Cru is a worldwide missions organization active here in Buffalo to help reach college students of Western New York with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The following was written by Joel Gerberich.

"It was my fourth year making the 20-hour drive to Panama City Beach, Florida, for spring break, and it was my fourth year seeing God show up in the lives of students. This past March, we loaded up four vehicles with 35 students from Niagara University, Niagara County Community College, and Daemen College in preparation for a week of hurricane relief, personal growth, evangelism, and fellowship. We had students from 11 nations who were about to spend the next week living in community, sharing meals, laughter, and life together. The potential was great!

Besides enjoying a day off at the beach, we would spend the majority of our days walking up and down the streets of Panama City asking neighbors if there was any way we could help them as they recover from the devastation of Hurricane Michael. Some people had days’ worth of work for us to do while others shared their stories and allowed us to pray with them. In both cases, we found God meeting the community through our students’ willingness to serve. When we were not doing hurricane relief, we hit the beaches to talk with fellow spring breakers about their lives in hopes of what God might do through a little initiative. Conversations ranged from a simple “have a great day” to people placing their faith in Christ!

I’ve been told that “If you seek to have a great community, often you will miss evangelism. But if you go after evangelism, very often you will have incredible community.” It is through this trip to PCB that we saw God, once again, take a group of students ready to seek and serve Him and create incredible community full of passionate Jesus-followers ready to catalyze the movements on their campuses!"