Finding the best fit for each individual staff person and his/her family – a placement that  meets personal spiritual and relational needs, that provides training and experience, and that offers opportunities to engage in the mission – is so very important to me.
In August my team leaders asked me if I would be willing to step in to tackle the giant puzzle that is the annual summer placement process, and I sort of timidly said yes. I am so glad I did! Even though my desk is piled high with lists and data and notes from conversations, it has been like a breath of fresh air to care for our staff and further our mission in this way.
 For most staff in the Campus Ministry of Cru, their regular assignment on campus is only ten months out of the year. That means that every school year, we go through the process of finding summer placements for each staff member. Most staff will go to one of the hundreds of Summer Missions we offer all around the world. They will recruit students to come with them and then disciple and train the students as the students engage in a wide variety of ministry opportunities. Some staff will go through training – training for new Team Leaders, seminary courses with our Institute of Biblical Studies, or cross-cultural ministry training. Others play supporting roles, coaching our new staff and interns as they work on Ministry Partner Development or coaching students as they launch and lead movements over the summer. Even in our small corner of the country, where we only have 165 full-time campus staff in ten states, it feels like there are a million moving pieces.
The verses the Lord used to call me into vocational ministry fourteen years ago have become my daily plea. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (Matthew 9:37-38). I feel the need for workers so acutely when I look at the number of staff we need to run each of our twelve partnered Summer Missions and the empty list of available staff. Students around the world need to hear and experience the Gospel… and we don’t have the workers needed to make that happen.
Even in the midst of those hard moments, getting to video chat with staff all day every day, hearing their hearts and learning about their desires and needs, brings me so much joy! One young staff gal I have never actually met asked for a second meeting with me because she felt like I was “a safe person” even though we had only video chatted for a few minutes. Praise the Lord!!
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65 West Slokom Ave
