Campus Crusade for Christ

Went for the Campus Cruade for Christ weekly meeting tonight so thought I'll write about it. It's usually on Thu but because there's a football match on Thu they changed it to Tues this week. Sports is a big thing in NC State and CCC has a sports ministry here too. It rained today (the 2nd day since I came) so the meeting was held indoors. They call it Prime Time and I think today there were probably more than 1000 people.

Today is BACK THE PACK NIGHT. Well I honestly don't fully know what it is. Probably just something to show support to the school. NC State's colour is red and their mascot is the wolf so we were told to come in red. Their school spirit is really strong. There are a lot of NC State t-shirts designs and you'll see people wearing them to classes. How often do you actually see SMU people wearing school t-shirts to classes?

Here are the people I went with today. The girl on my left who leads a Bible study for junior girls contacted me so I'll probably join them. As you can see, I bought a NC State Wolfpack t-shirt too.


And they had all the freshmen stand up to take the Freshman Oath and "swear allegiance to the Wolfpack!" It was quite a funny oath.

Can't really see clearly but the picture below shows the guys having the letters "GO WOLFPACK" painted on them.

Here's some pictures from last week's meeting. It was held outdoors, on the new track. A big crowd and at 8pm, the sky was still bright.

This is Holly, the Campus Crusade staff that I went with that day. Met her when they set up a booth near the bookstore last Tues. She mentioned they have 18 staff at NC State and many of the staff are actually trained here and sent to other campuses.

They have a full band for worship (there's even a violinst!) though there was only 1 song before the message and 1 or 2 more after.

For both meetings we were given a card to fill in our details where everyone (even the staff) filled in. There's another one about "Campus Crusade Stuff Going On". They send weekly announcement emails too. One of the items is:

"Come help change the WORLD from your dorm!

Imagine stepping off an airplane into a different country all by yourself, where the culture and social norms are new and confusing at times. There are 700 international students coming to NC State this month. And they want to have American friends! So, we have an amazing opportunity to be Christ's hands and feet by befriending them, learning about their culture, helping them practice their English, and loving them. They are top students in their countries and have been specially selected to come to the US. If we can show them who Christ is here, they can go back to their countries with influential jobs, and help build God's Kingdom around the world! By spending an hour or two each week, you can make a great friend and an eternal difference! If you're interested and for more info, email Michelle Edwards (michelle.edwards@uscm.org )."

Wow, there are 700 international students here! I believe almost all are the graduate students and it's really a large number. And yes, this Michelle Edwards was really quick to respond to me when I left a message on the NCSU Crusade facebook. They are really efficient. I received a personal email 3 days after the gathering to welcome me and invite me to join the Bible study and the group leader contacted me that day too. Imagine having to sort out 1000 over response slips!

Will SMU CCC ever have so many people?