Literary Journalism

You are lost right now. Are you seeking? Well, the members of Campus Crusade for Christ are seeking you.  

In order to be a member of Cru you must acknowledge that you are a dirty rotten sinner. You must shout it from the rooftops. This is known as evangelism. 

Cru is an international phenomenon. The IU chapter in Bloomington meets at a quarter past eight on Thursdays. They blast worship songs like “Imagine” through 100 Woodburn Hall. Outreach programs are planned—like Porn Nation, a two-parter that condemns overt sexuality while testifying to the power of Christianity. Hundreds of people attend every week, often the aisles overflow with bodies ready to praise Jesus. Several worshippers have one hand raised stiffly in the air. No, they aren’t heiling Hitler, they are adoring Christ.

Mom got saved when Kelly was a toddler. Her parents weren’t Christian when they married and dad still isn’t a strong believer as she puts it. Because her mom didn’t have much spiritual support at home, she sought strong Christian women and pastors to help her with her faith—that is why Cru is so important to Kelly.

“You can’t have a strong faith without a community. You need people there for encouragement to help you grow—like Christ’s disciples.”

“I think about Jesus and why did he have 12 disciples instead of 1? He had men all around him constantly fellowshipping with Him. But they keep him accountable while walking around. The whole thing you’re trying to do is not so much to have someone call you out, but so that you are never isolated. When you’re isolated, it’s easier for Satan to come at you.”

Kelly is a sorority girl who doesn’t wear Ugg boots, leggings, or a Northface fleece. She’s not a virgin and she used to binge on alcohol. Even though being surrounded by a ton of girls might have made her stray toward the devil one too many times, she still thinks that it is a perfect environment for saving.

“It’s actually been really cool because in the sorority there are a lot of girls. It’s nice for them to know that Kelly’s been through this and she’s been able to overcome it. So it’s been really good—women come into my room after a one night stand or after a night that just went too far with a guy. ‘I know exactly how you’re feeling. Let me pray for you.’”

Derrick is what you would call sexy. His lashes are miles long. His yellow oversized Nike hoodie highlights his mahogany skin. His voice is innately sensual. None of that matters now. Praising the Lord is his main focus and that has nothing to do with being sexy.

Other girls considered Derrick sexy too. Derrick had problems with purity. Growing up around Gary and Indianapolis, he was briefly involved in gangs and lived a hip-hop lifestyle. He used to get ass a lot.  

“What was really big was the hip-hop culture. It’s really stressing it’s okay to get a woman, get as many as you can.”

He’s only got one woman now. She’s been godly since, well, God only knows. He hasn’t done anything sexual with her in the 2 ½ years he’s been saved, but that’s not to say it isn’t a daily battle.

“I think if you’re trying to walk this path, then it’s always going to be a struggle. If someone tells you it’s not, then I don’t know if that’s true. We have accountability partners which is really key. I have, like a lot. I live by myself, and they’ll be calling me and asking what I’m doing.” 

Derrick doesn’t want to get wrapped up in the world of the flesh ever again. He disconnected his internet, and barely turns on his TV. He even replaced his 50 Cent for Soul-jah Muzik and Tru Saints.

“My freshman year I threw away like 300 CDs, I cut ‘em up and threw ‘em away. Part of me was like if I continue to put that in me, which has had an effect on me whether I hear or not . My roommate didn’t understand. He was really upset.”

Cru is youth driven and promotes evangelism around the world. Annie Osterloh is protective of Cru’s mission. Both her parents work for the organization and she grew up a “staff kid.” She stresses that Campus Crusade for Christ doesn’t mean that students around the country will forcibly convert you to Christianity. “Some people freak out when they hear the word Crusade,” she says. 

Derrick had an absent father growing up. Kelly’s parents fought constantly. Derrick created a bond with Christ to fill his father’s shoes. 

“The only way I know how to love is through Christ lovin’ me. Christ, He has actually been the dad.”

Kelly’s dad hasn’t helped her much either in the spiritual department. Like her mother, she has surrounded herself with sorority sisters and Cru women in order to create fellowship she doesn’t find with male figures.

Kelly and Derrick have both fucked up. A lot. And they know it. Cru provides them the outlet to testify their sins. They confess their sins and profess the grace of God in order to reassure that their own inadequacies are innate as beings of the flesh.

Derrick and Kelly are two of the biggest student leaders in Cru. Kelley, a senior, used to plan fall and spring retreats for the more than 400 members in the organization. Derrick jump-started Impact, the African-American branch of Cru, which now has almost 50 members.

“If you don’t talk to other people then where are they destined to go? If they don’t know the word of God, then they are destined to go to hell. It’s something that terrifies me, that there are people that I walk by every day that don’t know God” she says.

Kelly thinks she is very sensible for joining, Derrick just sort of fell into it.

“That’s the kind of environment I got saved in. But I noticed there weren’t any African-
American students and I was just trying to figure out ‘What’s up with this?’ But for me it was kind of like they gotta get this thing I got,” Derrick confesses.

Derrick wanted to share the gospel so much that he ended up starting Impact at IU after a Cru conference he attended. Derrick recognizes that it might sound backwards to segregate black worship from white worship, but he is adamant that there are no Jim Crow tactics going on here.

“At the beginning I was really nervous because I didn’t understand we had to be separate. But as I understand more it’s important because of social matters, approaches, and outreaches are a little different. And Cru a lot of times didn’t have a way of reaching out to the African-American community.”

Derrick doesn’t think it’s important to segregate, that instead it’s a tactical thing.

“It’s to bring the body together; the body shouldn’t be separate”

The CRU Mission Statement: 

Helping to fulfill the Great Commission in the power of the Holy Spirit by winning people to faith in Jesus Christ, building them in their faith and sending them to win and build others; and helping the Body of Christ do evangelism and discipleship.

Derrick is a model Cru member. He even knows where the Great Commission comes from. Matthew 28:16-20

When you’re in Cru, you go to conferences. The culmination of every Cru member’s year is the Christmas Conference. During the season of Jesus’ famed birth, the Midwest region of Cru gathers together in Indianapolis to mobilize evangelical efforts for the following year. Kelly has been three times, and David Pippenger, another member of the IU chapter of Cru, helped coordinate the event last year.   

David: The conference is a great way for Crusade members from all over to come together as one.

Kelly: Getting there the first day, you stay in four-star hotels, which first of all is great. You are in downtown Indy and you have easy access to the mall. I felt like it was almost like a vacation, at first. Then it was scary because there were about 3,000 people and I didn’t really know anyone. But luckily, a couple older girls took me under their wing. That first year I kind of clung to my roommates.

There were speakers who were known nationwide, and phenomenonal for what they had to say. Just their experiences being Christian and their own personal testimony. Then there were seminars that talked about finances—how to honor God with your finances. Then there were seminars that talked about careers with Cru, what to do after college and there were ones about mission trips—we call those summer projects. Other opportunities that were available through Cru.

David: There are men’s and women’s times. Last year three Colts players came and talked about what it’s like to be a man of God when living the athlete lifestyle.

Kelly: Women talked about purity, one woman gave a testimony about being an adulterer. A lot of it has to do with purity. (She has a hard time thinking of other topics they ever touch on).

On the day of outreach we had what we called “boxes of love” and we just went out into the community and just started knocking on doors and handing out boxes to people that were in desperate need of them. And through that they opened their doors to us and we were able to give a presentation of the gospel. Most ask why would you do this, and we say we do this because we love you. 

If you’ve never shared the gospel with someone, you’re a first-time Christian, this is the first time sharing the gospel on the day of outreach. We have a little booklet that you go through called “The Four Laws” and it’s great to help begin to learn how to share their faith.

It’s really scary for a lot of people. I have to go to this slum community and share my faith? But if you can overcome that it will be really easy to share the gospel with the students on your campus.

Along with all the sessions and seminars, there’s a lot of time to come together as a campus and grow together. You can sit with more people and start friendships. There are times that whole campuses go out together, or go to dinner together and like our staff have planned that for us to give us little retreats outside the conference.

Kelly: We pray in the new year starting at 11 and going till 12 30. We spend the whole time in prayer, in small groups, which is really cool. Then when one comes, we have this huge New Year’s Eve party…then we leave the next day.

Cru makes every attempt to evangelize about the Lord, and there is no alternative to evangelism, according to Derrick.

It’s all about seeking the lost, that’s what Crusade’s all about. You have to ask “Do you know Christ?”