November Prayer Calendar for Vision 2018

  1. Multi-Nations – That God will bring students hungry and curious to know Him
  2. South Asian – That God will lead Dave Michaelian and David Stuckenschmidt as they go to Denver next week to meet with local South Asian Christian families, plan logistics, and secure an Indian restaurant  
  3. Overall –. That we will see a large number of students register for the conference before the first price increase on November 10  
  4. God’s Promise – Praise God for His promise in Deuteronomy 31:8 to go before us in our journey in life and never to forsakes us.
  5. Ambassadors – That programming plans will be engaging and instructive
  6. Chinese – For over 300 Chinese participants to attend the conference, especially for believers to bring their seeker friends. Pray that former participants will return and bring friends too.  
  7. Children of Abraham (COA) – That the Lord will raise up 20 believers from a background of the majority religion of the Middle East to attend the COA track and potentially stay for a two-day retreat after Vision as well.  Ask God to remove all the barriers for these 20 to attend.
  8. Multi-Nations – That God will bring students who will profit from the discipleship track as well as the track that teaches people how to share the gospel  
  9. South Asian – That God will bring seekers with prepared hearts, so that they may take the next step toward embracing Christ as their personal Savior.  (Especially greater numbers from the west coast, as this conference is more accessible than past conferences.)
  10. Partners – That the Lord will draw people who are excited to be trained in international student ministry
  11. God’s Promise – That each participant will have a vision of God as portrayed in Revelation 5:6-10  
  12. Ambassadors – That Christian student leaders will register for Ambassadors
  13. Chinese – For all the staff who are planning and preparing for the Chinese track to have insight, creativity, and perseverance as they accomplish key tasks. Pray for those serving with this track for the first time to gain a greater understanding and vision for ministry to Chinese students in the U.S. 
  14. COA –  For additional COA scholarship funding to be provided for all attendees–approximately $5,000
  15. Multi-Nations – We are still looking for an evening emcee and possibly two morning emcees.  
  16. South Asian – That the Holy Spirit will draw a good core of believers, who have a desire to grow in their walk with Jesus and to reach out to their peers with the love of Christ  
  17. Overall – For wisdom for team leaders of the various parts of the conference as they work with their teams and put plans into motion 
  18. God’s Promise – Claim Psalm 115:1 and Psalm 127:1 to be realities at Vision 2018
  19. Ambassadors – That many more students from around the world will come and be challenged in their faith  
  20. Chinese – That the program will meet the needs of both seekers and believers. May they all be engaged and challenged to take the next step in their spiritual journey
  21. COA – For wisdom for Jerry and Mindy as they co-lead the COA track and as they delegate roles to staff, decide content, and coordinate all the moving pieces.  Also pray for wisdom in deciding who and what will be shared during the COA breakouts.
  22. Happy Thanksgiving! Thank God for your salvation and the freedom to worship in America.  Then pray for great connections and conversations between students and staff in the Multi-Nations track.  
  23. South Asian – For funding for scholarships to help students, especially from the east coast, where bus transportation is not possible because of distance  
  24. Partners – That attendees will experience a greater vision of what the Lord is doing among internationals and how they can be a part of it
  25. God’s Promise – Claim Philippians 1:6 for all participants, no matter where they are in their spiritual journeys as they come to Vision 2018.  We long for each one to take the next step of faith.
  26. Ambassadors – That the testimony scripting time will be memorable as well as useful as they share it with others  
  27. Chinese – That the new approaches we are trying this year will be more effective to engage with Chinese students  
  28. COA – For Jordan Merkle, the main morning speaker for COA as he prepares the content.  The COA track also wants to focus its time around the theme of a ‘Rocky Mountain Family’ and how the gospel changes our experience of being in God’s family.
  29. Multi-Nations – That God will work in and through the ambiance team (Jenny, Carrie, and Nichole) to help students feel cared for and loved, the scheduling team, and the program team as they get speakers and tell Biblical stories  
  30. South Asian – For wisdom for the South Asian track planning team as they seek to address the increasing number of students from Hindu families that declare themselves to be atheist.

This Book Will Save Your Life | October Newsletter

Life Saver

“This book will save your life.” Mo looked at the Bible his friend had handed him, thinking about these words. It seemed counter-intuitive. In the Middle Eastern country they lived in, reading the Bible or believing in Jesus was dangerous. Less than 1% of their countrymen were Christian. Still, Mo was intrigued, so he tucked the Bible in his backpack, hopped on his motorcycle, and went on his way. He had no idea what God had in store for him.
Every day, Mo took out that Bible and tried to read it, but he had trouble understanding it. Every time, he returned the Bible to his backpack, not sure what to think about it.

One day, Mo was riding his motorcycle, and turned a corner into a horrible situation. Right in front of him, a man was robbed at gunpoint and then shot. Mo quickly turned around and sped away, but the robber had seen him. The man shot several times at Mo.

When he finally got to a safe spot, Mo discovered he was unharmed, to his great relief. He emptied out his backpack and then was stunned: the bullets that had been intended to kill him had lodged themselves into his Bible.

Several months later, Mo came to the United States as an international student. One day on his campus, he walked by a table and saw Bibles on display. He stopped and looked up at the people behind the table. They were Christians, representing a student ministry. He said to them, “I must talk to you. I was in a situation where the Bible literally saved my life. But can you explain about Jesus to me?”

These new friends were happy to meet with Mo and walk through the gospel with him. That day, he surrendered his life to Christ. Several months later, he had this to say:

“It’s the difference between night and day, between being in prison and being set free. My lifestyle in my home country was very bad. I had no hope. I only discovered Jesus’s power to set me free when I came here, and I was able to talk to real Christians on my campus. From them, I realized that God loves me, and wants to set me free from the prison of my sin through Jesus. Because of my faith in Jesus, my fear being punished by God is gone. Now I have hope and peace that comes only from a relationship with Jesus. I am a totally different person because of Christ.”

Launching Soon

The purpose of our training curriculum called Every International is to equip the church here in North America to reach international students like Mo for Christ. We have video lessons for reaching specific cultures and religious groups, as well as more general equipping for evangelism, discipleship and crossing cultures.

Recently, we finished up all the training videos for the website:

Very soon it will be open to the public. Currently we are testing out all the features to ensure a smooth and productive experience with the curriculum. Can you imagine the day when every international in North America knows someone who truly follows Jesus?

PRAISE REPORTS

  • Mo’s new life in Christ!
  • After five years of planning, and six months of hard work, Every International is done and nearly ready to launch.
  • Jenny had this to say after we completed the first 6 lessons of Discovery Bible Study: “Hey Naomi, thank you for thinking of us. We are open mind and in the process as you know. We enjoyed the Bible study, and loved the discussion as well as sharing among the group.” Praise God that Jenny and Peter’s hearts are so open to the Lord.

PRAYER REQUESTS

  • Spiritual protection over Mo and other new Muslim background believers.
  • A smooth process for the public launch of Every Int’l.
  • Jenny and Peter to become Christians soon.
  • Salvation of our neighbor, Ashley, and another friend, Alonzo, who also attended our Discovery Bible Study.

Discovering the Bible | August Newsletter

Discovering the Bible

We have been attending a church small group in our neighborhood focused on outreach and encouraging each other in evangelism. I (Naomi) really love face-to-face ministry and I’m so thankful that the bulk of the neighbors that our group has been developing relationships with are internationals! It’s so fun! We have built enough trust with these couples that we are starting a six-week Discovery Bible Study this month.

We’ll use the same materials that Bridges staff use on campus with students who have never studied the Bible before. So far, one couple, Peter and Jenny from Taiwan, have said yes. Please pray for three more couples to join us. Pictured below: Naomi has her arm around Jenny.

Welcome Parties

Bridges events are in full swing on campuses all across the country right now, as staff are busy welcoming new international students, befriending them, helping them to get settled into life in America, hosting welcome parties, and gauging spiritual interest. On the Houston campus ministry team, they are currently following up with new students they met on the City Tour and Welcome Party. Pray for the staff, student leaders, and volunteers, that they would find students who are spiritually interested. Pray for the team as they start Discovery Bible study groups on campus. Pray for the hearts of students to be open.

Lost in Space

I (Zack) have been writing a faith-based science-fiction novel. It’s a near-future story about three siblings who travel to deep space, and together go on a spiritual journey.

Why write this? If you’ve been following the news lately about space exploration, you know that we’re living in a new golden age of discovery. There are serious plans to build permanent human settlements on Mars. NASA has discovered over 3,000 planets around other stars. Within a few years, we will be able to detect whether or not there are signs of life out there. Are we, as Christians, ready to confront the theological issues inherent in these advancements?

Sci-fi is a “thought simulator” about the future, and the genre is largely devoid of a Christian voice. I believe there is a huge opportunity to engage students in spiritual discussions with a story about these topics.

My goal is to finish the first draft in the next six months and have revisions done by the end of 2019. Go to zackaryrussell.com for more info and updates. I am thankful Cru gave me its blessing to pursue this, although it’s a nights and weekends project (not my main role).

Sleepless in Austin

Our children (particularly Paxton and Cassia) have not been sleeping well lately. They wake up sporadically throughout the night and scream or cry. We are often exhausted, so need prayer that, as a family, we could all sleep through the night.

Upcoming

Have you ever met an international and thought, “I would love to reach out to them, but I don’t know where to begin or what to say?” Zack has been working hard on editing the training videos for Every International. It is our hope and prayer that this training curriculum will give Americans confidence in reaching internationals. We plan to launch in October. We hope that it will be a tool for you to use as well.

Praise Reports

  • New international friends in our neighborhood and lives.

Prayer Requests

  • Spiritual protection over the neighborhood Bible Study, and for 3 more couples to join.
  • Peter and Jenny would accept Christ as their Savior soon.
  • Bridges Discovery Bible Study groups that are being started on many campuses.

Trans-cultural Ministry Training | June Newsletter

Aloha!

Last month we spent some time in Naomi’s hometown in Hawaii, to connect with our ministry partners, family and friends. We shared the vision of Bridges at churches, Bible studies and personal appointments. God provided several new people for our partnership team, and many others were encouraged and challenged by the stories of how God is moving in the lives of international students.

And of course, we had a few trips to the beach. It was the first time for Cassia and Paxton to be there. We had not been back to the islands for 6 years previous.

It was a delight to see those of you we had a chance to visit with, but we know there are many we sadly missed! Be sure to check out the Videos page to see some new stories we have been sharing.

Every International

Can you imagine a day when every international in North America knows someone who truly follows Jesus? Can you imagine the day when every student, refugee and immigrant has the chance to hear the gospel in a clear, loving, and culturally relevant way?

This is the vision of “Every International” — a long-term initiative we are joining with several other international student ministries (or ISM’s). We want to see every international in North America know one follower of Jesus, and we want every Christian to know and befriend one international.

We just wrapped up three video recording sessions of twenty different speakers. We will use these training videos to help mobilize the Body of Christ all across the U.S. in effective “trans-cultural” ministry. Topics include:

  • God’s Heart for the Nations
  • Meeting & Befriending Internationals
  • Overcoming Common Barriers
  • Understanding and Reaching Chinese / Indian / Middle Eastern Students

We had so many talented and well-spoken teachers and experts, it’s going to be an incredible training curriculum. Our hope and prayer is to equip thousands of believers across the country with this material.

Upcoming

The next two months will be largely devoted to the post-production of the Every International training videos. Zack will be working with a team of creatives and ministry leaders to get this curriculum ready for the Fall semester.

Praise Reports

  • A productive and enjoyable trip to Naomi’s hometown.
  • Many new people are excited about the vision of reaching international students.
  • Filming all 20 ISM experts went incredibly well.

Prayer Requests

  • For all the video editing and other post-production to be done with excellence and ease.
  • For the development of the Every International website and mobile app.
  • For our work to glorify God and effectively train many in trans-cultural ministry.

Pawku’s Story – The Shell

When a civil war broke out in Burma, Pawku and her family had to flee. Eventually they made their way to the United States, but the life Pawku found was the opposite of what she expected. Then, as a college student in Denver, Pawku went through a season of depression. This is the story of how God worked throughout the storms in her life.

It was an amazing privilege to capture and edit this story. Pawku’s strong faith despite all she’s gone through is such beautiful portrayal of Psalm 23:3-4 and Psalm 1:1-3.

This Conference Changed My Life | January Newsletter

“This is Real!”

As 2017 came to a close, 1,286 students, Bridges staff, and volunteers from 83 nations gathered for a 5-day spiritual journey in Washington DC — the Vision Conference!

One of those students was Iris (pictured below), for whom this was her third time at Vision. Many things have changed in her life since she first got involved with Bridges, and she boldly spoke in front of the whole conference about what God has done.

“I came from a Buddhist family,” said Iris. “Twice a year, we would do a big service. I’m always asking Buddha for everything. But I didn’t feel a connection because it didn’t make me become a better person.”

Then two years ago, Iris came here to Austin, as Vision was held at a hotel downtown that year. Naomi  was her discussion group leader. Naomi could tell that her heart was very open and asked for prayer for Iris in her daily Vision emails. Iris shared about what happened then:

“I didn’t really know anything about Jesus, anything about the Bible. I met an amazing group of people that helped mentor me, coach me, and help me understand who Jesus is.

“I remember very clearly that I prayed on December 31st at two o’clock in the morning. I became a Christian because of the Vision Conference. This is real! This conference changed my life!”

There was a loud a cheer when Iris said this.   I (Zack) wished in that moment that Naomi had been there in DC. But as you know, my job is to capture these stories on video.

Watch the rest of Iris’s story below. And be encouraged: Iris came into the kingdom and is growing in her faith as an answer to your prayers!

(Due to the audio quality, please click the CC button for subtitles)

Wendy’s Story – Hurricane Harvey Relief

“I’m not the best person in terms of manual labor, but I try my best,” said Wendy, a Rice University student from China. It had been a long day of Hurricane Harvey relief work. “My hometown is a really dry place; we don’t get a lot of storm like this,” she told us. “It’s heartbreaking to see people’s homes like this. They used to be a home, but now they’re trash.” She had to wipe away many tears. Watch her story:

Wendy was part of a Cru student team from Rice who helped Houston residents gut their homes. She also noticed something beautiful happening. “Harvey has given the community an opportunity to break down barriers between different classes, and different races,” she said. For Wendy, the whole experience was a mixture of heartache and hope, as she saw firsthand the incredible unity on display throughout Houston.

But even deeper than that is the hope Wendy found in Christ. She came to the U.S. “really skeptical about the existence of God.” Out of curiosity, she attended a talk called, “Do Science and God Mix?” Then, God used the faithful witness of Cru students to make Wendy into a new creation. And because of her faith, she is out there serving others.

Our vision is for international students to become Christ-centered laborers like Wendy. Please join us in prayer for many more “Wendys” in 2018!

Year-End Giving

As 2017 comes to a close, would you consider a special gift to our ministry?

Our ministry with international students is possible through the generous gifts of people like yourself. We are currently in need of additional funding to continue effective ministry to these students. Your partnership makes an eternal difference in helping to bring the message of Jesus Christ to people all over the world. All gifts are income tax-deductible. Thank you for considering.

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