College of Creative Studies

This was one of those shows that seemed to be a total flop but actually turned out a lot better than you thought.

But right after the students got their pizza, most or close to all of them, left and went back to what they were doing before! Gah! Big letdown. Note to self in future: NEVER give free food at the beginning of the show. Always wait until about thirty or so minutes into it before we give it out. Or else they’ll just grab and go! Case in point!

We actually had to cut our set short because there were practically no students by the end of our show. I felt pretty discouraged, but during our debrief time with the Crusade staff, Jesse and Melissa, they told us that that was probably the largest gathering of students that they’ve ever seen at one given time on campus. :O Wow! Plus, we didn’t even realize that the dorm on campus was very close and a lot of people who had their windows open probably heard us.

Crusade ended up with 65 surveys and about 32 of those students wanted more information about Crusade, or were interested in bible studies. Most of the significant conversations with students happened while on line. This was encouraging because the staff told us that when we were here this past spring, there were about half the amount of students there. Just goes to show that God is working in ways we cannot see!

The art community is a very spiritually dark place but if we can slowly break through the hard soil, praise the Lord. Please continue to pray for the students there to be more and more receptive to the gospel.

University of Detroit Mercy

We were originally supposed to play outside for this gig but got moved into a ballroom on campus. There were about 30 or so people there at one point and though most of the students in attendance were from Crusade, there were a handful of non-Christians who wandered in that stuck around for most of the show. There was also an Islamic guy who came in, sat down for our show, and actually indicated wanting to know more about who Christ is! How cool is that?!

Kevin got to talk with a student, Adolfo, who made a decision for Christ four years ago through Crusade at Detroit Mercy, but throughout his four years on campus, he had only read three chapters of John.

He was having many doubts and questions about his faith and Kevin got to answer a lot of the questions he had and encourage him with scripture. Adolfo seemed to come to life and was just really hungry to know more about God. He seemed very encouraged afterwards and eager to get into a bible study. Praise God!

There were 25 comment cards returned and 12 who wanted more information about Crusade. Overall, there were about 30% non-Christians in attendance there.

Lawrence Tech University

For this gig we were set up outside the architecture building on campus, which was a great place to grab students passing by. Crusade got about 50 contacts, which was better than anticipated! About 70 people came through, with 50 comment cards returned. 20 were interested in more information about Crusade.

I got into a conversation with Christina and Collin, who were both architecture students at the school and was able to share my testimony and a part of the gospel. Jim, a Crusade student at LTU, jumped in halfway through our conversation and shared the Four Laws with them. You go Jim! They didn’t respond to make any decisions that day but really enjoyed us and respected what we had to say.

I gave Christina our card with my e-mail and blogsite address on it. Jim gave Collin his contact info as well. They filled out surveys and I believe indicated an interest in Crusade. Please pray for them!

Kev messing around on the kit

Of course, me and "La-fawn-duh"

Wayne State University

We were originally scheduled to play at 11:30a.m. but the weather that morning prevented us from doing that. So instead, we planned leading an hour of worship and prayer with the Detroit metro team and then head out back to Indy that night.

But through a bunch of circumstances, we got moved indoors. Martha, one of the staff asked Christy, part of staff services on campus, where we could play indoors. We prayed specifically for Christy to call back soon, and lo and behold, she called back in less than an hour and gave us the o.k. to play in the cafeteria of a freshman dorm on campus!

It ended up being a TREMENDOUS opportunity for the staff team. The staff handed out surveys and talked to students. They ended up with 131 contacts!!! Praise the Lord!

Later during debrief, the staff told us that playing in the freshmen dorm was key because most students at Wayne State are commuters. Had we played outside, we would have only gotten commuter students, most of whom would have been very hard to follow up with. Being inside increased the chances for getting students connected to Crusade so much greater! Praise God! It was cool to see God change the whole thing around and come up with something even better than what we had expected!

One student that was in the cafeteria was actually specifically looking for Crusade on campus that very morning and walked right into our show! He also mentioned that another Christian he met on his hallway was also looking to get involved with Crusade. How cool is that? Praise God!

Quick funny story

So, after our time at Wayne State, all the staff went back to our host’s home to have lunch. We parked the trailer in a parking lot behind their house and when we stepped out of the van, a homeless man with Harry Potter glasses and wing-tipped dress shoes with no laces, came riding up to us on his bike asking if we had any shoes to give him.

Long story short, he pointed at me, and said, “you…you…(Still pointing at me)...I don’t know what your name is…Bernito…but yeah” Something like that. He named me Bernito. Wow. I’ve been mistaken for Sam’s brother and now been given a Latino first name. Man, the Keynote life is great! At this rate someone might call me the jolly green giant or something.

Kevin and I stayed around and talked with him for a little bit trying to share the gospel with him. He wasn’t really catching on though and then went back to the whole Bernito thing. He turned to me and said something like, “yeah…these Chinese and these people from Tokyo…man, it’s like Romeo must die over there! You gotta help me out man!” My reaction --> “…………..” no comment. It was quit amusing. Alas, you can add “Bernito” to my roster of nicknames.

Back to our week in Detroit, go God! I'm looking forward to this weekend when we get to go down to Mississippi and minister to the hurricane victims down there and help out with relief efforts. Pray for wisdom in how to offer hope and healing to these people in the midst of tremendously trying times. And pray for our traveling mercies. Blessings to you!