After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Revelation 7:9
The campus is changing. In the late 1970s, 83 percent of US college students were Caucasian. Today, that number is only 60 percent, meaning that over 8 million college students are ethnic: primarily Asian, Latino, Black, or Native American – bringing their own unique cultural backgrounds and worldviews to campus.
Cru has responded to this shift by developing contextualized ministries through a strategy called Ethnic Field Ministry (EFM). EFM exists to help ethnic staff and students communicate and live out the Gospel in a culturally relevant manner. Through the ministries of Epic, Destino, Impact, and Nations, we’re seeing God build powerful spiritual movements on campuses nationwide.
Some of the most popular items on CruPressGreen.com (the Campus Ministry website that Neil manages) are those created by and for ethnic movements. Here’s one incredible story from Texas A&M:
God has been doing great things through our local Destino movement. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more than 100 students and family members place their faith in Christ. Last fall one of our undocumented students personally saw more people trust Christ than some entire Cru movement in 6 regions of the country! And God hasn’t just been working among Latinos. It is easy for us to think that EFM movements are limited to one ethnicity. We’ve actually seen quite the opposite. Because Latinos are often marginalized on campus as minorities, they relate to other minorities in a unique way.
But Destino is not just a minority ministry: God is using Hispanic students to reach the entire campus. We’ve actually seen more Anglo students trust Christ this year through Destino than most Cru movements in our region.
By sharing stories like this through articles, videos, sermons, bible studies, and other ministry resources, CruPressGreen gives a voice to ethnic staff and students involved in Cru. And we help to equip and encourage believers to make disciples of all people – red and yellow, black and white.
Praises
- For God’s work in the hearts of ethnic students
- For the development of fruitful ethnic movements on campus
- For the opportunity to give ethnic staff & students a voice through CruPressGreen.com
Please Pray
- That we’d give all 8 million ethnic students in the US a chance to hear the Gospel
- That we would learn to appreciate cultural difference while remaining united in Christ
- That ethnic new believers would mature into passionate followers of Jesus
