Author: Zack

“The Nations Long for a Better Story”

That’s been the driving vision for me (Zack) for many years now. Each individual has a story they play internally and model their lives after in order to find peace and fulfillment. Every nation has a story that it holds up as its main organizing principle. And while the (true!) story of Jesus’ birth, sacrificial death, and resurrection is the greatest story every told, many people throughout the world have never heard it even once.

Yet deep down the gospel is the story their souls long for.

Since we became Cru staff over twenty years ago, Naomi and I have helped take the gospel to the nations. We’ve served with Bridges International, Cru’s ministry to international students. My main focus was developing video resources for our fellow Bridges staff. Now, I’m stepping up to a new role with the Jesus Film Project––another ministry of Cru––to develop evangelism and discipleship media. I’ll equip not only our Bridges staff and other missionaries around the world with original stories that portray God’s story. Naomi will remain on the National Bridges Prayer Team. We are thankful that Cru allows us to serve with different teams within the ministry.

Jesus Film Project believes in the power of sharing the gospel story through film. Just as Jesus told parables to capture the hearts of his audience, we believe film offers a dynamic way to hear and see the greatest story ever lived. In 1978, Campus Crusade for Christ helped produce a biblically faithful and historically accurate adaptation of Luke’s gospel. This film, JESUS, is offered in 2,200 languages and helped 665 million people put their faith in Christ.

A New Shirt

This feature-length movie is only one of many evangelistic resources from Jesus Film Project. The prevalence of smartphones and tablets has popularized the short film format. Our smartphone app contains a treasure trove of short-form content to help illustrate the gospel.

For example, Cabernet is a story which I actually wrote in collaboration with Jesus Film Project back in 2011. This seven-minute short film portrays Christ’s substitutionary atonement for us. Cabernet follows Brett, a young man who finds an embarrassing wine stain while waiting for his date to arrive. Every way he tries to fix the stain only makes his shirt look worse. Finally, Brett is out of options. That’s when the waiter steps in and exchanges shirts with Brett, which gets him in trouble with his boss. Brett is able to meet his date with confidence, but then realizes what the waiter sacrificed.

Cabernet has been used in evangelistic settings all over the world. One such place was in southeastern Africa, where pastors were sharing the gospel in a rural area, to little success. Then they approached “Munesu,” the town drunk. The pastors used the Jesus Film app to show Cabernet to Munesu, explaining how Jesus sacrificed himself for our sin and takes it away, just as the waiter sacrificially took away Brett’s wine-stained shirt. Soon, tears ran down Munesu’s face as he realized he cannot save or cleanse himself from sin. He then decided to follow Jesus.

The story of Munesu’s changed life circulated. In the days that followed, more people came to the JESUS film screenings. In all, 923 people indicated decisions to follow Christ as a result of the pastors’ rural outreach, starting with God’s transformation of just one person.

For my role as screenwriter with Jesus Film Project, I will produce more stories like Cabernet to help people like Munesu know their lives can have a better story through the saving power of Jesus Christ.

UPCOMING

• March 3-6: Zack travels to Cru headquarters in Orlando to work on a discipleship video series about the Spirit-filled life.

PRAISE REPORTS

• Munesu and 900 others received Christ through missionaries equipped with Jesus Film resources.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• God’s wisdom for Zack as he and his team develop new evangelistic media for a Middle Eastern audience.
• God’s nearness with our family as Zack will be traveling more

Knocking At The Door Of An Empty House

Our family of six recently attended the Vision 2024 Conference (pictured above, left), and each of us saw the Lord work in powerful ways. Annalei (pictured above, right) and Miah took part in the Ambassador Track. Annalei loved getting to meet students and staff from around the world, and learning more about how and why to share her faith.

Paxton and Cassia had a special moment with a Middle Eastern student named “Reed.” He attended Vision 2023 and was added to a list of students Naomi was praying for. Reed had suffered his whole life from persistent nightmares. Naomi shared this with Paxton, who prayed every night for God to protect Reed’s sleep. Paxton also got Cassia to pray nightly.

Reed finally got to meet Paxton and Cassia this year at Vision (pictured below) and tell them how God had answered their prayers: his nightmares have stopped! There were tears in Reed’s eyes as he told us how he was finally free. He was so thankful and touched that a boy he hadn’t even met would pray for him so faithfully.

One of our fellow Bridges staff relayed to us that, before the conference, Reed decided that he no longer wanted to follow the majority religion of his country. His parents were fine with this and even gave their approval for him to learn about Christianity. He was much more engaged in discussions about Jesus this year compared to the last Vision conference. Reed said that he now wants to read the Bible in his own language.

When I (Zack) spoke to Reed about all of this, he told me how he’s drawn to a peaceful feeling he gets when he learns about Jesus. I shared and explained two passages in the Bible to him: Matthew 12:43-45 and Revelation 3:20. Jesus has driven out the demons causing his nightmares, but Reed’s “house” is still empty. And an empty house is vulnerable to more demons coming back to invade his dreams again. Yet, Jesus is standing outside of his house, knocking at the door. “So, are you ready to let Jesus in?” I asked him.

Reed is still working through all of these things, so please pray for him to open the door of his heart to the Lord.

Reed and our family celebrated New Year’s Eve together on the last night of Vision.

I (Naomi) was also able to engage in conversation with another Middle Eastern student named “Shay.” She told me that she was 80% ready to become a Christian and that the Holy Spirit would have to bring her to 100%. She told me that she feared what the holy book for the majority religion of her country said about what would happen if she left that religion. Please pray Jesus would remove this fear.

Prayer Seminar

I (Naomi) was also blessed with the opportunity to co-lead a prayer seminar at Vision (pictured below). We shared the gospel and how, in Christ, we have a personal God who is faithful to hear and answer prayers.

Reed gave me this feedback, “I found your seminar very engaging. However, what stood out was how believable and relatable both of your presentations were…You brought up some really interesting points. You mentioned that God responds to our requests in three ways: yes, no, or wait. I thought that was a fascinating perspective…Especially when you were about to share your personal experience about the times when God says ‘no’ to our requests, we could sense that you were about to talk about something painful. When you spoke about the great sorrow of losing your friend, I realized that sometimes God puts us through difficult trials to test our faith. What’s remarkable, though, is that the way to emerge from these trials with strength is also through faith in God. It’s truly profound and thought-provoking.”

After the seminar, I spoke with a Japanese student, Yuna (pictured below), who I had met at Fall Retreat. She brought a South Asian friend who is also a seeker. I was able to pray over both of them. Yuna told me that she now believes in a loving God because of the conversations that we have had.

PRAISE REPORTS

• Reed’s nightmares stopped, in answer to Paxton’s prayers
• Reed is drawn to Jesus and wants to read the Bible
• Seekers came to Christ at Vision, and Christians were challenged to get involved in fulfilling the Great Commission

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Reed, Yuna, “Shay,” and other seekers would open the door of their hearts to Jesus
• Believers who attended Vision would share their faith

Like many Nigerians, Aanu grew up in a Christian household. His family went to church regularly and he had a personal relationship with God. But when Aanu moved to the U.S. seven years ago for college, he faced a fork in the road. He told us recently how he had to decide whether Christianity was “the faith of my parents and I walk away, or now it’s my faith.”

Thankfully Aanu found a strong fellowship that discipled him and helped him grow. And when he came here to Austin for his graduate program, he got involved with our Bridges ministry. This was where God put a fire in his heart for evangelism.

“I knew what Christ had commanded us Christians to do, to proclaim the gospel,” he said. “But it was more like a personal and private relationship for me. One of the main gifts I got from being a part of Bridges is taking that knowledge of I need to be a witness on campus in everything I do. And the past three years, Bridges staff have been instrumental to provide me with tools to engage in those conversations.”

This past May, Aanu went with fellow Bridges students on a ten-day mission trip to Vancouver. Their team had 500 spiritual conversations with other internationals. One person Aanu spoke was “Ryan” from Kazakhstan. Ryan asked Aanu how knowing Jesus affected his mental health, which opened the door to a lengthy discussion about the gospel.

“Even though we were strangers, there was a real connection. That’s probably my most powerful experience. So much joy came out of that. I belong in this group doing God’s mission.”

From Nigeria to America to Canada, international students are part of a global movement of the gospel. Thank you for your prayers and support for our ministry. We are helping equip and send students like Aanu into the spiritual harvest field.

If you would like to make a year-end gift to our ministry, click the button below to give a tax-deductible donation.

Hill Country Fall Retreat (HCFR)

Paxton and I (Naomi) had a fun Mother-Son weekend at the Bridges Hill Country Fall Retreat (header, right). I was privileged to lead prayer before, during, and after the HCFR for our staff. It was very encouraging to watch God answer our prayers. He brought 265 Internationals from 49 nations––which is 100 more students than last year! He also miraculously answered prayers for the health challenges of staff who were speaking at the retreat. The gospel was clearly proclaimed during the Saturday morning session and was discussed in discussion groups as well as unstructured times.

Harriet (my boss) and I were particularly encouraged by Hasan, a second year Bridges Intern, who joined us to pray before the main sessions for the speakers, MCs, tech, and the students. (pictured below: the MCs with Harriet, me, and Hasan). The program director said to us, “We have noticed such a huge difference since you two started leading prayer.”

For the Saturday afternoon activities, I once again hung out in the craft room. I was seated at a table with five internationals from the same Middle Eastern country. Four out of the five of them were Believers! Praise the Lord!

Some other highlights of answers to prayer…

I met a student from Sri Lanka who I call “Kelsey.” She was very isolated and lonely in her chem lab for over a year. Kelsey had only heard about Bridges the day before the retreat. She came and was loving the connections and community that Bridges provides…

“Molly” from North Africa finally understood that Christians believe that God really came to earth to be the bridge to restore our relationship with Him…

When asked if it is possible for God to make positive transformation in our lives, “Avery,” an East Asian new believer answered, “Of course! He is already transforming me!”…

“Max,” a nominally religious student from Spain, said that the Fall Retreat and other Bridges activities have caused him to want to take his Christian faith far more seriously…

“Taylor,” an East Asian student who has moved from atheist to a 90% convinced theist over the past year, asked after the retreat, “Can you tell me what exactly someone needs to do to move beyond just believing in God to actually becoming a Christian?”

The Great College Search

We have been busy this fall touring and applying to colleges, like UNT, with Annalei (header, left). She has already been accepted, with the designation of Presidential Scholar, to Abilene Christian University. This is the highest honor for incoming freshman. Zack and I would appreciate prayers for her (and us) as we walk through this process of applying to colleges, Honors Colleges, and many, many scholarships. There is so much to learn!

Please pray the Lord would provide all we need for whatever school He wants her to go to.

PRAISE REPORTS

• 265 international students attended the HCFR.
• The gospel was clearly proclaimed to them.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• For Kelsey, Molly, Taylor, and the many other seekers who attended HCFR to stay connected with Bridges and come to the know the Lord.
• For Avery, Max, and the many other Christian students, that they would become life long laborers for Christ.
• Many of these students would attend the Vision Conference in Dallas at the end of December.

21 Days of Prayer

With a school year in full swing, our Bridges campus staff are currently in their busiest season. They are trying to meet and welcome as many new international students as possible.

Just like Aaron and Hur holding up the arms of Moses in Exodus 17, our National Bridges Prayer team is supporting our Campus Staff through 21 days of prayer meetings. I (Naomi) would appreciate you joining me in praying for our campus staff with these specific requests:

• God would give strength, endurance, and spiritual protection to Bridges campus staff in this busy season.
• Divine appointments: God would lead Bridges staff to Christian students who have a heart to be discipled and Seekers whose hearts are open to the gospel.
• God would have His hand upon the details and decisions that go into welcome events and gathering new students.

Vision24 Conference – Coming to Dallas

As new students get involved with local Bridges teams, they are being invited to join us at our national student gathering in late December, Vision Conference. This year, Vision will be in Dallas, so if you will be in the area, we’d love for you to join our family there. There are many ways you could volunteer to meet and serve students from all over the world.

To help students picture how God can change their lives at Vision, I (Zack) created these short videos about two students who attended in the past.

Sharon is a Malaysian student that explains how the whole focus of Vision conference is to show the love of Christ, so that fellow international students will know they are important to God:

Jonathan is a Ugandan student who urges Christians to attend Vision Conference to get equipped for Great Commission work:

Audio Drama Update

We’re in early development of the Middle East audio drama we wrote about previously, that will fictionalize true stories of supernatural life change. We have a treatment and demo script, as well as outlines for six episodes. Our next step is to record the demo, gather more stories of dreams and visions that led someone to Christ, and flesh out each episode.

Family Summer Recap

Annalei attended a Christian musical theater conference (header, left photo). She met theater students from all over the country, heard from Christian broadway actors, and participated in workshops like Partner Dancing and Stage Managing. Cassia and Paxton joined a theater summer camp (header, right). They thoroughly enjoyed it and understand why their big sisters love musical theater! Miah (pictured below, purple dress), joined me (Zack) at the annual Realm Makers Conference, with 400 other Christian fiction writers. Miah put the lessons into practice and started writing a novel.

Prayer Requests

• Pray for significant connections at these upcoming events:

– Bridges in Seattle will take students to a Mariners game.
– Bridges at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign will host a hiking trip at a state park on 9/21.
– In Boston, Bridges will host a scavenger hunt on 9/21.
– At UC Irvine, staff will hold a prayer walk on 9/22.

• For the audio drama, pray for us to acquire the stories, resources, and actors we need to record the Demo.

Baptized With Christ

Last month, the Lord brought us an incredible divine appointment with Alex, a contractor I (Naomi) found on Yelp. When we met him for an estimate, Alex’s heart was completely open to the message of the gospel. His first week at church, Alex sat next to Clyde, who used to teach a class for new believers. Clyde is the perfect person to disciple Alex. Zack and I were overjoyed to witness Clyde baptize Alex (pictured above). Alex is growing in his new faith.

Bridges Summer Missions

In the Spring, our National Bridges Prayer Team focused on praying for the Bridges Summer Missions/Retreats. I (Naomi) was encouraged by some specific answers to prayer.

When we prayed for the Yeshotsav Retreat (for Hindu Background Believers) only 20 students had signed up. We asked the Lord in faith for 50, and they had exactly 50 students attend! Here are some responses from participants:

“I was inspired by how people endure their persecutions and are eager to share the gospel with their friends and families.”

“The retreat was truly transformative. I had the opportunity to connect with many inspiring individuals, and their stories were incredibly powerful. The experience left me feeling deeply moved and strengthened in my faith.”

“Now I see I’m not the only one.”

The Lord also answered our prayers for the Vancouver missions team (pictured above). They initiated 512 spiritual conversations and shared the gospel with 102 students. They saw seven students indicate decisions for Christ!

Theater of the Mind

God is powerfully at work among Middle Eastern students. They frequently have dreams and visions of Jesus, and experience other miracles that point them to Christ. But it’s difficult to share their stories with you––especially using videos and other media. Persecution from relatives and government officials causes serious security challenges. So, Naomi and I (Zack) are working on a solution for this: a fictional audio drama podcast based on true stories.

We will create this by adapting stories of supernatural experiences that led someone to Christ. Personal details will be altered to protect the identity of believers. By delivering these stories through a podcast, people from the Middle East can listen privately, anywhere. Currently, I am gathering stories from our field staff and working these into a script. Then, I will work with actors to record a pilot episode and test it out.

Praise Reports

• Alex got baptized and plugged into a great church.
• 50 Hindu Background Believers attended the retreat.
• 7 students came to Christ in Vancouver.

Prayer Requests

• Alex’s wife and daughter would come to know Jesus.
• HBBs would continue to grow in their faith and fellowship
• God would guide our Audio Drama project.
• Many would come to Christ through the Bridges Sydney Summer Mission (July 11-27) and the participants would become life-long laborers for Christ.

Total Solar Eclipse

Did you see the eclipse in April? Austin was right in the path of totality, so our family had been praying non-stop for a clear view. We joined some friends on a ranch just outside of town for a watch party (pictured above), and were greeted with cloudy skies for most of the time. Cassia (9) was very upset.

But God, in a loving answer to our children’s prayers, swept aside the clouds just at the moment of totality. It was an unbelievable display of his mercy and creativity. We discussed with our kids and several others how an eclipse is a major sign of God’s intelligent design of our solar system. To learn more about this, check out The Privileged Planet, which you can rent on Amazon or find on YouTube.

One of my favorite moments of the eclipse was seeing the bright red prominences peeking out just below the Moon. Each of these plasma surges are larger than the entire Earth. Apparently it is rare to be able to see them with the naked eye.

The Four Laws…of Storytelling

Earlier this semester, the director of Cru’s creative media ministry asked me (Zack) to teach our videography team a series of webinars about storytelling. More than three-act structure or The Hero’s Journey, I wanted to weave together a robust theology of why and how to tell stories for God’s glory. Most of what we produce for Cru is non-fiction, yet there are many principles of fiction writing that apply to the documentary and testimony videos we produce.

I called this series “The Four Laws of Storytelling,” and filled each session with a look through the Scriptures. Since God is the ultimate creator, all of the fundamentals of creativity come from him. Storytelling is his idea (Genesis 4:7), which gives flesh to abstract concepts (Proverbs 8), convicts the conscience (2 Samuel 12), reveals open hearts (Matthew 13:10-17), and produces repentance (Acts 19:17).

Our first lesson examined how we should tell stories for the glory of God (Psalm 102:18), and to not allow other purposes––even noble ones––to take primacy. We create stories because that is God’s normative way of expressing truth in the Bible, which is 43% narrative, 33% poetic, and only 24% prose. Second, we create stories as an act of love, lest we become clanging gongs (1 Corinthians 13:1). Third, since “God is not a God of disorder” (1 Corinthians 14:33) our creativity needs to be balanced by structure. Finally, effective stories are filled with honesty and delivered with courage, since pointing people to God always challenges the idols of our culture, but fear of man is a snare (Proverbs 29:25).

Watch these seminars here.

Knowing God Personally

“How can I be saved?” In all my (Naomi’s) years of ministry, I have never been asked that question directly. But that’s exactly what a contractor named Alex asked me recently. While discussing some concrete work we needed in our yard, Alex told me how his life was miraculously spared during two separate jobs. In one, a giant piece of concrete fell on his work vehicle, and after another job the brakes went out on his truck. He walked away from both situations unharmed, and knew that God was trying to get his attention.

Zack and I were overjoyed to explain the gospel and recount how Jesus had redeemed our lives. We gave him Cru’s gospel booklet called, “Knowing God Personally.” A few days later, Alex attended an Easter service and received Christ. When he met us again in our backyard, he looked like an entirely different person. The joy of the Lord was plainly visible on his face. A member at the church Alex attends started discipling him, and he’s already talking about getting baptized.

PRAISE REPORTS

• Zack got the opportunity to train other Cru staff.
• Alex came to know Jesus and is growing in his faith.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Last month, Zack got some abnormal readings during a treadmill stress test. Thankfully, a heart catheter showed that Zack’s arteries are clear and everything else is functioning normally with his heart. Please pray he could get his blood pressure under control, mostly through lifestyle changes.
• Zack’s hospital stay was emotionally triggering for everyone else, especially as we continue to walk through grief.

Children of Abraham

This year at Vision Conference there were 106 students (90 seekers) in the Children of Abraham Track (students from the Middle East). This is the largest COA group we have ever had at Vision! You might remember last year that six students gave their life to Christ at Vision. Five of those six were back this year. Another previous attendee, “Kai,” became a believer after Vision last year. He has been baptized and wanted to come to back to Vision just to hear more about joining Bridges staff.

Pictured above: the COA Track discussion tables

Two COA students, “Kamuela” and “Kalani,” became believers right before Vision. “Kekoa” agrees with the beliefs of Christianity but is afraid to label himself a Christian and get baptized. Ten other students are very close to becoming Christians. They are currently counting the costs. Please pray that Kekoa and the other COA students would know and believe that Jesus is worth it! (Names changed for security.)

Ambassadors for Christ

Annalei and Miah were blessed to participate at Vision in the Ambassadors Track, which equips Christian students for ministry. They befriended Christians from around the world (pictured above in the header, left) and enjoyed multi-lingual worship. After one of the lessons, Miah said, “I was reminded of the life-changing fact that the joy and love you receive from Jesus outweigh the costs of following Him.” Annalei said this was the most impactful thing for her as well.

Pictured above: Annalei joins international students for worship

Prayer at Vision

Before Vision, I (Naomi) was able to train a handful of fellow Bridges staff to serve as Prayer Coordinators for their respective Tracks. As a result, there was more organized staff prayer at this Vision than ever before. One staff woman told us what a good and stretching experience this was for her. Through it, she realized how much the Lord wanted her to embrace the priority of prayer.

A New Sister in Christ

During Vision, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t have the margin to hang out with Japanese students, but God reminded me that He is “the God who sees me” (Gen. 16:13). On the last morning before we left for the airport, He gave me the opportunity to lead a Japanese gal named Hana to Christ! (Pictured above in the header, right.) Her campus leader “Kawika” was in COA with me and connected us.

Kawika wanted to me to talk to Hana because she kept telling people she wasn’t ready to become a Christian but didn’t know why. We talked through her barriers to belief, and then she prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. The next day, Hana sent me this sweet text:

“Thanks Naomi! I’m happy to meet you in last couple of hours. That’s a gift. I’ve been thinking about what is [a] Christian for a long time but you told me that it’s a simple thing than I thought. I felt kinda relieved thanks to you. I really appreciate you. Thank you. ありがとう,Naomi😊” 

PRAISE REPORTS

Largest COA Track ever
Kamuela and Kalani came to Christ
God used Vision in Annalei and Miah’s lives
More organized staff prayer at Vision than ever before
Hana came to Christ
Another Japanese student, Kohta, received Christ

PRAYER REQUESTS

God would open doors for Kai to join Bridges staff
Kekoa would not fear calling himself a Christian
Ten other COA students would come to Christ soon
Ambassadors students to become Christ-centered laborers
New believers would grow strong in their faith

(Pic. above: Annalei (L) and Miah (R) in CYT’s production of Frozen Jr. Annalei played the Queen and Miah played Sven)

Whole Campus Whole World

Thank you for your prayers for Zack, as he completed the screenplay for the video commissioned by the leadership of Cru’s Campus Ministry. I (Naomi) got to help by casting the voice over actor. The video debuted on an All-Campus staff livestream to introduce Cru’s new vision statement: “The whole campus to the whole world in this generation.”

Fellow Cru staff have told us this new vision as seen in the video energized and reminded them why they joined staff in the first place. “I was glued and sooo inspired watching this,” a Bridges staff friend told Zack.

Decorating the Tree

Our family enjoyed decorating our Christmas tree with UT students from Nigeria, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Spending time with them was a blessing to us, and I got this text from one of the students…

“I’m glad you all had us over. Spending time with your family really brought us joy and comfort as we’re getting ready for [studying for finals].”

Vision Conference

This year, I (Naomi) will again serve as the Prayer Coordinator for the Children of Abraham Track at Vision Conference. I praise God for the privilege of designing this role for COA. With the support of the conference leadership team, I was also able to train a handful of staff to duplicate, in their respective Tracks, this same role. Vision is our most strategic ministry event of the year so we need prayer!

(Below: students discuss a gospel tract)

Annalei and Miah will be coming to Vision with me. They will be attending the Ambassadors Track to join Christian students from all over the world. They will receive ministry training and be challenged to take steps of faith in their own lives. We are so thankful they will be given this opportunity.

Year-End Giving

If you would like to make an end of year donation to our ministry, you can do so here. All gifts are tax-deductible.

UPCOMING

Naomi, Annalei, and Miah will attend the Vision Conference 12/27-1/1 in Baltimore/DC

PRAISE REPORTS

God enabled Zack and his team to capture Cru’s new compelling vision in a video
Each Track at Vision now has a Prayer Coordinator

PRAYER REQUESTS

The Lord would comfort and help us in this continued season of grief

Safe travels for all attending Vision Conference
Spiritual protection over all conference details
God’s hand upon the many evangelistic conversations that will happen in structured and unstructured times at Vision
Many students would come to know Jesus as their Savior
Christian students would learn how to share their faith and be transformed into life long laborers for Christ
Zack and the Littles would do well at home without Naomi