Film We Created with Hopes of Spreading Virally on YouTube

a 4 minute film explaining what Jesus thinks of you - life, death and love of a savior.

Video Viral Launch Party Sharing Instructions

FallingPlates.com - a short film about life, death, and love

What a privilege to get to partner with you in using social media to reach and influence the world for Christ.

At some point today, will you take 15 minutes to share the video via your social media sites.

Below: Simple Sharing Instructions...

Some examples of what you can say in any social network, comment, message

ADD this exact line of text at the end of every comment you use (link and hashtag): http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo #FallingPlates

• Need to get right with God? http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo #FallingPlates
• This just blew my mind. Everybody needs to watch
• #FallingPlates gets me every time, keeps you thinking.
• Still my favorite video on @youtube...
• Watch this and spread it
• You HAVE to watch this video! Besides, you can spare 4 minutes, right?
• Completely worth the 4 minutes to watch this. #truth #payattention
• I cried watching this! #truth
• The #Gospel in 4 minutes. Watch this video its amazing: #JesusisLord #Christ #Jesus #salvation
• Very inspirational
• Watch this - simple, short presentation of the Gospel like you’ve never heard it before
• Watch this!! Its awesome
• Have you seen this video yet? I bet it’s going to go viral.
• This is awesome!
• Wonder what Jesus thinks of you?
• Genius display of the gospel!
• This is so creative, I love it.
• Hey @PERSON’sTwitterAccount, I want you to watch this then I want to talk about it with you.
• Myan Calendar end of world 12-21-12? Then better watch:
• [video] Spectacular! watch:
• A video with heart and emotion:

Most of your sharing can be done from YouTube

YouTube

After you watch the video,

1. Click the “Like” thumbs-up button
2. Click “Subscribe” button
3. Leave a comment in the comments section
4. Click “Post” to submit your comment
5. Click “Share” button to share it on other social networks
6. Click each of the icons for each social networks you use (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and lots more)
7. It is safe to log in with each of your social networks’ username and password for this process. It is secure and you are not authorizing YouTube to do anything beyond posting the contents you get to see prior to submitting.

Facebook

Facebook

1. Log in to your Facebook account
2. Select one of the suggested pre-written comments
3. Post a status update including the url to the video: http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo

Example: Wonder what Jesus thinks of you? http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo
Go to the groups you are part of and paste your status update and link there, too.

Twitter

1. Log into your twitter account.
2. Select one of the suggested pre-written comments
3. Including the video’s link: http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo
4. And include the hashtag #FallingPlates

Example: Need to get right with God? http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo #FallingPlates
Retweet 4-5+ times throughout the day, using different wording.
Send a tweet or a direct message to the most influential tweeters that follow you saying (Replace @THEIRuSERnAME with the person’s actual username):
#FallingPlates @THEIRuSERnAME Could your team use this? Please watch 4min video & forward http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo #TwitterStories

Pinterest

1. Log in to pinterest
2. Go to “Add +”
3. Click “Add a Pin”
4. Paste the video url: http://youtu.be/KGlx11BxF24
5. Click “Find Images”
6. Pick a “board” to pin it to, and add description
7. Click “Pin It”

Blog

• Write a short blog post in your personal ministry blog. Just paste the “Embed code” for #FallingPlates in a new posting so your readers can watch the video within your blog and not have to leave
• Contact a few of these top bloggers and ask them to include #FallingPlates in their blog. Here is a list of the top 200 top ministry blogs: http://churchrelevance.com/resources/top-church-blogs/

Texting

• Send a friend a text messages asking to watch the video and say: Sometime I’d like to get your thoughts on this new video: http://bit.ly/FallingPlatesVideo

• Send link of the video, then few hours later text them saying “did u get 2 watch the video?”

Other strategic spots to share:

Digg.com
ReddIt.com
StumbleUpon.com
LinkedIn.com

How Can We Increase Evangelism Effectiveness?

Discussion Questions

A few years ago, I led a national discussion in an effort to increase effectiveness in evangelism. These are the questions I asked:

1. What is impossible to do today, but if it could be done, would fundamentally change our evangelistic efforts for the better?
2. What are we really good at? Does anyone see a paradigm shift on the horizon coming our way? How does we need to change to remain relevant?
3. If we had to start from zero, from scratch, what would you do differently to enhance our focus on evangelism?
4. What strategy have you used to involve yourself in evangelism? What struggles are you facing?
5. How do you get students involved in student-to-student evangelism? How do you get adults involved in adult-to-adult evangelism?
6. What is the most insane idea you have that would appear foolish if God wasn’t in it?

How would you answer these questions?

Post your thoughts in the comments section...

Changed Lives :: Chattanooga

Here's a video telling Breon Thomas' powerful story of life change through the ministry of Student Venture - A poverty stricken African American kid who grow up in the projects and in shelters.

“my student venture leader impacted me, I’m one person and now I go out and impact others... you are now witnessing a generation that has the possibility to be transformed.  I think by investing in even one kid’s life, you are impacting the world!” - Breon

Breon is on a mission to show the love and joy that his relationship with Jesus has given him through the hand of music and dance. In high school, he was a servant leader in Student Venture starting lunch bible studies were the gospel of Jesus Christ was able to be shared with close to 75 teenagers a week.

Consider investing in changed lives.

Changed Lives :: Indianapolis, Students Reaching Their Friends

When our Executive Team discusses the different groups of people who can partner with us to reach out to students, we make sure our list includes “other students”. Students are most likely to listen to their fellow students when they share with them.  Students-reaching-students is a unique relationship because students share the same experiences and challenges and can easily relate.  When students share how God has rescued them from hopelessness and emptiness, students listen!
 
Often people don’t believe that students can lead other students to Christ or help them grow in their faith, but in Student Venture, we see every day that they can!
 
Thank you, dear friends, for supporting us and for caring about the hearts of students.  We consider it a joy to share this mission with you.

From High School to College

by Mark and Dawn Michal, staff in Indianapolis
 
Jacey (second from left) is a Sophomore at a different high school (Lawrence North) but has been coming to our meetings for a few years now.  She has had a heart to start a Student Venture ministry at her school and started this year with a Bible Study for her cross-country team.  The girls who have been coming to her study after practice range "from far from Christ" to "marginally Christian".
 
Jacey was able to bring four of her team members with her to the Student Venture Fastbreak Conference.  All of them grew spiritually and one of them, Abby, accepted Christ for the first time in her life!
 
Abby is so excited about her new relationship with Christ and Jacey is blown away by this change in her friend.  This is such a perfect example of how a teenager can make a difference.
 
Jacey could have easily just considered our Student Venture meetings a place for her to grow, but, instead, she saw it as a launching point to reach out to her friends.  She worked hard to get her friends to her small groups, stepped out and risked her relationships, and as a result, her friends are coming to Christ!

Changed Lives :: Northern Michigan, The Influence of Sisters

If you have a brother or sister, you probably remember how much influence they had in your life (and maybe still do).
 
This story shows the influence that one sister has with another, and it shows how others watch our behavior and are affected by it.  We are a witness for Christ – either for good or for bad.  Praise God, these girls are good ones!
 
Your influence is felt in the life of Student Venture, and it is a good one!  Thank you for partnering with us and supporting us—you are appreciated.

The Influence of Sisters

by Mike and Laurel Riley, Staff in Northern Michigan
The Influence of Sisters -----
By Mike and Laurel Riley, Staff in Northern Michigan
 
Jill (high school senior) attended our Myrtle Beach Getaway Conference last June for the first time. She was hugely impacted, and as a result, has touched her family – in particular, her younger sister and her mom --
 
One of the biggest things God did in Jill’s life at the Getaway was to show her that her life & faith story can touch the hearts and lives of others and bring them closer to knowing Christ in a personal way. Jill has grown by leaps and bounds in her faith this year – faithfully spending time in God’s Word, helping lead the freshman girls’ Bible study, helping start a small group Bible study with some friends, and inspiring her mom and sister Jayne (freshman) to start attending church again.
 
In early November I received this text message from Jill:
“I just led my sister [Jayne] to Christ! OH MY GOSH! I will never forget what she just said to me!”
 
Here is an excerpt from the letter Jayne wrote to Jill after begining her new relationship with Christ:
“Today I picked up my Bible for the very first time. I started reading Timothy’s chapter. Just from today, my relationship with God has started, and I can already feel it strengthening. I feel as if I can connect with God now and not feel weird about it. This all happened because of you. You are such a great role model and you continue to lead me down the right path. I want to be just like you.”

Changed Lives :: Carrollton Discipleship Chain Continues

Multiplication is in the forefront of our minds as we go about God's work. In fact, it is one of our three critical path steps (along with Launch and Involve) in reaching students. If staff were solely responsible for sharing Christ, then some students would hear. But when staff multiply themselves through students and the students multiply themselves through other students, then we have many more students hearing about the love and grace of Christ – that's multiplication.

Example of multiplication: we see students sharing their faith with other students, who share their faith with other students, and so on. God knew about "pyramid strategies" long before "pyramid schemes" came along!

While you probably will never meet these girls, you have played a role in their salvation - and multiplication - by your obedience to God and your partnership with us. We thank you.

One Reaches Two; Two Reach Four
by Tom and Bea Ann Bridges, staff serving in Dallas, TX

At the heart of this ministry, we are trusting God, by His Spirit, for spiritual multiplication among high school students.

Through your prayers and partnership, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord is raising up discipleship chains at Newman Smith High School. For example . . .

Sasha (volleyball captain and NSHS class of 2007), became a SV student leader and began to disciple Rani, who shared her testimony at an outreach.
. . Rani (volleyball captain and class of 2010), began to disciple Hanna.
. . . Hanna (varsity basketball player, class of 2011), began to mentor her younger sister Maddie
. . . . Maddie (varsity volleyball player, class of 2013) had an opportunity to lead her friend Kathryn to Christ at Fastbreak 2010
. . . . . Jenna (current volleyball captain and class of 2011), discipled by Sasha, is planning a volleyball outreach this semester.

Through sharing their faith individually and at group outreaches, these girls have seen many students give their lives to Christ in the past three years, and then have been actively involved in mentoring these young Christians.

All it takes is one student who leads another to Christ and disciples them for a year, and then the next year those two students each lead another to Christ and disciples them. Soon, thousands of students have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and are discipling others to do the same.

Please pray that this budding multiplication chain would continue to grow and bear much fruit and give great glory to God!

Changed Lives :: Coaching Center

The SV Coaching Center is comprised of staff who work via long distance with volunteers who wish to begin Student Venture in their area.  The Coaches train these volunteers, teaching them how to do ministry with high school students, and walking through the challenges, joys and “how-tos”.  These staff offer years of experience to help guide and teach those who have no experience but who do have a heart for high school students. This strategy is a way for ministry to happen in areas where Student Venture does not have staff.

Once again, we delight is God’s creativity in reaching people’s hearts.

Your support is important in reaching teenagers in whatever way God leads us.  You are a vital part of this ministry, and we value your involvement.      


And the Beat goes On
by Scott Livermore, SV Coaching Center
The heartbeat is a sign of life.  It can also be used as a metaphor for passion.  In Melissa’s case, I think it captures both of these ideas.

“All I have thought about since my seventh grade year was to do what Lindsey did with us.”  The heart of Melissa was captured not as much by the solid biblical interaction she received from her high school-aged spiritual mentor, but more that a peer cared enough about her and her friends to invest their life in them.  Move forward to her sophomore year in high school, Melissa began to meet with 2 seventh grade girls who would be the core of what now consists of more than 10 girls.  When she told her story to the girls, about how a high school student invested in her, the girls said that they too want to lead younger women when they get to high school.  Recently, one of the girls took a first step in that direction.

Kacy, an eighth grader and a basketball player, invited the team to her house.  They had food and interacted with one another after practice and then Kacy shared how she trusted Christ as her Savior and encouraged her friends to do the same.  Afterwards, Melissa stood up and shared how the girls could place their faith in Christ.  Eight of the girls who attended indicated that they trusted Christ and several others have asked to get together and talk more about the content of the meeting!

Melissa’s heartbeat for discipleship was fostered by the heart of her teenage mentor.  And it is Melissa’s heartbeat that has placed some of those seeds in the heart of Kacy and the rest of her girls.  It appears those seeds are being nurtured and will soon bloom into a new generation of spiritual laborers.

And the beat goes on.

Crutsinger 2009_05 Prayer Letter

Here is our prayer letter for this month featuring:

• Discipleship Project Beta
  
• Houston Fastbreak Workshop
  
• SLI Module 4: El Salvador
  
• Leadership Conference
  
• Dad’s Cancer
  
• Baby Boy #3, Due date
  
• Thank You
  

click on the images below to enlarge them to a size where you can read them:

click on the images above to enlarge them to a size where you can read them...

Here's the text:
May 2009 Crutsinger Prayer Update

Emerging Strategies = "The Cutting Edge of Strategic Learning, Innovation and Resource Development to Accelerate the Ministry of Turning Lost Students into Christ-Centered Laborers"

“Essentials” Discipleship Project Update

OVERVIEW:  The Essentials of Spiritual Growth and Multiplication has now become a proven tool that has been used effectively in multiple contexts.  The purpose of the Assessment and Expansion Project is to fine tune the resource itself (assessment) and then seek to significantly increase its worldwide usage (expansion).  We have completed the first eight lessons.  I have about 75 staff around the country being beta testers.  The initial feedback is very encouraging!  Even the high school students using them as they disciple their peers have communicated their excitement.

    Have you made intensive efforts towards spiritual growth and multiplication with limited results?  We have observed that the lack of success is not due to a lack of effort.  The secret is to make it easy.

     Steve Douglass, Campus Crusade President, invested significant personal time to help us craft a single innovative resource that encapsulates many of the best practices seen globally. Essentials is very unique. It is not like other discipleship resources.

     Since 2005, hundreds of field staff and students have wrestled with the Essentials content resulting in significant modifications.  It has been revised over and over again, maximized to the point where you will quickly see your small group participants experience, first-hand, the core DNA of Win, Build, and Send.  It is new, yet you can have complete confidence in proven results.

     I guarantee that you and other small group leaders will easily grasp the Essentials strategy in this intuitive framework.  In the redesign, I’ve strived to make the discipleship process extremely easy to understand, experience, and replicate.

     Few resources are able to bridge multiple people groups like Essentials. Essentials has proven to be effective with a variety of ethnic, international, high school, university and adult audiences.  At it’s core, Essentials is about experiences and discussions – two universal ways to connect with anyone.

     I now want to invite you to test it out!  Because of your partnership with our family, I want to resource you, but I also want to listen to you.  Being a digital resource, I will still continue to make ongoing improvements in response to your personal expertise and advice.

     To show our appreciation for you, I want to give you a free beta copy of Essentials of Spiritual Growth and Multiplication.  If Essentials does not live up to your standards, you can always resort to other options for discipleship materials.

To download your free copy, visit

http://essentials.ccci.org

Houston Fastbreak

   The current Houston director, Barry Bowling, was the SV staffer who started SV in my high school when I was still a student in 1985.  Many things I learned when he discipled me shaped my passion for student multiplication.  Over this past Winter break, I flew to Texas to visit the 2009 Houston Fastbreak Student Conference.  I was able to help Barry with a student leader workshop focusing on multiplying discipleship.  What an encouragement to see students of multiple ethnicities being raised up to directly impact their own campuses.  Some of these students were already using the Essentials discipleship strategy!  Pray these students and those from all our conferences nationwide remain connected to the Father and committed to His plans.

Senior Leadership Module 4 - El Salvador

   I am in the final stretch of my two year Senior Leadership Initiative.  We met in El Salvador where our theme was “the relationships of the leader.”   One assignment involved us interviewing 5 highly influential business leaders in their country, inquiring about the importance of relationships to their effectiveness as leaders.  Also during the week we covered volumes of very practical content: Leadership Derailers, Coaching Over Distance, Leading with Questions, Five Components of a Healthy Team, Developing Trust as a Leader, Feedback Culture, Managing Conflict, and Importance of Self Awareness.  The highlight for me was hearing from three global Campus Crusade leaders who each shared openly about their “Leadership Journey.”

SV National Leadership Conference

   What percentage of your time are you working IN your organization, and what percentage of your time are you working ON it? In our National Team role, we find that in order to build Student Venture into a stronger and healthier ministry for the long run, we need to pull back from being immersed in the work that needs to be done.  We have the responsibility to make whatever necessary changes organizationally to accomplish our mission through short term and long term strategies.

   Last week, we returned from our annual SV National Leadership Conference where we hosted all of our SV city directors.  This is only our second opportunity to meet together since the transition to our current National Team.  We went to great effort to roll out our new National Strategic Planning Process and align our directors with it.  Based on the evaluations, it looks like we achieved our goal that the directors would leave the conference empowered, encouraged, aligned and informed.

Dad’s Cancer

   My father (Howard) has another scheduled biopsy May 20 on an enlarging spot seen on his latest CT scan of his lungs.  Please continue to pray.  He’s been off chemo and radiation for a few months which has helped him recover quite a bit.

Homefront - Baby on the Way!

   Laura is counting the days until the birth of our third little boy!  We’re due around June 26.  With just a few weeks left, we are scurrying around trying to get ready.  Cooper and Ben can’t wait to meet their baby brother.  We still can’t believe we’re going to have three boys!

   Yesterday we decided the time had arrived for Benjamin to have his first haircut.  It was hard for us to depart with his long bright blond curls.  Howard believes all our kids are destined for future baldness, so he wanted Ben to cherish these days with hair!

   Benjamin is obsessed with any sports “ball” and Cooper is our social butterfly who loves to be at preschool with his friends.

Thank You

   Knowing that you are partnering with and praying for our ministry and our family is so encouraging.  We are grateful and humbled.  You are making an impact in students everywhere!

Grateful for your Partnership,
Howard & Laura Crutsinger

Changed Lives :: Carrollton

Our staff always enjoy sharing the Gospel and seeing students come to Christ.  It is doubly enjoyable to see the “student chain” which results when students share Christ with students who share Christ with students, and so on.
 
The story below is just such a chain: one student led a friend to Christ, who led a friend to Christ, who led... That’s the core of Win-Build-Send!

When Christ awakens a heart, other hearts are awakened and new souls enter into the family of God. Thank you for helping bring those souls into the family!

The Student Chain
by Tom and Bea Ann Bridges, SV staff in Dallas

On April 22, we held a Newman Smith HS, student-led volleyball outreach! We partnered with Prince of Peace Lutheran to provide the food, and with First Baptist for the volleyball courts.  About 100 students attended the event and had great fun, met new friends, ate hot dogs, chips, chili, drinks and dessert for FREE, and best of all, heard the Gospel from their peers. Six students indicated they had placed their faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, and several others requested more information or want to get involved with Student Venture!
 
Marvin and Jose, although nervous beforehand, spoke calmly, boldly and clearly when sharing their testimony in Christ. Marvin became a Christian 15 months ago at our Fastbreak conference as a result of his friend and SV student leader, Jordan. Jordan became a Christian through the influence of his friend and SV student leader RJ. RJ became a Christian through the influence of his friend and SV student leader Jared, who was discipled in 2001 by Howard Crutsinger. Marvin is continuing the spiritual multiplication chain as he invited Jose to our Fastbreak conference three months ago, and Jose gave his life to Christ! The change in their lives are evident to their friends, and both he and Marvin are currently in a SV Bible study, and are getting their friends to go with them to the summer conference in June.

Chain of Discipleship - December, Prayer Letter Update

Here is our prayer letter for this month featuring:

• Your Picture In This Chain of Discipleship
  

click on the image below to enlarge it to a size where you can read it:



click on the image above to enlarge it to a size where you can read it:


Here's the text:
December 2008 Crutsinger Prayer Update

"Your Role In The Chain of Discipleship"

Seeing a disciple become a disciple maker is exciting. It really gets exciting when you start to draw out your discipleship chain. Your disciples who discipled others who discipled others...

Paul’s theme statement on discipleship was 2 Timothy 2:2. “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others also.” The principle of great discipleship is spiritual multiplication, not simply winning a person to Christ. Wining someone is adding to the kingdom. Not 2 + 2 + 2, but 2 x 2 x 2. This verse transforms addition to multiplication. The emphasis goes beyond winning one person, to investing your life in that person, who will be qualified to mature another disciple who will in turn teach others. Producing disciples.

What I think is incredible is that your investment in our ministry places you into each discipleship chain! Without the prayer and contributions of ministry partners, we would not be freed up to do the ministry God has called us to. And because of people like you, students are being, and have been, discipled all over the world.

I (Howard) was discipled in 1989 in SV. I was able to disciple Jared (class of 2005), who discipled Matt (class of 2006), who helped Jenny (class of 2007) get started and then discipled by our staff girl Nikki. Matt then discipled Dave (class of 2008), who is discipling RJ (class of 2010). RJ invited Jordan who gave his life to Christ at the 2007 SV Summer Conference. RJ is helping Jordan grow steadily in his faith, and his mom said how happy she was to see the transformation that has been happening in her son. Jordan has a desire to reach his friends for Christ and recruited his friend Daniel to the SV Winter Conference where Daniel gave his life to Christ! The next day Daniel asked, “do you think I can be in the discipleship chain?” Each of these students led (or is leading) discipleship groups with their peers, seeing several of them come to Christ over the years.

This is God’s work. It is not about us, but about Him. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” All of our staff disciple students to send them into the culture equipped with the Gospel for a lifetime. Chains like this are occurring in lives all over the country.

Because of your partnership, eight generations of spiritual multiplication is happening, and this is only one of many examples. Please pray this vision of multiplication would expand to reach every student on every campus, their families, and ultimately the world! Laura and I count on the generous support of people like you to continue to bring hope to students everywhere and to help them move their lives toward Christ.

We know how much the economy is affecting many of our supporters, and so we are especially thankful and grateful for your sacrificial giving toward the building of His kingdom. Thank you so much!

Grateful for your Partnership,
Howard & Laura Crutsinger

November, Prayer Letter Update - Page 1 & 2

Here is our prayer letter for this month featuring:

• Essentials of Spiritual Growth & Multiplication Project
• Senior Leadership Module 3
• Will It Solve The Problem?
• Dad’s Cancer
• Launching SV in College Towns
• Thank You

click on the images below to enlarge them to a size where you can read them:





click on the images above to enlarge them to a size where you can read them...

Here's the text:
November 2008 Crutsinger Prayer Update

Emerging Strategies = "The Cutting Edge of Strategic Learning, Innovation and Resource Development to Accelerate the Ministry of Turning Lost Students into Christ-Centered Laborers"

Essentials of Spiritual Growth & Multiplication Project
We are creating a discipleship tool written by Campus Crusade President Steve Douglass to help students grow in Christ and get involved in ministry and spiritual multiplication as soon as possible.
Globally there are 3 “Styles of Learning”:

• Literary
• Primary Orality (cannot read)
• Secondary Orality (can, but will not read)

Today, 58% of adults after college will never read another book. 2/3 of the world can’t, don’t, or won’t read… therefore they cannot hear our message through text. They are deaf to the Gospel b/c it is not presented to them in a way that gets to their heart. Ironically, 90% of all Christian ministry today occurs through literate communication styles! My department’s goal in resource development is to incorporate several active learning strategies: visual, hands-on, immediate application, discussion, memory, arts, video & easy transferability.

This “Essentials” series takes into account that today’s high school and college students are post-modern in philosophy and are secondary oral learners (people who can read but do not prefer to learn by reading). They are highly relational and make sense of the world through their experiences, story and discussion.

How it works: No lectures here—the group discovers Biblical truth together through a directed discussion around a passage of Scripture rather than a workbook or other written materials. Group leaders are provided with a session preparation checklist and lead from a group discussion outline. Group members keep a “mini-journal” that records what they learn from each discussion, and action to take and a person to tell.

So, what’s the big deal? We presented our design concept to Steve Douglass and he loved it! We are praying this new delivery method and new layout will exponentially increase and radically deepen spiritual multiplication all over the country!

Please pray we get a field test version of the first four lessons complete by Feb. 4.

Senior Leadership Module 3
We had a great module focusing on “execution” with a particular spin on how you have to adjust from doing things yourself to execute well through others. The basis was the “Stellar Execution” model by Bob Lewis. Each component has 2 axes—”defined” and “practiced or applied”. Four components are: 1) Achieving strategic clarity; 2) Building leadership competency; 3) Acquiring process capability; and 4) Creating a culture of accountability.

We took a Backstage Magic Tour at Disney giving us a look at a large company with a great reputation for executing well everyday. We then did an assessment of 3 national CCC ministries – Canada, US Ministries, US Campus- by teams using the stellar execution model. We identified strengths and gaps in the current level of execution, as well as developed an action plan to bridge the gaps. Included was a “start, stop, keep, improve” exercise for the first component- strategic clarity.

In the final afternoon, we looked at the character structure of a leader and how that impacts the ability to execute well. The “Growth Model” is something we use to teach about creating the right environment for character growth—based on Henry Cloud’s work (Changes that Heal). We considered what the impact of a leader who is “all truth, no grace,” or “all grace, no truth.” We discussed how a leader’s ability in love/bonding, responsibility/self-control, forgiveness (dealing with both good and bad), and authority impact execution.

I will have to report on progress made in “execution” within Student Venture during Module 4 in April 09.

Will It Solve The Problem?
My SLI team of six were “hired” (for free) by the National Team of Campus Ministries to solve a critical two part problem. Our vision: 1) All strategic roles are filled. 2) Veteran staff find ways to move into strategic roles that fit them well. Our mission: 1) Analyze the cultural problem of veteran staff not moving into strategic organizational roles. 2) Propose a blueprint for cultural change that will address this problem. After six months of intense research, on October 20, we presented our Strategic Solution: Four steps to capturing the contributions of our most experienced staff. A principle and founder of a multi-million dollar firm that consults the nuclear power industry read our report very carefully and he was thoroughly impressed saying, “there are many important findings in this report, as well as some great solutions.” He also said that in the business world you would pay $100,000 for a study and report like this. Pray that the implementation of our solution would achieve the desired results!

Dad’s Cancer
My father (Howard) is doing great battling his brain and lung cancer. Dec 15 will be his one year anniversary of the diagnosis. He is currently on chemo and radiation sabbatical until the doctors conclude if further treatment is necessary. He is a trooper! Please pray his medical reports continue to come back with good news.

Launching SV in College Towns
Kendra is a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and active in the Cru (college) ministry. She is married to Nate, a farmer. During the summer of 2007, she worked at a summer camp for teens. When she got back to school in the fall she asked one girl from the camp, who lived near IUP, if she wanted to be in a small group. This soon expanded to include up to 20 girls from the basketball team and the cheerleaders. Kendra recognized that students can lead and she began to help some of the girls reach their friends. As the year progressed they saw other college students and a mom get involved. Because Kendra was familiar with Student Venture, she and Nate took some students SV’s Fastbreak in New York in February. Kendra began to sense the tug to consider interning with Student Venture.

During this past summer, Kendra and Nate began a weekly co-ed Bible study. IUP local leader, Phil Floyd, and Student Venture coach, Shawn Basone, are working together to help Kendra keep Win/Build/Send in their Bible Study’s DNA. During a training segment of each week, they are taking time to go through the CoJourners evangelism training. They are being purposeful about taking students out to share their faith. Recently, they invited a staff member in the region to lead an evangelism training. Kendra was encouraged to have about 15 teens and 15 college students come out. College and high school students paired up to go out witnessing. According to Kendra some of the college students had either never shared their faith or it was the first time since Summer Project. They were encouraged by the younger kids’ faith. Some of these students continue to look for sharing opportunities. Kendra and Lizzie went out to follow up a girl that came to their Bible study. After they went through the Gospel, the girl said she had already trusted Christ when she attended Kendra’s study.

In the coming weeks, Kendra and the teens are planning an outreach that will include students from two different high schools. They are already recruiting high school students to go to the Winter Conference, where they will have a high school student track. And they are making plans to take a group of IUP and high school students on a Student Venture mission to St. Petersburg, Russia in the Spring. College students, a USCM staff, a SV staff and others in the region are all working together to see an exciting ministry among high schools students grow. Please pray many other SV movements will be launched by college students!

Thank You
Helping provide national leadership to Student Venture is a huge honor and responsibility. We see your partnership as being critical. Thank you for your prayers and support!

Grateful for your Partnership,
Howard & Laura Crutsinger

Carrollton ministry update - 5 Generations in Discipleship Chain!

Laura and I were leading the ministry in Carrollton, TX for years before transitioning to our current recruiting role in Orlando. We had to transition most of the ownership of the ministry to our student disciples and two staff who focused on the Carrollton ministry part-time. The following story of several Newman Smith High School students in Carrollton really encapsulates what we are trusting the Lord to do through this ministry. Thank you for praying this through!

Jared Lyons, a freshmen at the time, got plugged into Student Venture through a football outreach I led. He later attended our summer conference (Rocky Mountain Getaway) in 2002 and recommitted his life to Christ. He then began to help disciple an upcoming freshmen student, Matt Rucker, for the next three years. Matt attended the Rocky Mountain Getaway in 2003 and recommitted his life to Christ, and began to co-lead a student bible study with Jared in 2004 and 2005. During this time, Matt and Jared saw many students come to Christ and they began to follow them up in their weekly bible study. One of those students who started attending their bible study was Jorge. Jorge had been dating Jenny for 2 years, but then Jenny attended our winter conference, Fastbreak) in January of 2005,and after rededicating her life to Christ, called off her relationship with Jorge because Jenny was a Christian and Jorge was not. Jenny began sharing Christ with all of her friends and saw several of them place their faith in Christ and began a bible study that she helped to organize. Recently she led her atheist friend to Christ!

Anyway, two weeks after the break-up with Jenny, Jorge attended a Super Bowl outreach where Jenny helped share the Gospel message to the 80 students who attended. Although he indicated a decision to receive Christ, he really was not sincere. Several months later, and after he would avoid getting together with Jared and Tom (SV staff guy) for follow up, he attended a student –led bible study led by Matt Rucker in September of 2005. When Matt saw that there were several new non-Christians attending his study, he abandoned the bible study content for the day and shared the Gospel and Jorge sincerely trusted in Christ that afternoon. He then began coming to the weekly bible study, attending church, and growing in his faith. He then went to Fastbreak in mid January ‘06 where he really caught a vision for reaching his campus for Christ after he led 4 students to Christ on the day of outreach!

1 month ago, his good friend Ozzie (a senior and the father of a 6 month boy), came to Christ after Jorge witnessed to him and brought him to a church camp. Ozzie began coming to a weekly SV bible study with Jorge, and a short time later Jorge and Ozzie decided that they would start a weekly bible study group for their non-Christian friends. Eddie, their good friend and a non-Christian, has been attending the study, and although he initially resisted the Gospel, just came to Christ two weeks ago after Jorge invited him to attend a Christian event!!

Because of your partnership, five generations of spiritual multiplication is happening, and the chain is in it’s infancy! Please pray this vision of multiplication would expand to reach the entire campus, their families, and ultimately the world!

The 30 Football Guys Who Trusted Christ

In Student Venture we're all about evangelism and discipleship. We want to share with students how they can know Christ personally and how they can grow in their faith. Then we want to equip them to reach out to others, to use their natural sphere of influence to have a personal ministry while they're still in high school. Many students make a very significant impact on their campus before they graduate.

In this process of evangelism and discipleship, one of the distinctives of our ministry is that we go to the students, to their world. We don't wait for them to come to us. Many times we approach this through group outreaches. In the fall, there are lots of large, responsive groups to reach into. The band, the cheerleaders and the football team are three prime groups that we try to reach this time of year. The story below is an exciting look at what can happen when we go to the students. These are some of my former disciples in Carrollton, Texas.

>>>Jared Lyons is a senior on the football team at Newman Smith High School. Although he became a Christian at a young age, in the fall of his freshman year he took the first steps in growing in his faith when he attended a freshmen football team meeting hosted by Student Venture. That summer, he rededicated his life to Christ at the Student Venture Getaway. For the last few years he has been involved in Student Venture in weekly Bible studies, winter and summer conferences, and a summer missions trip.

After the last SV conference in December, he felt the Lord placing it on his heart to have an outreach for the freshman football team at his school in the spring. In April, Jared invited the entire freshmen team to an Iron Stomach contest similar to the one he attended as a freshman 2 years ago.

Twenty-five freshman football players and one coach showed up. A JV football player, who became a Christian through Student Venture his freshman year, also came and shared his testimony about the difference that Christ had made in his life. After the testimony, Jared explained the Gospel and extended an invitation to trust Christ. Five players indicated a decision to place their faith in Christ that day! In addition, ten JV football players agreed to attend the weekly freshmen follow up Bible study to help disciple one of the younger players. (Many of these JV players have become Christians in the last 12 months and have been discipled by one of the SV staff.)

Although Jared was excited about seeing several of the freshmen respond to Christ, there was still 30 other freshmen players who did not attend the outreach. So Jared had another outreach for the freshmen team! Twenty more players came out and five more placed their faith in Christ!

A follow up Bible study started up and one of the JV players, Matt Rucker, led one of the freshmen players, Robert, to Christ during the study. Several new guys came to the study and Robert, who had been a Christian for one week, led his friend to Christ using the Connecting With God booklet that Matt had used to lead him to Christ the week before.

In the last two years, 30 guys from the JV football team have come to Christ through a SV staff member or student sharing the Connecting With God booklet with them. Most of them have been regularly attending a Bible study group at Matt Rucker's home. They want to see the same thing happen with the freshmen football team, who they hope will catch the same vision and reach out to the incoming freshmen football team this fall.

Matt and Jared continue to lead the freshmen group in the study and have included the varsity football players in the bible study this fall. They are currently recruiting all of them to attend this years' Student Venture Fastbreak (our winter conference) in Austin, TX. They hope that their disciples will continue to reach out to incoming freshmen football teams, and leave a legacy for Christ at their high school.