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I joined staff with Cru in August 2008 and it has been an adventure ever since, following God’s call on my life to be part of His beautiful work of proclaiming liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1) so that all may know the freedom, hope, and life that are found in Jesus.  From my first years in Orlando, Florida serving at Cru’s world headquarters, helping send and care for missionaries around the world, to years of sharing the love of Jesus with college students in Central Asia and Philadelphia, I am so grateful for the ways God has transformed my life and the lives of so many others through this ministry.

​My heart and passion in ministry has always been to see God use my story of addiction and freedom to help other women experience the freedom and healing that are found in Jesus. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had to do this over the past 17 years, speaking at conferences, leading women’s retreats, and meeting with women in small groups and individually.  In my role with Cru City, I come alongside women of all ages in Philadelphia, partnering with churches and other organizations in the city, to bring healing and wholeness in areas of brokenness and addiction. I am so excited about how God is leading me, and how He is providing new opportunities to share my story. 

Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ) was founded in 1951 as a campus ministry, helping students come to know Jesus, grow in their faith, and go to their families, communities, and the world to share God’s love. Since then, Cru has become a global missions organization, with ministries in 191 countries, expanding beyond the college campus to bring the good news of Jesus to specific audiences in places around the world. In Cru City, we seek to uniquely restore every community with the good news of Jesus, engaging the curious and equipping the follower so that everyone finds their place in God’s story.

As followers of Jesus, bringing good news to the city is centered around us sharing our hope and life with the people, communities, neighborhoods, and institutions who make up the cities of the world. There are several unique audiences within Cru City (find out more at www.cru.org/communities/city) and I will be working specifically with the Neighbors audience. The vision of Neighbors is to bring the transforming love of Jesus to the whole city through relationships, innovative approaches, and partnerships. When Jesus was asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” in Luke 10:29, He chose a radically different definition of neighbor – it was a definition defined by approach, not proximity; by care, not commonality – a neighbor is someone willing to make the journey with someone else. I want to journey with women in Philadelphia and equip them to come alongside others in their journeys, helping them live out their place in God’s story in this city.

Please reach out by e-mail to connect with me to hear more about this ministry (Lauren.Hays@cru.org). Thank you for journeying with me as I follow where God leads!