On Wisconsin

Please let me introduce you to my beautiful friend, Brooke. We met at the first Campus Crusade for Christ meeting this year. She is also from Wisconsin and transfered to Point Park University after completing a year at Madison. I think we both teared up a bit when we exchanged phone numbers and had the same area code. Being far from home has never been something that bothered me too much but having someone who also says "bubbler" for water fountain, correctly pronounces words like bag and tag, knows and like cheese curds, and also LOVES the Packers brings a little bit of comfort.

As much as I love the Wisconsin pride that Brooke and I can bond over, it's her heart constantly seeking to bring glory to God that really makes me cherish our relationship. For the past year, I've been able to meet with her and hear how she is learning more about God and being challenged to live her life for Him. She has such an intense curiosity to understand the gospel's depth and constantly challenges me with her questions and hunger for more. I'm in awe of how she understands Jesus' command in Matthew 22:37-40 that says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself." Despite being new to our CRU movement this year, Brooke jumped right in and reached out to everyone around her, friend or stranger, and loved them equally. She has an authentic love for people that I think reflects Jesus to every person she encounters.

Part of the journey I was blessed to walk out with Brooke this past year, was making a decision to attend a summer project with CRU. There were lots of ups and downs-- uncertainty about where to go, if she should go, and how it would all come together. I saw her question the world telling her getting money was the most important goal of a summer and then confidently decide that growing in her faith and serving God was going to be her goal. She took a step of faith and yesterday, I got to hear an incredible story of how God has been faithful to encourage and provide for her! I am so confident that she will grow to be a unstoppable leader this summer and return to be an encouragement to students on her campus so they too can place their trust in Jesus. And I am excited to be blessed enough to continue to work with her and see how God uses her! You can keep her in your prayers this summer and follow her blog here too.

A New Adventure.

When I came to college I thought the most significant growth I would experience would be intellectual knowledge. I started at Pitt with the intention of earning a degree in Rehabilitation Sciences and continuing on to graduate school for physical therapy. I had heard people give different statistics about how frequently students change their degree but I thought I was an exception having my life figured out. Well, God came, rocked my life, and turned it all around. I’m learning that’s a typical thing for His character. So instead of more book knowledge, it has been a journey in my faith that defined the past four years.

Freshman year I began getting involved with Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) and my faith began to grow slowly. I read my bible for the first time, got involved in a bible study, and began to experience Jesus in a personal way in my life. The stories I heard growing up were no longer about a man in the past but my Savior, comforter, encourager, leader, and best friend today—Jesus. This journey of faith then led me to taking a semester off of school and going to South Africa and Uganda for a five month Discipleship Training School where I experienced God’s faithfulness to His children in a whole new way. (That trip is how this blog originally began and what most of the previous entries are from). I heard stories of His provision for families caring for orphans in Uganda and the strength He gave a woman to share His love with prostitutes. I learned about God’s unchanging character and His ultimate goal to have a daily relationship with us.

When I returned from South Africa, my confidence in what I wanted to do with my life was changed. I knew I would be able to succeed in school and go on to be a physical therapist but it was no longer fulfilling. I experienced so much more of life from seeing God work in miraculous ways during my time in South Africa and Uganda that I was stirred to seek more. As I contemplated what scholarly path I should pursue, I became more involved with Cru too. The more involved I became, the more I began to see how God is working just as much on campus as I had seen in Africa. The more I leaned in to being part of what God was doing here, the more I realized where God was taking me next on my journey.

As graduation approached, I had to make the decision of what to do next year. After many different ideas, I had decided to return home and pursue a second degree in secondary math education. The more I thought and prayed about it though, I knew it was not using the gifts and passion God had given me fully. I become so excited about women’s ministry and can see how God is working through Pittsburgh Metro Cru. Movements are growing on campuses, more students are getting involved in discipleship and bible studies and spending their time serving God in unique ways. I knew the passion in serving was the calm and quiet leading of the Lord calling me to serve Him in full-time ministry.

So I have decided to spend the next year as an intern for Pittsburgh Metro Campus Crusade for Christ. I am excited to be right in the middle of God working by coaching student leaders, meeting one on one to mentor students in their faith, helping launch CRU movements on campuses, and helping plan retreats and other training sessions.

Before I start, I face the challenge of raising my financial support. Like many other mission organizations, Campus Crusade for Christ workers must raise all their salary and ministry expenses. My goal is to have all of my support by August 1st. I will be spending my summer building a team of people who desire to invest financially and through prayers to what God will be doing in Pittsburgh and around the world. My hope is that my ministry team would know the blessing of giving back to God what He has given us in order to expand His kingdom.