Previous Next

PURPOSE:
Summer Connect is a mission experience open to any student anywhere in the world. Driven by a priority of connecting with people both locally and nationally, Summer Connect will help equip and motivate participants to build deep relationships during the summer months. Driven by the priority of training students to connect with God and to live out His priorities, Summer Connect leverages technology to guide students through interactive educational and experiential training all summer long, helping students live out God’s mission all summer, equipping them for a lifetime.

PRESENT REALITIES/HISTORY:
Only 6% of involved Cru students participate on a summer mission with Cru. As we look at Matthew 18 and the ‘Parable of the Lost Sheep’ we are compelled to leave the “6% and go after the 94%” of students to help them grow in their faith and stay on mission during the summer months, which can be a time of isolation for many students. Summer Connect exists to train and equip students to grow in their faith, launch movements, and accomplish the greater mission of helping fulfill the Great Commission.

In 2012 the National Summer Project Leadership Team wanted to experiment with ways to provide training for the 94% of students who were “involved but not participating in summer mission projects”. In 2013 we had a group of 40 students take part in a selected pilot of Summer Connect. In the summer of 2014, we had 250 students participating in our national pilot which includes some students who have been on our one week projects, international students who have returned to their countries for the summer, students at home working for the summer or students on campus taking classes. The wide variety of students who are participating leads us to believe that we have discovered a training strategy that served hundreds last summer, and we hope thousands this summer. Last Summer, approximately 60% of student paid full price. This was due to our open enrollment and nature of many students sharing access to our weekly webcast with friends, small groups, and even church.

WE ARE TRUSTING GOD:
This summer we hope to see God grow Summer Connect ten-fold as he did last summer to 2,500. Over the next 5 years our hope is that SummerConnect would make missional training and opportunities available to as many students as possible each summer. We are trusting God to move us from 6% to 20% of our involved student to stay engaged with us through the summer.

OUR NEED:
In order to helps students stay connected to the Great Commission this summer, individuals and local groups of students will connect on location and online through a webcast training center. Each Sunday night students will gather to hear from Cru National Speakers as well as small group and breakout session opportunities. A new opportunity this summer is myCru a mobile app/platform for students to engage in materials that help them engage in missional training opportunities where ever they are around the world on a daily basis. Participants will be sent training materials to help supplement their digital training opportunities to help them live out their faith with their family, friends, classmates, and co-workers. Our total operational cost to train and equip students to live missionally this summer is $19,775.

Please consider giving to the Summer Connect.