Numbers mean something. Consistently through scripture, God counted. He counted how many commandments and laws there were. The early church counted how many came to Christ at Pentecost. There’s even a book in the Bible called Numbers!

Certainly, numbers can become an idol for many ministries, but in Jersey, we count so that we can give God glory for all the great work he does on our campuses. This year, I’m excited to report that at least 3,291 students were exposed to the gospel through one-on-one evangelism or group and media outreaches. Our statewide ministry as a whole saw 51 students indicate decisions for Christ throughout the academic year!

How wonderful! All glory to God. Please pray for our many staff and students as we continue follow-up with many of these indicated decisions.

Of course knowing these figures is one thing but hearing the stories behind them is another. As part of my role on our Jersey team, I got to film a video (click play at the bottom of this page) featuring students from different schools praising God for what he’s done through them or on their campuses. It explains the “4 Elements” of our ministry: Prayer, Community, Evangelism and Bible.

In particular, I’d like to highlight Joe (far left in above photo), a senior graduating from Montclair State Univ. He had the great opportunity to see someone with a struggling faith recommit his life to Christ after an afternoon of evangelism. Here’s his story:

“We approached a guy named Brandon sitting outside our student center. We quickly found out he was once Christian but walked away because of all the suffering he’s seen in the world. It turned out he came to Cru the following week, got connected with the men in our movement and, right before finals week, he rededicated his life to Jesus Christ!”

As for this summer, because our oldest son Gianluca has special-needs schooling in July, all of our work will be local. Thankfully, we’ll keep plenty busy with four main assignments that’ll make up our full-time workweek.

First, I am taking on the position of Co-Regional Director for a new, national initiative called “Summer Connect,” Cru’s online summer opportunity to grow through live-streamed broadcasts every Thursday at 8PM beginning June 9! In New Jersey, we’ve set up 5 hub locations for college students to watch the live stream together! It’s going to be great!

Second, because so many of our students are local, Jenn and I plan on meeting one-on-one with key student leaders throughout the summer for development and prayer, so we can prepare well for the next semester. Third, as a way to connect the local church to our movements, I will actually be filming short sermons by 8 local pastors. The goal is for students to use these short sermons at their weekly meetings and discuss the Bible content for study. And finally, Jenn and I are trusting God to bring in $500 in new monthly support before the new semester. We know God is faithful, and we trust he’ll provide.

Please pray with us that Christ would have his way in our summer assignments and in our hearts as we seek to honor him in all we do. Thank you!