December 2011

This fall has been an exciting time around UCLA Cru, as we’ve seen God move in some special ways.

We were reminded of a quote we heard early in our campus ministry career: “You will see less happen in one year than you would hope, but you will see more happen in five years than you could imagine.” After ministering to UCLA students for ten years, we have seen this happen twice! As we reflect on these years of reaching out to students, probably the best example of this is what we’ve seen God do in and through our annual Fall Retreat. To the right are a sampling of group pictures from our first Fall Retreat at UCLA through the present one. The photos speak for themselves: although each retreat was a special experience, we’ve also been encouraged to see tremendous growth in our attendance! When we came to UCLA in 2002, we never would have imagined that our fall retreat attendance would double twice, or that we’d see numerous students come to know Jesus as their Savior through these weekends. It is exciting to consider that each student added to these group pictures is a soul, someone who grew in his or her relationship with God, and might have even come to Christ during that weekend! We pray that the Lord would continue to grow our movement so that more UCLA stu-dents have the opportunity to encounter Jesus through our ministry.

A few highlights from the fall:

• We are grateful to the Lord, as we think about how our kids are doing. They are each growing in their relationships with God, manifesting a heart to serve him, and a desire to reach their friends. They are also all excelling in school and their various activities. They all have strong personalities (I wonder where they get that!). That’s okay, we’re used to dealing with that since we minister to UCLA students!

• We have asked you to pray for freshmen and there are more around and connected to our ministry than ever before.
• We were excited about the large number of non-Christians who came to the Fall Retreat to learn more about God – we know of five students who received Christ during the weekend and several more have come to faith during the quarter.
• We are always encouraged by the servant hearts and commitment of our staff team. Our team members invest an incredible amount of time, energy, prayer, and creativity into our ministry.
• It was fun to learn at our recent staff retreat that currently there are 430 students in Cru small groups!

Unfortunately, sometimes seasons of ministry fruitfulness are also accompanied by trials. That has been our experience over these last few months.

Accident on the freeway One night after our weekly large group meeting, I was driving home when I heard a bizarre screeching noise. I looked to the left when before I knew it my car was impacted from the right. A car up ahead had lost control, hit another car which caused him to spin and strike my car. That caused my car to spin, hit the center divider, and come to a stop pointing the wrong way on the 405 freeway.

Amazingly, I seem to have walked away from the accident with no major injuries and just a sore back and neck.A few weeks ago, the Lord provided another car for us that is low mileage and the payout from the insurance company almost covered it. As you can see above, my car was declared a total loss. One highlight of the night of the accident was having the opportunity to share the gospel with the tow truck driver. As he drove me and my totaled car from the scene of the accident, I was able to share the gospel with him by telling him that the accident reminded me that our lives can end at any moment.

Being sick for most of the quarter On the last day of the Fall Retreat I began to experience some congestion. What started this way, resulted in me having a sinus infection and allergies for weeks. The doctor gave me three rounds of antibiotics to try to get rid of the infection. The last round was administered through an IV five days in a row. As the infection lingered, I struggled with discouragement and frustration. Though I was able to keep functioning in my different roles and responsibilities, I felt like I was operating at about 60% of my capacity both on campus and at home. Praise God that I finally seem to be getting better. Pray that allergy testing helps us determine what I am allergic to, and that I am able to have a much different experience health wise for the rest of this year and especially next fall.

We are grateful for how you stand with us whether in times of trial or fruitfulness, as we trust God to transform the lives of UCLA students.

In Him,
John and Ramie