Maximizing Kingdom Impact — Cru

In 1951, a young man named Bill Bright was struck with a burning passion to reach the entire world for Christ, starting with college campuses. With some help, he started a ministry called Campus Crusade for Christ at UCLA. By the grace and power of God, the organization grew quickly as the gospel went out and disciples were being made, fired up, and trained at more and more campuses.

Today, Cru has become far more than just a college club. Seeking to connect all people to Jesus Christ, Cru takes a variety of approaches to do God’s work through their city ministry, FamilyLife ministry, Athletes in Action, Cru Military, middle and high school chapters, and the Jesus Film Project. All of these sub-ministries were born out of recognition of a gap and are the subsequent pursuit of the opportunity to make a positive difference for the gospel.

The impact Cru has had is outstanding. With its multi-dimensional approach, the organization is able to reach so many different types of people in different walks of life, contextualizing the gospel in an appropriate, compelling manner. Cru achieves this faithful contextualization in all of the spheres they work in, but one especially good example of this can be seen with their work in the inner-city.

For their city ministry, Cru makes a difference for local churches through their 3 step strategy: empower, develop, connect. By using this approach with the churches, they mobilize the body of Christ in inner-cities to bring the hope and justice of the gospel to the poor. This ministry is under the direction of Milton Massie, who both grew up in and broke out of poverty, and has lead as a pastor in a variety of settings for many years. All of this enables him to know how best to reach these people while being faithful to the Word of God. Since the beginning of this sub-ministry of Cru, tangible love has been shared with hundreds of people in inner cities with the delivery of food and aid in hard times, embodying the good news of God’s compassion.

Though it had humble beginnings, Cru is a great example of the impact and growth that are possible when visionaries for Christ open their eyes to the gaps and opportunities where we can connect people to the gospel. I hope that we can all learn from their approach and fearless passion to share the truth in a relevant, compelling way.