Survey at South High SV

Students at South High in Omaha will be finishing up another school year soon, and those who gathered at the Student Venture meeting a week ago took time to answer a few survey questions for us.

If Student Venture has helped you in your relationship with God, please explain how.

"It has made me realize so many things about me and life. 

The importance of our relationship with God."

"Instead of partying throughout high school, 

it has kept me connected and faith within Him."

"SV challenged me to read the Bible more."

"It helped me through depression, suicidal thoughts, 

eating disorders, abuse, and hopelessness."

"I've learned things I have previously not known."

"I have learned to be able to talk to God as a friend."

These few examples of the answers given are an encouragement to us as to how God is at work in the lives of these students in this very ethnically diverse school.  Please pray for these students to continue to grow and learn to multiply their faith in other students' lives.

Silent Auction Fundraiser

After weeks of preparation, and after receiving many generous donations of items by area businesses and individuals - our annual fundraiser was held Saturday, March 3. Two years ago we held our very first Silent Auction in Blair, and this year we were so blessed to be invited to be a part of the Omaha Campus Crusade Silent Auction held in the Old Market area of Omaha. Such a privilege to work together with the Cru Staff Team to put on this fundraising event.

Andy & Tyler checked in our many guests, giving them each a bidding number to use. There were over seventy items to look over, and bid on. A wide variety - ranging from gift certificates for golfing to salon services, and baskets ranging from gluten-free baking mixes to family movie nights. So grateful for the many businesses and individuals who donated items for our Silent Auction.

Midway through the bidding time, our guests were given the privilege of hearing from several college students in the area, as they shared how God has used Cru to impact their lives, and the lives of their peers.

And then Gary introduced two students (photo below) whose lives were greatly impacted by God through Student Venture. We're so thankful for Paul (now a college student) who shared of how he came to know Christ personally through a Ron Brown event co-sponsored by Student Venture back in his junior-high years, and how he then was greatly impacted by SV throughout his high school years. And we thank God for all that He has done in Allen's life, bringing him to a relationship with God after his very tumultuous childhood years, and how God is transforming his life through the opportunities for growth in Student Venture.

We left the Silent Auction thanking God for His work in the lives of college and high school students, for the privilege of being part of this fundraiser together with the Omaha Cru Team, and for funds raised for our SV Operating Account. We praise God for all that was accomplished for His purposes through the event.

Silent Auction

You are invited to the 2012

Silent Auction Fundraiser

Saturday, March 3, 7-9 pm

Held in the Old Market Area 

at GAMe (Great Adventure Ministries)

1314 Jones Street, Omaha, NE

(stairs located in front of 1316 Jones)

Benefitting the Omaha Area

Student Venture / CRU

Join us for an evening of fun ...

families are welcome!

Childcare will be provided.

Appetizers, desserts, and drinks will be served.

Items to be auctioned include:

weekend getaways, golf, zoo tickets, 

massages, salon services,

paintball outing, canoe outing,

and many, many more!

(We are still accepting donations as well. 

If you have a business and can donate goods or services, 

we would appreciate it.)

Please RSVP by February 29th

Respond online to:

crucore@gmail.com

or call 402 968-1286

If you are unable to attend, but would still like to contribute,

you can send a check payable to Campus Crusade for Christ to:

Student Venture NE/IA

PO Box 184

Fort Calhoun, NE  68023

or give online at:

give.ccci.org/give/2277658

Student-Led Movements

Student leaders are the key at Fort Calhoun High School SV. They have been instrumental in bringing over 50 of their fellow students to SV meetings in the past two years.

Small discussion groups at these SV meetings are led by these student leaders who are passionate about their peers coming to know Christ and grow in Him. Sometimes some of the new students who come are wary of being pressured into something new that they're not sure about. Our student leaders do a great job of giving these new students the freedom to share and discuss where they are coming from without putting them down. Even so, some new students become defensive and argumentative.

This happened recently with several new students the same evening. But our student leaders did such a great job showing them respect and friendship not only at the SV meeting, but also in school over the next week. And these new students have been back every week since, and with a completely different attitude. Now, they are sharing very positively about Christ in the small groups.

In fact, we were surprised and impressed to read the following facebook status of one of these new students recently:

"I love Jesus and you know what 

I'm not afraid to talk to you about Him! 

Anyone want to have a nice talk about Jesus 

and His love for us? 

Today show someone that your a Christian 

and your proud of it!"

What our student leaders are modeling before their peers is exactly what Campus Crusade president, Steve Douglass, recently wrote about in an article to CCC staff:

As I write this, I am flying back from a meeting with many of our global leaders. Some of these leaders are focused on student-led movement. I had the privilege of talking with a number of them informally concerning university students today and how to minister to them. There were some trends we had all observed. One was that students are increasingly interested in knowing if the Christian life really works.

We discussed the importance of building relationships with interested students. Life-to-life connection helps people discover how they can have the kind of relationship with God that we have.

One thing some global campus leaders and I discussed is the change in how students prefer to learn. Today's students seem to absorb more lessons from discussions with their friends than from listening to a lecture or reading a book. This "oral learning" trend has a major impact on how we can best disciple students. Lectures need to be shorter and have fewer points. Teaching sessions need to be frequently interspersed with times of discussion in small groups. We need to allow for "self-discovery".

We thank God for raising up the student leaders at Fort Calhoun High, and praise Him for their peers who are coming to know Jesus. Please pray for these leaders, and for the friends that they are bringing to our Student Venture meetings.

New Opportunities

Please pray for some new opportunities to open up two new schools for Student Venture ~ at a new Omaha school, and also at a Lincoln school.

We were recently invited to the Accelere alternative school in north Omaha to share with the principal and a teacher there about Student Venture. They are each dynamic Christians and have a deep passion to help these 17-20 year old students not only get their diplomas, but also learn to know and follow Christ. As a result of our visit, we have been invited to start SV during the school day at their school. This is a great opportunity! Please pray for us to secure the personnel and resources we need to make this happen.

In addition, we also have a new opportunity to start Student Venture at Schoo Middle School in Lincoln. A Campus Crusade (Cru) Campus Ministry staff family there has sensed a call from God to make this happen in their neighborhood. We are thrilled that God is opening this door. Not only is this a new open door where many students need to hear about Christ, but it is a new opportunity to partner with Campus Ministry staff as we follow God's call to fulfill the Great Commission with today's youth.

Students Share about FastBreak

Omaha South SV

Students from our area who went to the SV FastBreak conference in the Twin Cities between Christmas and New Years, shared their experiences with their peers back home at their next SV meetings. The top two photos show the meeting at South High School in Omaha, and the lower two photos were taken at the Fort Calhoun SV meeting. Blair High SV students also shared at their next meeting, but we don't have photos to show.

At South High in Omaha (above), Shayn shared about how we all went to the Mall of America during FastBreak and took the initiative to get into spiritual conversations with shoppers. He said that was a highlight for him, and taught him that he could do that with his peers at South. Josh from Fort Calhoun SV (below) shared things he learned from various speakers and then provided questions for small group discussion of what he learned.

Fort Calhoun High SV

FastBreak was a valuable experience for our students who went from our area. Besides the main teaching sessions and seminars, they also participated in small discussion groups each night back in their rooms. One of our college volunteers, Andrew, shared this about our guys small group that he led each night:

"I really honestly felt small groups went well this year. The group was very open and honest throughout the whole experience, and I really felt great progress was made spiritually for the students this week. There were real walls being broken down. I also know that the Blair and Fort Calhoun guys were talking about starting some sort of accountability group because of the week, so that may end up being really awesome, too. I think the most important thing we talked about this week was really being bold and courageous and I think that these guys will really achieve that."

SV FastBreak

The Twin Cities, MN, is where two of our staff team, two of our college volunteers, and 13 students from our area were from Dec. 28 through January 1st.

Every year between Christmas and Yew Years we take students to a regional Student Venture FastBreak Conference in the Twin Cities. This year we had students attending from four area schools: Fort Calhoun, Blair, Omaha South, and Omaha Street School.

The students were involved in various worship times, training seminars, and had the opportunity to hear great speakers in the main sessions. The theme of the conference was FUSED (as in abiding in Christ from John 15).

One of our high school student leaders co-led one of the seminars together with a student leader from the Twin Cities. Josh and Abby led the students deeper into understanding the power of God through prayer, and the great resource we have in communicating with God.

Our students participated in a day of outreach, where they put into practice some of the things they learned. In the photo below, they are on their way to the Mall of America, where they initiated spiritual conversations with shoppers at the Mall of America. One of our students from Omaha South High shared later that this time was a highlight for him, and gave him courage and desire to share of his faith with his peers back at his high school.

New Year's Eve was a highlight, as the one hundred and thirty high school FastBreak students joined with TCX, the college conference going on at the same time as FastBreak, for a big New Year's Celebration. They welcomed the New Year in with a time of worship and prayer, followed by balloons and celebration.

Thanking God for all that He did in the hearts of students during FastBreak. Please pray for each of them as they have returned to their homes and their schools, that they will continue to be impacted in deep ways with God's love and His truth, and that they will make a difference for eternity on their campuses.