Learning from atheists

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Nate Miller
Epicenter 2014 crop

Paul and Adam are interviewed by Doug Pollack at Cru’s Epicenter Conference

The room was quiet as two young atheists stepped onto the stage. They had volunteered to be interviewed on their beliefs about God, religion and science before an audience of over 400 Christians by Doug Pollack, the author of God Space—Naturally Creating Room for Spiritual Conversations.

Doug was the primary speaker at Cru’s Epicenter student conference over Martin Luther King weekend. He taught students to ask good questions and listen to the responses. This builds friendship and opens doors to invite people into relationship with Jesus.

Rather than just talking about evangelism, Doug helped us see his principles in action by interviewing Adam and Paul, two young atheists, on stage at our Cru conference.

Doug asked a variety of questions: What is your background? How did you come to settle on atheism?

When Adam and Paul told how they had grown up in the church— Can you pinpoint a defining moment when you turned from belief to not belief?

Have you had an experience that made you go “huh?” or think there might possibly be a God?

Paul has continued to connect with Doug after Epicenter. Thank you for your partnership in training a generation of students!

Watch the interview (don’t forget to watch Doug’s talks as well):

 

Doug’s talk before the interview:

 

Doug’s talks after the interview:

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Finding “Crew” at UNH

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Nate Miller
NY Fall Retreat

Over 300 students attended New York Cru Fall Retreat. Limited space meant some tented!

Kayla’s first night on campus was terrible. It was long and loud as both her freshmen roommates jumped into the party scene.

In the face of their belligerence, Kayla felt incredible pressure to join them. Seeing no hope for sleep, she curled up in a ball on her twin bed asking God to be near and protect her. She wanted her college experience to end before it had even begun.

Kayla came to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) unsure of what she would experience at college.

Her friends and pastor encouraged her to connect with Christians on campus right away. They mentioned that a Christian group called “crew” was at UNH. Though she hadn’t heard of it, she wanted to go.

After her long night, Kayla was even more eager to find anyone who knew about “crew” at UNH.

As she walked across campus, she saw a student wearing a t-shirt with the Cru logo emblazoned across the front. Kayla walked past him. “Cru?” she thought, “I wonder what that means?”

Then it clicked… She had been looking for “crew” but she should have been looking for “Cru”!

Kayla immediately stopped, turned around and chased the student across the quad. Barely introducing herself, she told him about her long night and how desperate she was to meet Christians at UNH.

Pete introduced himself, and then took Kayla to meet other students involved with Cru at UNH.

Kayla is now forming deep relationships with Christians on campus. And she is learning that God has sovereignly placed her with her partying roommates to help them meet Jesus.

Like Kayla, other students are walking more closely with Jesus this semester.

At Yale, a Cru staff member walked out of a dorm room after midnight loaded down with a box of beer and alcohol.

The girl with whom she was meeting that night had decided that she was tired of the party scene at Yale. Her first step was to get rid of her alcohol. She asked the Cru staff member to dispose of all of it!

Because of you, students across New York and New England are growing in relationship with Jesus. Thank you for your partnership. God is working and you are part of it!

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Harvard Cru is Changing Africa

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Nate Miller

Which country in the world has the highest number of AIDS cases or the greatest income disparity between rich and poor? If you guessed South Africa you are correct.

For the fourth consecutive summer, Cru students from Harvard have traveled to Mamelodi, South Africa to provide a three-week math and English mentoring program called The Mamelodi Initiative in partnership with the University of Pretoria at Mamelodi.

This is what Cru is all about. We are a caring community passionate about connecting people with Jesus Christ. Cru is caring for South Africans by meeting educational needs. This is providing opportunities for people to hear about Jesus. Thank you for helping to make this possible.

Posted in Discipleship, Evangelism, Summer Mission Trip, Summer Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment