We are blessed by the opportunity to update you on our ministry at Yale. God has been blessing and continues to bless our faith community through a new initiative started a few weeks ago. While diving deep into our summer Bible study of John’s Gospel, we encountered the glorious signs that Jesus performed to manifest God’s glory before and in the lives of his contemporaries. We were in awe of Jesus, amazed at how he embodied the truth and grace of God and inspired us to “do the works” that he did (John 14:12).
With Jesus as a foundation and guide, each member of our community committed to prayerfully memorize one passage of Scripture per week, internalize it every evening, use the morning devotional time to find practical ways to externalize it, and be a living testimony of that passage in every human interaction throughout the day.
His resurrection power is alive in our CU Lux community as our students are using the summer months to strengthen their relationship to God and each other. God is to be praised. Our summer Bible study on the gospel of John has been well attended, the students’ new initiative to memorize Scripture is catching on, and our student executive team is faithfully invested in planning for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Christian Fellowship
Christian Union Lux, Christian Union's ministry at Yale, hosted a virtual reunion on June 6 from 3:00 - 4:00pm EST. Christian Union Lux invited participants from all classes, all denominations, and all Christian ministries to this annual event. Thanks for joining us!We are blessed by the opportunity to update you on our ministry at Yale. Through God’s extraordinary grace, we concluded this academic year with a senior banquet, a celebratory event honoring the work of God in the lives of our graduates. We sent them into the world with gifts: a Yale mug, a book on Christian discipleship, congratulatory cards signed by beloved peers, and the charge to shine like stars in the universe by holding fast to the word of truth (Philippians 2:14-16). Our new mentorship program, which connects graduates with CU alumni and Christian professionals, will provide vocational support and keep graduates centered on Jesus, our bright Morning Star (Revelation 22:16).
Signs surround us—whether it’s emojis in digital communication, traffic signs that help us navigate the roads, or business logos that mark brand identity. A sign is a visible representation of an idea, something standing for something other than itself. Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as signifying something. In John’s gospel, Jesus performs seven signs as visible symbols of God’s presence on earth. Each of the seven solicits a response: Do you believe that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s presence?
A student asked me two weeks ago, “How should I read the Bible?” “Read it as a story,” I said, “read it as the story of God becoming the story of God’s people.”
As Christians, the story of God changes everything. Jesus has a way of shifting our life-script and changing the way our story reads. Joy, hope, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and love act as subjects of newly formed sentences. Page after page, we find ourselves in paragraphs of new life. It is Jesus, the Author of Life, rewriting our story and empowering us to deal with the other subjects– sadness, anxiety, distress, and evil– that seek to override our script.
Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9). Life during COVID-19 becomes much easier, more meaningful, and beautiful when we bring the goodness of God to others. For this esteemed reason, our students at CU Lux selected Galatians 6:9 to guide all our endeavors this semester.
God has already told us what is good: to pursue justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Doing good, of course, is the work of God in us and through us. We not only hold fast to what is good (Romans 12:9), we are also called to embody every perfect gift that comes from above in word and deed (James 1:17).
Our Biblical faith is the affirmation that God’s presence changes our lives in transformative ways. Once we were no people, but now we are God’s people; once we had not received mercy, but we have now received mercy. Once we were nothing, now we are something (1 Peter 2:10).
With Yale University students back on campus for the spring semester, CU Lux organized a retreat that invited students to unite for conversations about God’s transformative power and presence in their lives. The virtual retreat began with icebreakers that warmed up the conversation and continued with a heart-opening time of worship. Students experienced the liveliness of God’s presence in small group Bible study, silent moments of reflection, one-on-one prayer, and large group testimony sharing.
All of us are prone to forget the things God has done for us. We need reminders. When Joshua led God’s people towards their new home, they had to cross the Jordan River ( Joshua 3:15-16). God parted the waters, and His people walked through on dry land (v. 17). To create a memorial of this miracle, they took twelve stones from the middle of the riverbed and stacked them on the other side (4:3, 6–7). When others asked what the stones meant, God’s people would tell the story of what God had done that day.
As we stand at the close of 2020, we at CU Lux are continuing to reflect on how we’ve needed to cope, adapt, and endure as many familiar landmarks of doing ministry have been drastically shifted during this time. We’ve been learning to grow in our faith in the Lord, but are amazed to experience the goodness of the Lord as we’ve tried to lean on Him.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you… Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it…. pray for us.
Dear CU Lux Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
CU Lux deeply values your love, prayers, and support through the many changing seasons this year has brought. One thing we do know is that God who calls us is faithful through it all!
In these challenging times, I hope that you have been able to guard and keep your joy in the Lord. The joy of the Lord is a wonderful source of strength, and I have been noticing recently how easy it can be for a past problem or future uncertainty to steal the fullness of joy that God has for us in the present moment. Remember Jesus’s desire that His joy may be in us and our joy may be full (John 15:11)!
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you this afternoon.
Facing difficult COVID-related financial shortfalls from donors unable to sustain their normal giving this upcoming year, CU made the difficult decision to lay off over 30 people across our organization last month. This has affected every campus where CU ministers, including Yale. Therefore, we are saying goodbye to Jane Hendrickson and Michael Racine right on the cusp of what was already shaping up to be a challenging semester for ministry. As I have expressed to our CU Lux community, these 2 servant-leaders have glorified God so well in their work. Jane, a 6-year veteran has been a highly-competent, faithful, loving, servant-hearted leader helping this ministry continue on true to its mission over many, many seasons. She has gone above and beyond to serve each of our individual students, the ministry at Yale, and the broader CU organization. Michael, with 3 years on our team, has brought academic excellence, theological depth, and a compassionate heart to our campus and organization. He as inculcated in others a real heart for seeking God with his well-measured and God-centered words in teaching and everyday conversation. Blessings to you, Michael, as you transition to another role in Christian Union.
The One Who Is, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loyalty and faithfulness, maintaining loyalty for a thousand generations, bearing iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will not leave them unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on their children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation. —Exodus 34:6–7
This spring and summer, many Americans have been made increasingly aware of the reality that, whether we like it or not, the iniquity of past generations does weigh on us. To be sure, there's much more we have yet to attend to—both in terms of disarming the spiritual and cultural forces that militate against true racial reconciliation, and in terms of the many other sins that have been allowed to fester for too long. And yet, we thank our God, who is, and was, and is to come, for His unfailing covenant loyalty and faithfulness.
“We will not neglect the house of our God.” Nehemiah 10:39
After returning from exile in Babylon, Ezra and the priests gather the Israelites together in a great corporate assembly to renew their covenant with God. In his prayer, Ezra carefully pronounces how each offering, tithe, and “first fruit” of dough, oil, wine, etc. is to be brought accordingly into the house of God. As Ezra prays summarizing the Levitical instructions the Israelites have had for years, his recasting is so clear that you can practically “see” the disorder of their sinful ways atrophying and the good, pleasing order of flourishing provision, celebration, and thankfulness materializing before their eyes.
I love the long New England spring and earliest glimpses of summer, complete with vivid green grass and blue skies. These annual transformations flood our senses and happen right on cue per God’s decree each May. This year, however, we missed seeing one of the most satisfying transformations of all—the procession of graduates flowing through Phelps Gate into old campus on Monday, May 18th. We know they celebrated uniquely in each of their homes, but the caps, gowns, and sweet smiles of victory and triumph are always a joy to see!
May 30, 2020 and May 31, 2020
Christian Union Lux, Christian Union's ministry at Yale, hosted a virtual reunion for the Class of 2014 and the Class of 2015 on May 30, 2020 from 4:00 - 5:00pm EST.
Christian Union Lux hosted a virtual reunion for all alumni on Sunday, May 31, 2020 from 4:00 - 5:00pm. Christian Union Lux invited participants from all classes, all denominations, and all Christian ministries to this annual event. Thanks for joining us!
Learn More
For questions about how to get involved with alumni groups or Christian Union Lux on campus, contact Christian Union's VP of Alumni Engagement Christine Foster: christine.foster@christianunion.org.
Dear Prayer Partners,
Blessings on each of you.
I’ve personally felt grief from not being able to meet “in the flesh” with students since before spring break. We miss the joy of having coffee, sharing meals, and seeing them in the ministry center or around campus. We miss the joy of in-person conversation, encouragement, and prayer. But, the Lord reminded me recently that much of the New Testament was also a product of “distance ministry”. The Apostle Paul wrote letters to instruct, teach, bless, and train other individuals and churches that he loved and wanted to be with, but the circumstances just didn’t allow it. Several letters were even written when he was in house arrest in Rome. In spite of the circumstances, though, Paul maintained incredible joy and hope, and the letters that he penned still nourish our souls today. Our God is surely never wasting and always working.
As you remember our ministry at Yale, please pray that:
1) Our ministry would thrive, even while scattered abroad. With the help of technology, we have still been gathering for Bible Courses, prayer, discipleship, leadership coaching, and more. Pray for the Holy Spirit to FILL our Zoom meetings!
2) God’s Kingdom come & will be done at Yale. May the Holy Spirit prepare our hearts and Yale’s grounds for a greater, fuller work of the Lord once we return to campus. We’re depending upon Him!
3) God would raise up a new wave of “Cornerstone Partners” to support us through prayer and giving. Our team at Yale and on every campus will be reaching out broadly to share more about our current need in light of COVID-19, what God has been doing, and ways to partner with us in the work. We’ll need grace and favor in these conversations.
Thank you for your prayers on our behalf!
Don’t be anxious & keep rejoicing,
Clay Cromer
Ministry Director
Christian Union Lux
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Yale, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
Dear Prayer Partners,
We are especially grateful for your prayers during these unprecedented times. There is a strange comfort and sense of brotherhood found in Scripture as we consider others who remained faithful in their own strange times. I came across the remarkable account of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, this week. When faced with annihilation by a superior army, he let his fear take him straight to God instead of into rash action or fruitless worry. In humility, he boldly called upon the One who is sovereign, claiming the promises of God, and drawing the whole nation – men, women, and children into fasting and expectant prayer as well. "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you!" he cried out. The anguished place of uncertainty was given to the Lord who responded with His Spirit through a prophet, "Do not be afraid or dismayed…for the battle belongs to the Lord". The king responded with confidence and enjoined the people as they marched out in obedience to "Believe in the Lord God, believe His prophets!" Instead of fear, or rage, the people march out against the enemy with song and praise on their lips and find that the battle was indeed already fought and won by the invisible, almighty God. This is the God we serve! He delights to respond to the earnest prayers, the desperate fasting, and the songs and praises of His people! Let us draw strength and faith for this unique time in our history to believe God, to seek him whole-heartedly on behalf of the world, our nation, and all the people we can reach in our spheres.
Dear Prayer Partners,
As always, we give thanks to God for your ongoing support. As I write this, we are looking forward to an outreach event this afternoon: a screening of the film Emanuel and conversation with producer Dimas Salaberrios, a long-time friend of Christian Union. While the event will already have taken place by the time you are reading this, please pray that the conversation would continue and that hearts would continue to be stirred and drawn to the Lord by the film's powerful witness to the Spirit of forgiveness.
