May 2013

Engstrom Update
Reaching the World from the U.S. Campuses
One of the exciting things we get to be a part of by doing campus ministry here in the United States is reaching students with the Gospel who come here from all around the world to study. We wanted to share an exciting way Ariel, one member of our staff team, had this past semester to share Christ with a Japanese student. The first meeting I had with Chiacki was mostly her asking me questions about why I believed in God, why I was a Christian, what Christianity is all about, and how it effected my life. She was excited and surprised when I told her that Christianity is more than just a code of ethics, but also a personal relationship with the God of the universe! On the next appointment I went through the Cru gospel presentation tool, the Knowing God Personally booklet. I could tell Chiacki had a desire to know God, but having grown up culturally Buddhist, in secular Japan, she had never had anyone tell her about how to have a relationship with God or the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection. This concise explanation of the gospel helped her understand that all she needed to do to know God was trust in what Jesus had done for her. As soon as she realized this she said she wanted to pray to receive Christ right then! We did, and afterward she kept saying, "I don't know how to explain in English, but I feel so different." This happened only a week and half before she was leaving to go back to Japan, so there wasn't a lot of time to help her learn about Christianity. We met four more times and did a series of follow-up materials Cru has designed for new believers, teaching them about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus how to walk with him for a lifetime. It was amazing to see that even though Chiacki had so little of the knowledge about God that we take for granted, she had a clear grasp of the concept of the gospel. One of the questions in the material is, "If you were standing before God, and He asked you, 'why should I let you into heaven?' what would you say?" Chiacki's reply was simply, "because I trust in Jesus". She didn't mention that she was a pretty good person, or that she tried to follow God, instead her answers to all the questions always centered on how she had been forgiven by Jesus, and how amazing it was that God loved her. She said, "I just feel so relieved." As I write this, Chiacki is flying back to Japan. She knows it will be tough to live out her faith in a society with so few Christians, but she says she wants to keep reading her Bible, learning about God, and is excited to tell her friends and family about what Jesus has done for her. We are trying to help her to find a church, connect her with Cru staff in Japan, and I will also be Skype-ing with her once a week for discipleship! - Ariel

Tom - (920) 328-8259 Tina - (920) 328-7357 tom.engstrom@cru.org. christina.engstrom@cru.org

Please be praying for Chiacki to be strong in the Lord as she will be facing many challenges back home in Japan. Please also pray for our transition to Eau Claire this summer. Once our house sells, we'll be making the move and getting settled in for the fall semester. Thank you so much for your continued partnership in reaching college students around the world with the Gospel. We're so grateful for you! With love, Tom, Tina, David, Josh, Emily, & Alaina