The insistent ringing of the phone interrupted our family dinner conversation. Nate looked at the caller ID and promptly left the table. The coordinator for a Cru summer mission trip was calling.

The first week of every Cru international summer mission trip is a time of transition—to a new culture, a new place, a new language.

But the team from the Northeast found they also had to adjust to civil unrest. The coordinator was calling because rioting had broken out close to the place where the team was living.

But God took what looked like a bad situation and made something good out of it. He used an emergency fund Nate created a few years ago to allow the team to move to a safer location. The alternative was to cancel the trip.

God used the new location to introduce the team to many students. The women on the team quickly befriended the women in the dorm. The guys were welcomed by their new dorm mates who introduced them to restaurants in the neighborhood and invited them to play fútbol.

Multiple Muslim students spent hours living with the Christians on the team —laughing, crying, and talking about life, Jesus and relationship with God.

Busra was one such student. After touring the campus where they would spend the summer, Sarah and Taylor, two members of the mission trip, asked God to lead them to someone interested in Jesus. They began to talk with the girl sitting next to them at the coffee shop. Over an hour later they realized that what began as a conversation about culture and family was now about religion.

Sarah invited Busra to spend the day with them on a boat cruise (pictured above) with the rest of the team and their new friends. Busra loved the day. She loved meeting and talking with Americans. She loved the dancing and games. And she loved the spiritual conversations. At the end of the summer it was hard for the team to say goodbye.

This fall another team from the Northeast will go to the same city for a year. God used the rioting this summer to reveal 33 students who are very interested in learning more about Jesus. They are looking forward to meeting the long-term team members.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. You are a part of changing the world!