Ministry

Cru is here

July 20, 2011 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

It’s official. We learned last night that our new U.S. organizational name is Cru.

It’s been an amazing first day for our U.S. Staff Conference. It culminated tonight in hearing our leaders share about the 2 year journey. I was humbled by the milestones along the way where God confirmed, where God united people who disagreed strongly, where God led through the shared wisdom of thousands of volunteers, donors, and staff.

Our leaders shared research which showed what most of us have know for a while — very powerful evidence that the name “Campus Crusade” induces negative responses from many diverse populations, while CRU produces positive responses. Our leaders shared how God brought unity

I was humbled as our leaders shared that they asked thousands of people and learned that when Campus Crusade for Christ, now Cru, is at it’s finest, we are about meaningful relationships, changed lives, and significant opportunities. Our leaders confirmed over and over that our mission has not changed. We continue to be a community who is passionate about connected people to Jesu Christ so they can experience Christ’s life-changing presence and have opportunities to share Him with others.

I’m fine with the new name. I’m humbled to be a part of this caring community committed to avoiding unnecessary negative responses so we can get about the Father’s business.

So Kay and I, formerly known as staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, are now happy to be part of the Cru crew!

Want to learn more about the name change?
What does Vonette Bright think?
Videos from other leaders
Frequently-asked Questions

Jesus on an iPad

June 8, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“I told you that I’m not very interested in religion,” she said.

“Yes, you did. Would you like me to continue?” I asked.

“Sure. This is interesting.”

I smiled, flipped to the next screen, and we continued.

This was my first experience sharing the gospel using a new tool for mobile phones. As we continued, my mind flashed back to the beginning of this current adventure.

I found my seat on the flight from Atlanta to San Francisco. It was a Boeing 767, with a 2-3-2 seating plan. I moved into the aisle seat on a 2-side but didn’t get too comfortable. Kay wasn’t traveling with me this time. My seatmate hadn’t arrived yet. I wondered who God would send.

She showed up at the last minute, a fairly seasoned traveler. She sat down, her book came out, and she was in her bubble.

I was able to engage in some conversation. We talked about family (she has 2 children), about work (she was flying to San Francisco for 2 weeks), and about church involvement (she was raised in the Catholic church but is no longer active).

When I asked about her interest in spiritual things, she replied that she is content with her life and doesn’t find a need for more religion. I would talk about spiritual things and she would talk about religion.

I had just installed the God Tools mobile phone app recently released by Campus Crusade for Christ. This app has several different gospel presentations helpful for different audiences. I was looking for an opportunity to try this hi-tech way to share the old-old story.

I told her I had recently found this interesting app that talked about Jesus without talking about religion. Would she be interested? Yes, she would.

Somewhere over the middle of America at 35,000 feet, she heard about God’s love.

Each time I would try to engage her in some simple questions, I would hear “I’m not interested in religion.” But each time I would ask if she wanted to continue, I would hear “Sure.”

I think it was her interest in the hi-tech tool. But God was reaching out to her. Although she “wasn’t interested in religion”, she heard of God’s love, of our sin, of God’s forgiveness through Jesus, and of her need to receive it.

Although, she did not indicate any response, I was relaxed in knowing that I had a secret weapon. She thought it was a hi-tech presentation. I knew the Holy Spirit would be reminding her of spiritual truths.

It was a successful adventure.

What adventures have you had using new tools to talk about Jesus?

How you can get the God Tools app

If you have an iPhone or iPad, go to the Apple App store and search for God Tools. Look for the icon.
If you have an Android-based phone, go to the Android Market and search for God Tools. Look for the icon.

GTO Wives

May 22, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“Kay, I know what Keith does, but what do you do?” asked Chris. Some of you may have wondered this same thing. Actually, my role has several parts, but the one that I really like to tell others about is our team wives.

I have the privilege of working with them to discover their niche in ministry and help them be equipped for it.

How do we do this? We pray for each other, practicing new ministry skills, create individual plans for our personal development and discuss issues we face as wives and mothers in full-time ministry.

Shannon wrote,

“If you get a chance would you pray for a neighborhood women’s outreach we’re having at our house tonight? It’s called “Sweet Monday” and we hope it will be a venue to help build deeper relationships with women in our neighborhood.

Several of my friends and I have invited a few dozen ladies in our subdivision to come for a time of dessert, fun, and getting to know each other. It is a simple gathering that we hope communicates how deeply Jesus loves us as we love one another.”

Sweet Monday is creative evangelism that reaches out to women one sweet invitation at a time for Christ. Women laugh a lot, learn from each other and leave with a simple introduction to Jesus Christ. Shannon and her friends are seeing some of their neighbors begin a personal relationship with Jesus.

God has given me a passion to help women succeed. I could spend hours talking about all the ways our team wives are using their giftedness–Tammy the organizer, Lei the mentor, Ingrid the evangelist, JoAnne the discipler, Stacey the blogger, Holly the servant, Andi the planner, Kathy the giver….

We are touching lives of other women and families that God has brought into our lives. Together we are making a difference.

Technologies for a startup church

March 24, 2011 by Keith Seabourn 2 Comments

Dad, I’m pretty sure I’ll be asked to set up the church local area network (LAN) when I join Imago Dei church. I’ll probably set up some type of internet connection. What do you recommend for our startup church for file sharing, printer sharing, and internet connection?

My son is finishing his degree from Dallas Seminary and will join a startup church in Phoenix. He’s pretty sure his electrical engineering training from Texas Tech means he’ll be the technology guy.

You may be surprised at my answer.

I suggested that he not build much technology infrastructure. I suggested that they use cloud-based technologies like Google Apps (docs, calendar), Dropbox, WordPress.com, and others. I suggested that they purchase an internet service for their church office but no servers. Just use a wifi network. Purchase a network-capable printer or use a less expensive printer with an inexpensive print server. For my home network, I use a D-Link DP-300U device I purchased on eBay.

How would you have answered the question?

Leading with Information

February 25, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“It is my observation that your organization doesn’t pay much attention to mission effectiveness.”

A business leader observed this with one of our top leaders in Campus Crusade for Christ. Many of us agree that he is correct. We pay attention to good relationships. We pay attention to strong spiritual life. We pay attention to good processes that win people to Christ, build them in their faith, and send them out.

But perhaps we don’t pay much attention to effectiveness. We do many things well. But we don’t measure our progress towards the mission very well.

It is hard to do. How do you measure transformed lives? Transformed communities? Personal holiness? Spiritual formation?

But it needs to be done.

That is why this group of people has met these last 3 days in Thailand. We have been tasked by Campus Crusade for Christ to help help develop a culture of using measurable information to make leadership decisions.

Our President, Steve Douglass, has said that we want to have the right information to make the right decisions. We do not necessarily need perfect and complete information. Rather, we need timely information.

We call it Leading with Information. And it needs to be done.