Last Ignite

we held our last Cru Ignite meeting on May 2nd. we honestly had no idea who would come or what would happen.

we did "cardboard testimonies" where on one side we wrote a phrase describing what we were like before God changed our lives, and on the other side we wrote a phrase describing how God changed our lives. all the STINTers plus 3 of our students one by one walked up to the front of the room with our cardboard with Page CXVI's "In Christ Alone" playing in the background. it was pretty powerful.

after that, Kent gave one last short message about the redeeming power of Christ and challenged students to think about how they wanted to be changed over the summer.

then we held an open mic time for anyone to come down and share how they've seen God work over the past year. at first we were worried no one would come down, but two students literally ran down to the front (for one student, it was his first time at Cru!) and after that, student after student steadily came to the front and shared their lives. it was so cool to see! i also got up and shared how when i was first told i had to go to Hawaii, i did not want to go at all. but after being there 4 months, God showed me how amazing Hawaii is and how much of a blessing it was to be there. i even said that i had applied to join Cru staff and was now considering joining staff in Hawaii! definitely didn't expect to say that...

the highlight of the night though was Jeremy's song. Jeremy came down to the front, took the mic, and shared about how he met us: "i met albert and christine, and one thing led to another and i came to my first Cru meeting. i had no idea that it would change my life. i was at a point where i was thinking of dropping out of school. when you get to college, you get to a point where you think 'what am i doing with my life?' i didn't know...there was a hole there...but God filled it. i wrote a song and dedicated it to Cru, because Cru changed my life."

i couldn't upload the video, but the first lyrics were:
"i was blinded by oppression/ had no direction
just a lonely soul wandering through the dark..."

skip to chorus:

"Jesus you never left me, Jesus you will protect me, Jesus you never let me down

Jesus, He is my Savior, Jesus my friend and neighbor, He’s always there when I’m sad

Jesus you are the best friend I ever had..."

there were several verses; i hope i can upload the video at some point soon.

but that's the story of the Gospel right there- we were all like that, lost and alone, and Jesus saved us. and it was the most indescribable feeling, hearing one of our students sing of his real life transformation.  that's why we do what we do. that's what makes it all worth it.

at the end of the meeting, we were presented with Hawaiian leis, and student after student stood up and shared how we had influenced their lives...it was a moment i will never forget.

Jeremy singing

instagram by Nikki of our last Cru Ignite meeting

some of the cardboard testimonies

Gene (left) is moving to Thailand for his doctorate; Colton (right) is transferring to UH Manoa