Final Draft

The Trip that Changed my Life

Me with two of my bible study leaders from freshmen year.

Faith has always been very important to me.  Because of my faith in Jesus I am always changing and growing.  In the past two years I have changed a lot spiritually.  I am very active in an organization called Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ).  My first year in the organization I was just a member with no leadership position.  During the year I became a lot more solid in my faith and meet friends I will have the rest of my life. 

Last year I became a leader in Cru and through this I have grown the most.  I lead a bible study for freshmen alongside two other amazing women. 

The two amazing women I lead Bible study with last year.

Emily and I

The girls involved in my bible study were not the only ones who changed because of my leadership in Cru.  People who are in leadership are paired up with someone who is older then them to be their discipler.  A discipler has the responsibility of pouring into their disciple.  The relationship between the two is meant to help the disciple’s relationship with Jesus grow and that is exactly what mine did.  My discipler’s name is Emily and I have grown so much through our friendship. She has helped me to work through some of my struggles and grow closer to God.  She has helped me study the bible and encouraged me to go on a life-changing trip.  Since Emily was also one of my co-leaders she taught me how to teach from the bible. She has become one of my best friends.  Through our friendship she has helped me to see that I have grown in my faith. I became someone willing to teach others from the bible. Emily was helping me to realize the importance of telling people about Jesus. I am so grateful that she is a part of my life and has helped me grow.

There are a few other women in my life that have helped me grow in my relationship with God. Beth has always been a positive light in my life and has encouraged me to grow in my relationship with the Lord.  She is the main reason I went on a trip to Panama City Beach last year for spring break.  I had heard about Big Break for about a year and a half before I talked to Beth about it. 

“One of the reasons to go to Big Break is the community,” Beth said. “There is just something about living with people for a week. It is an intense community that helps you grow. You develop deep friends and grow in your relationship with God. The people on the beach are looking for a way to fulfill their needs. You get to tell them the way they can. You get to take a lot of steps of faith that week and do some things that might be uncomfortable. You really live by faith that week.” (Beach)     

I walked away from our conversation knowing this trip was something I wanted to know more about. The way Beth described it the trip seamed like something I would enjoy. I am always looking for a way to grow in my relationship with the Lord. When I got home I researched all I could about Big Break. I read the information about the conference and watched the video. I quickly realized this was how I wanted to spend my spring break.  

My parents supported my decision to go but I was still a little hesitant because I had never gone on a trip like this before. There were about 70 people going from OU and I knew about 10 of them. I knew I would form new relationships during the trip but I was also worried that I wouldn’t know enough people to have fun.  I won a scholarship to help pay for the bus and I knew God was making it as clear as possible that he wanted me to go.  He made it so there was no way I couldn’t go. I was officially out of reasons and I need to just take the step of faith and go on the trip. I quickly became excited.

We spent the first two days just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful beach. We had the perfect weather to be in Florida, which was especially awesome after a cold Ohio winter. 

The first day of the conference was the second day we were in Panama City Beach. I was super excited for the conference to start. I was ready to spend time with other people worshiping Jesus and to learn more about him. The first session was awesome and I quickly realized I would be able to do anything that week with God. I remember waking up the next morning and not feeling the same way. I knew I would be going out on the beach to talk to people about the gospel. I had never done this before and was really scared. I was scared about how the people I talked to would react. I thought they might think I’m crazy for wanting to talk to them about God while they were on spring break. I remember texting Emily and telling her I was worried. She responded by telling me to trust God.

During the morning session of the conference we learned about listening. Listening is one of the most important tools in evangelism. Listing wasn’t what I was worried about it was if I would have the right words to say. I didn’t have a choice about evangelizing so I decided to just trust God. I paired with a staff person in Cru, Raymond and he did most of the talking because I was so nervous. It was a great experience to see what Raymond does for a living and I ended up doing a lot of listening. I learned a lot that day.

The second morning of the conference we learned how to use the Knowing God Personally (KGP) booklet. 

The KGP is a booklet that “contains a message of love and hope. An exciting adventure awaits all who discover these life-changing truths. The following four principles will help you discover how to know God personally and experience the abundant life He promised.” (Bright 2)

The KGP simply states the gospel and why we need Jesus in our lives. Members of Cru always use the KGP to share the gospel. I had seen the KGP hundreds of times during my involvement in Cru but I had never actually been taught how to use it to share the gospel. I was still a little worried about sharing but I knew I just needed to remember what Emily said the day before and trust God. I was paired with another Cru staff member, Ty and one of my classmates. I explained to Ty I was still nervous about sharing but I wanted to talk more that day. I had plenty of opportunities to talk and I took each one of them. It was awesome being able to share my faith with someone. The person we talked to was open to talking with us. I walked away from the conversation realizing the importance of sharing the gospel. I remember wanting it to be the next day so I could learn more ways to share the gospel.

Day three of the conference we learned how to use perspective cards. These are now my favorite tool because they give people many different options to choose from when answering questions. They are great for the person sharing too because the cards lay out what to say. The cards even include questions to ask. There are five different categories (Nature of God, Human Nature, Meaning of Life, Identity of Jesus and Source of Spiritual Truth) and the person who is answering the questions picks the card that best describes them. I was still a little nervous to go sharing but was becoming more comfortable. We were able to pick our groups for sharing that day and I went with my friend Kailee and Brian, the campus director of Cru at OU. I was really excited that I was sharing with Brian because I wanted to learn from him. We started off talking to one guy. Then a few of his friends joined us so we decided to split into two groups. Kailee and I stuck together and talked with two guys while Brian talked to two different guys. The first thought that ran through my head was “AHHHH!!” I was going to have a huge role in this conversation and that was something I had never done before. We started going through the perspective cards and I was pretty nervous. I asked God to be with me and give me the wisdom and knowledge to know what to say. During our conversation a few more guys joined us. At one point Kailee and I were talking to eight guys. We had a great two-hour conversation with them and I felt on fire for the gospel. When I look back on it I still can’t believe I was able to have that conversation. I know that the only reason I was able to was because I did it with God. I trusted him and I am so grateful that he gave me that opportunity.

After our conversation I wanted to tell everyone about what I had just done. Kailee and I talked to Brian about it and he couldn’t believe it. Once we got back to the hotel I called Emily to tell her about it. She has helped me grow so much and I wanted to share it with her. She was so excited that I had taken a huge step of faith. All I want to do was go out again and tell people the gospel.

I went to the conference the next day excited to learn a new way to talk to people about God and have another great conversation. We learned how to use soularium which is a tool using pictures. It is great for creative people. We were taught to introduce soularium like card game. I knew the least about this tool but I was still looking forward to using it to share the gospel.  It was the last day where would be sharing the gospel and our group got the part of the beach that had most of the partying. It was the typically spring break area. Unfortunately no one wanted to talk to Kailee and me. We were not able to share the gospel that day but it was a very humbling experience.

I spent the rest of the trip reflecting and relaxing. I thought about what I had learned during the trip. I took a huge step of faith my going to Big Break and an even bigger one by going out and sharing the gospel with strangers. I am really happy I did it. I learned to trust God more. I learned that if he gives me the opportunity to share the gospel he will give me the words to say. I realized that sharing the gospel is not a scary thing. If I have the Holy Spirit I can do anything.

Another one of the things I did because I have the Holy Spirit was talk to people about my week. I was asked to speak at Cru’s weekly gathering, 180, the first Thursday of spring quarter. Two other students spoke about their week also. There were about 300 people there that night. I have never spoken in front of so many people before but I did it with God’s strength. It was awesome to be able to tell everyone about sharing the gospel. I even encouraged them to talk to me after the meeting about learning how to share.

Afterwards my bible study leader from freshmen year came up to me and told me how excited she was about the week I had just had. She was so proud of the step of faith that I took and how much I have grown since she first met me. She couldn’t believe that the girl she had met at the beginning of the year before had gone to Big Break and then talked about it at 180. Hearing her say that I realized that I really was a different person.

Big Break changed me in so many ways. I am now a person who takes steps of faith because I know God will catch me if I fall. I am a person who fully trusts God’s will in my life. I am a person who wants to tell people about him. I am a different person now but I am a better person because of my trip.

Works Cited

Bright, Bill, Dr. "How to Know God Personally." How to Know God Personally

Through Jesus Christ Right Now. Campus Crusade for Christ, n.d. Web. 04

Dec. 2012. <http://www.cru.org/training-and-growth/classics/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally/index.htm>.

Walker, Tanya. "Cru Press Green." How to Use Soularium. Cru Global, 2007. Web. 04

Dec. 2012. <http://crupressgreen.com/how-to-use-soularium/>.

"Perspective (Spiritual Conversation Cards)." Campus Crusade for Christ: Building

Spiritual Movements Everywhere. Campus Crusade for Christ Ministry

Resources Online Store, 1998. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.

<http://www.campuscrusade.com/catalog/Perspective-Spiritual

Conversation-Cards.html>.

Beach, Beth. "Big Break." Personal interview. 6 Dec. 2012.

Bright, Bill. Would You like to Know God Personally? Peachtree City: Campus

Crusade for Christ, 2002. Print.