Jason sensed chaos as he cleaned up after a Cru event. He’d brought pizza for Crawford High School students, hoping to share the gospel as they ate. But rambunctious middle schoolers grabbed most slices. The high schoolers rushed through the conversation to get free pizza.

He was disappointed, but then he saw Kimheng, a Cambodian refugee. Kimheng was the only student who had engaged in conversation earlier. As the two spoke once again, Jason learned that Kimheng’s family was Buddhist, but that the young man was learning about Jesus on social media.

Jason shared the gospel with Kimheng right there. Two days later, Kimheng attended Cru’s on-campus club and brought along a friend.

I don’t know if Kimheng’s online search for God included any of our Cru sites or social media accounts. But we know that last year, more than a million people encounter the gospel and Christian growth information through our digital resources.

Like Jason, we’re grateful that we can use our skills and experiences to share God’s love online through Cru Storylines and Cru.org. For Cru.org, I’m assisting with three projects, including a new Discipleship Pathway that we hope to have ready for Cru staff members to use by the coming summer. Our social media team is connecting with people through Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram and other platforms. The goal is to help each person take a step of spiritual growth.

And I continue to plan and manage Cru Storylines work. We’re currently working on stories from Jacksonville, Florida, from Paris, France, and from rural northwest Thailand.

Anne Marie edited our most recently published Cru Storylines article, “Let Me Tell You a Story: How Bible Stories Open Conversations.” It tells about a group of six students, including Rose, a student involved with Cru’s ministry at New Mexico State University.

Rose attended Cru’s Winter Conference in Dallas, Texas. There she learned about Story-Runners, Cru’s oral-learning ministry, which teaches Christians to share their faith using culturally relevant Bible stories. Rose signed up for StoryRunners’ two-week summer mission in Orlando.

By the end of the summer, Rose and the other summer mission students had initiated 240 conversations, told 96 Bible stories to 150 people leading to 88 deeper spiritual conversations. At least two people placed their faith in Christ.

“Now, my best friend regularly asks me for a bedtime story from the Bible,” Rose said of a friend who’d been resistant when she’d shared the gospel in other ways.

In 2025, I look forward to continuing to help tell stories like Rose’s and to play a role in providing online resources for people like Kimheng who look for faith-building resources online. 

Thanks so much for your generosity and prayers. I’m so thankful that I get to help make disciples around the world through our online outreaches.

Sincerely in Christ, — Mark

P.S. We’re grateful for your prayers and interest in our ministry. At the end of each year, God provides a significant percentage of our salary and ministry expenses for the coming year through people’s year-end giving. If you’d like help with that effort, you can do so here.