Summer Venture Planning

Our Cru High meetings will look different during the summer months than they have during the school year. For a number of years now, we have held a different format for our student meetings during the summer - something we have called "Summer Venture". Our first planning meeting for Summer Venture was held on March 18.

Jake, our amazing part-time staff guy, called together a few of our young adult and college volunteers, as well as a few student leaders, to begin planning for this coming summer. Instead of holding separate student meetings for each of our Cru campuses, we will be holding one joint area meeting for all the students together during the summer months. Pulling students together from the various campuses for encouragement, inspiration, and fun. Jake has done a great job during the past few summers, as he has equipped and coached our college volunteers to have a major role in leading our summer meetings.

Please pray for Jake as he heads this up, and also for our college volunteers who will be taking a major leadership role during the summer months. It's the perfect opportunity for them to gain more experience in leadership, and it's a great help for us as staff for them to help in this way while they are on summer break from their college classes.

Summer Venture Finale

It was a great summer for our Cru students ...

Weekly Summer Venture meeting with Omaha South students

Student ministry during the summer looks a bit different than during the school year. Many of the Cru High ministries across the nation do not meet regularly during the summer months, but several years ago we began what we call Summer Venture in our Omaha area. 

Under the leadership and coaching of our two part-time staff guys, Andy & Jake, eleven college volunteers played an active part in our Summer Venture program these past few months. Andy & Jake met with the college students (most of them former Cru High students) each Monday night, and then the following evening the college students divided up into teams to lead groups of high school students - in Blair, Fort Calhoun, Logan View, and at Marrs in Omaha. 

These four Summer Venture groups, as well as the Omaha South group (which was led by adult volunteers) all went through the study The Gospel Centered Life. It was a time of growth for the students, as well as the leaders. 

And on August 6th, the three groups that were in more close proximity to each other (Blair, Fort Calhoun, and Logan View) gathered for a fun Summer Venture finale evening. They started off their time together by dividing into four teams for some competitive games ...

Four teams ready for crazy, fun competition!

After the games, they gathered back indoors for a time of worship ...

And to hear one of the college volunteers share his story of coming to Jesus ...

It was a summer of incredible opportunity ... for students, as well for our college volunteers. The students were challenged as they studied and shared together, and our college volunteers had a great opportunity to grow in leadership as they led the meetings. And Jake & Andy did an amazing job of coaching our college volunteers. 

Summer Venture Debriefing

Keeping high school students connected, and challenging them to grow in their faith through the summer has been a focus of our team. It has been exciting for us to see college volunteers come alongside us as staff in leading our Summer Venture program. 

Michaela, Debi, Jake, Abbie, Paul, Ali, Andy, Jon, Andrew (missing: Garrett, Otis)

A group of college students (most of them, former Student Venture students themselves) helped with our first Summer Venture program during the summer of 2011. And this summer these college students have returned to help head up Summer Venture again! They are an amazing group of volunteers and have done a great job!

Summer Venture met once each week throughout the summer, drawing high school students from the area together for teaching, worship, and fun. The college volunteer leaders met each week, as well, to plan and prepare for the lessons and activities.

It was a great summer for the high school students who gathered each week, and also for our college volunteers. They were coached by Andy, our part-time staff guy, and he did an amazing job of encouraging them, and also of letting them take major leadership throughout the summer. We thank God for Andy's capable leadership, as well as that of Debi and Jake. And we are so grateful for our college volunteers, and for their desire to minister to high school students.

In the photo above, you see Andy (and Debi, and Jake) leading our college volunteers in a valuable debriefing time. All of them wanting to stay on board, and already planning for another great Summer Venture in 2013!