think they could have gone to the effort of drawing stick figures for the non-native speakers!

Raising Up Christ-Centered Leaders

Here in Campus Crusade Dominican Republic, our goal is to not only see people enter into a relationship with the Lord, but also to help them grow into Christ-centered leaders.

For those of you who have been reading my blog and monthly newsletters, you are familiar with Ruth, one of the girls I am discipling (read more about what that means here). Meeting with Ruth and the other girls I disciple has been such an encouraging experience as I see this second part of our mission being fulfilled.

Always participating in our group’s events and willing to offer thoughtful suggestions to improve our reach at UASD, Ruth was recently asked to be a part of the Friday weekly meeting leadership team! This means that in addition to her 20 credit hours and working her part time job, she will also be responsible (along with the others on the team) for the preparation of the Friday weekly meeting: finding a speaker, having a fun community building activity, organizing prayer and worship, and asking students to share their testimonies).

Ruth and I are currently reading Beth Moore’s So Long Insecurity and are working through discipleship material that will prepare her to disciple someone else in the near future! Please pray for this young woman’s growing walk with the Lord, protection from evil, and for improvement in a physical health struggle she has had for a couple of years. Praise God for the ways he is raising up Christ-centered leaders at UASD!Ruth giving the message to students at our weekly meeting with Maira translating

Spring Break Day #2

“I’m getting a deeper understanding of the culture,” said Star, one spring breaker who is here for her second weeklong trip with Cru. I remember Star from when she was here last year and how well she connected with the Dominican students, asking pertinent questions about their lives, learning some Spanish from them, and enjoying their company.

Before I tell you more about Star, I want to first say that I am a huge fan of mission trips, no matter the length. I am especially a fan of the weeklong spring break trips such as these for two reasons:

1. For their dedication to spend as much time as they can telling others how they can have a personal relationship with Christ and experience God’s love—in fact many have already come to know the Lord!
2. And for what God does in their own hearts as they discover the joy that comes with their role as Christ’s ambassadors. After participating in these short term missions, many decide to make spreading the Word of God a normal part of their lives.

It’s been exciting to see Star’s story unfold when it comes to how that first spring break trip impacted her life. Since then, she began taking Spanish Immersion classes (six hours a day, four days a week!) so that she can be prepared to serve others wherever the Lord takes her. She surprised me this year when I heard her speaking with complete fluency!      At right: Star with Obed, a Vida student 

God does amazing things through missions. To those of you who financially support myself and others so that we can bring the Gospel to other parts of the world, thank you. I pray that if any of you reading have the opportunity to go on a mission, for any length of time, or the opportunity to give to someone going on a mission to do so. It’s a joyful experience to be a part of bringing others to know the Lord!

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”         Romans 10:13-15

Spring Break Week #1

Finally! Another blog post! I have recently felt convicted of not communicating very frequently through my blog, especially since it is one of the best ways that I can share with you what God is doing in students’ lives here in the Dominican Republic. I apologize and hope to pick up the habit of updating more frequently!

I will kick off my re-blogging by telling you about how God is using Cru college students  from the States during their spring break. We have two teams visiting over two weeks. This first week we have with us students from NAU and UofA, two of which are returners from last years’ spring break trip that I remember interacting with.

While it may seem trivial to only have a week to spend doing missions, their role is actually very important. They will be going to campus for six hours a day meeting students, sharing the Gospel with them, and—the key part—asking God to lead them to specific UASD students who will remain in the ministry long term.

Why is this so critical? We have unfortunately seen a pattern of Dominican students being initially excited to make friends with Americans and while many of them truly do experience God through their friendships, the majority don’t get involved in our ministry. While we celebrate the ways God can use foreigners to lead people to Christ, we also know that it is equally as important that some of them join us in our cause: that every student at UASD knows someone who truly follows the Lord. 

Here are some ways that you can pray for this week’s spring break team and Vida Estudiantil:

1. For energy to withstand humidity and cultural stress they are not accustomed to
2. For the Lord to show them who to invest their time in
3. For the spring breakers and Vida Estudiantil members at UASD to work well together to reach students on the campus
4. For our Stint team and national staff to guide everyone with wisdom
5. For God to reveal to the spring breakers more about his compassionate heart for people while they are serving here

Thanks for praying for us this week!          Stinters getting to know the Spring Breakers

Why Wednesday is My Favorite Day

Each Wednesday at 1pm, the Stint team and students from Vida Estudiantil meet up outside the library to share our faith. The first thirty minutes are spent reading a passage from the Bible that helps us understand more about why we share our faith and discuss what we can learn from the example Jesus set for us. We also do some sort of training—how to prepare and share your testimony, using illustrations to communicate the Gospel, becoming familiar with booklets and other materials to share with people—before splitting up in pairs to tell UASD students about knowing God.  

This past Wednesday, I got partnered up with José*, a pre-Med student who has been part of our movement since the spring break teams came last March. This student was led to know Christ through their visit, another reminder of how important even short team missions are!

We forgot to bring the Four Spiritual Laws with us, a booklet that illustrates clearly and briefly the main points of the Gospel, but went out anyway trusting that God would help us communicate clearly how much he loves us and how in need we are of Jesus.

I was astounded when during our conversation, José* shared with the girl we were speaking to all of the main points and key scriptures from the Four Spiritual Laws from memory; he even recalled the illustrations and drew them himself on a scratch piece of paper. He also used his own illustration about how receiving Christ’s gift of salvation is like a sick person taking the prescribed medication that will make them well again. To not take the medicine is to deny the very aid you need. What I thought was cool about his example was the way he used his interest in medicine to clarify a spiritual truth.

It was encouraging to see how over the last eight months, José* has grown in his personal walk with the Lord and understands his role as Christ’s ambassador. His dedication to memorizing the truths that could speak most clearly to lost people challenged me to be more prepared to give an answer to anticipated questions about God.

I share this story with you for two reasons. One, because I want you all to be informed about what God is doing through the ministry he has sent me to serve and how you can be praying for us. Second, I hope that hearing stories about how young adults—even those with little time walking with the Lord—are living missionally will encourage other Christ-followers to be more bold about sharing their faith. 

If you’re interested in getting your hands on the Four Spiritual Laws and other tools to help you communicate the Gospel with others, download this great iPhone app or visit this link.

Josh with some students during evangelism time

Investing Your Life in Others

I want to share with you a major part of what you might technically call my “job” as a missionary, but really is so much more than that to me.

As a team, the six of us are here to support the current group of students and staff that make up Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade for Christ or Cru). Simply put, our presence here allows us to be committed to reaching more students at UASD for Christ, equipping students to do the same, and proving resources and an environment where they can grow in their faith.

Something that I have found particularly rewarding is my time with my disciples, three girls that I meet with weekly that are seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord and how to follow him. Together, we are all learning practical ways that we can understand God’s will for our lives through various materials.

With two of the girls, we are studying apologetics (rational basis for the Christian faith, click link to find articles on this topic) which is helping us realize the importance of understanding what we believe and how to communicate that clearly to others. One of them is also reading Beth Moore’s So Long Insecurity after I read it as recommended by one of my supporters back home. We are hoping to get a hold of a Spanish copy so the other can read it too!

 

With the third girl, we are reading a book called Taking Every Thought Captive by Jerusha Clark. As we read, she and I have been made aware of the lies that we have been deceived by about our worth, relationships with others, and our God. It’s been exciting that as I share what I am learning, she is vulnerable with me and is allowing the Lord to help her have a healthier thought life.

God has been teaching me what it means to really invest in these girls’ lives. I want each of them them, as well as any student in our ministry, to know God deeply and be equipped to bring others into a meaningful relationship with Him too. A verse that helped me understand how to do that better is 1 Thessalonians 2:8:

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

Just as Jesus demonstrated the significance of “doing life” with his twelve disciples, Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians tells us that sharing every day life moments with them was a crucial (and enjoyable!) part of his ministry.

It has been such a cool thing to see how the girls God has given me to care for are opening up more and more as we share normal experiences like going grocery shopping, eating lunch together, visiting each others’ homes, discussing our family trees, even cleaning together! Every meeting with them doesn’t have to consist of a huge spiritual revelation. I will never be able to love them fully if all I am seeking is to force spiritual growth on them. But building friendships filled with fun, silliness, sharing of burdens, intentional conversations, and prayer will help me better understand how to serve them and draw them nearer to God.

You don’t have to be a missionary to invest in other people’s lives. God has given each of you people in your sphere of influence with whom you can reveal his love by simply sharing life with them. My prayer is that all of us would be able to love these people genuinely, not seeing them as some sort of project that could benefit from our time and expertise, but waiting on the Lord to show us how to point them to Him as we place ourselves in their lives.