Archive of “Changed Life” Stories

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>> March: Choosing to Change Lives...

It was halfway through my senior year of college and God had not made it clear where he wanted me to serve in ministry. I had known my calling to student ministry for years, but there was this thought of a ministry in my mind that I had never heard of or found within any organization. My fiancŽ (now my wife) was very involved in Campus Crusade at her college and asked me to come with her to Christmas Conference. At that conference I heard about Student Venture for the first time. As one of the Student Venture staff described the ministry to me, it was as if God said, "You know that ministry that has been in your mind for so long. I put that there. By the way, here it is."

I was blown away at the freedom within Student Venture to do student ministry and meet those kids who have never even heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is obvious within our schools that the majority of kids are on a downward spiral to further impact our immoral nation. I believe God will bring a radical revival within this generation, but it will require more laborers to reach them. In addition to God working in my heart, my fiancŽ was blown away when I asked her about going on staff. It has been an awesome ride since that day and we have truly enjoyed our journey into the Campus Crusade family.

If you are thinking about going on staff with Student Venture, I have one piece of advice: DO IT! What higher calling could there be in life, but to be a full-time minister? And what better audience to have than young people who are asking spiritual questions and waiting to be challenged? I mean our JOB is to hang out with high school students and share Christ with them all the time, while growing deeper and deeper in our own walk with Christ. What an awesome privilege! If you are concerned about raising support, let me be the first to tell you that God will meet your needs. He has blessed us and taught us to trust Him more than ever, and throughout this process we have been able to minister to so many members of our family, friends, and local community. I could tell you countless stories of God's faithfulness in meeting our needs, stories that would not have happened with any other vocation.

I am certain that I will never regret using all of my time, energy, and talents to serve the God who entrusted me with all of those in my life. Please don't miss out on this opportunity; you can touch a high school student's life that no one else can.

Learn more about the application process to become a staff member or intern. Maybe the Lord would have you join us!

>> January: The Courage to Share…

Mandi Grant, an intern with Student Venture in San Diego, CA, shares about what the Lord did in the life of a girl involved in her ministry while at FastBreak last week.

Having worked as an intern with Student Venture for a year and a half, one of my favorite parts of the ministry are our winter and summer conferences. I have just returned from our FastBreak conference in Big Bear, CA, and I am once again thankful for the work the Lord did in and through the students that attended our conference. I had ten students attend FastBreak from my ministry- half of the students who have been involved in the ministry all year, and the other half were friends of these students.

Emily was of the girls who attended the conference. She has been involved in a small group since her freshmen year and is currently leading a Bible study of freshmen girls. The conference was a great time for her to get away from the busy-ness of life and take time to listen to what the Lord has been saying to her.

One thing Emily has been learning is how to share her faith with her friends. She has invited friends to Student Venture outreach events, but has never personally shared what God has done in her life. The second night of the conference she shared how God once again told her she needed to share Christ with her friends, and gave her specific names of her friends she needed to pray for and share with once she returned back to school.

The next day at the conference the students went out into the town and took surveys, sharing Christ with those they could. Emily was very afraid to do this, but she went out anyway with the Lord's strength. She had the blessing and privilege of leading two teenage girls to the Lord right on the streets of Big Bear! Emily was so excited and has more courage to now go back to her campus and share with her friends.

>> December: First Real Christmas…

Nate grew up in a pretty typical home these days, a broken one. He and his mom traveled the country stopping here and there for a year or two at a time. Finding himself in Boston at the age of about 13, Nate began seeking answers to the questions he kept hearing about the meaning of life and what this religion stuff was all about. As he looked, the pressures of early adolescence broke him down and he found himself making choices that left him unsatisfied. Just when he met a man who had a few answers, true to fashion, he moved again, this time to Atlanta, starting over again with his dad and new step mom.

Meanwhile, Courtney, a junior at Chattahoochee high school just outside Atlanta, was busy inviting friends to the new Student Venture ministry at her school. She invited Yan who eventually invited Chase. Chase gave his life to Christ and as it turns out, met this new kid, Nate, in chorus class. Chase invited Nate to have dinner with the local Student Venture staff where he was given a clear presentation of God’s plan of forgiveness and grace. Three weeks later, at a Student Venture meeting, Nate heard the gospel again and this time was ready to make a commitment to place his faith in Christ.

But wait, it gets better! Just this week, Nate, excited about his newfound meaning and purpose stood up at this year’s Student Venture Community Celebration and shared his story with over two hundred people. The coolest part? Two of those people were his dad and step mom who had no idea what it means to have a relationship with a God who loves them. Nate is experiencing his first “real” Christmas this year, understanding the meaning of the birth of Christ in a totally new way and is already excitedly sharing it with others.

>> November: A Glimpse of All That God is Doing….

Phoenix :
Eli Gomez is senior involved with Student Venture at Greenway High School in Phoenix, AZ. This year, he has taken on a great challenge from the Lord! Eli has begun to rally students to pray every morning before school for the purpose of sharing the Gospel with every student at Greenway before the end of this school year! His plan includes praying for opportunities with specific individuals and then in September, he and the other students from SV small groups began to share their faith with those students they have been praying for. Since school began in August, more than 50 young people have received Christ!
Chattanooga :
Through Student Venture football team outreaches at four high schools, 67 teenagers have received Christ, and at an ROTC outreach 12 young men trusted Christ. At Brainerd High, three Christian students are leading Bible studies at lunch with 25-40 students attending each study.

Houston :
During drill team practice at Katy High School last month, a teenage girl collapsed and died of an enlarged heart. The next day, the drill team teacher asked if anyone had anything to share. One of the senior girls involved in Student Venture shared her testimony of knowing Christ, then another leader shared the gospel and invited them to receive Christ. Sixteen girls raised their hands indicating they did so. At this school in the last year and a half, over 300 teenagers have indicated decisions for Christ.

Atlanta:
In the last two weeks of September, there were three group outreaches at Marietta High School. In all, over 80 students heard about how they could begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. For each of these groups (band, volleyball and cheerleaders), we shared a motivational talk about unity and the need for our attitudes, actions, and hearts to be changed. At the end of our talks, we invited students who were interested in hearing more about how God could change their hearts to an outreach the following day. More than 20 of these students indicated they wanted to learn more about a relationship with God!

New York City:
Outside FDR high school in New York City, intern Johnny Lopez and I, (staff member, Kevin Young) were hanging out with a gang of tough-looking guys and girls. They were curious about us, and wanted to know if we were cops. When they found out we were youth ministers, they drew near and began to listen. Johnny brings street language and street toughness to his gospel presentation that penetrates where kids feel. Over the course of an hour, I watched as the Spirit opened their eyes to the truth. Before we parted, Johnny had all eight hold hands in a circle and pray to receive Christ in unison. Their first question was, "Are you coming back?" "Absolutely!"

>> October: The 30 Football Guys Who Trusted Christ…

Jared Lyons is a senior on the football team at Newman Smith High School. Although he became a Christian at a young age, in the fall of his freshman year he took the first steps in growing in his faith when he attended a freshmen football team meeting hosted by Student Venture. That summer, he rededicated his life to Christ at the Student Venture Getaway. For the last few years he has been involved in Student Venture in weekly Bible studies, winter and summer conferences, and a summer missions trip.

After the last SV conference in December, he felt the Lord placing it on his heart to have an outreach for the freshman football team at his school in the spring. In April, Jared invited the entire freshmen team to an Iron Stomach contest similar to the one he attended as a freshman 2 years ago.

Twenty-five freshman football players and one coach showed up. A JV football player, who became a Christian through Student Venture his freshman year, also came and shared his testimony about the difference that Christ had made in his life. After the testimony, Jared explained the Gospel and extended an invitation to trust Christ. Five players indicated a decision to place their faith in Christ that day! In addition, ten JV football players agreed to attend the weekly freshmen follow up Bible study to help disciple one of the younger players. (Many of these JV players have become Christians in the last 12 months and have been discipled by one of the SV staff.)

Although Jared was excited about seeing several of the freshmen respond to Christ, there was still 30 other freshmen players who did not attend the outreach. So Jared had another outreach for the freshmen team! Twenty more players came out and five more placed their faith in Christ!

A follow up Bible study started up and one of the JV players, Matt Rucker, led one of the freshmen players, Robert, to Christ during the study. Several new guys came to the study and Robert, who had been a Christian for one week, led his friend to Christ using the Connecting With God booklet that Matt had used to lead him to Christ the week before.

In the last two years, 30guys from the JV football team have come to Christ through a SV staff member or student sharing the Connecting With God booklet with them. Most of them have been regularly attending a Bible study group at Matt Rucker’s home. They want to see the same thing happen with the freshmen football team, who they hope will catch the same vision and reach out to the incoming freshmen football team this fall.

Matt and Jared continue to lead the freshmen group in the study and have included the varsity football players in the bible study this fall. They are currently recruiting all of them to attend this years' Student Venture Fastbreak (our winter conference) in Austin, TX. They hope that their disciples will continue to reach out to incoming freshmen football teams, and leave a legacy for Christ at their high school.

>> September

God did some amazing things this summer at our Student Venture Getaway conferences and college summer projects. Here is just a glimpse of all that He did.

From our Student Venture Getaway Conferences...

*A girl from Marietta High School had been battling depression, which led to self-mutilation. During the week of the conference, she recognized her true identity in Christ and experienced freedom from depression for the first time. The idea of walking in the power of the Holy Spirit all came together for her. As a result, she has decided to stay in Atlanta and live with her father so that she can be involved with Student Venture one more year before moving back to live with her mom.

*A rising freshman said that he really wanted to learn how to share his faith at the Getaway. At the conference, he had the chance to be in a seminar where he learned how to share the Gospel using the Four Spiritual Laws and how to turn conversations to Christ. He was really excited about getting to share his faith on the beach on Friday, and even went again on his own initiative on Saturday afternoon. On the van ride home, he called a friend of his and shared Christ with her over the phone and told her all about what God had done in his life during the week.

*As a result of God working in one student's life at the Getaway, he shared with his friends that he had come to see what the meaning of life was, what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how to live his life to the fullest. He said, "I've realized the purpose in my life is not for my benefit, but for God's."

From Kevin on the New York College summer project...

One day when we were passing out survival kits I met Samuel, Aaron and David. Each wore the jersey of an NBA team. All three had typical hard expressions with their eyes darting toward any cute girl who passed by. They were surprised at first when I approached them, but soon we were talking about their favorite players. When I offered them a survival kit, each gladly took one. Then I asked if they would like to know how they could connect with God. It was as if time stopped and the crowds and noisy city faded. I can’t remember a time when a group stood so transfixed over the Gospel message. Samuel, the leader of the group, asked penetrating questions, and seemed satisfied with my responses. In the end I invited them to begin a relationship with God. Right there, across the street from what used to be the World Trade Towers, these three buddies bowed their heads and prayed out loud to place their faith in Christ.