Category: Mission (Page 24 of 26)

The heinous attacks last week at Garissa University College in Kenya that left 142 students dead hit close to home. I work with many Cru staff and students in this part of the world (the picture above is from a campus visit in Ivory Coast). I’ve been in Africa numerous times. Students I’ve interacted with there are bright, full of life and hopeful, like college students everywhere. They are the pride of their families and most are the first to go to a university. They are the hope of their nation.

Which is why the terrorists struck the university. They killed to make their point, they killed for revenge against the Kenyan government and for shock. They killed in the name of Islam, targeting Christian students and sparing Muslims. These attacks are not new, but are more brazen than before. When will such an attack happen closer to home, like at the University of Colorado?

Please join me in praying for the families of the students slain. Pray for them in their grief and in their hope cut short. I’m reminded of the passage in Ephesians 6 that tells us that we battle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of wickedness. Pray that hearts around the world now enslaved would change, that Muslim peoples would begin to see how easily their religion is hijacked for evil. Pray that they would turn to Jesus as Lord, one whom they now revere only as a prophet, and turn away from the teachings that are so easily twisted. Finally, pray for our Cru staff all across Africa as they step out bravely to minister in a frightening situation.

This tragedy underscores the need for our work on universities around the world, especially in regions where the Muslim and Christian worlds intersect. The Global Missions team of Cru recently set a goal to launch 1,000 new campus ministries worldwide by the year 2020. We currently have a list, still in progress, of over 300 top African universities with no gospel witness. On thing is certain, while this event gives pause and will bring increased precautions, we will go. As these events prove, the world needs the good news of Jesus now more than ever.

You’ve heard by now of the tragic killing of 147 Christian students in Kenya at Garissa University College. Among those murdered for being Christians, or more properly stated, martyred for their Christian faith, were at least two students involved with us. One, named Josephine, was a leader. Her friend and staff member said this about her. “Josephine was not only a dedicated follower of Christ but also a courageous young woman who stood for the cause of Christ to evangelize and disciple the lost within Garissa University.”

As I mourn and pray for these students and their families, I’m reminded that it was on Good Friday that Jesus’ life was brutally taken. Josephine endured the same fate as Jesus. This Friday can only be considered Good because Sunday is coming. There is nothing good about Josephine’s death, another promising young life violently stolen by Islamist extremists. However, there is hope. Jesus was present to embrace Josephine when she left this life to enter a new one, welcoming her home, because he is alive.

Good Friday. Hope. Jesus is risen.

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day, a time of revelry and celebration of all things Irish. But do you know that the namesake of the holiday, Patrick, is one of the greatest missionaries the church has ever seen? And the real reason for this party is that Patrick brought the good news of Jesus to the pagan Irish? As you wear the green keep these thoughts in mind. I’m currently working on a book on missions and here’s a small excerpt about Patrick, which hopefully adds flavor to your celebration:

…about 400 years later, on an island far to the north, Irish raiders kidnapped a young English boy named Patricius and held him as a slave for several years. While he eventually made his escape and returned to England, something started to shift in his heart. The Lord, through visions, began to pull him once again to Ireland, this time to return as a missionary to his former captors. He sailed back to preach the gospel to the pagan Irish and eventually became Saint Patrick of Ireland, the first documented missionary outside the bounds of the Roman Empire. Patrick preached the gospel as far as he could go, “to the point beyond which there is no one,” to the western edge of Ireland. Only the sea remained…

If you’re intrigued, a couple great books on Patrick are How the Irish Saved Civilization (particularly the chapter on Patrick) and The Celtic Way of Evangelism, which focuses on his methodology.