Starting fires in hearts and minds...
My new favorite verse is perfect for celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8:
“The Lord announces the Word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng.” (Psalm 68:11)
Women of God: That’s what you are, what we are—a mighty throng of women proclaiming His Word.Continue Reading
Happy Birthday, Cru!
65 years!
I’ve been a part of this amazing ministry for 52 years! I met Jesus at a Young Life camp in high school. When I arrived at the University of Texas, I looked to connect with people who would help me grow in my relationship with God and learn how to tell others about Jesus.
I received that and more when I met staff and students from Campus Crusade for Christ International—I learned how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit day by day, even moment by moment. Truly life transforming.
I joined full-time staff when I graduated from UT, getting an amazing dream assignment: to write and edit on the campus magazine Collegiate Challenge. An even greater privilege came as I worked closely with Bill Bright for 14 years, helping him write and edit books and ministry materials.
In 1974 I was part of a team that launched the Worldwide Challenge, a magazine telling friends and donors what God was doing through Campus Crusade and encouraging them to ask how God might want to use them. It has continued publishing for 42 years.
Of course, one of my best highlights was marrying Steve Douglass, then vice president for administration, now President of Campus Crusade globally. We seek to lead the ministry together with vision, passion, grace and humility—only by the grace of God.
For years I have sought to encourage, be an advocate for, open doors for the women of our ministry. I am convinced we need their contributions if we are to do what God has called us to do. We took a giant step forward in 2004 with the Global Women’s Leadership Forum. More than 400 women from 95 nations came together for a week: Together we worshiped, studied the Word, learned leadership skills, met in coaching groups, received practical training. They returned to their homes as fireseeds to spread the message and training with the women in their circles!
Now I have the great privilege of traveling the world to encourage our staff women to be who God created them to be and do all that God has prepared for them to do—contributing to our mission with their gifts and commitment.
Those are some of my highlights. Another of my privileges has been to help tell the story of this ministry, though Worldwide Challenge and by editing our 50th anniversary book, Until Everyone Has Hear. Here are a few highlights from 65 years:
1951—While studying for a seminary exam, Bill Bright, a young and passionate believer, received a unique impression from God to invest his life in helping to reach the entire world for Christ, beginning with college students. He and his wife, Vonette, began to pursue that vision at the UCLA campus. The ministry slogan was “Win the campus for Christ today. Win the world for Christ tomorrow.”
1958—Dr. Bright challenged Korean Joon Gon Kim to launch the ministry in his country. Expansion continued quickly to Pakistan, Mexico and Japan.
1961—Campus Crusade moved to Arrowhead Springs, which became the headquarters and a training center that increased growth greatly.
1965—The Four Spiritual Laws booklet was printed, giving anyone who wanted to tell others about Jesus a simple, clear explanation of the gospel. It is likely the most widely distributed religious booklet in history, with more than 2.5 billion printed to date.
1972—EXPLO 72 brought 85,000 students and adults together at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for a week of training in evangelism and discipleship. I still hear stories from people whose lives were changed that week.
1974—More than 300,000 delegates participated in EXPLO 74, a training conference in Seoul, Korea. This gathering helped to accelerate the growth of the church in Korea and other parts of Asia.
1979—Jesus, a film account of the life of Christ, premiered in 250 theaters. Now translated into more than 1400 languages, the Jesus Film Project carries more than than 30 short and feature length films and has partnered with more than 1,500 ministries.
1985—EXPLO 85 linked an estimated 300,000 delegates at 98 conference sites on five continents, with the help of 18 satellites.
1991—Campus Crusade moved its headquarters from Southern California to Orlando, FL.
2001– Bill Bright passed the leadership torch to new president Steve Douglass in front of an audience of 8,000 at Campus Crusade’s bi-annual staff conference, at Colorado State University.
2003–Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International, died from complications due to pulmonary fibrosis. We honored his “life lived well” with a great celebration.
2007–More than 15,000 students representing 121 countries gathered in South Korea for CM 2007, one of the largest global student missions events in history.
2012– Campus Crusade for Christ in the U.S. changed its name to Cru. Steve Sellers continues to lead Cru.
2015– Vonette Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International, died due to complications from acute leukemia.
These highlights just skim the top of all God has done in and through this mission. I am so blessed to have been a part of it for so long.
Thank you for celebrating God’s goodness and faithfulness with us. Please pray as we continue to work with others toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.
I first met Natasha Robinson at a Synergy Women’s Network conference. We have connected through Redbud Writer’s Guild and MissioAlliance. And a few times in between. As long as I don’t think about her years as a Marine Corps officer, I don’t get intimidated by all the gifts God has given her. I’m so pleased to introduce you to her just released book, Mentor for Life: Finding Purpose through Intentional Discipleship. She took some time to answer a few questions that will whet your appetite for this inspiring and practical book.
Natasha: The process for Mentor for Life came about quite organically. I was leading a mentoring ministry in my local congregation, and it was the type of ministry I wanted to be a part of my whole adult life. I was growing in my faith, meeting new people, having interesting conversations and reading thoughtful, kingdom-focused books.
The ministry was important to me so I would frequently talk about it, and I wrote about it on my blog and in some leadership articles for Christianity Today. When I shared what our group was doing and how I was watching God change people’s lives through mentoring as intentional discipleship, I started hearing people say, “I want to be a part of something like that” or “I wish there was a ministry like that are my church.”
I was often asked for a resource or my curriculum. I realized this was a need in the church and people were sincerely asking for help, so I sat down to write this book. Continue Reading
I am grateful to have Margaret Chan on Kindling today. She leads a program for some women in Asia to equip them to be partners with their husbands, who are attending East Asia School of Theology in Singapore. I love her commitment to the gospel, to equipping women, and to using the good mind and creativity God has given her. This post flows out of her teaching on a holistic view of the Great Commission, of being a true follower of Jesus.
My understanding of ministry—of what it means to be a true follower of Jesus–flows out of the Great Commission passage in Matthew 28:18-20:
“All authority …has been given to me. Therefore go…”
Our ministry is based on the authority of Jesus. The reason we do ministry needs to be in response to Jesus’ authority in our lives, not in response to outside pressure or to fill our need for significance.
Jesus’ authority also backs up our ministry when we do it in response to His authority. We therefore do not need to fear opposition or a lack of resources.
“Go & make disciples…”
Ministry requires us to make the effort to move from status quo and to go where we find people wanting to learn to be like Jesus.
By “baptizing…& teaching….”
The word “baptize” in Greek has the meaning of being immersed into the thing it’s being baptized into. It’s not strictly a spiritual word.
Cucumbers are baptized into the pickle solution to make them into pickled cucumbers.
In the OT, the Israelites were baptized into Moses in the cloud & the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1, 2). In other words, the Israelites were immersed into the same experience as Moses.Continue Reading
“In my country wives are expected to be quiet. The Significant Woman enabled me to step out from the shadow of my husband and discover how God would use me.” (Asia)
“God inspired me to intentionally build into women leaders in spite of my busy schedule. To make room for it is a priority, and the Lord will raise up women to come alongside.” (Africa)
Ninety-eight women from 34 nations gathered in Orlando for The Significant Woman’s Champions Summit. The purpose was to inspire, encourage, update, cast vision, equip, connect—and to unveil what is perhaps the “best-kept secret” in Cru/Campus Crusade for Christ around the world.
The women who attended have all been using two amazing discipleship/coaching resources—The Significant Woman and SOARING–for their own personal development and with other women in their communities.
Morning devotions on walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, following the Good Shepherd and stepping out to do what He says guided women spiritually and motivated them to let Jesus live and love through them.
“I am reminded to be filled, immersed and be empowered by the Holy Spirit, that I have the power of the Holy Spirit to start a fire in the lives of others for transformation….” (North Africa)
Encouragement As women shared with the whole group, or around tables or over meals, telling stories of how God had changed lives through both The Significant Woman and the new SOARING courses, others were encouraged to step out in faith that God would use them as well.
“…Significant Woman and SOARING will be good tools to reach our students for Christ and increase their faith.” (Central Asia)
All the conferees were thrilled at the introduction of the new SOARING resource, a beautiful new book with the same content on significance presented for those who might not yet know Christ.
The continuing proliferation of new translations greatly expands the lives that will be touched through these courses. The original course is in 10 languages, with eight more in process.
“The session on the evangelistic resource SOARING helped me to learn how I can reach non-Christians through using this material.” (Asia)
Panels and stories and examples demonstrated how these tools could enable women in every season of life to discover who they are, what their gifts and strengths are, and what their God-given mission might be. Women as leaders, in the marketplace, in churches, at home, in colleges and high schools and even on the internet can all benefit from these practical coaching courses.
“All the sessions were valuable to me , especially the sessions on using Signifiant Woman and SOARING with leaders, churches and students.” (Africa)
Our ministry objectives include equipping believers to become “multiplying disciples”—followers of Jesus who seek to win others to Christ and help them grow into disciples who will also win, build and send in the power of the Holy Spirit.
“All the sessions were valuable to me, especially the sessions on using Significant Woman and SOARING with leaders, churches and students.” (Africa)
One of the best parts of the gathering was the opportunity to meet, connect with and learn from their sisters from around the world. Even with language barriers—the sessions were translated into Spanish, French, Indonesian, Korean and Arabic—these women were always chatting at breaks and meals, while out shopping, even during sessions.
‘The Lord strengthened me and renewed my vision through the stories I heard from my sisters from all over the world.” (Europe)
A group from Miami plans to use these resources to share the gospel and build multiplying disciples among all the 20 million Hispanic women in the U.S., starting with a conference for 2000 women next year.
Another group, from a very different part of the world, has plans to creatively equip women across their region to take the message of Christ and disciple building to majority religion women and others in all arenas: leaders, students, churches and digital space.
Others are planning to introduce this to military Christian leaders and spouses, the spouses of the elders at church and to have high school after school Christian Clubs.”
The best-kept secret? Perhaps. God is using this beautiful coaching/discipleship course to changes the lives of thousands of women all over the globe. We are hoping it is no longer a secret!
What about you? Have you discovered your personal mission?
You can learn more at http://thesignificantwoman.com/
If you haven’t had a chance to do this life-changing discipleship course or facilitate your own discipleship group using Significant Woman or evangelistic group using the life-coaching evangelistic course SOARING, I would encourage you to do that (these resources are available at (crustore.org) (or if you are outside the US contact Gail Porter (gail.porter @ ccci.org).
If you have questions about the resources or would like coaching as you facilitate, contact Renee Keller (renee.keller @ ccci.org). (Remove spaces in email)
Photos by Mike Ziadie.