During spring break, Lindenwood CRU went on a mission trip to New Orleans, Louisiana for discipleship, sharing the gospel, and teaching people about Jesus.
CRU is a Christian campus ministry dedicated to connecting students with a community where they can discover and grow in their faith. The group also provides many mission opportunities, leadership development events, and local and out-of-town experiences as a whole.
The New Orleans mission trip was one of those, and according to sophomore Judah Davis, it was a powerful experience altogether.
“During the entire time we were down there, we would have small bible studies, and we looked over the parable of the sower, a major piece of scripture Luke chapter 8. It just kind of goes over like our response to the lord’s word, and where our heart really is,” Davis said. “With the studies in all our groups, everyone shared and contributed really well. And people learned and I think walked away a little challenged like how are they coming to God’s word, where is their heart, and responding with what the lord calls us to, like how we walk with the gospel.”
The mission trip not only involved Lindenwood CRU, but same with campuses such as SIUE and Harris Stowe. There were 25-30 members on the mission trip, and three Lindenwood students including Davis, junior Marnus Prinsloo, and sophomore Abi Waters.
“This trip is always a highlight for me. I think the biggest highlight was just being able to make a difference in the city. We might not be able to see the difference we’ve made, but just to know that somehow God is going to use what we did there for good,” Prinsloo said.
They were able to share the love of Jesus with people who had not heard of it before.
“My sharing partner and I got to share the gospel with some people, and the first guy that we found was a guy from the UAE, from Dubai. He just got to the US, and he had never heard of the gospel before or about Jesus or the Bible,” Prinsloo said. “We were able to share the gospel with him, and just having that opportunity, it was really cool to me to be able to share the gospel to someone who hasn’t heard it and wouldn’t really have a lot of opportunity to hear it from where he’s from because most people that I talk to here have heard of like the story of Jesus before, so that was one of my favorite parts of the trip.”
Overall, Lindenwood CRU, and CRU as a whole was proud of all that was accomplished at the New Orleans mission trip. From prayer, talking to others about Jesus, and altogether serving God.
“There was a lot of growth, and people were learning, and growing their relationship with the lord a lot. They got to develop, and look at what it meant to really focus on the lord, and also to press into like Christian community, which was really cool,” Davis said. “And then, I think a lot of people were not used to sharing their faith before, and kind of putting words to it. And so a lot of students were able to grow in that, as well as finding a new desire and a new passion for [sharing their faith], which was really cool to see.”
Lindenwood CRU and the many other CRU workers’ college groups are excited for future mission trips to come, not just during spring, but summer, and all year round. Whether local, out-of-region, out-of-state, or international, CRU plans to continue to be disciplicles everywhere they visit, and to everyone they talk to and work with.
“Just the service that we did, and the people that we spoke to. Like it talks about in the parable of the sower, we were able to sow seeds, and that the seeds have been sown, and it’s up to God now, and that he’s going to do something with the work that we’ve done there,” Prinsloo said. “I just think that really speaks to just being able to share the gospel to everyone, because the gospel is for everyone. And that God wants everyone of us to know him.”
