By Rachel Chiang | Reporter
Baylor’s chapter of Cru is a campus ministry that works to share the Gospel, and it does so by meeting in various dorms all over campus.
“Cru is an on-campus organization where we work to engage the lost here on campus,” Bentonville, Ark., senior and small group leader Hannah Deal said. “Cru works to target freshmen through freshman dorm small groups that meet every week, and through that, we want to foster biblical community, engaging in an individual setting, community setting and then an all-university setting.”
While Cru has small groups that meet in every dorm on campus, Deal said she hopes to extend her experiences with Cru to the women at Collins Hall.
“I think it’s very easy to just go through the motions, going to church, maybe read my Bible and maybe pray,” Deal said. “But through Cru, having someone come alongside me and asking me the hard questions and call me out and call me higher to follow the Lord has like drastically changed the way I’ve done life. I just hope that my impact would allow [Collins residents] greater intimacy with the Lord. I just pray that I am faithful so that the Lord may use me to grow into intimacy with them.”
Waco senior and small group leader Bethany Neubert said she hopes Cru will impact others on campus.
“When it came time to decide if I wanted to lead, it was so clear that the Lord had placed Cru as an opportunity in my life to just pour into others,” Neubert said. “I’ve just loved getting to know girls and leading Collins these last two years — probably one of my favorite things in college. I hope that Cru provides a means for people to know Jesus better and learn what it looks like to live on mission.”
Deal and Neubert both said their favorite aspect of Cru was their discipleship and how they train student leaders to share the Gospel on campus and in other parts of the world. They both said that having previous leaders walk alongside them and guide them through college inspired them to become leaders themselves.
“I think freshman year, it’s really cool but hard because of being pulled in many directions,” Deal said. “But what truly led me to settle and grow firm roots in Cru was the people that invested in me. It was so much greater than other organizations that I was a part of. They were meeting with me weekly. They were trying to genuinely get to know me. They were challenging me in ways I’ve never been challenged.”
Neubert said she has gained a desire to share her faith.
“It’s one of the greatest things I’ve gotten out of Cru — just an ability to love more like Jesus,” Neubert said. “So I hope anyone who’s involved in any ministry, specifically with Cru, feels the same way, just motivated and convicted to share and to go out in mission.”
Deal and Neubert said their plans for Cru at Collins next year are still being formed, as Collins will undergo renovation during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Neubert said they are considering moving the weekly Cru Bible studies to Cityside, where they will house students, or they may just meet in the Bill Daniel Student Center.
Deal said they have had to make numerous adjustments due to COVID-19 in the past, so learning to be flexible and moving around has become easy for them.
