Category Archives: conference
What have John and Ellen been up to lately?
Dear Friends!
I sent out a brief message about the epic Conquer Leadership Conference I attended, but forgot to share it here! We’ll be sending out a post conference update soon!!! But for now, Click below for details of my post on 7/19:
CLICK IMAGE ABOVE for John’s update just before the Conference.
WITH God and Each Other at Cru17… and “I’m the Sign!”
WITH God and Each Other at Cru17
Every two years, thousands of Cru staff descend upon the campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO for Cru’s national staff conference. This time the theme was “WITH”: what it means to be with God and in partnership with each other, both within Cru and in other organizations and churches.
Throughout the week, we were able to hear from a diverse panel of speakers, participate in seminars and workshops, and reconnect with friends from around the country. If you’d like to experience the conference for yourself, visit cru.org/cru17 to watch/hear the sessions, seminars, and interviews with the speakers. Thank you for praying and partnering with us financially so we could attend this conference and gain fresh insight and vision!
Family Update
With school just starting in recent weeks in our community, life in our house is a whirlwind in the mornings getting out the door and yet a little quieter during school hours! But our little guy still makes plenty of noise! 😉 We celebrated Noah’s 1st birthday in June and Maddie Mae’s 6th birthday in July with huge groups of little friends and their parents at our home, which is a gift to have opportunities, both spiritually and otherwise, to love on them!
Our little guy got his first handful of Snow up in the Mountains!!!
I’m the Sign!
This summer as students were getting ready to say their goodbyes, one student on the mission team sent with Cru to Czech Republic, Victor, and a Czech student named Frank, accidentally got off on the wrong tram stop and were separated from the rest of the group. Victor used the time they were alone to ask Frank where he stood with God. Frank said that he had heard about God and had even been in a Bible study before, but he was waiting for a sign. To which Victor replied rather emphatically, “I’m the sign!”
Victor on the Tram in the Czech Republic
Victor went on to explain that he had come all the way from the U.S. to tell him about Jesus, so what more did he need?! Frank went to church the next day and met with the pastor. He and Victor have been in communication as Frank is asking many questions. Victor’s response may have been a little surprising, but how significant that he realized that we are all signs pointing to Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life! We pray that Frank will come to know Jesus as he continues asking questions and seeking to know the Truth. Isn’t it fun and encouraging to hear how young people are bold and step out in faith in these kind of ways?! It’s an honor to partner with you to send people like Victor out into all different parts of the world to bring the gospel to those lost and searching everywhere!
If you would like to download this update in PDF printable format, please click the image below.
Join with us online right now at Cru17!
Want to join the Flemings & 1000’s of Cru staff now?
Cru17 is LIVE In Colorado now!
Live from Cru17 in Colorado now
We really would love for you to be sitting here with us at Cru17 worshipping God with 5,500+ other Cru staff from around the USA and hearing amazing stories about what God is doing among us and through us as we walk WITH God daily.
WITH God is the theme of our biennial national staff conference.
Since you aren’t sitting next to us, we’d love to invite you to watch WITH us since all the general sessions are live streamed.
(Session times are below and they are MOUNTAIN time.)
Please pray that God would meet WITH us and accomplish His plans in our hearts and lives.
Feel free to reply and let Ellen and I know how we can pray for you.
If any of the content encourages you feel free to share that with us as well.
Thank you for partnering with us in building God’s kingdom WITH Him.
Livestream:
www.cru.org/cru17/live.html
Archived Sessions:
www.cru.org/cru17/archive.html
SCHEDULE
Monday, July 17
9:30a-12:00p Archived
1:30p-3:30p Archived
Tuesday, July 18
9:30a-12:00p Archived
1:30p-3:30p Archived
Wednesday, July 19
1:30p-3:30p
Thursday, July 20
1:30p-3:30p
Friday, July 21
6:30p-8:30p
Saturday, July 22
9:30a-12:00p
7:00p-9:00p
| Watch Live Now |
“My friends don’t get it. They say, ‘Why do you talk with your mom every day?'”
… said Katherine about her recent experience with her mom. She is an international student who attended the recent Bridges International conference. (Bridges International is Cru’s ministry to internationals studying in the US) I’ll share more about Katherine’s story below. What does awakening spiritual curiosity for students even look like? While many of the 1,000 students at the conference came to learn about God, some did not. They’re in the Explorer’s Track, and they came because they want to get to the beaches here in Florida. Another reason is they’ve discovered it’s hard to make friends as an outsider in the US, or because, understandably, they don’t want to stay on campus alone during winter break… While the Christian element of the conference seems to be just a sideline to them, God is on the move behind the scenes. This Explorer’s track had a time of just that: exploring some topics. One of the most common objectives to the existence of the Christian God goes like this: “How can God be both all-powerful and good? Why would we see such suffering in the world if God were both good and powerful?” Katherine shares that her mother suffers every day and that this question of God and suffering really matters to her. She reveals that her mother’s pain has been so severe
that she wishes she were dead and the situation has caused a 180º turn in their relationship, for the better. When asked,
“Do you think the suffering was worth undergoing if it gave you and your mom a close relationship?” “Yes. The suffering was worth it to me. I have this new relationship with my mom.” God is showing Katherine that He, also, was willing to suffer in order to have a relationship with her. He, like Katherine and her mom, sees suffering as worthwhile to gain the priceless gift of relationship with us. He wants to be that close, to talk with her every day and to give her eternal life with Him. The question of suffering and God’s purpose in it is a question with which we wrestle as well. Walking through pain and suffering in our lives has brought us closer to Jesus and has continually awakened a longing for eternity and desire for the gospel that we believe is worth it! Just as Katherine was real with her wrestling… What does it look like for us to wrestle and to be intentionally authentic about where we find ourselves with the hard questions to awaken curiosity with others AND ourselves?!
Spring Is In the Air!
As multiple tens of thousands of college and highschool students descend on the beaches and hotspots of LA, Las Vegas, and Florida this month during their spring break weeks, many of our Cru students also go to these locations, but not to get drunk with alcohol and have sex. Cru students attend our training conferences right on the beach locations to meet students who are open to spiritual conversations. All while they party on the beach, listen to their life stories, share their testimonies in conversation, and share the gospel too, as the Lord allows. We have been there a few times with our students from Albany and it is quite an adventure that builds faith (for students AND staff like us!). Please go to JohnAndEllenFleming.com/springbreak to see our training and worship sessions in Florida almost every weeknight/morning of march. Please pray! below is an encouraging letter from our director on our new position too.
Letter from our Director
Daddy Daughter Dance!
By His Amazing Providence and Mercy,
PS If you prefer the pdf version of this newsletter update, feel free to download it by clicking on the image below. Enjoy!
John and Ellen Fleming's Ministry Webpage 