Who we are

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Who we are

What will your college experience be?

While college can be a time where your faith is tested, we believe that these years can be a season of explosive spiritual growth! STL Cru exists to create space for that to happen. St. Louis Cru is made up of college students all over St. Louis and the surrounding area who are seeking to grow closer to God and intent on loving and serving their campus. We are an interdenominational Christian organization active on over 30 campuses.

What we do

Each Campus is a little different

Cru on your campus could be a collection of small group Bible Studies meeting throughout the week; or it could be nearly 100 students meeting on Thursday night to get to know others on your campus and hear compelling, culture-engaging teaching from the Bible. Each campus is a little different. What is the same is this: We care about three things. Loving God. Loving people. Serving the world.

Our love is motivated by God's love for us. The ultimate expression of God's love is seen in him sending his son Jesus to live and die on our behalf. Experiencing this love creates in us a love for Him, and a concern for the things he cares about most...people!

God loves people tremendously. This motivates us to put our own interests aside to love one another. It is because of this love that we are committed to walking through life together helping one another understand more and more the depth of God's love.

We also learn from the Bible that God is passionate about restoring our broken world to the way that it was always designed to be before it was polluted by evil. It is for this reason that we find ourselves joining with God in his plan to make the world right through issues of injustice and suffering in St. Louis and around the world!

Everyone has a story

Here are some stories of what God has been doing...

JACK IS A GRAD STUDENT FROM CHINA STUDYING AT UMSL. AFTER COMING TO OUR FALL GETAWAY IN OCTOBER AND HEARING ABOUT THE GOSPEL, HIS MIND HAD BEEN OCCUPIED THINKING ABOUT WHAT GOD HAD DONE FOR HIM. HE TOLD ONE OF OUR STAFF, "THERE MUST BE A WAY FOR ME TO PAY FOR ALL MY MISTAKES. I WISH I HAD A WHIP THAT I COULD BEAT MYSELF WITH!" OUR STAFF EXPLAINED THE GOSPEL AGAIN AND GAVE HIM A BOOKLET TO LOOK OVER THAT SUMMARIZES THE MESSAGE OF JESUS' LIFE AND DEATH. A WEEK LATER HE SENT A TEXT THAT READ, "I REALLY LIKED THAT BOOKLET! I HAVE OPENED THE DOOR OF MY HEART AND MADE JESUS MY SAVIOR."

GEORGE IS AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AT WEBSTER UNIVERSITY. GEORGE AND ONE OF OUR STAFF, DANIEL BEGAN TALKING ABOUT FAITH. WHEN DANIEL ASKED GEORGE HOW SOMEONE GETS TO HEAVEN HE ANSWERED, "BY DOING GOOD THINGS." GEORGE WENT ON TO TELL HIM ABOUT ALL THE HARD THINGS HE HAD SEEN AND DONE IN THE ARMY. DANIEL TOLD HIM ABOUT HOW JESUS' LIFE AND DEATH HAD MADE IT POSSIBLE TO BE FORGIVEN. GEORGE ASKED, "BUT DON'T YOU THINK SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE THE THINGS I'VE DONE HAS CROSSED SOME KIND OF LINE?" WHEN DANIEL EXPLAINED THAT JESUS HAD PAID FOR ALL OF HIS SINS, GEORGE SAID, "YOU MEAN I CAN REALLY BE FORGIVEN?" THE TWO OF THEM PRAYED TOGETHER FOR GEORGE'S FORGIVENESS.

Deena is a student in the Gospel choir. She had hoped that the Gospel choir would be a place where she could have a positive influence on campus. After a year, however she had started to give up hope. The constant partying of the Gospel Choir had discouraged her from engaging in real spiritual dialogue with them and Deena had started to make plans to quit. In October she came with Cru students to our Fall Getaway. After the weekend retreat, Deena said that she had found courage and confidence to start moving toward other Gospel Choir members to help them grow spiritually.

WHEN OUR CRU STAFF MEMBER, WILLIE SAT DOWN WITH EWAN AT UMSL HE DIDN'T THINK THE CONVERSATION WOULD GO VERY FAR. EWAN TOLD WILLIE HOW MUCH HE HATED CHRISTIANS AND HOW BOTHERED BY THEM HE WAS. WILLIE ASKED EWAN IF HE HAD READ MUCH OF THE BIBLE. EWAN SAID HE HADN'T. SO WILLIE CHALLENGED HIM TO READ ONE CHAPTER OF THE GOSPELS (THE EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS OF JESUS' LIFE). THEY READ ONE CHAPTER. EWAN ASKED TO READ THE NEXT ONE. THEY READ ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER. THIRTY MINUTES LATER, THEY WERE PRAYING TOGETHER AS EWAN GAVE HIS LIFE TO JESUS!