Cru sent a band called “Stone” to India on September 29, and they should arrive back in the U.S. tomorrow. It was an exciting tour! Here are some reports from the field:

“Namaste everyone! That’s Malayalam for ‘What’s up!?’ We are excited to report that most of India showed up for our concert last night, including a die hard air guitarist who rushed the stage. Really though, we had a crowd of somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000, depending on who you ask (I estimate 2,000). It was an incredible show where we got to share the gospel.”

“As an aside, before we went on, there was an episcopal diocese inauguration… Anyway, several of the priests and even the bishop ended up doubling as our bouncers during the show. The air guitarist was taken down by the bishop when he tried to break though the barrier. It was…awesome! You can’t make this stuff up, people.”

Hear some of the feedback Stone got along the way:

“After the church show, a young woman ran up to me crying and said, ‘I have walked away from God and tonight I came back to him.’ …. Please pray for Anu, that she will become rooted and established in the Lord and walk intimately with Him.”

“Afterward, a guy came up to Seth and told him that he could relate to my testimony I shared during the show. Seth called me over and we asked him what he thought about what I shared about Jesus. He replied, ‘I think I need to change’. I then asked, ‘Did you pray with me to accept Christ into your life?’ He responded that he had indeed prayed!!!!! We got him connected with the staff there for follow up. Pray for this sweet brother!”

“We met a guy who shared with us that he got connected with Cru and has since joined staff, as a result of Gap Theory’s show here three years ago. We’ve actually had others share this with us in other cities we’ve been to (one guy claims it’s how he found his wife, too ☺). It’s awesome to think that God is not only bringing people into relationship with Himself through our ongoing partnership with India, but He’s using it for raising up laborers, too!”

Thank you for making it possible for us to serve these talented musicians who are taking the gospel around the world! And please pray that the new Christians in India will grow in their faith.

Hello! We hope you all have been having a safe and encouraging month despite the polar vortex and all the difficulties it’s brought for so many people. We’ve also had some sump pump adventures from the warm up last week, but all is well now ☺.

Karl has been traveling a bit this month (so I’m extra thankful for safe travels with all the weather issues out there). His first trip was to meet with the rest of the Tech people in the Campus ministry. Keynote has been working under the Campus ministry more directly now for the last couple of years and so we have more regular participation in their development times. It’s encouraging for all the techs to get together and share ideas and strategies for using technology more effectively to serve our staff and reach those who need Jesus. And since many of them are young and new to their roles, Karl gets to bring his years of experience to the table to help them.

The second trip was for all of our Keynote leaders to join in with the Campus leaders from around the US. The thing that seemed to encourage Karl the most was hearing from other leaders. They share their struggles and they share how God works, even using their weaknesses for His glory. God is so good. I must say that it encourages me to hear again that our leaders wish to be humble, real, and wish to follow Christ more than their own wishes.

As for Keynote, our leaders are in the midst of praying through and planning how we should be structured and function in the future, so we would love prayer for wisdom and direction.

Meanwhile, our Communication Training Team is preparing for a large Comm Lab in just a couple of weeks. This training is so helpful in that it takes a person from having a great testimony inside them to being able to share it with increasing effectiveness to those around them. When Karl and I first joined Keynote, we had this type of training and think it would benefit every single one of our Cru staff. So we’re excited to see the increased interest and opportunities to share this with them. For that matter, Comm Lab is open to the public, so anyone who wishes to may join in. More info is available at www.keynote.org (click on the Comm Lab button). Feel free to spread the word, too!