Wow! What an incredible and life changing summer! Thank you so much for being a ministry partner for me through prayer and financial support. It is hard to explain all of what happened during the summer in just a blog post. Its even hard to explain it in person. I wish I did a better job of updating, but I got so caught up in the summer and what God was doing. It is something you would have to experience your self. So I will try my best to say what I can in this blog and if you try and contact me later, I’ll try my best to do justice to how great of a summer it was.
God did amazing things this summer in and through the lives of the 104 students that were in Ocean City this summer. The easiest way to see ways God moved is by looking at the numbers; 8,403 spiritual conversations and 258 decisions for Christ. That isn't even counting the number of people the gospel was presented to. I personally shared with about 200 people, leading 11 people to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I was able to present the gospel to countless others and encourage many Christians who I met on the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey. They were left with a booklet with more information and our contact info in case they had any questions.
Not only were other people’s lives on project changed, the lives of us students were changed forever. Our perspectives on living the spirit filled life, treasuring the gospel, sharing, and Christian community were all shifted in incredible, God-glorifying ways. The first half of the summer was spent focused on living a Spirit-filled life. In this time the amazing Cru staff from campuses all across the country were able to pour into us and help us grow in our walk and understanding of what it means to live a Spirit-filled life. Each student got disciple by a staff person. Discipleship consisted of an hour of sharing on the boardwalk and an hour of
huge part of the growth experienced on project.
Every student on project got a job. These ranged from the grocery store, to surf shops, to a toy/pirate store. I happened to work at a McDonald’s. It was quite the experience. Our jobs were also another ministry place for us. I was able to get to know my coworkers and have a few spiritual conversations with them over the summer. One Cru-coworker shared the gospel with a few Spanish speaking coworkers in Spanish. It was really cool seeing God use that for ministry purposes at McDonald’s. Working at McDonald’s gave me a new level of respect for those who work there and gave me better insight as to how to be a better customer.
We learned a whole lot this summer. It was described as a fire hose of information. The week that had the biggest impact on me was World Vision week. During this week we talked about what it means to be a world Christian. Instead of having a mindset of focusing on what I can see and my own little world, it has started to change towards what is best for God’s kingdom. I’ve really gained in my understanding of how big God’s heart for the world is. Throughout the whole Bible God professes how every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship Him someday. About 42% of the world’s population remains unreached. You can learn more about that at joshuaproject.org or by reading Roger Hersey’s book “The Finishers” which can be found on amazon.com.
After sharing on the boardwalk with around 200 people during the summer I’ve gained a passion for sharing my faith. I love having spiritual conversations and telling people about Jesus Christ. With all these conversations I was able to learn valuable skills in how to smoothly and boldly transition to the Gospel during a conversation. I also can easily go through the Gospel with someone, whether I am using the Gospel booklets Cru has called “Knowing God Personally” or I’m reciting it to them by memory during our conversation. Those of us who went on project are more trained on how to share the gospel than 95% of the US’s pastors. That’s a pretty humbling stat to me. I praise God for this experience and I know I will be using it in the future. One of my favorite sharing memories I happened to be sharing with 3 high school girls who were in Ocean City at a church conference. It was great being able to encourage them in their faith. One of them even has Purdue in her top three choices for school. Even more amazing than that is one of the guys at the conference was going to Purdue. So I was able to meet up with him and get his contact info and get him connected with Cru at Purdue. I have been able to continue my friendship with him here at Purdue. It is so cool to see the different things God does.
Cru staff from around the country were the staff on this project. On July 12th staff officially handed project over to us students. This meant they gave their duties to us. The position I was given was a middle action group leader, which meant I lead a Bible study for other action group leaders who led Bible studies for the rest of project. I also discipled those three guys. I also attended a Bible study that I went to with the group of four students who were on the leadership team. Two of them planned weekly studies and led a study with me and the two other middle action group leaders. My discipleships also consisted of an hour of sharing plus an hour of discussing things and helping my disciples grow. We tried to model discipleship after 2 Timothy and what Paul did with Timothy. I really enjoyed helping my guys grow in their faith and leadership. It was a great experience challenging them in different areas as I was challenged also. They say discipleship is 20% what you know and 80% your character. I don’t claim to know much, but I believe I was able to
Again, thank you for all the ways you supported me! Whether it was financially or through prayer or both, I wouldn’t have been able to have this experience without you. The Lord has done amazing things through me and others this summer. I can’t praise God enough for the eternal impact that has been made as a result of this summer that so many students and I had in Ocean City.
In Christ,
Ben Ooms
