Darnell didn’t mean to hit anyone when he playfully tossed water bottles into a crowd of about 5,000 students. He hoped to persuade some to join theImpact movement at Kent State University in Ohio last fall. But his plan went awry.

One bottle struck Kahalia in the head. Fortunately unhurt, she started attending Impact meetings. Impact, a partner ministry of Cru, focuses on taking the truth of Jesus Christ to the campus, community and world by producing leaders of African American descent.

Although not a Cru or Impact staff member, Darnell, a Kent State graduate, leads the movement. He works as a nurse, and gives hours of his free time to build disciples on campus. (In this photo, a Kent State student fills out a  card indicating interest in the Impact Movement.)

Kahalia later trusted Christ to forgive her sins and became an Impact leader.  Darnel said, “That’s a God thing, because He took my foolishness to reel her in.”

Our coworker, Melody, wrote about Darnell and Kahalia for the Cru.org website. This coming fall, Melody and one of our team’s photographers will travel to Kent State to more fully report the story for Cru Storylines, our new emailed newsletter.

While designers work on the first issue of the newsletter, we’re writing, photographing and editing the second and third issues. We hope to send the first one soon—we’ll let you know when it’s ready. Stories like Darnell’s can motive our readers to share the gospel, build disciples and grow spiritually.

Soon, we’ll arrive in Colorado for our Cru 17 staff conference (July 16-24). I’ll listen for stories of people like Darnell from across the U.S. on campuses, in communities and working through churches. Some of those people will find their way into Cru Storylines.

Anne Marie will focus on meeting up-and-coming writers and helping prepare them for more effective ministries. She’s one of the leaders of the Bloggers and Authors Meetup event. BAM brings together staff members whose primary roles involve building disciples, but who also write. They learn from each other and from a few expert presenters. Also, Anne Marie will follow up with staff members she’s trained thorough Writing for Life.

The staff conference truly enhances our ministry. Would you pray for us?

• Pray that we will accomplish God’s goals in training staff members and story gathering.
• Ask God to refresh us as we meet with like-minded staff members from around the world.
• Pray for God to meet our financial needs, including the cost of travel to the conference and other travel expenses we face this year.
• We plan to meet with friends and ministry partners in Nebraska as we travel. Pray that we encourage those we meet as they hear how God is at work around the world.

Thanks for your prayers and generosity to us in our ministry.