Let's start a new year

"If 2025 were a drink, it would be a colonoscopy prep." 

Last year had its challenges, for sure, so we are glad to be onto a new year!

Our own candlelight Christmas Eve service!

As a quick update, Catelin's recovery is going as expected.  Today she is 4 weeks into her recovery and yesterday at her PT appointment all her concerns were answered with, "That's normal."

This Friday night Cara's family from California will join us and I've counted...we will have 13 people in our house! We are really looking forward to having everyone together.

As we step into a new year, we want to pause and reflect on some of the ways God was at work in 2025.  We have a couple of fun stories, and some graphs that illustrate how God is working through Cru's campus ministry.

Disney World, Orlando, FL

Did you know that Cru has a ministry team dedicated to reaching the thousands of college-aged young adults who work at Disney World? It’s a unique mission field—and God is at work there. Here’s one story from that team.

Jia* (name changed) moved from East Asia to the West Coast of the United States. After arriving, she connected with a Cru staff member who faithfully met with her for two years—planting and watering seeds of faith. When Jia later shared that she would be moving to Orlando to work at Disney, that same staff member connected her with Cru’s Disney ministry team.

Although Jia was open to exploring Jesus, her spiritual conversations had never gone very deep. Then one evening at a hot pot restaurant, she shared honestly, “I don’t know how to connect with God. I’m trying, but I can’t.” One of the Cru staff members present asked, “Can we share with you how?”

For two hours, crowded together on one restaurant bench, they shared how only Jesus can restore our honor and relationship with God. Jia read the prayer from Honor Restored (a version of the Four Spiritual Laws) first in her own language, and then again out loud in English. When asked if she meant it, she replied, “Yes!”—and everyone broke into tears of joy.

“I’m so emotional,” Jia said, “and I think it’s because I’m feeling God’s love.” Praise God for bringing Jia on this long journey—from Asia, to the western United States, to Orlando—where she began her relationship with Jesus.

The Gambia

The Gambia is a nation that is 97% Muslim. Last year, Cru celebrated 35 years of ministry in The Gambia. Here’s one powerful story from that work.

One day, a woman named Aisha* (name changed) walked wearily home to her village when she came across a rare public showing of the JESUS film. She stopped in surprise—the film was being shown in Jola, her mother tongue. Hearing her own language, Aisha sat down to watch and listen.

The message was revolutionary: God loved her. Jesus is the Son of God. He died for her, offering forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Aisha went home, prayed, and received Christ—becoming a new creation.

Now she faced a difficult step: telling her husband, Omar. In her culture, becoming a Christian is considered a betrayal. Omar listened quietly, then responded unexpectedly: “If you choose to be a Christian, I want to listen to what you heard.”

They found one of the Cru team members, who showed the JESUS film to Omar in private. He too was deeply moved by the truth of the gospel and placed his faith in Christ.

Aisha soon began traveling from house to house, showing the JESUS film on a video tablet she had been given. In this highly resistant context, she has planted 15 churches and continues to grow in faith and influence.

U.S. Campus Ministry

Finally, you may have heard reports that young people in the United States are more spiritually open than they have been in recent history—and those reports are true! Here are three graphs that illustrate this growing spiritual hunger.

The yellow line in the graph above shows the exponential growth in students who hear the gospel through personal evangelism and then indicate a decision to follow Jesus.

This chart shows that the percentage of students who hear the gospel and respond by choosing to follow Jesus has steadily increased over the past five years.

Another indicator of spiritual interest is retreat attendance. This fall’s weekend retreats saw the highest attendance in recent history. Registrations for our Winter Conferences—some happening right now—are also up. 

These numbers reflect lives changed and impacted by the gospel.  This four minute video highlights the long term impact that Cru has had on students' lives well after they leave college.

Thank you for your faithful partnership. We can't be here without you.  We are deeply grateful for you, and we pray the Lord’s blessing on you as we begin 2026!