Downloadable copy of the Falling Plates Script

Script to the FallingPlates video

#FallingPlates is on YouTube and it is going global. Almost daily, international emails come to me requesting additional subtitles / closed captions in their own language so they can share it with their friends.

I've been crowd sourcing the translation work by involving volunteers to do the translating.

The script is short - only 189 words.

If you have a language you'd like included in the closed captions, it is very quick and simple.

1) Email me at: FallingPlatesVideo@gmail.com
2) I'll email you back a link to a Google Doc where you can quickly enter the new translation.
3) I'll post it to YouTube as a new transcript.

Script with Precise Timecodes

0:00:07.200,0:00:09.000
You.

0:00:09.000,0:00:10.900
Look at your eyes.

0:00:10.900,0:00:12.200
Look at them.

0:00:12.200,0:00:14.100
Speckled.

0:00:14.100,0:00:17.000
Colorful.

0:00:17.000,0:00:19.000
Each one unique.

0:00:19.000,0:00:22.000
And I created every one of them.

0:00:23.000,0:00:25.100
I created -- everything.

0:00:25.100,0:00:27.000
The universe.

0:00:27.000,0:00:28.500
And you.

0:00:29.000,0:00:31.000
I gave you your personality.

0:00:34.000,0:00:36.000
I made you pure.

0:00:36.900,0:00:38.300
Complex.

0:00:39.500,0:00:41.300
And every day

0:00:41.300,0:00:43.200
I give you life.

0:00:44.000,0:00:45.800
I love you.

0:00:46.600,0:00:48.500
But something happened.

0:00:50.000,0:00:51.800
You cheated on me.

0:00:53.200,0:00:55.000
You didn't trust me.

0:00:56.500,0:00:57.500
You sinned.

0:00:57.500,0:01:00.000
[Falling plates crashing]

0:01:03.900,0:01:06.500
You cut yourself off from me.

0:01:06.500,0:01:09.500
And although you're still alive...

0:01:09.500,0:01:11.200
you are slowly dying.

0:01:13.800,0:01:15.500
So you looked for other things...

0:01:18.000,0:01:19.500
[happiness]

0:01:20.100,0:01:21.300
[sex]

0:01:21.400,0:01:23.100
To fill the void.

0:01:25.000,0:01:27.000
But nothing works.

0:01:30.000,0:01:31.000
[Falling plates crashing]

0:01:31.900,0:01:34.000
It just kills you faster.

0:01:34.800,0:01:37.000
And it separates us more and more...

0:01:37.000,0:01:38.100
[Falling Plates crashing]

0:01:42.100,0:01:43.800
What are you searching for?

0:01:44.000,0:01:44.800
[acceptance]

0:01:46.000,0:01:46.700
[intimacy]

0:01:47.800,0:01:49.000
[love]

0:01:57.500,0:02:00.100
[Falling plates crashing]

0:02:01.100,0:02:03.000
I don't want you to die.

0:02:04.700,0:02:06.400
I created you.

0:02:06.500,0:02:08.300
Not to be destroyed.

0:02:09.000,0:02:11.000
But to know me.

0:02:11.900,0:02:14.000
So I became one of you.

0:02:15.000,0:02:17.200
A fragile creation.

0:02:18.900,0:02:20.700
I was tempted.

0:02:22.300,0:02:24.100
But I never sinned.

0:02:26.000,0:02:28.100
I came to save you.

0:02:29.100,0:02:31.300
You have so many sins.

0:02:31.500,0:02:33.500
And they have a cost.

0:02:33.500,0:02:35.900
Someone has to die.

0:02:35.900,0:02:37.000
You --

0:02:37.000,0:02:38.400
or Me.

0:02:38.900,0:02:41.000
So I took on your sin.

0:02:42.400,0:02:45.000
And traded in my life for yours.

0:02:46.800,0:02:48.400
And I died,

0:02:48.400,0:02:51.000
in your place.

0:02:53.000,0:02:56.000
Because I love you.

0:02:57.800,0:02:59.200
Then --

0:03:14.700,0:03:16.800
I rose from the dead.

0:03:17.400,0:03:19.800
I am the Way.

0:03:19.800,0:03:21.000
The Truth.

0:03:21.000,0:03:22.500
And the Life.

0:03:22.500,0:03:24.600
I am Jesus.

0:03:25.600,0:03:28.000
I'm not here to condemn you.

0:03:28.300,0:03:30.700
I came to bring you back to life.

0:03:32.000,0:03:33.700
Rely on me.

0:03:34.500,0:03:36.600
I will forgive you.

0:03:37.200,0:03:40.000
And give you eternal life.

0:03:41.700,0:03:44.300
I love you.

0:03:44.300,0:03:46.200
And I did all of this

0:03:46.200,0:03:50.000
to have a relationship with you.

0:03:53.100,0:03:55.000
Will you follow me?

Here is a list of translations as of early January

English
Spanish
Russian
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (China)
Chinese (Singapore)
Chinese (Hong Kong)
Chinese (Taiwan)
Chinese (Traditional)
Albanian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Ethiopia (Amharic)
Hungarian
French
Italian
Croatian
Polish
Ukranian
Malay
Slovak

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

2011-05 Ministry Update

Two Significant Advances:

• Video Training
• Mobile Phone Applications

Transitioning Volunteer Training to VIDEO

Today, 58% of adults after college will never read another book! Instead they spend 4 hours a day watching TV and 3 hrs listening to the radio. They absorb info still, but not in written form. And since more than 50% in the US prefer to hear than read, we’ve felt the need to adapt our training. Who has the time, or interest, in reading a 3-ring binder training manual? Our goal has been to shorten, simplify, and when possible, convert to interactive video. We want to value the time of volunteers. They shouldn’t spend all of their volunteer hours in training, but rather being freed up to minister to students.

Going Mobile! -- iPhone & Android

Most adults can remember life in the “B.C.” days... not “before Christ,” but “before CELLPHONES.” Hard to imagine that most teenagers have never known life without such technologies. Very soon, especially for students, mobile phones will overtake the computer as the most popular way to get on the Web! My hope is that Student Venture will quickly advance our digital strategies to be fully prepared for these rapidly changing times. We’re creating Campus Crusade’s first ever mobile app for training staff & volunteers!


Our goal: Train Student Venture volunteers in a new way; using the most popular personal electronic device of every high school student, their mobile phone. Create a custom mobile application on both iPhone and Android platforms for Student Venture.


Our ambitious launch date: July 15, in time for SV's all staff training this summer. This initial “1.0” in-house demonstration will include enough functionality for SV staff and volunteers to get an idea of what is being developed. When it is launched, Student Venture's app will be offered in the iTunes App Store and the Google Android App Store as a free application to users.


Primary initial purpose of the phase 1.0 mobile application: To deliver SV's new volunteer training curriculum with video and textual content to Student Venture's volunteers.



History: The company helping us develop the mLearning app has been refining their skills the last 18 months where they launched a pilot project in Kenya for Nairobi School of Theology. A Kenyan newspaper reported last week that two different groups took the same course - one group participated remotely using a mobile phone, the other group attended physical classes at the university.


Statistics from pilot: Only 60% of the students who attended the physical classroom completed the course (40% drop out rate); yet, 100% of the mLearning remote students completed the same course!


Observations: “What we noticed is that students who physically came to attend lectures rarely made it through all the classes because of busy schedules and heavy traffic. Those who used the mobile phones had an easier time as they could comfortably access all the content.”

Web Evangelism Statistics

Here are stats from two of our evangelistic websites. We are continually trying to learn ways to tweak our marketing campaigns using Google Ads to make it easier for those searching for God online.

THE HOME FRONT:

Two Major Surgeries - On Same Day...

Cole: adenoids removed + tubes put in his ears
Ben: adenoids & tonsils removed

Family Watched Final Launch of the Endeavor Space Shuttle

We took our kids on a 5 hour round-trip drive to the east coast to watch the final launch of the Endeavor Space Shuttle.

Going Bass Fishing

The retention pond behind our house has provided some family entertainment. One recent evening, Laura caught this 4.5 LBS bass. I couldn’t allow my sweet wife to beat me, so I caught this 5 LBS bass about 30 minutes later!

Cooper Lost His First Tooth

Cooper and Ben Playing T-Ball

Cooper & Benjamin are wrapping up their first season playing T-Ball. It has been hilarious watching. At this entry level, the only objective is to let everyone hit while the opposing team attempts to field the ball & throw it to first base.

Pictured above, Ben’s throwing the ball to Cooper on 1st base. Cooper said, “Ben threw the ball at my face. I put my glove up so I wouldn’t get hit & the ball landed inside it!”

Residential Burglaries

We’ve had some drama in our neighborhood lately -helicopters, police dogs, undercover cops, deputies in our front yard with guns drawn! There is evidence that the L.A. gang, The Crips, have moved in. (I guess gated communities only keep honest people out.) Within a 38 day timespan, there were 7 separate residential burglaries on our street! And over the last 4 years, our kid’s dvd player has been stolen out of our van. The police have arrested two kids so far, but I don’t believe that’ll be the end of the crime, but we’re shopping for another DVD player!

Family Pics

Grateful for your Partnership,

Thank you for undergirding our family and our ministry in your prayers.

Complete Letter

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

Video I Created of Japan Devastation to Lead Viewers to Biblical Perspectives

I created a 4 minute video with pictures from yesterday's earthquake/tsunami in Japan.

My desire was to lead people to pray, but also to lead seekers to EveryStudent.com, one of our key web strategies.

My description includes:
For help in finding answers about "Where is God in the Midst of Tragedy?" visit: http://bit.ly/WhereIsGodInTragedy 

The YouTube video, "65 devastating photos of Japan Tsunami" can be found on Student Venture's YouTube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqKGFQzYqD8

It is also on Student Venture's Facebook Fan Page here:
http://www.facebook.com/studentventure

On Student Venture's Twitter page here:
https://twitter.com/#!/studentventure

And on my personal Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/crutsinger

If you visit any of the links above, please click "Like" and/or make a comment so that it will boost its rankings in YouTube and in Facebook so that more people could be ministered to.

I'm embedding the video here in our blog:

 

Changed Lives :: Plano, A Student Experiences God at Work

Part of our Student Conferences is giving the students an opportunity to share their faith in the community where the conference is held.  They are armed with a short 5-question inoffensive survey to open a conversation, a Connecting with God booklet that talks about Jesus and having a person relationship with Him, and the Holy Spirit!   We’ll take the students to a mall, on the beach or even to area neighborhoods.
 
This story is about an outreach at one of our conferences and a student’s experience in sharing Jesus.
 
This student’s life (and the lives of the girls at McDonalds) will never be the same because she experienced the Holy Spirit working through her to bring someone to Christ.  Thank you for making it possible for us to be on the field, hold these conferences, and give students opportunities to share.  Lives are changed because you are faithful.

 

A Student Experiences God at Work

by Nicole Matuska, staff serving in Plano, TX

 
Mackenzie is a senior at Plano HS and went to our FastBreak Winter Conference.  Here is her story about sharing Jesus...
 
"When the Student Venture bus dropped me and the other campers off at a McDonald's in South Dallas, I wasn’t super excited to share the Gospel with strangers. In fact, there was a spiritual battle raging in my heart and I felt very discouraged. It was my 6th outreach with Student Venture and I had never experienced a stranger accepting Christ.
 
I always have trouble initiating a conversation, so this year I decided to use the MLK- themed survey to start conversations. This particular outreach I felt very successful in the conversations that my bi-lingual partner, Vidi, and I had with shoppers and employees at the local Fiesta supermarket. Although all the people we talked to considered themselves Christians, none of them had ever heard about having a personal relationship with God. Vidi and I got to explain the gospel to them and they let us pray for them, but none of them were comfortable saying the prayer themselves at that moment. Already the outreach was going better than I had ever experienced before, and it was only going to get better from there!
 
As all of the Plano and Carrolton students were gathering in front of McDonalds waiting for the bus, my good friend Bola spotted two teenage girls that she wanted to talk to and asked me to go with her. We awkwardly began by asking them the first three survey questions and asked them if they knew that God wanted to have a personal relationship with them;one of the girls said no and the other said yes. So we continued sharing the gospel with them, making it clear that God wants them as they are, and that we can only depend on Jesus’ death on the cross for salvation. As the bus pulled up to the edge of the street, one of the girls accepted Christ and the other rededicated her life to Christ.
 
I felt very excited as I walked onto the bus because although I was physically there and technically I shared the Gospel with the two girls, it wasn’t me at all. God had done all the work by preparing the girls’ hearts beforehand and speaking to them through me and Bola. I realized that this outreach went so well because I was trusting God to speak through me instead of trying so hard to share the good news in my own strength."

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 :: So. Idaho, From High School To College

Over the last couple of years, Student Venture and the Campus Ministry (Crusade’s ministry to college students, a.k.a. Cru) have focused a great deal on the partnership between us, which God is using to mightily increase our abilities and opportunities to reach high school students. It is a natural partnership and a win-win situation.

Another focus for Student Venture is connecting our graduated SV students with their college’s Cru to continue their spiritual growth, training and influence.

Today’s story represents both priorities:
• The O’Briens, who wrote this story, work with Boise State students and with high schools in that area;
• Jared, who is now in college and involved with Cru, was involved with SV in high school.
We look forward to what God will do through our partnership!

As Thanksgiving approaches, we remember you with sincere thanks to God for your partnership.  We pray that God will fill your heart with all He is and all He does for you, His cherished child.

From High School to College

by Matt and Kim O’Brien, Senior staff reaching HS and College students in So. Idaho


Jared first got involved with Student Venture before coming to Boise State.  Last month, Ryan, after wrestling through his objections to Christianity, placed his faith in Jesus after two years of being influenced by his friend, Jared.  
 
In September, Ryan (pictured at right) came to our fall retreat. One of the realities that kept him from surrendering to Jesus was the realization that the decision would result in significant life changes. A couple days after the retreat Ryan sat in his parked car and talked with God. After 45 minutes, he eventually surrendered his life to Jesus!
 
Since placing his trust in Jesus, Ryan has said: “It’s been awesome! I really needed this. I feel like I need to tell people about this. . . I believe my purpose is to talk with people that others won’t approach.
 
A few weeks ago Ryan stood in front of 50+ students at our weekly meeting and said, “If you just accepted Christ, you might not feel like you have the ability to spread the Word and share with people. I just want to urge you guys to do it.”

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.

Changed Lives :: Indianapolis

Over the years we have been sharing these stories, you may realize we take all opportunities to get in front of students so they know who our staff are and hopefully become interested in Student Venture. Holding an event with a “Love” focus is right down a high schooler’s alley – especially the girls!  So staff around the country use Valentines to gather students and share the Gospel. Today’s story is about a Valentine’s event and the students who attended.  God will use any method to draw students to Himself, and our staff try to listen and be obedient to His leading. Thank you for your obedience to partner with Student Venture.  We are blessed by you!  

Jesus is Love  - - -
by Mark and Dawn Michal, staff serving in Indianapolis
Love. It's a topic that everyone is interested in, and it is a great topic to bridge to the gospel.  In February, we held our annual Amazing Date outreach where we played our version of the Newlywed game and gave a $50 date package to the winner.  There were 50 to 60 people who came to play the game or watch their friends play it.
   
Mr. Johnson (the school choir director) shared a little about how God designed our romantic relationships to be and how to carefully navigate the treacherous roads of dating.  He is a well respected teacher at the school, so his genuine vulnerability on this topic was very much appreciated by the students About half of the people that came were new; ten said they wanted to get more involved and three said they wanted to start a relationship with Christ! Please be praying for these people as we follow them up, and get them plugged in with our meetings and small groups. Thank you so much for helping us reach these teens who desperately need Jesus!

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

An incredible Super Bowl website

On Sunday, February 4, millions of sports enthusiasts around the world will tune in to watch the ultimate game in professional football as Tony Dungy's Indianapolis Colts face Lovie Smith's Chicago Bears.

Campus Crusade for Christ has teamed up with both head coaches and several players to create an opportunity for them to use this historic stage to talk about their common faith in Jesus Christ.

Full-Page Newspaper Ad and BeyondTheUltimate.org Web Site

On Friday, February 2, Campus Crusade placed a full-page advertisement in the USA Today Super Bowl special section. The ad featured both head coaches and pointed readers to a special Web site, BeyondTheUltimate.org.

The Web site features articles and streaming video from players and coaches who share their stories and talk about their faith in Jesus Christ. Additional articles and a clear presentation of the gospel create multiple opportunities for site visitors to learn how they can begin a relationship with God and receive God's love and forgiveness.

Please visit the Web site BeyondTheUltimate.org

Thanks for partnering with us!

(And we'll see how much of the game I get to watch while chasing around Cooper, taking care of Mommy and our newborn, Benjamin... Wish me luck!)

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.