Never Been Convinced
My (Naomi’s) main focus of ministry for the past two months has been taking an online graduate-level Apologetics class, offered through Cru. I have learned a lot and it has opened many doors for evangelism. One morning at Miah’s gymnastics class, God gave me a divine appointment with her coach, Adrian. As we discussed his spiritual background, he told me that he has nothing against Christianity, but he has never been “convinced” that the Bible is reliable. Adrian had learned in college that the New Testament was basically a legend.
Later that day, my lecture was on that exact topic! After the lecture, I was able to send Adrian a detailed email about the number of New Testament manuscripts and how the textual variants are insignificant. Later, I gave him a copy of The Reason for God by Tim Keller. The chapter on the reliability of the Bible begins with Keller recounting how he heard the same thing in college that Adrian had.
Coach Adrian is very open and willing to listen and ask questions. He has already read through Matthew and Mark! Zack and I have had several email exchanges with him. In one email he said, “I am enjoying reading the Bible again. Jesus has more bite than I remember!”
The Reason for God
We were blessed with a wonderful week in Houston over Spring Break. We got to introduce new people to the vision of our ministry, and catch up with old friends (love y’all!). One friend we hadn’t seen in years was Florian.
Florian is a beloved former international student from Germany who was very involved in Houston Bridges. At the time, he wasn’t very open spiritually. But now because of various circumstances in his life, he is doing a lot more searching. As we talked, he mentioned that he had a lot of questions, like about whether God was real or the Bible true. I showed him The Reason for God and he said, “I will definitely read this book.”
Strong Faith all Summer
How do you stay strong in your faith when you’re alone? This is a question that eats away at Cru students as the summer approaches. For many of them, Cru has been a transformative experience of walking closely with God. The thought of leaving that behind for three months can be unnerving.
For the second year, I (Zack) was part of a team in Cru that is putting together a program called Summer Connect. Its purpose is to help students make the most of their summer by giving them valuable content from engaging speakers. But more than simply watching videos, students will have several opportunities to connect with others through this program. It encourages them towards devotion to God, holiness and missional living.
The core audience of Summer Connect is high school seniors through college students who are followers of Jesus, most of whom are not yet engaged disciples.
Space Explorers
Thanks to a special friend of ours in Houston, we got to tour the inside of NASA’s Vehicle Mockup facility (pictured in the header). This is where they house full-size replicas of the International Space Station for training astronauts. The kids loved it!
UPCOMING
I (Zack) and working with our Creative Media team to develop a new video to portray the vision and mission of Bridges. My role is the screenwriter and editor. I’m excited to get to come up with a creative illustration to show people what our ministry is all about. We’ll release it in July.
PRAISE REPORTS
- Apologetics class was a great experience for Naomi.
- God has opened the doors for discussions with Adrian.
- Wonderful time connecting with old friends in Houston
- God softening Florian’s heart!
PRAYER REQUESTS
- God’s Word would not return void in Adrian’s life; that he would come to faith soon.
- Adrian and his family would attend our church small group.
- Florian to experience God’s reality and truth in a personal way.
- Summer Connect would strengthen Cru students.
- Provision for the new Bridges video: location, actors, set, props, editing, and for it to effectively mobilize others.