In 1951, Bill Bright had this unique call to invest his life in helping reach the entire world for Christ. With a willing heart, he began what we know as Campus Crusade For Christ, or “Cru.” He began this ministry on UCLA campus fall of 1951 with a 24 hour prayer chain. Within the first decade of existing, Cru existed in 3 countries. God used Bill Bright for exactly what he called him into, to reach the entire world for Christ. Today, Cru is present in 190 countries which represents 99.6% of the worlds population. What started with a prayer chain at UCLA, turned into seven different ministries present in 190 countries around the world. There is the campus ministry, inner city, family, military, city, athletes, and high school.
From reading about what Cru is about, all I can see is a testament to God’s perfect will, and so much time in prayer. Every aspect of Cru has been thought out perfectly and placed before God in thoughtful prayer. It is amazing what God can do when we allow Him to work through our lives and just say “yes Lord.” This is exactly what Bill Bright did 70 years ago.
We have been talking throughout the semester about how God is the original entrepreneur, which is seen throughout his creation and what he does through his people. This is prevalent in the story of Cru because Bright was a major entrepreneur. Bright was constantly finding creative ways to reach non-believers like creating the movie “Jesus” which has had more than 8.1 billion views and 0ver 572 million decisions to know Christ. Bright wrote a book “Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?” Which has been translated to 200 languages and has sold more than 2.5 billion copies. Him and his wife are responsible for making the first Thursday of May national prayer day.
Bright’s entrepreneurial work to share the gospel in creative ways is a testament to Christ working in his life and the lives of those around him. It is truly amazing!
This a really cool article. I have never heard of Cru but this seems amazing. I love that it has been making an impact for around 70 years. I love that they recognize the power of prayer. This really is a creative way to share the gospel with 190 nations around the world. The creation of movies and the writing of books is very smart as these are things that people within our culture will take time to enjoy.
I have a lot of friends who participate in Cru and absolutely love it. Cru is truly a unique ministry with global impact. The fact that it focuses on ministering to students on college campuses is truly important in today’s culture. College students today – especially at big universities – view the church and Christians as old, hypocritical, judgmental people. Cru has positioned themselves to change this stigma. Great post!