Goodbye Jude

If any of you have been following Mandy Pelton's blog about their son, Jude's, fight for life, you would know that he passed away. Jude met Jesus on October 22nd. It has been a tear-jerking journey, but now as we morn and grieve with the Peltons as they miss their baby boy, we rejoice that all this are made new. We know that Jude is no longer suffering, and that his body has been redeemed. There is no more precious a thought but to think of Jude with a perfectly healthy body, able to move freely, to cry and to laugh. I know we all look forward to the day where we can see Jude in heaven.


God has been holding Mandy, Brandon and their 5 year old son Caleb, close to his heart and He has been encouraging them every step of the way. It is bittersweet to have the Peltons back to Las Cruces, because although I am overjoyed to have them physically here, to work along side and do community together; it is at the same time heartbreaking to know they are here and not in Albuquerque because Jude is gone. God is a God of wisdom, love and justice. He did not allow Jude's life to be as it was by accident; but He orchestrated it, and planned out how to use it for his glory and blessings to his children. So many people's lives have been touched and even changed by Jude's story, and we are all excited to see what God will bring from all of this. 


Please continue to pray for Mandy, Brandon and Caleb Pelton, and follow along their blog for updates!

Worship Through Service

I am very excited to announce that October has kicked off the Service aspect of Cru. All of the staff members, including myself, have a huge place in our heart for bringing the Kingdom of God to others by preaching the Gospel, living the Gospel out in our everyday life, and service. As an organization, we have done a decent job of the first two, but have been lacking in the latter. It just so turns out that the latter is something I am passionate about, and so I was given the responsibility to set us in to motion.

Our vision is to find ways and places that the students involved in Cru can physically serve NMSU and also the entire Las Cruces community. We are searching out local ministries, such as The Gospel Rescue Mission, El Calldido Soup Kitchen, Los Pelligrinos Orphanage, La Casa Battered Women's Shelter, etc...for ways we can partner with them in the good job they are already doing. We also are asking churches to give us projects that they may need help in, or introducing us to people in their congregation who need help so that we can provide aid in any way. Our heart is to not just write checks or donate money, but to get our hands dirty. So far we have found a few needs, and have had a blast!

*Just to give an idea of what has been done so far:
*We have had students help two couples from different churches move into new homes.
*Cru bought pairs of shoes for the Soles 4 Souls shoe drive, which buys pairs of shoes for local elementary students whose parents can't afford to buy them new ones.
*Students helped out a local church's Harvest Festival
*A huge number of students came together to prepare and set up things for Jude Matthew Pelton's service
*We baked 20 dozen chocolate chip cookies for Kairos Prison Ministry


This is just the beginning. My greatest desire is that this would not be something that the students do every once in a while, when asked, but that they would develop a heart of service. Serving is something that should come naturally to us when we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and it is something that we should do out of obedience, because it was asked of all of us. Serving, just like sharing the Gospel, is something that God commanded of us (like the Great Commission). I am hoping and praying that the Spirit transforms all of our hearts, and that we would become so sensitive to the need around us. That we would not hesitate to help, give, love, forgive and serve any and everyone around us if needed.

Matthew 25:35-40: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

The "New" Birthday

If you have been following my blog, or have read my newsletter, you will be familiar with my friend, Mayra. I have some amazing news to share!

For her birthday, we (20 students and myself) took Mayra to White Sands National Monument-it was her first time there!

God's hands were all over the that day. We grilled burgers, played games, ate cake, and just had a wonderful time. At the end of our day, Mayra asked everyone to come over into a group. It was there that she shared with everyone how great Cru has been, and how she had never experienced such a loving community as she had with us. Then she said that she wanted to make this decision with everyone there, and she prayed to accept Jesus. We circled around her, laid hands on her and each one of us prayed for her, her relationship with the Lord, and her journey as she walks with HIM.

It was the most amazing thing I have been apart of since being overseas. God just keeps overwhelming me with his Faithfulness, Provisions, and Sense of Humor. So Mayra's eternal birthday now falls on her earthy birthday. :)

Joy, So Much Joy!

I just have two quick praises to share.

We have a Freshman girl, named Breanna. She is wonderful. She recently decided to rededicate her life to the Christ and to start living fully for Him. It was a tear-filled and humbling experience for her, but she couldn't be more excited to see what God does in her life and through her faith in Jesus.

We also have a Freshman guy, named Dillon. He, two nights ago, accepted Christ for the first time. He has had a group of our guys coming along side him, encouraging him and praying for him as we begins his journey in faith.

Please keep them in your prayers.

The Reason For God

We spent four weeks discussing the "Reason for God" and why He does certain things. We watched a video series done by Dr. Timothy Keller, where he proposed certain topics with a panel of non-believers. His panel was full of unbelieving business men and women, and they had very good questions.

The questions we discussed were:
1. How Can God Be Full of Love and Wrath at the Same Time? How Can God Send Good People to Hell?
2.  Why is the Church Responsible for So Much Injustice? Why Are Christians Such Hypocrites?
3. How Can You Say There is Only One Way to God? What About Other Religions?
4. Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?


After each talk we would have the students turn around and discuss with each other certain questions proposed during the panel. These were very hard topics that, lets be honest, most of us would not want to have to sit down and discuss. But God was so good, and we received so much good feedback. 


This all led up to our own University Q&A time, with our own panel of scholars. Our panel consisted of a High School Biology teacher, a leader of the Presbyterian college ministry, and a pastor of a local church (and philosopher). We asked students and professors all over campus if they had questions about God and Christianity, the week before, as well as allowed the audience to text their questions in during the Q&A time. I believer 80+ students came that night, and there were a lot of really good questions asked. It was a really great learning experience for me as a leader, to see what works and what didn't work, in case we do something similar in the future. I think a lot of theological, philosophical, even scientific students got their questions answered in a way they could relate to and understand. I think the only thing we could have improved on, was to have someone who could have answered in a more "everyday" kind of language, and that would have explained some big topics easier. But I guess that is where the Holy Spirit steps in and gives us the ears to hear and the wisdom to understand matters that relate to God. 


God has been so good this year and we keep hoping and praying for more!

High Country Adventure

Each year Cru takes our students on a Fall Retreat. This year we had the opportunity to partner with UNM's Cru, and come together as one large group. It was wonderful! We met at the Glorieta Retreat Center, just North of Santa Fe, New Mexico. I believe we had about 30 students from NMSU and UNM had 25 or so (because NMSU is better.) ;) As our keynote speaker we had a gentleman from the Missouri staff team fly in, and he did just an amazing job. His name was Justin, and he spoke on the importance of good Godly community, and how that is only achieved by genuine, vulnerable accountability. We were there Friday until Sunday, and during that weekend, Justin challenged the students with some difficult discussions. After each talk, the students would break up into groups and answer a set of questions. Doing a specific discussion (which was separated by gender) the students were asked to be vulnerable with each other, and to share their life story, the good and the ugly. You could just see the transformation in the students hearts as they started to understand their peers better. By catching a glimpse of their background, the facades came off, and there was nothing left to hide. I joked to a friend that "when all of the girls start crying, you know God is doing something." Seriously though, there is nothing more true or necessary in a Christian community than vulnerability. Without it, people will just play their parts, and do the status quo.

The worship team we pieced together out of our NMSU students did an awesome job, even in the higher altitude! During our time at HCA, we were able to have a men's/women's time. Holly Hoppe, one of our staff women, taught on the intimacy we were created to have with God. She shared that the only place we will find our satisfaction, self-worth, or identity has to be in God, otherwise we will be disappointed every time. It seems like an obvious statement, but this is something that women young and old battle all of their lives. Whether it is our accomplishments, popularity, money, men, intellect, ability, love from a parent, friend or companion, outward appearance, etc...we always try to put our worth in tangible things...but they always fail us. Even being a staff person, I could feel the Spirit moving in my own heart, along with the students. We are never to old or to wise to be convicted by the Lord of something else He needs to refine.

This weekend getaway was tremendously influential on our students, and such a refreshing blessing on us staff. We have been running at such a high speed to keep up with the semester and accomplish all we can within our limits, and it was so needed to just sit back and spend time with Jesus. He and the Spirit are the ones who accomplish anything good in this ministry, we are just the vessels...and it is so wonderful to be reminded of that. HCA was a success, thank you for your prayers.

Learning Can Be Tough

We are now a month into school and a month into my experience of being on staff with Cru. I will be the first person to admit that this is harder than I thought it would be. 

This is my first experience raising support in such a personal, hands on way. It is such a good challenge for me to learn how to be attentive to my supporters and to find ways to show them my appreciation.

Our staff team has wonderful men and women, working full time to spread the Gospel and reach the students on our campus. This year, God has allowed for us to be spread very thin. By thin I mean, I am the only female staff on campus. Holly Hoppe is getting ready to give birth to her and Vince's 3rd baby. Mandy and Brandon gave birth to their 2nd son Jude a 3 weeks ago, and you can pray for him and read about his incredible story at Mandy's blog.

So instead of our usual 3 full time women and 3 full time male staff members; there is Vince Hoppe, a male intern and myself. It is a blessing to have so little ability, because it give the Holy Spirit so much room to move! :)

We have such huge hopes and dreams for the students at NMSU, and the impact Jesus could make with enough momentum. There is so much I want to see happen, so much that God has laid on my heart. 

->We want to see Cru serving the campus and in turn, our campus serving the Las Cruces community. 
->We want us to live out the Gospel by bringing Kingdom to others like in Matthew 25. 

->Injustice issues way heavily on the hearts of our students and we desire to raise awareness amongst   the other on campus. 

->Living missional lifestyles by doing life and creating friendships with students on campus, different then ourselves. 

There is so much to do, so few people and so little time. The work is great, and the workers are few...but our numbers are growing and God is faithful!