November Newsletter

Fresh Bread

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, it is he that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:4-5

I think the thing that’s been on my mind most recently is the word: ABIDE. Jesus tells us in John 15 to “abide in me… for apart from me you can do nothing.” More than ever I’m realizing how true His words really are. I’ve been blessed this year to see fruit in ministry, but I know all of that has been the Lord’s gracious provision because I often struggle with self-sufficiency, trying to do things in my own strength, which is so tiring. I wasn’t made to be independent from the true vine. I was meant to be given life and strength as I abide in Him. I’ve heard the word abide defined as “the habitually adhere to” or “to be at home.”  As the semester comes to a close things only seem to get busier. Please pray that I will abide in Christ, rely on him for strength, and make myself at home in his love so that I may bear much fruit and bring Him glory.

Blessed to be living with these ladies, From L to R: Carrie, Tina,
Me, Kelsey, Chrissy, and Lizzy

From Campus

I want to apologize that this newsletter is later than normal. I wanted to wait to send this one out until after our YouTube outreach because I knew the Lord was going to do some really amazing things last week and I wanted to share them with you. We had 157 students sign up to participate in this outreach November 5-9. Students picked one word that described their life before a relationship with Jesus and one word that described their life after a relationship with Jesus. Students wore green t-shirts that looked like the photo to the left.. Except instead of “before” and “after” they had the words they chose. Students wore these shirts for the whole week .Imagine walking on campus everyday and seeing 150+ people walking around in green t-shirts with strange words on them. As you can imagine MSU students and faculty were very curious. Many people asked our students, “What is with all the green t-shirts?” Students got to answer that question and share with them how Jesus has changed their lives. Students also recorded a short 2-3 minute video sharing their story and the transforming   power of the gospel. Every student posted their video on the same YouTube channel and then on their Facebook page. Usually a person's religion is something you can read about in their Facebook profile, but have no clue how that actually impacts their life. The point of the t-shirts and the videos was to get students into spiritual conversations with their friends, classmates, roommates, teammates, and family. We’ve had over 13,000 views on our YouTube channel. It’s been so cool to see God use our students, taking a huge step of faith, to put the gospel in arms reach of so many people. And not just on Missouri State’s campus but all over the internet. 

Check out some of the stories from this week:

Ashley is a leader in our athlete Bible study and the libero for the volleyball team. Last week Ashley was able to share her story with one of her teammates, Karen, over dinner. Karen believes there is a God, but doesn’t know Jesus as her personal savior. She is willing to talk more about spiritual things and Ashley is excited to continue having spiritual conversations with her.

Kiley, another leader in our athlete Bible study (pictured front row, center with other MSU athletes who participated in the outreach), saw her video reach farther than she could have imagined. Kiley posted her video on Facebook and one of her friends from high school who is going to school at University of California at Berkley. Kiley’s friend sent her a message, saying how the video really impacted her and was making her think about her own relationship with God, which is struggling right now. Kiley is excited to talk more with her friend over Christmas break.

Allie is a junior in Cru. Only a few people asked her about her shirt during class (not the best time to have an in-depth spiritual conversation). Allie was a little disappointed she didn’t have more deep conversations, but said, “The outreach helped me learn to trust God more. I was wearing a shirt that had my story on it and putting a video about my story on the internet, and I learned to rely on God through those experiences and put myself out there for Him.” Not only was this outreach great for Allie’s spiritual growth, but now she is equipped to share her story with people wherever she goes.

Jess is a junior on the soccer team at Missouri State. One of her teammates saw her video on her Facebook page. She wanted to talk more about what Jess shared in her video. After their initial conversation, her teammate wants to meet up on a regular basis for discipleship because she wants to grow in her faith. Jess is really excited that she gets to invest in a girl on her own team. 

If you'd like to see some of our students' testimony videos click here: MSU Cru Before and After

If you'd like to see videos from the athletes involved in our athlete small group Bible study click here: Cru Athletes

If you'd like to see my video click here: Melissa's Story: Hypocrite and Free

Enjoy some photos from before and after:

Morgan one of our students took this photo. She was watching the video of the girl
sitting across from her in the student union. 

Everyone has a story. What's yours?

Ruth (L) and Becca (R) having lunch with some friends.

The wood "t-shirt." An attention grabber.

Found this in the hallway of one of our dorms: love our students getting the word out.

Students and staff manning the outreach table. Students had the change to write a word that describes their lives on the wood "t-shirt." This opened the door to questions and spiritual conversations.

Allison looks on as an MSU students writes his word on the t-shirt. 

Ways You Can Pray

• Pray that this before and after outreach will have an impact past this month. Pray that the people who watched the videos and saw the t-shirts will continue to seek out what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. Pray that our students will use their stories to share the gospel with people for the rest of their lives. 
• I love December because December means Denver Christmas Conference. We want to see students' lives changed. We want to see the world changed. Every year college students have the chance to grow closer to Jesus Christ through prayer, powerful worship, passionate Bible teaching and community at Denver Christmas Conference (DCC). Students will be equipped with life and ministry skills, have the opportunity to connect and network with other students and reach out locally and globally. DCC is a chance for students to have an uncommon winter break! Check out this years promo video:

If you would like to scholarship a student who wants to go to DCC but might not be able to afford it please email me: melissa.gmur@cru.org. If you'd like to find out more about DCC click this link: Denver Christmas Conference. 

Cru's Annual Halloween Party

My roommates and I were Disney villains this year. From L to R: the witch from Snow White (Kelsey), the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland (me), Yzma from the Emperor's New Groove (Chrissy), Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians (Carrie), and Ursula from the Little Mermaid (Tina).

PLEASE PRAY THIS WEEK

Hello friends! I'm so excited to share with you what is happening this week. We are doing an outreach at Missouri State using YouTube and green t-shirts. Let me explain:

Cru students who have had their lives transformed by Christ signed up to participate in this outreach. They chose one word that represented their life before Christ and one word that represented their life after Christ. We had t-shirts printed that look like the photo below, except instead of saying before and after it says the words they chose.

Students also recorded a short video sharing their story: what their life was like before Jesus, how they met Jesus for the first time, and what their life is like now that they know him. Students uploaded these videos to a YouTube channel and will post their video on their Facebook page. They will also wear their t-shirts on campus for this whole week: November 5-9. That's right! Every day for a whole week. Some people might have to do some laundry come Wednesday. 

We had 157 people sign up to do this outreach. You can imagine the kind of impact that would have on campus and on the internet? Our goal is that students would have an easy transition into talking about what they believe with friends and family. Usually a person's religion is something you can read about in their Facebook profile, but have no clue how that actually impacts their life. When students see their Facebook news feed blowing up with these "Before and After" videos or walk on campus and see 150+ people wearing the same green shirt with strange words on the front there will be quite a buzz. Our prayer is that people who have never surrendered their lives to Christ will ask our students questions about their shirts and videos and that ultimately our students will get to share their stories with them and then the gospel. Will you please diligently pray this week for our outreach? 

Here's a few specific things you can pray for:

• This is a really big step for many of our students. Some of them have never shared their faith before. Some of them have never boldly claimed to be Christians and letting the whole world know is going to be hard for them. Will you pray for our Cru students who uploaded videos and will be wearing the t-shirts? Pray Ephesians 6:19-20 for them: "that whenever they speak, words may be given them so that they will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel... Pray that they may declare it fearlessly, as they should."
• Pray for a HUGE impact. University of Illinois did this outreach last year and had about 12,000 views on their YouTube channel. Pray for an impact like that for us too. Also, pray that our students get to have A LOT of conversations about their shirts. Pray that students at MSU would be curious and ask questions about the t-shirts. Each student who signed up was challenged to pick 3 people they wanted to talk to about their shirt. Pray that they actually take a big step of faith and talk with those people.
• Pray that students would hear the gospel, place their trust in Christ, and surrender control of their lives to him. 
• Pray against any spiritual warfare that might happen this week. 

If you would like to check out our channel and hear from some of our wonderful students click the link: MSU Cru Before and After

If you'd like to watch my video click this link: Melissa's Before and After

Thank you for your prayers and support! I can't wait to give you an update next week and share with you the impact this outreach had.